Level reviews

"A rather unusual layout here, with what looks like a home spread over narrow floors of a tower, as you work your way up and down doing seemingly random things to open a door (like, lighting a torch and placing a puzzle item is ok, but I'd never have guessed about shooting the mug on the floor...) and make your leave. Nothing particulary exhilarating, but it doesn't outstay its welcome and short levels are always welcome. 15 minutes. 08/25" - Treeble

"Lara is locked in a tower, so there is a lot of going up and down but I must say I didn't get bored because there are some good gameplay ideas (not just pulling levers) and it all happens in an attractive environment with nice objects. It's also saved by the shortness of the level (around half an hour). Peaceful and relaxing, give it a try whenever you're in the right mood." - billie2001

"What an interesting, unique and fresh idea this level turned out to be! You start inside a tall building/tower with grass and plants and have to travel up to explore several floors by ramps or slopes where surroundings turn more into home dwelling type of areas with small rooms, balcony's and windows etc. At the top there is 2 rooms side by side separated by a glass divide that look very familiar to each other but not identical, it is your mission to make these rooms identical by finding different ways to interact with the objects in there. Whether it be finding items to be able to shoot and destroy, moving items physically into the room (pushables) lighting torches, triggering rising blocks or sometimes simply finding/ inserting items or activating switches you'll need to be exploring all rooms as much as you can so you can progress into other rooms and find the things you need. A walkthrough may be required as some elements are a bit sneaky and one very unfair with the jump switch outside that has to be jumped at a certain way in a certain position. When it comes to visuals most areas look great especially the outside areas but a small part felt out of place like the greenery floor at the bottom of the tower what was that about? oh speaking of out of place the dramatic TR4 Egyptian music certainly fits into that description as well. Overall despite the lack of any traps, dangers, timed challenges, or much platforming elements this experience was definitely an enjoyable, original and refreshing little level that I'm glad I downloaded." - John

"A usual random Xmas level from a period anything custom was just inhaled by me. Ignoring the nostalgia factor it is still good minus that one jumpswitch which is goddamn precise... 30 minutes of compact season mood. Short and cute, you can give it a try. Bless treditor.hu for still having it." - DJ Full

"There's a pretty good concept at work here: solve a series of linear tasks mostly in one central area to eventually open the exit. It would have been even more entertaining if the gameplay wasn't as confined or repetitive, which is unfortunately the case here. The surroundings and object uses are really quite pleasing and attractive, but the gameplay consists solely of performing one outlandish task and running down to where the action happened, then running back to perform the next task and so on until the end of the level. I felt that the mostly looping TR4 audio was rather out of place in a seasonal Xmas level too. Play this one mainly for the eye candy." - Ryan

"Another disgruntled builder who doesn't want his levels hosted here. Maybe he was offended by the reviews of this level. If so, his offense was not justified, because the reviews are right on the mark. Although the surroundings are quite pleasing to the eye, the "gameplay" consists mainly of running repeatedly up and down a ramped structure and performing arcane and obscure tasks along the way. Manarch2 has done us all a huge favor by providing a compact walkthrough, but although I followed his instructions to the letter one torch remained unlit (contrary to the walkthrough, picking up the crowbar and revolver ammo did not cause a torch to become lit in my game) and so I was unable to reach the finish trigger. I was hardly motivated to go through all that again to see if I could complete the level, so I let it go at that. The outdoor jump switch presented a problem at first, but once you know the trick it's a piece of cake. Play it for the eye candy, which is the only reason my scores are as high as they are." - Phil

"Its a short level. Theres some bugs, first time the last door didnt opened. But it wasnt that bad for relaxation.Theres no enemy, have to be scared from nothing. Interesting puzzles, some of them needs interesting movements. Take a look at that! You can find a Hungarian walkthrough (as we don't have English version), savegames and pictures here: http://treditor.hu/trle/treditor/11/december_the9th.htm" - Obig

"This could be a short level, but only if you have the walkthrough in hand (I had to read it several times) 'cause there are several "obscure" tasks, like the keyhole so far from the door it opens, the high jumpswitch (a video to show how to pull a jumpswitch?), the tile to place the armchair or the location of the sight. Also it's not very funny go up and down excessive times (players don't know what to do). In the other hand, there's a good environment well textured and designed, with a good atmosphere and the level is well builded. Only for purists and players who love challenges." - Jose

"Not actually a bad general idea - having to find out a series of tasks to accomplish to eventually open the exit door. It does fall a little short in its obscurity though, which turns this short level into a 'guess what the builder has in mind'-game. Less so for finding and placing flowers, which is quite obvious, a little more so with the pushing of the chair, but especially with the shooting of the almost invisible stalagtites in one of the windows, which magically and without camera hint frees up a lasersight outside. An odd choice indeed. That - and the fact that you had to run up and down the tower a few times, took away some of the fun that this short 20 minute level otherwise does indeed provide. So, worth checking out for a quick interlude - with a walkthrough close at hand, just in case..." - MichaelP

"I thought this was a fun little break from the more complicated and longer levels. The author sometimes has whimsical landscapes, but here the tower is pretty basic, the layout of each floor similar, and it is the tasks which are fanciful in their logic (and they do have a twisted logic). I liked the part with the seven wall torches on the upper level, that these ignite when Lara has found one of the tasks, making her progress clear. Probably a thirty minute interlude." - dmdibl

"Having the up/down keys disabled for the binoculars was not a good first impression. It is frustrating to move Lara's head up and down and hold it there as you select the binoculars. The structure of the level also got a little irritating as it inevitably makes you running from the top to the bottom of the tall tower and back again several times. The objects were nicely chosen, but those mushrooms outside had some weird collision (one of the invisible ends would be higher than the other?). The level desperately needed more camera cues, for instance I had no idea when I lowered that chair on the top floor. The tower is decently textured for the most part, although some floors do not blend together at all and jump from one theme to the next. It is a mediocre level that merely has some fun in searching for items (obtained in some sometimes clever ways). Finished in 24 minutes." - SSJ6Wolf

"Not too difficult a level although I didn't realise the mushrooms were climbable, not that I observed a jump switch outside. The aim became evident early on but as another reviewer remarked, there is an awful lot of to-ing and fro- ing to achieve things (unless you know exactly the order of objectives which you invariably won't), which can get a bit repetitive but it kept me contentedly occupied for half an hour so no complaints there." - High Priestess

"This is conceptually interesting and uses a few nice objects. There's a tower and then there's a room, Lara enters and the game suddenly ends. Ok. My only complaint is that the place for the couch is by no means easy to figure out. Other than that, lighting torches, placing flowers, shooting icicles and so forth, it's all fine. Not great but nice, plus the textures look good too." - Jorge22

"Here we have a very short and uncomplicated level, enemy and trap free, where Lara has to find multiple items and interact with them in one way or another. Several things have to be picked up and placed, torches have to be lit and other stuff has to be shot with the revolver. There are also a couple of levers and a jump switch. I have to say that the JS was really tricky to pull and I had a serious stuck moment because of it. Other than that it is smooth sailing, since everything is located in or around a tower-like building and so nothing is really far away and overly hard to find. When all is in place, a door opens where Lara enters and the level ends - rather unexpectedly and not very rewarding. It almost appears the builder ran out of time and placed the trigger in order to release it quickly. The looks and feel are nice and there is a pleasant atmosphere. I finished in 23 minutes but this can obviously be finished a lot faster, once you know where things are and what to do...." - Blue43

"Tombraider meets 'Spot the Difference' is the name of the game in this interesting and different level. It's short, about half an hour, but well formed. Although the difficulty level falls well below even an easy 'Spot the Difference' game I have to applaud the builder for coming up with a fascinating slant on the TR theme. I especially liked the idea of getting rid of unwanted items rather than having to find all of them (a bit of lateral thinking required by the player there). There was also a good mix of fairly easy items to find and well hidden objects - I'm particularly thinking of the keyhole here! Overall a very well structured level that'll give players something different to think about." - Diz

"I didn't think I was going to enjoy this level to begin with.Unusual custom objects;implausible 'cause-and-effect' gameplay;one window which shatters even though the rest remain resolutely solid - not the sort of thing which ever really grabs me.However,this is actually a really intelligent little level,with gameplay that is built around an original and clever concept: re-arrange items and objects so that one side of a room (or,indeed,building)matches the other. Once you cotton on to this idea (and can get some sort of grasp on how this builders mind functions) it's actually very smooth flowing and logical.Enemies are absent,but that's fine as they wouldn't fit within the concept of this particular level anyway. I gave an extra point for 'cameras',simply because the builder resolutely refused to allow any blatant visual hints for the puzzle solutions.This seems somewhat contradictory,until you realise that this is a heavy-duty puzzle based level;and who would want to include ready solutions to their ingeniously devised puzzles without giving the player the chance to work it all out for themselves? That's akin to publishing the answers to a crossword puzzle alongside the crossword itself. Lighting and textures are skilfully assembled and kept my attention throughout;and overall this was 40 minutes of ingenious and contemplative entertainment." - Orbit Dream

"A perfectly fine level here, with simple relaxing gameplay. Lighting is pretty good and texturing for the most part is good too. Set inside a homely looking tower you'll do a fair bit of back-tracking backwards and forwards to open the flower door. All in all it's a pleasing diversion which should take you just under half an hour to complete. The main thing for me is that this needs a complete audio make-over to fit it's x-mas release. The dark sounds of Seth's tomb don't really fill you will the feeling of Christmas. Stiggy." - TheStig

"This was a quite short level when considering net gaming time, but that doesn't mean you only need 15 minutes for this level (well, if you play with the walkthrough close, maybe). This level had so many stuck moments for me as there are a lot of new objects used here, that's not the point though, it's practically impossible to know what to do in some situations. Shooting through a window to shatter some stalactites? Jumping from a very strange mushroom to a high jumpswitch, which often doesn't work even with perfect position? Also, the audio placement in this level was really strange, sometimes some tracks appeared and repeated again and again, but after starting new I had no sound for the first half of the level. There were no cameras except for the suspicious door that needs to be opened; I missed some hints for the stalactites and the keyhole. But there were also positive points in this level. The "special task" that needs to be done in this level was quite original and well thought-out; the texturing was quite good with only some squished or wrongly rotated ones; and the tower itself looking from outside is quite impressing. A bit too often going up and down the tower in my opinion. All in all there were both fun and frustration moments in the 15 minutes it lasted for me." - manarch2

"This is a most interesting idea for a level - not so much a raid, more a sort of 'spot the difference'. I found it highly enjoyable. Basically, you have to make sure two versions of side by side rooms are exactly the same by finding/eliminating objects in and around the tower structure. Clever idea and definitely different." - Jay

"Adding snow and ice to a level doesn't exactly make it Christmasy, but oh well. Lara has to go up and down a tower to achieve the opening of a door, well at least, MY Lara had to, because I missed a few things up at the top. A bit of thinking is involved to figure out just what to do in this short level, but it is not too hard. I wondered a bit about the ice area outside with the cube underneath. It seemed as if gabiza wanted to extend gameplay under the ice, but this never happened. There is not much for music and the atmosphere is pretty basic. There are a couple cute objects though, that add a bit of whimsy to the level. I just wonder why gabiza could not have put Christmas decorations in the tower and outside to give the level more of a festive look? Nonetheless, this is a quick level with a few interesting things to do." - Shandroid