Level reviews

"Egyptian challenge is one of those levels where the focus isn’t on exploration or navigating through large open areas, it’s about getting through a small trap challenge or activity in one room before moving onto the next one in the next room and so on etc. The traps involve mostly spike and fire with the occasional boulder and platforming exercise, but there is a good pushable object puzzle about halfway through which was welcome. The remainder of the gameplay felt a bit too simple and repetitive, especially with the trial and error aspects and the only enemies I remember was the 2 Egyptian monsters but what with it being a very short level and having a ton of other dangers you probably won’t miss them. So overall if your looking for short sharp activities and tasks, lots of spike traps and enjoy crash bandicoot music stuck on repeat then this is the one for you." - John

"Not bad in concept: a series of rooms strung together, you 'solve' each one in turn but the challenges each room pose don't take more than a single eye bat to solve. Missing sound effects here and there and wrongly rotated spikes, plus a looping weird tune, don't help elevating the level to a higher echelon but it's short, which is always a plus for people with full-time in location jobs looking for a brief time out of the sucky real world we live in. 15 minutes. 08/24" - Treeble

"A semi-isometric minigame which TR Reloaded is hoping to be. Looks and plays flawlessly except the flare bug in the final rooms. I think it's not missing anything. On the other edge, the pushblock is still the slowest, I'd trim half of it goodbye. Didn't Crash despite of the soundtrack. Could be used as a TRLE tutorial for the new players. Recommended." - DJ Full

"This is a pleasant, linear and straightforward raid through a "next-gen" Egyptian tomb. Yes, the tasks were easy, but I enjoyed the variation between them with boulders, spikes and flame emitters to avoid. I did have to turn off the music because it got annoying at one point. It does look quite nice though. Worth a look for something not too taxing but still fun." - Ryan

"I'm always a fan of playing something a bit 'different', and this definitely falls under that category. It's a pretty brisk (26 mins for me) adventure that has you working your way through small chambered rooms completing challenges as you go. It actually reminds me of older classic 2D side-scroller games in terms of the layout. Thankfully none of the challenges are too taxing so you're very unlikely to find yourself stuck, especially as the author has gone to lengths to include visual hints as to what to do. Texturing is pretty good, but the lighting is excellent. The last matter is the music. I'll be honest, it drove me crackers. I'm sure the author was looking to capture a bit of a retro feel, but in all honesty, TR historically has some cracking sound-tracks. Something from Legend or Anniversary looped would of suited the level much better, especially given the strong visuals. Definitely worth playing, but get ready to mute the music if it's not your thing. Recommended, Stiggy :)" - TheStig

"A nice mini-level based on 14 rooms where in each of them (except for the final one which is only built as decoration)Lara has to front several challenges. In fact in some rooms Lara has to jump above deep pits, even avoiding flames on a single tile to jump.. to avoid a serie of boulders and more. Enigms aren't not bad: to choose which switch anti-triggers the spike trap in order to get an Ankh.. choose the right one or the spikes situated underneath the switch will trigger.. we find this kind of enigm twice and we can understand by looking the texture floor with opened eyes. Other enigms: some tiles are spikes traps and other ones are safe. Which ones? In an other room we've to move some blocks, whose some of them above.. so we'll use the ones below as bridge for the ones above. Finally we've to fight against 2 demigods, but thanks to revolver and uzi, it becomes too simple and in the next room we've to anti-trigger 4 tiles with spikes in order to put the 4 Ankhs in their keyholes. So a linear gameplay and enigms quite simple.. there is nothing difficult.. just sufficient. As enemies we've only the 2 demigod but they are too easy to defeat, a few objects. Very nice atmosphere, nice music, some mobile camera, no flyby. Lights used very well, textures.. uhm so and so.. they are applied well, but in a too repetitive way. Globally a short sufficient funny trip to try once." - Steven Svorticher

"Finished the level in about 20 minutes. It was very linear, not very challenging. The thing that kept me playing through this level was the music, Egypt level from Crash I hear. The fixed cameras were very annoying and irritating, I had a hard time finishing the push block puzzle because of that. I hope to see more interesting levels from your Larafan25!" - Klona Croft

"If you're looking for a linear level, this is the one for you. It's so linear it's like a forced march, where you finish the tasks in one room, go on to the next room, the door slams shut against your rear end (evoking a sharp cry from Lara if she hasn't moved sufficiently forward), and you have no choice but to keep plowing ahead. This also means that if you somehow miss picking up one or more of the five required ankhs, you can't finish the level, as there's no way to go back and get them. The looping cheesy theme was something of an annoyance, but not to the extent that I felt it necessary to turn off or disable the music. This is one of several 20-minute levels I've played lately; seems that Ian and Cory are on to something. The gameplay is straightforward and uncomplicated, so raiders of all skill levels should be able to play and enjoy this one. Not a classic by any means, but still a decent diversion." - Phil

"When I started this level, I thought, "I know this music" and I remembered the music of Crash Bandycoot3, game I love. And the author wanted to do the same as the game, suites of rooms with different races like in Crash, with many parts in fixed camera. In this short level he succeeded in his business. The texturing and lighting is good, except the water is not animated. The gameplay is very simple." - Drakan

"Entertaining this short and lineal level with easy puzzles and a fast gameplay. I missed some more enemies and not only that lonely demigod and also some more flares for the dark areas; textures are well applied, but the fixed cameras in some rooms were not very appropriate. There's a pit you can drop to its bottom but I found nothing there, and I couldn't find a way to go up to continue playing. Anyway a good evolution from this author seeing his previous level. You're on the right way; continue so." - Jose

"Here we have a nice looking 20-minute level with very straightforward game play. Pretty fast paced actually with the exception of a rather tedious push block room. I liked the texturing and lighting, but would have wished for a different choice of background music. The constant game-boy style"jump and run" soundtrack became a little annoying after a while. Definitely a fun little level to play through and a huge improvement over the builder's first level." - Blue43

"I found this level quite lighthearted and the soundtrack added to this. The main feature of the level are distinctly seperate rooms each with their own set of traps to navigate across. The main trap here is the classic set of spikes - perhaps a little overused maybe. The texturing and lighting are remiscant of a title flyby from TR4, and the camera angles were used well (although it did stop me being able to see Lara at one point). I think the ankh pedestal's could have used some work, and perhaps a better ending too." - sonnyd83

"What is it with impatient builders and afterwards complaining about the reviews they receive. Reading between the lines a lot of the comments could have been picked up by a good bunch of testers, that is.. IF the builder will listen. Anyway this is a simple and straight forward level, open a door, go through, door closes, open another door and so on. Music got on my nerves so I killed that. This is also a level that should be played with eyes wide open. The trial and error that some are talking about is not true. You only have to use the binoculars and look around AND up; there are the hints in plain sight. What did bug me in a major way was the fixed camera, loose them, there are way too much and not funny, also they don't add anything apart from frustration." - Gerty

"I'm glad this level only lasted for twenty minutes because 1) the uniquely sequential gameplay concept combined with the many fixed top-down cameras was effective for a while,but quickly became rather irritating;2) the whole level had the feel of a GameboyAdvance platformer; 3) the background music came close to inducing me to shoot myself. Nonetheless,this looks pretty good overall;has simple but effective gameplay concepts;and displays a rather unique style. I'm glad most custom levels aren't like this,but it's fun and quirky for the short time it lasts." - Orbit Dream

"It feels like a Crash Bandicoot level for more than the music. Lots of traps to avoid and platforms to jump around on. You will also have a pushblock puzzle and some demigods to shoot down. Unfortunately part of the gameplay consists of trial and error - guessing which switch you have to pull - and it is not a good thing to rely on the player's save abilities for your gameplay. It was also very short. As for objects, they are overall okay, but you will see spikes come out of thin air, oriented the wrong direction. The cameras, oh goodness all of those fixed cameras...they get very frustrating and you even have to deal with them in combat. The control system just does not work well like this. The texturing is actually pretty decent, and the lighting is well done. Overall a brief action level for a change of pace. Finished in 15 minutes." - SSJ6Wolf

"I really enjoyed this level. This builder definitely knows how to use those egypt textures and objects. The egypt textures are the TRA ones and I have to say that this builder textures the level very well. I loved it! The objects were egypt ones but TR4. There are no enemies in this level except for a Demigod and the level was mostly traps in different rooms. You need to pass a trap to enter the next room with another trap and so on. In the first few rooms you need to get ankh keys for later. In the big room against the Demigod I have to admit I wasn't a big fan of the camera angles there. I liked the camera angle in the block puzzle room though. A very enjoyable adventure which had good traps and puzzles. Recommended." - afzalmiah

"Run through a series of rooms/passages, picking up ankhs, avoiding boulders, spike traps and fire emitters, choosing which spiked floor levers to throw, solve a simple block puzzle and shoot a couple of demigods. It's approximately 20 minutes of fast paced action in a traditional Egyptian setting. It may not be all that challenging actually, but, provided you can overlook the frequent, irritating fixed camera angles and the relentlessly jolly music, it's entertaining enough." - Jay

"A level containing rooms with numerous puzzles and traps and a boss fight - demigod. All the puzzles and traps were great, the camera angles - too. The atmosphere was very TR4-ish. The textures were set very good, the lighting was player-friendly. I really enjoyed it and I recommended it to everyone who likes to deal with some traps." - misho98

"This level is a lot different to many others I've played. It involves running from room to room completing various tasks. The tasks themselves are fairly easy and took me 20 minutes overall. I think the biggest "wow" in this game is the lighting and textures which are well placed and give the game a more 3D effect. The use of cameras is also interesting and it's clear there had been a lot of experimentation. The music selection was good (although it's on a loop so it can get annoying) and it fitted the scenery perfectly. The game play was enjoyable and I think it's definitely worth a try for those who want a quick raid." - JaayStation

"This is a fairly linear progression from one room to the next, the challenges starting out as elementary and progressively becoming a little more involved (and more interesting, despite random lever choices), until Lara reaches a room where it is impossible to find a safe way to cross, no matter what tiles she jumps over. It finally dawned on me that this is the end of a short 20 minute adventure. The fixed cameras are frustrating, although I did enjoy an overhead shot, straight down, of Lara shooting a demigod until he falls flat on the floor. I turned down music volume to almost zero, and there is a flare bug at the end. Throughout this felt more like the author experimenting, rather than like a real challenge, but it certainly shows potential for the future." - dmdibl

"A very, very simple but still pleasant level of about 20 minutes. You get a sequence of linear tasks to accomplish, none of which is very challenging as such, but there is a certain diversity to them and the rooms look tidy, well structured, textured and lit. So yes, I did enjoy the trip as a nice diversion for in between. The author has experimented quite a bit with fixed camera angles. Most of them work well and more importantly, none of them is really annoying. Definitely worth a quick look." - MichaelP

"Fast-paced 15-minute level with lots of different areas and agility tests. This Egypt-themed level also could be situated anywhere in the world, as it plays like a training parcours (and obviously is). The rooms are nicely textured and lighted, but some areas were too dark and the flare-bug kicked in so these were not helpful here. There were a lot of traps in form of spikes, fire pillars; there were quite a few puzzles but most of them felt so easy - why not only putting the hints on the ceiling and not also on the floor? Also, one of the lever puzzles near the start was a little illogical as there was no hint to get it right (or at least it was incoherent to the other, more clear lever hints). The camera work is very nice in this level but the annoying background music caused me to turn off the audio soon. There only was one fight against a demigod so the ammo that can be found afterwards rather was unnecessary. All in all a nice little level but the action could be much more weighty." - manarch2

"Larafan25 is still learning and clearly he's just on the right track. This level feels like an updated version of the playable tutorial level that comes with the editor. You keep going ahead, solving different tasks in each room (few of which are based on a trial-error method, which I'm rather allergic to), concluding the level after well spent 15 minutes by placing the last remaining amulets. The fixed cameras are indeed quite nice and again they greatly show how enjoyable it is for Larafan25 to just experiment and toy. Except this time, it actually works and doesn't annoy you. What might possibly annoy you though is the weird music which keeps playing in loop until you finish the level. If its purpose was to push you into quickly going forward, it's definitely done its job right. The lighting and texturework are traditional, which doesn't make them bad by any means, but it also doesn't make them anything more than functional. Which is more than enough for the needs of this level. Larafan25, once you're done learning and are ready to really put your knowledge to practice while giving it your best, I'll be more than glad to be there and see it." - JayHannel