Level reviews

"Despite the title and the similar opening area, this is a wholly unique experience set in the VCI environment. It's not for the faint of heart either as Lara's health is down to a minimum, so while stealth is pretty much a joke within the original TR engine, the author has given you a very powerful weapon which is capable of taking down most enemies with one shot, you just need to shoot first. I mean, you're also going around and triggering explosions and very loud music to attract guards, so I guess from the get-go this was going to go Lara's way. The only point at which this became a nuisance was at the end when two harpies (dressed as Natla) are attracted to the Lara holograms (which, for some reason, replace the golden double from Cleopatra's palaces) so you get your whole health drained in half a second without even realizing — you need to use your precious healing item at the right time and then dispatch both harpies before they get a chance to strike again. Took a few tries. My biggest issue was the lingering darkness, although I really enjoyed the night rain setting with the other massive buildings around. 55 minutes, 4 secrets. 10/25" - Treeble

"I think gameplay is the strongest factor here. It makes a proper infiltration level, maybe except from showing places we're never meant to care about yet which suggest the opposite. It has immersion although the faulty sounds do their worst to break it, so don't play if you are a connoisseur, an audiophile, or LoreRaider. Recommended, oof my ears..." - DJ Full

"The general construction of this rather hectic and lengthy VCI level is incredibly solid and definitely surpasses the look of the original in terms of the sleek lighting and texturing, and some of the objects are also used to great effect (the bobbing head statue and some of the custom weaponry). But the most annoying and weak part is the gameplay which often has huge difficulty spikes in some areas which combined with some other questionable design choices like the lack of medipacks, the very tight laser traps, the awfully tricky poisoned gas room and the enemy placement and HP, caused me to become too ill-disposed towards this level. I know the revolver ammo is unlimited, but when the enemies come at you in droves, it becomes tedious to have to replay sections to conserve your precious medipacks every time. The boss fight was actually and enjoyable addition, but the preceding harpy fight was again too difficult. Maybe I've ranted enough about the enemies, so I'll mention that the secrets were very nicely placed although I couldn't access the final one legally. My overall impression is that while I do enjoy a moderate challenge, this just strayed into expert/unfair territory far too much for my liking." - Ryan

"I didn't like TR5 VCI levels, but I wanted to have a look at this custom one. I must say I'm not disappointed, as there are many good ideas here that have already spoted by other reviwers. You're immediatly in the right atmosphere, lighting is done well for that, even with no sun. You're facing many lasers - some hard to overtake -, enemies that damage you very quickly - fortunately you have unlimited powerful ammos -, and a memorable poison room that requires you to think a bit before running like crazy. Thus, there are many spots to take your breath. The downside is that you have very few medipacks which I presume is a choice of the builder, in order to make the level much more intense. I finished this level with Lara's lifebar almost to zero. Phew ! I did it ! So, a good level for players who like some challenge but not too much. Recommended." - LarangL

"I found this to be a very impressive hour long VCI adventure. In hindsight the gameplay is not actually all that unique or special. It focuses largely on what you would expect in a VCI Level: avoiding lasers, pulling switches, finding cards, crawling through ducts and so on. But with many small creative touches, this game draws you in and makes you become a part of it. Not all of these touches work perfectly. For example I could not get the fourth secret and at some point in time my big medipacks disappeared and a new one found could not actually be used, but despite those glitches the came can easily be finished and enjoyed in full. I really liked the ambient audio choices as they added to the drama really well - unfortunately then there are also passages where it is strangely quiet. All in all, I think a rather underappreciated Level that deserves more attention from the community than the few reviews it has to date." - MichaelP

"Well, this could be a really nice level. I saw many good things about it, but there were many bad too. I faced many bugs. Also, the gameplay was good at the beginning, but it got a bit monotonous. Also, many times there were no cameras to show you what the levers do. On the other habd, the textures and the lighting were nice. I believe this author has skills, but needs to pay more attention." - Rainmaker

"Well, in this game I found a true contradiction. On one hand all the story and the atmosphere is pretty good, the new movements do perfectly fit the context, the surroundings are well decorated and puzzles are not that hard (sometimes a bit tricky, but that is all). On the other hand there were so many bugs and problems that I hardly found the spirit to finish it. I don't really know if I am the only one, as nothing was found in the forum. However, the difficulty of the game may have made it not very playable. First of all, when the savegames were loaded you had to press "escape" before being able to do anything, as the screen appeared black (I know you already warn us in the ReadMe file, but it is still a big fail). It madde impossible to save the game when you were grabbing edges or in the pole. Also the binoculars seemed to desappear from the inventory once you have used them. Some parts can be (somehow) skipped (I did not need to do the whole harpy part at the end, as I could easily take the Iris with be without beeing burnt). There was a bug in the pole of the elevator that did not allow you to pull up again, as the got stuck with it an makes you fall to your death. Apart from all this mistakes that should be taken into account next time, the challenges were entertaining. You only had to give it a little thougth before performing any movement to get to success. Having different guns was cool, and the enemies killing you so fast opened a completely new horizon in these games. Although it makes it more difficult when several enemies as the aim is automatic . So, to sum up the level itself is great, but next time be a bit more careful about the details because they are important and sometimes can make the player get exasperated. Thanks for your hard work!" - Minaru

"It's not a bad level, it's a hard one. You start with no health-packs and the enemies can easily kill you with a few shots. There aren't hard puzzles, the enemies are the hardest thing in this game. The bit with the Lara statues was pretty hard for me because I didn't had enough health-packs and Lara kept aiming at the statues. It was fun though. The objects were set nicely, secrets were too easy to find. The Atmosphere was perfect, I love VCI-styled levels. The sound was quite boring, not much variety. There were some cameras at key spots. Lighting and textures are the highest point of the level - they're simply perfect. Only the lighting is quite dark at some spots, but I decided not to downrate it. Took me about an hour, I was very satisfied when I finished it. Recommended for expert players." - misho98

"Well, I happen to like base/VCI levels and thought this one was rather well accomplished. I must say after the entire grand finale most of it has escaped from my mind, but that's the general impression. The start (starting to remember now) seems to take you to the official VCI but soon you notice it's rather different and gets even more different as you move along. The toughest in this are a few of the enemies (some kind of mutants, altered harpies and a sort of the mechanical head from the Rome levels) coupled with too few medipacks at times, especially in the end. I also find a huge glitch somewhere but I'm sorry, I can't remember what it was anymore - like something reappearing after having been killed or destroyed, something like that, if you saved. The thing is the game as a whole is very challenging and a thrill to play. Recommended." - Jorge22

"This starts well, but turns out to be buggy. Lara sneaks into VCI headquarters as in Chronicles, with exploration through shafts, contending with an out-of-order elevator, and shooting guards and robots. There are poison corridors, but all Lara has to do is hop into a depression or get on top crates to breathe nontoxic air. I had trouble figuring out the route, so on this replay used Phil's thorough walkthrough to untangle things and quicken the pace. At one point there is an invisible card reader, but the walkthrough states this glitch has been fixed in later versions. The main irritant is spotty darkness and a sparsity of flares. I thought that Lara began with a headset (binoculars), but somehow those disappear. The laser sight isn't a substitute, as Lara can't look down, for then her head blocks any view. I wasn't enchanted with fixed camera angles, or with Lara's arthritic old-lady walking animation. Near the conclusion Lara needs only to get a keycode to pick up the Iris to end. Forum posts suggest that a few players skipped this part, and finished without ever using the keycode, which must give a different view of the level. The author placed two Lara statues; then two Sophia harpies attack the statues with strikes that drain 95% health from real Lara. It is hard to target the harpies as Lara prefers to aim at statues of herself. I replayed and replayed this to survive the harpy attacks and brings them down with the HK. Part of the frustration is that the shortcut key for large medipacks doesn't work. Strike "9" repeatedly, and Next Generation thinks that frantic key presses are an error. In a recent cold-water level, and here, I had to press Escape, and select large medipack from inventory for Lara to survive. After the ordeal Lara gets the first half of a keycode. Then she battles a head creature with evil eyes, something I've played twice, as in She. Here the game crashed repeatedly. Lara tries to shake off beetles by hanging in a hole and the level crashed. Or Lara targets the evil-eyed creature, and every time she zooms the laser sight the level crashed. I kept going back to earlier savegames, replaying parts. Sometimes in the battle room the creature only has to power up for the level to crash. At last, any attempt to restart the level gave a fatal error display. I couldn't even use Setup without getting a crash report. I suspect that some irritation should be directed at Next Generation as it has never been anywhere near as stable as TREP levels. I'm sure the author had high hopes for this." - dmdibl

"I found this to be quite an invigorating level. I used the builder's video walkthrough and the stuck thread posts to gain insights into his train of thought as I made my way through the VCI complex. The later version I played must have addressed some of the issues raised in the stuck thread, as I found everything to be quite orderly and well constructed. I saw little resemblance to the gameplay encountered in the 13th Floor level of TR5; everything here was fresh and new to me. The lighting was well balanced, with darkness in the places you'd expect to be dark, and well lighted in other areas. If there were any bugs here (other than a closed door leading to the fourth and final secret, which I was able to access anyway), I didn't experience them. This, by the way, is one of the main reasons I don't rush to join the stampede to play a level immediately upon its release. My philosophy is to wait a bit, let others iron out the kinks and perhaps prompt a revised version, and then enjoy a more polished product. I believe that paid off in this case. High recommendations." - Phil

"This kind of level (VCI) is not what I prefer but I must admit that the adventure is exciting, the author showed a lot of imagination and the gameplay is very good. There are some very difficult passages that I did not succeed alone but hey, each manufacturer has his style and it would be absurd to punish him for that. Decoration, but the level is impeccable, the atmosphere made ​​here is excellent. Congratulations to the author for this great job." - Daffy

"Good remake of TR5 where Lara is in search of the Iris in a secured building. I'm not a fan of the original VCI level but I liked atmosphere here. The lighting and texturing are perfect. Musics are really well chosen, with soundtracks from Metal Gear Solid 1. Many original ideas in this level: Lara increases her life with chocolate bars/McDonalds^^, or Lara's clones puzzles. Some new moves including a new walking animation. Good use of TRNG features like an addeffect with the lamp, or the mirror room on the floor ... However, Lara is damaged quickly and we don't have many medipacks ... Some difficults moments, for example the poison room with air vents to prevent asphixia. Good use of the title level where we see Lara down a rope at the beginning, and a credit level where Lara tries to escape. Approximately 1 hour of game for me. Very promising french builder. Good job! 9/9/10/10" - m.julien

"Obviously a lot of work went into this game, and it clearly shows as this is a nothing but huge single level about an hour long with lots of TR 5 and custom objects and enemies that partly were really great, as the green yeti-like creature, the robots which are now mortal and a lot of other nostalgia elements thrown in this level. The graphics do not much stand behind those - great texturing throughout with good even if partly too dark lighting. The builder has done well to create a nice atmosphere with quite a few intriguing flybys, nice sounds and a few dialogues with Zip that support the storyline well. But there is also not much to say in terms of gameplay, I am sorry, but I found this game somewhat tedious and wanted it to finish soon; add to this a few very overly sneaky and buggy tasks (the invisible card slot that thanks to the builder should be fixed now; new moves making life partially very hard while avoiding the millions of lasers; especially the boss fight room was really bad as Lara kept dying all the way because she has a too short health bar and is too vulnerable for the Sophia harpies). The few puzzles in this level were not really ingenious - rather obscure - as the poison room, the pushable puzzle and (again) the boss room puzzle with throwing two levers in a room full of partly invisible lasers and scarab swarms to activate the boss. In the end it still was a nice game due to the overall appearance and there were a lot of things that you simply have to admire, but for me it really was not the gameplay experience. Found two of the four secrets." - manarch2

"A pain that all this effort from a good builder can't be enjoyed for more players around the world. I say this 'cause the environment has a very good look, enemies and objects the same, well builded and placed, there are some interesting tasks and fresh ideas... At this moment, few days after the releasing, only three EXPERT PLAYERS have reviewed the level in trle.net. We'll see after a month... I found some extremely difficult tasks, above all in the poison rooms where you arrive with very few medipacks or without medipacks (why so few medipacks in all game?) and I found impossible to do the tasks in time without losing health. The invisible slot to place the card was another bad detail (thanks to the forum members!), and near the end... Even vimmers got many problems with this single level! If you like to build only for a bunch of gurus around the world, of course, it's your choice; but in the future I'll read the comments first in case this builder releases another level; if I see it's something like this, I'll never play it." - Jose

"The 13th Floor 9/9/9/9 This is an entertaining 'reinvention' of Lara's official adventure in search of the Iris. I'm not always a big fan of VCI type levels, but when they're well done, as this is, they can be very good indeed. I must say I very much appreciated picking up 'unlimited' revolver ammo right at the start of the game - considering how few medipacks are available throughout the level, it really does help to be able to deal with enemies promptly. All the necessary ingredients are firmly in place - guards, the occasional robot, laser traps galore (a couple of which really take some mastering) and the inevitable crawling through air ducts. There are also interesting additions such as a poisonous atmosphere room, where Lara encounters a couple of weird looking enemies and a deadly laser trap for good measure. I found some of the gameplay especially tricky owing to the fact that my savegames would not load properly until I pressed the esc button, which made saving impossible in certain circumstances, but I struggled through somehow. I don't think I finished the game in the intended way, but couldn't seem to trigger events to do so. All in all, the game does seem to be a big buggy but still a must-play for fans of the genre." - Jay

"This is definitely his own version - it's very different in some parts. The atmosphere is quite different to that of the original as it's darker and has more depth to the gameplay, there seems to be the best elements of TR Angel of darkness, combined with the best of TR5, to create something quite unique. The title flyby is better too, with high rise blocks and Angel of darkness theme tune. An annoying sound seems to play throughout the level - sounds like TR4 Temple of Horus level. Texturing is professional, my favourite is the shiny floor room with large gate, and lighting is really draws you into the level, all areas lit correctly and with plenty of depth, not just the same lighting everywhere. Plenty of new objects used, and I like Lara's new animations e.g. sneaking around a corner (room with lasers). The first part of the level to your left, has been expanded significantly, there's plenty of lasers to challenge you, and they don't set you on fire so are more realistic, then some baddies, they don't disappear when they die. Lara seems to die herself quite easily so is quite a challenge. There's a distinct lack of medipacks unfortunately. There's some gas and toxic water to keep you moving too. Tasks to begin with are straightforward, press or pull some switches and eliminate baddies, and avoid said traps, and open trapdoors. Then we have a challenging bit with a lift, a chain, lasers and shimmy, before a climb, a wall switch and turn light on in a very luxurious looking office, even has skirting boards to add that extra realistic effect. Don't jump out the window or you'll be in for nasty surprise. Anyway, more switches, crowbar door opening, baddies, and finally you raise a block to open a trapdoor. Now you get to turn off the power! I wouldn't have thought the electricians would've designed a lever to short circuit the fan, but still, the effect is pretty impressive. A rope swing is next, this seems to allow Lara to swing through the wall (I know about this bug myself), and it seems it takes a lot of effort if you reload whilst on the rope to get into the space opposite, and in this crawlspace, there's a laser - you must complete this bit in one go, it's impossible if not done correctly. You can choose 2 alternate routes here - one is an office with baddies and machine gun, and a nice panorama of the city, and the other is a lift shaft, both lead to the same place, followed in quick succession by more lasers, steam, baddies, and lightning. There's a pass card hidden discreetly in some brightly coloured water - couldn't possibly miss that then...Then you place a record on a record player with little effect, and a pushable block is placed on a square which causes guns to explode, then some baddies appear. The square the block is placed upon is difficult to miss. More lasers and air ducts, and some robots come out of their hiding place, you have to defeat these but they're quite fun and easy. Once done, there's a good explosive setting off sequence, just avoid being too close! More excitement with a timed raising block, then eventually you end up back at the start! Fun begins here! You must get past some lasers, open a door, whilst attempting not to shoot explosive switches - there's a replica of you in a room which causes you harm if shot at, then we have a poisoned area. All the following has to be done monitoring your poison health bar - open a door with a plug, kill some strange looking yeti like creatures, push some blocks, place CD in workstation, pull jump switch. There's an invisible slot where you put a card, this should be visible - many players got stuck here - just bad gameplay. A bit of shimmying, setting of explosions, and avoiding more lasers, then you find what you came for - the Iris. I was able to pick this up without being harmed - is that right? I finished the level after some baddies attack, then there's a very professional credit roll, with flyby of dark cityscape. I guess the bug free - but almost impossible way - of completing it is pulling a few switches, avoiding some steam - this stuff is toxic and quite unfair since your life bar continues to drain when you move away from it, watch a strange flying creature - tries to fire at you but misses you, trigger some Lara doubles, then try to press some switches but more flying creatures attack the doubles and Lara dies - you can't shoot them in time either as she loses all her health when one of them touches her. You have to pick up the 2 notepads to make a pass code, one of them is easy, the other is under an object which looks like it's from TR5 Rome - the eyes have to be shot out of the head. In conclusion, this is a moderately difficult level and there's a lot of crawling through air ducts and avoiding lasers. Texturing if very sleek and sexy, and soulless - plenty of marble, and hi tech metallic texturing, lighting and sound are better than the average VCI style level with a brief outdoor area, lighting especially is very thoroughly done in some rooms with very rich effects and colour schemes. I do like some of the objects in this game, e.g. large switches, record player, smashed window, push blocks and baddies. Quite a few bugs make an appearance, such as flashing screen, odd rope swing through wall animation, and there's some dead ends and difficult bits. I love the choice of unlimited revolver ammo - my favourite weapon. Net gameplay 1 hour 45." - sonnyd83

"The Core Design original didn't impress me much,and this is unfortunately no different.First off,it has to be said that the texturing is absolutely immaculate and has been painstakingly applied.The construction is full of detail and imagination;while lighting is skilfully used and really helps to create an atmosphere,out of the somewhat sterile office surroundings.Objects are generally used well (the final Boss is extremely nasty and reminiscent of the equivalent foe in the previous two levels by this author);but where oh where are the medi-packs? I picked up four in the entire level,and you need a heck of a lot more than that in order to reach the Finish Trigger without getting a multitude of grey hairs.By the far the weakest point is the Gameplay,which is generally very difficult (especially the author's obsessive use of lasers in narrow corridors);often unfair (an impossible to discern Key receptacle);sometimes inexplicable (what did that whole sequence with the record player actually achieve?) and frequently hateful (the pushable objects in the poisoned gas room).A challenge for the player is a worthy and necessary objective,but this is just too frustrating overall and(like so many other levels)aimed squarely at the more expert player.A shame,then;as the standard of technical ability on the part of the builder is extremely high.I'm hoping that his next level will bring back the enjoyment that was evident in 'Valek Ruins'." - Orbit Dream