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The Land of the Snowmen by SnakeEater

Christian 7 8 7 7
DJ Full 5 8 7 5
dmdibl 7 8 7 8
Gerty 6 7 6 6
Jay 8 8 8 8
Jorge22 8 8 8 8
Jose 3 6 6 6
Josey 6 6 5 8
manarch2 8 8 6 5
mugs 7 8 5 7
Phil 9 9 8 8
Ryan 8 7 7 7
 
release date: 03-Dec-2012
# of downloads: 260

average rating: 7.00
review count: 12
 
review this level

file size: 29.80 MB
file type: TR4
class: Cold/Snowy
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
fischkingx@gmail.com

Reviewer's comments
"Would be chill if it wasn't a complete betatest failure. It's consistently easier to find a skip than intended way, I almost always played out of intended order, often backwards, and I found the finish trigger after only half of level discovered. Then it took me a couple of extra hours to discover the true way and of course I had to use the walkthrough (thanks Dutchy, thanks Gerty). Simply put, if you make make a difficult level you either iron such things out or it doesn't work, never, ever. To compare, Marcos's or OverRaider's levels are difficult but you have no chance to break them and go out of order. So I'm not gonna recommended this level right now but I will hope the author releases a fixed version someday. Also that day it should get some proper lighting and shading because in current form it's often impossible to see the ledges and you keep missing jumps all the time (300 deaths instead of 50?)." - DJ Full (30-Jul-2019)
"I made it, I made it! Yes, finally I crossed the finish trigger, congratulated by the snowmen and all. Don't misinterpret this as me being relieved it's over, though I did feel that the backtracking nature which makes up the majority of the gameplay somewhat outstayed its welcome a bit. There is plenty of creativity that's been spilled into this adventure, mainly the concept of retrieving the different coloured buckets and many of the tasks associated therein (mostly nothing too complicated although a couple of the pixel perfect jumps and the freezing water sequences were irritating) as well as the goodies you can obtain by collecting and using the purple buckets. The lighting is nicely done, but the textures were somewhat unattractive compared to this builder's latest release. Overall, this is an unbelievably lengthy raid (around 2 and a quarter hours), so it's not really one to be played on your lunch/coffee break, but it offers an involving time for those who can handle it." - Ryan (06-Jan-2018)
"I lost my way so many times that I started to dislike this level. The hunt is on for quite a lot of buckets, as the different snowmen needed them. Too much back and fro over a huge distance is not my idea of fun. Rooms are very boxy and I could use some more clues to steer me in the right direction." - Gerty (11-Aug-2013)
"One of the worst gameplays I've seen lately. A very huge area you can explore wasting some hours to find always closed doors or missed items. Evenmore, when you find something and place it, there's not a camera showing you the action in very far places; finally when you get there you discover you miss something more and backtracking again. Also there are some very nasty jumps to test your patience like in the slope (cave with big hole) or near the end to get the last blue bucket or grab the ladder to go back up. There are few enemies and textures are often monotonous placed in very big surfaces the same way. A level to forget only playable if you follow the walkthrough." - Jose (24-Apr-2013)
"I feel like I've been eaten by snakes! But, yes, I've made it to the end, saluted by the snowmen with buckets on their heads and all... Great things: the level shows creativity - not only in the use of the buckets but in a much more global manner - and it will shut up everyone who keeps complaining the levels are getting too dark. Or too easy (which is something incomprehensible)! Not so great: the textures seem a bit too simple and sometimes too large as in beginners levels. Less than great: it does get too confusing mainly due to the total or almost total lack of clues throughout and it has plenty of sadistic touches, well spread along the adventure, alright. As a final comment, it is recommended indeed if you arm yourself with a lot of patience and in that case it'll be well worth it. Looking forward for something a bit more player-friendly." - Jorge22 (13-Jan-2013)
"A hunting for buckets in very large, hughe areas with often unclear ways to go. More hints could have been helpful. But all in all the tasks that have to be done to finally reach the exit is very well thought out - looking back to this game a concept becomes visible. Some of these tasks were definitly callenging. I've always liked the concept of searching for secret-keys (here: purple buskets) that can be used in special rooms, where the player can decide what extra equipment he/she prefers. This concept is realesed here very well. The mentioned large areas are built in a quite monotone way. The environmet is not that convincing as we saw in the author's previous work. Quite a complex game!" - Christian (31-Dec-2012)
"This level is orders of magnitude more complex than the builder's maiden release. Even with Dutchy's meticulous and well-crafted walkthrough, I spent an astounding two and a half hours here. The concept is quite clever, and the execution has been thought out with care. Since I had the walkthrough I wasn't concerned with camera clues, but I felt that the overall ambiance had a crude "feel" and was not as pleasing to the eyes as the tropical environment of Treasure Island. Still, this builder shows a remarkable grasp of the way this game is intended to be played, and I look forward with eagerness to his upcoming releases. The only potentially game-stopping moment for me came near the very end where I had a devil of a time making that jump to the pillar with the blue bucket. I finally got there with persistence, so I'm able to recommend this level with considerable enthusiasm. In my opinion the scores registered to date do not give a reliable indicator of the excellent gameplay presented here." - Phil (20-Dec-2012)
"It was quite difficult to play this game to the end; if you MUST have an absolute absence of camera hints or something like that, the results of an action should at least happen in the same location of this action, and not in another place, sometimes quite remote, that apparently has nothing to do with it! But at least the lighting is good and there are some good challenges too, as a very tricky jump to a blue bucket and a very difficult sequence in a hole filled with deathly cold water. Play it, but mind my warning: use the walkthrough." - Josey (18-Dec-2012)
"This is the largest single level I've played in a whole while, with about 1:45 hours spent in here. The main goal is to provide a myriad of snowmen with fitting different coloured buckets, and I liked all those texture hints that give some interesting information about what is about to come. The tasks in this level are quite varied and there are lots of quirky ideas, most of them fun and entertaining, others a bit obscure (most of the block puzzles, for example), but the good work outweights the few issues I had. While I found texturing to be less elaborate with lots of wallpapered and streched walls and monotonous areas, a lot of object helped to get the atmosphere right. Unfortunately nearly all actions missed camera hints, especially those where backtracking across the whole map is required (might lead to total stuck moments for hours, but I somehow never got stuck for that long), and the few where hints are given were corrupted by the split-second camera bug. Sound choice is also rather uninspired with only a couple of TR 4 tracks used that didn't fit so much to the snowy environment. What I liked very much was the clever secret system where you have to decide which items to get when using the purple buckets on different doors - a really good idea in my opinion. Unluckily one secret doesn't register because there are two triggers for the same secret number; the few SAS didn't fit that nicely to the environment and the sentrygun wasn't dangerous at all but I liked the few other enemies really much (snow leopards, yetis, the bird monster) enhancing the TR 2 spirit in this level. All in all a level that certainly doesn't appeal to all players gameplaywise (and surely even less when it comes to visuals), but I still had quite a lot of fun with it and I think the builder showed a lot of potential with this level. With a little more tweaking, I think his next could be Hall of Fame stuff, really - so this level is a good example how narrow the border between a great level and a mediocre one is." - manarch2 (09-Dec-2012)
"At first I thought this would be much better than the author's nice debut level. There is charming play with Lara searching for buckets to place on top of snowmen, and a large icy seasonal landscape. As Lara explores she finds various halls or areas protected by locked doors, and overhead are signs such as "Crystal Cave" or "Labyrinth," and often a picture of the reward to be found in that section. The ideas here are really quite good, so I was greatly looking forward to play. But this is way too hard, given the author's degree of accomplishment with the level editor. The author readme states that there may be a shortage of medipacks, and pretty soon players find that damaging cold water can wipe out every medipack that Lara has, and this in a thirty meter swim. I found five secret purple buckets, and I used each one to convert to a medipack--that is, save game, use bucket at "Secret Hall" and check goodies, if no medipack, reload game and unlock another of the seven secret doors until Lara gets a medipack. Even with extra goodies, Lara ended the game with one small medipack and one large medipack, which is cutting it thin. The cold water swims deal too much damage. In my game, the only time there was a real screenshot was after defeating Big Bird Monster, when Lara uses a lever and a flyby camera sweeps down and shows a door opening. At other critical places there is either no camera clue at all, or else there is a several millisecond flash for a camera shot, as level editor settings are incorrect. I thought play started out fine with Lara doing Crystal Caves, and doing multiple drops in the Great Hole, and even finding secrets. But after a while I realized that Lara had thrown a number of levers, and that I didn't have a clue what a single one of those levers had done. Thus there is no indication where Lara should be headed next, and this is a very large area. (Too large. When Lara is outside in the main starting area, I couldn't even count on making pillar jumps because of jerky screen lag. When she is inside the animations are smooth again.) Then Lara enters Yeti House (which could have used a placard to identify it), to discover two pushable ledge vases, and no indication where they should go. Personally, I thought that Lara should have gotten the crowbar, and hence revolver, much sooner since there are targets in the landscape to contend with. There is now a walkthrough to ease the pain of navigating here, but it came out too late for me. A walkthrough shouldn't be a replacement for cameras and other needed clues, but with it players should have a nice experience. I think the author plans to have future levels beta tested by players, so I look forward to the next release." - dmdibl (09-Dec-2012)
"Well, it's not an Advent level as such (there are definitely enemies around), but it certainly is seasonally appropriate with the pleasant snow filled areas and snowmen everywhere. Find different coloured buckets is the order of the day, some as secrets to open doors to goodies and some to visit different areas, carry out an assortment of tasks and meet a variety of baddies (guards, ahmets, yetis etc). The gameplay is nicely rounded and mainly quite achievable, although one pixel perfect jump near the end is certainly not for the inexperienced player. I had fun with it." - Jay (07-Dec-2012)
"In the end, Lara was left scratching her head wondering what she was doing in this land of snowmen. And believe me, by the time she reaches the end she's practically bald. This game is challenging at best. The level was built without camera clues which SnakeEater has said would make the game too easy. Poppycock. Instead of focusing on the challenges of gameplay the player becomes bogged down in mindlessly running around a vast venue looking for changes that might have occurred from the flipping of switches or "bucketing" the snowmen. The idea behind this game is really quite inventive and has the potential for loads of fun. As it stands, the player must find colored buckets to place on snowmen in order to gain access to various rooms. There are some bugs and texture issues associated with the gameplay that testing could have resolved. I'm hoping SnakeEater's next venture will be a little better developed and you can bet I'll be playing because this builder has loads of potential!" - Mugs (06-Dec-2012)