Level reviews

"I slid this one quickly as other reviewers suggested it was short, but I found nowhere as many grievances as some of my peer players did. I mean, sure, pushblock puzzle and cold water, but at this point in time that's pretty much just tuesday (and I can think of many other overused features which are far more annoying in my opinion, even in their original inception in the official TR4 levels). The timed run literally took me two tries (and one small medipack). Not a bad level but nothing to write home about, that's probably the issue, but then again so many levels fit that description. 15 minutes, 2 secrets. 12/23" - Treeble

"Boxy rooms with blocky geometry, often wallpapered and sometimes stretched textures, and no effective lighting (default ambience with shadowbulbs; and when you enter the outside area, bright lights which drain all contrast away). Objects eclectically compiled from India and from Catacombs, plus a US soldier, a Peru wolf, a couple of Christian crosses, and nothing at all pertaining to Tibet. I can't say I'm a fan of the translucent and pointlessly colourful plants either, or of those giant crystals. It's fair to say that the builder does not represent his chosen setting in a realistic manner. The two flybys go on for far too long, pass through solid floors and are not useful (except, as manarch says, for demonstrating that the builder can create them). A few samples are missing (Lara_Holster), while the spikebags can be heard throughout a much larger part of the level than necessary. The secrets don't chime (but they do register, Phil), and water textures don't animate. There are draw distance issues, at least one illegal slope (in the final room), and a floating platform that could just as well have been connected to a ledge. And what about that rose which you cannot pluck and which serves no conceivable purpose? This level has issues.
And yet. When it comes to gameplay, I think the level is a tad underrated. Sure, it's short, but is that necessarily a bad thing? The timed run certainly looks daunting at first glance, and it's by no means a walk in the park, but it turns out to be entirely feasible (it should take half a dozen, maybe ten attempts until you figure out how you have to move; I can't believe eRIC thought it necessary to cheat his way through it). The pushable puzzle, on the other hand, may not be much of a challenge; but it is a veritable puzzle in the TR2 vein: you have to build a bridge with crates so you can move another crate across it towards an opening in the ceiling. This does take some time, but I didn't consider it quite as tedious as some make it out to be. What about the freezing water? Would it help at all if you thought of it as a timed task, MichaelP? You have to deal with it on only two occasions anyway. On the first, you probably can't avoid losing some health (the builder was considerate enough to place a large medipack nearby, but it would have been better to move the alcove with the key a little closer to the bank instead), while the second shouldn't pose a problem. The background audio, about the lack of which some reviewers complain, has apparently be restored at some point.
I do, however, have a complaint of my own. It regards the distribution of keys. At one point I had three of them in my inventory and thought I must be missing out on a large part of the level; either that or I would find myself stuck in short order, having perhaps taken an unintended turn without using any one of them. You acquire two of these keys long before you need them, and in case you miss either you'll find yourself in a bit of a pickle as you approach the finish line. It may be possible to go back and retrieve them, but that's hardly what one would call appealing gameplay, now is it. Still, while the builder has quite a few miles ahead of him when it comes to aesthetics (in particular, I'd urge him to cut down on his eclecticism), the gameplay in this is more solid than many reviews led me to expect. Not a barnburner by any means, but entirely playable." - Mulf

"This could have been a brisk and fairly enjoyable level lasting around 20 minutes, but unfortunately there were a few builder design choices that severely diminished whatever enjoyment I may have derived from it. The surroundings are rather uninspiring and crude, but those will be the least of your problems. You also have two long and completely unnecessary flybys (seeing as the areas they show cannot be accessed), too many vases that don't offer any pickups when shot, a pushable puzzle that was a bit tedious to execute, freezing water (never a favourite gameplay element of mine) and a timed run that will likely be a bit too tight for most players to conquer in a reasonable number of attempts. Not that fun for me, sadly." - Ryan

"This is rather short, although there are some parts that I liked, like the timed run and escaping the icy water before you freeze to death. Flybys don't show anything important. There's an easy pushblock 'puzzle', there are few enemies and your objective is to find a couple of keys. Some areas looked nice, though." - alan

"This level was very short which isnt always necessarily a bad thing, the timed run in this game was actuallyof my favourite timed runs in any TRLE i have played so far, this timed run actually gave me a challenge and i like that, I dont like it when timers are too easy and this one is not only hard it can result in death if you are not careful. However main thing to work on is the textures and lack of enemies." - JoeTheCrazyGamer

"Nothing remarkable in this short level except the very tight and nasty timed run with spiked bags at the end and move some crates to get high to the upper floor; the cold harmful waters and a couple of enemies near the end were not enough to make this level enjoyable; a level with simple architecture, monotonous texturization, empty rooms and flybies which don't show you anything. Sorry, but not recommended." - Jose

"I still don't like the icy waters and even if it is a rather short level I almost chucked it several times as it was lagging so much on my machine. Too many grassy plants in the last part of the level. The whole game was a bit strange and didn't make much sense to me. Eclectic use of textures also that could have been better applied. Also a very nasty timed run I couldn't make. Sorry but it just wasn't my sort of fun game." - Gerty

"Not how to rate this short Tibetan raid appropriately. The first thing that comes to mind is : a bit strange. Like the use or placement of objects. Lighting is pleasant , but walls segmenting and texturing is lazy , the author can do better as sometimes you can see that walls are segmented as they should. What has to be done is rather easy and/or uneventful , except for a timed door for masochists, I must admit I used the enabled dozy to pass this. What about the end ? Lara opens a door to the black end of the world ? Anyway the author has at least tried to come up with some originality[19 minutes]" - eRIC

"I was after quick litte fun level and tried my luck with this offering, but apart from being quick at about 20 minutes it was really anything but fun. I can ignore the rather boxy rooms and sometimes mixed texturing, but there was just too many things that are annoying to a player: a red rose that you cannot pick up, two long flybys that are not actually showing anything that you have not already seen, plenty of vases to shoot but nothing inside of them, freezing water (hate it - always) and to top it all off a timed run that even the most seasoned raiders will have trouble with and a fairly tedious (obvious) push block puzzle. Then you get a series of keys and levers, two quick enemies at the end and it is all over. Not really recommended, sorry..." - MichaelP

"I noticed that this level didn't have a walkthrough, so I played it to remedy that shortcoming. I won't say I'm sorry I did so, but even with the extra exploration that writing a walkthrough entails, I spent only a half hour here. Everything is fairly predictable, but I never had that feeling of crudeness that often accompanies one's early efforts. I'm not sure how players managed to accomplish legally that timed run past the swinging spike bags. After a number of unsuccessful attempts I finally just flew around them so I could progress. Another second or two would have made a big difference. If there were any secrets here, I managed to miss them all. I encourage the builder to continue honing his skills so that his future efforts will result in a more well-rounded playing experience." - Phil

"Gameplay concerns a lot of ascending, what is always good, some damage rooms what is bad and a timed run what is interesting. For puzzles, we can typically open doors and use keys. Enemies are one leopard (or wolf, I can't remember) and a soldier. Objects are a weird mixture of catacomb, Tibetan and crystal. Secrets are standard pickups and not that useful. Atmosphere isn't immersive, but I give one point for the thing contains snow and resembles mountains. Sound is partially missing, however many non- default tracks are included, which is apparently the strongest point of the game. Cameras are several, but rather pointless, and one of them is misleading, pointing at ledges which access to players shouldn't waste time for at all, as nothing's up there. Lighting customization is limited to a single, dark pit, but at least we can see something, thus two points. And the final two for texturing, which is no more, no less than average. SUMMARY: Optional, yet showing some hidden potential, for the concept is good, only lacking a bit of execution. Next time it might be better, what I wish the author, apart from happy Easter." - DJ Full

"And yet again, we see another release from Ray Croft only a mere month after his last one, with seemingly nothing improved whatsoever(beyond a further understanding of TRNG features and the fact you can actually call custom items something other than 'LOAD' for a change.) So expect the same old wallpapered texture problems, the same old big empty boxy rooms, the fly cheat is still available to use etc, only in Tibet. If you expected to see a better presentation from the builder in this release, then you've definitely come to the wrong place- 1/10" - Ceamonks890

"This level is quite messy. I haven't played any levels from this author so I can't judge if there is some improvements or not. The environment design is just bad ! I don't have the feeling of being in Tibet or anything similar. There is a lack of some basic TRLE features. Using a feature called ˝smooth floor˝ would make ground look so much better and more natural. A note for the author: Don't start building right after this one a new project ... take some time and read the official TRLE manual. You will learn so much and your levels will look 300% better. There is not much to say about this level. The lighting is under avarage and textures are mostly weird, stretched and wrong applied. It's just wrong to make one part of the wall climbable and the others not who have the same texture. How should the player know where Lara can climb or not ? I must say that I think I saw the most terrible flyby sequence I have ever seen in a custom level ! It's like the camera was drunk ! Showing the same room over and over again is not a clever Idea, especially if there are so many mistakes in the building. Also, it's supposed to be something like an open area and the player is supposed to explore, so you should remove all EASY ACCESSIBLE illegal slope." - MpGrill

"I can see an improvement in this authors work, but I feel this wouldnt have been the case if I had not tested his level, and suggested improvements, some of which have not been carried out, such as the stretched and shrunken textures throughout the level. The texturing is not all that bad to be honest, it does have the feel of Tibet, and plenty of variety of textures are used and they compliment each other nicely, still very wallpapered in some places though. The snowy grass, ice crystals and a couple of crosses are the only real objects here but are appropriate, although the crosses may be not. The background sound was missing which wasnt the case during testing, it did sound very pleasant when testing with the wind blowing through the mountains. The main elements of gameplay are very simple - finding some keys whilst swimming through ice cold water, a timed run through swinging bags, pushable block puzzles, and a lot of climbing. I did enjoy this level as it was quite simple and quite old school in appearance, but it still needs quite a bit of work doing and should have been released a week later. It took me 20 minutes to complete." - sonnyd83

"Whilst this twenty minute level is far from a masterpiece, it is possible to see a definite improvement from the builder's previous levels, so that really must be applauded. The look of the level is not unpleasant with its pretty, snowy foliage, but a lack of ambient sounds did detract from the atmosphere somewhat. Apart from one really rather tight timed run, the gameplay here is quite simple, with just a few enemies, levers to throw, keys to find, a couple of simple box puzzles and deadly icy water to brave." - Jay

"Unlike most of the other reviewers, I didn't have the feeling this level was an improvement versus the builder's previous game. Even though some rooms were acceptable in their design, most of the areas are rather unrealistic with odd geometry, oversized and/or too squaric rooms, often wallpapered (and still too many misplaced) textures and bland lighting. I completely missed enemies but in one situation the end of the level, which was quite a shock and rather well done. The flybys are rather well done but since they all present some areas we either don't have to explore or where progression is rather obvious, they add rather little to the progression and only function as a proof of the builder's ability to create flybys. Gameplaywise there is not much to speak of; the dives in cold water are still annoying as you will loose health, the few pushable exercises are not very imaginativ and the rest of the game is all about finding the next lever or keyhole, and thus not very exciting; the sole highlight was the timed run over a walkway with some swimming spike bags. All in all I have the distinct feeling the builder should spend much more time creating his levels, more caring for a reasonable architecture, texturing and lighting, as this is another level that feels rushed and is as a result both not much fun and rather crude visually. I found both secrets in 20 minutes." - manarch2

"Another distinct improvement,this is definitely the best of the three levels by this author so far.Texturing,though unexciting,is competantly done;while lighting is generally effective.Gameplay is straightforward enough,although the builder commits the irritating sin of showing us a door opening in a room we haven't been to yet (unhelpful);yet somewhat negates that with the inclusion of a rather fiendish,swear inducing,yet satisfyingly challenging timed run.A couple of simple block puzzles and one lonely Baddy later,and it's all over.Not at all bad,but the locations ( despite the inclusion of a spectacularly deep pit to sadistically propell Lara into,should you feel the naughty urge)never seem particularly convincing.It'll wile away 30 minutes or so entertainingly enough,though." - Orbit Dream

"Well, this is definitely a thorough improvement over Ray Croft's last submissions, with a bit more atmosphere and game play, but it still falls short of a great level because of the little things that add up over time. Don't get me wrong, I thought the level in itself, at least the outdoor areas, looked wonderful. But it looks rushed, and the many stretched/compressed textures and over-used objects (The grass looked great, but there was so much my computer almost could not handle it!) kind of dulled the experience. A few key puzzles here, a near-impossible timed run there, and some well-executed cameras and music make this level a decent one, but not great. Not to mention the absence of enemies only until the very end, and still, they look a bit out of place (A special forces soldier in the middle of a Tibetan monastery? Maybe a bit more believable with some sort of backstory). All in all, this 20 minute adventure is an average level with a few next generation twists. Ray Croft; Keep doin' what you're doin'. You're building a great amount of experience as the levels continue being submitted, though I would add a bit more time in building a bit of atmosphere and game play into it." - Quinn