Level reviews

"A neat short level. A couple of parts (especially the beginning) is a bit confusing but it opens up quite nicely to a dense gameplay including timed runs, platforming, and a nice button puzzle. The timed runs in the end were pointless as noted by others though but no matter. Good one if you want a short but fun raid." - Nomad

"A pretty average game I would say, due to the fact that there were nothing to be proud of as far as I am concerned. Thank you." - Mehrbod

"This isn't a bad little level if you're looking for something slightly more challenging. At just on 20 minutes, it's quite brief but manages to include a timed run, a few acrobatics, some swimming and a neat little torch puzzle (the hints are there if you look at the flyby closely). I could have done with more flares as this is quite dark in spots (although solidly textured) and it's pretty much devoid of enemies (although it was nice not to have so much bloodshed in a level for a change), but it's quite action-packed nonetheless." - Ryan

"A level with a snowy setting and textures from the TR3 Tinnos level are used. The place where Lara finds the canopic jar is small, who would place an artifact there? Cameras are missing, they're important because after Lara pulled the button I didn't know where to go. There are jumps to perform and few enemies to kill. It's not short, it's kinda long, I took some time to find out the exit." - alan

"Better look for the Jar near the beginning or you can not continue playing. This is the major defect I saw in this level: no cameras to show important triggers in distant places. What happens when you press (wrong animation) the button between the gray tiles? And when you stand on the niche (timed run)? The timed runs are not too hard at all, and the last one can be avoided, 'cause I was able to jump to the hole in the ceiling without activate the flipmap. Not bad the environment and tasks, but I expected some more enemies than a single crocodile and a small scorpion. Better play it reading the walkthrough." - Jose

"This is quite sophisticated for its age, containing some timed runs that, although seeming generous now, would have felt pretty challenging back in 2001. There's also a nice little switch puzzle and some good flip map effects. It's competently built too. Pretty much enemy free, despite finding a revolver right at the start. At around 25 minutes of gameplay you could certainly do worse if you're a newish player looking for something slightly more challenging to stretch your raiding muscles." - Jay

"Matt's first level gives the player just under 30 mins of exploration through a Tinnos/Cave environment. You'll get what you came for pretty early on in the level, the hard part is getting out of the caves after an earthquake and is where much of the gameplay lies. There's a good puzzle with multiple switches and a couple of not-too-hard timed runs. Unfortunately the final area timed runs are redundant because you can pull up into the final room without the assistance of the block that is raised after the timed runs. Object placement is minimal and a single scorpion and a lonely croc provide the only target practice for Lara. As a first level, that was released way back in 2001 its quite good. There's missing textures to be seen which could have been improved with a bit more care and the level is reasonably well lit. I think I got dead-ended when I over-ran the ledge after returning from picking up a secret, landing on a ledge near the deadly water that I could not appear to return from. Good for a quick raid that won't frustrate you too much." - EssGee

"The beginning of the level has confused me something. Occasionally I had more question marks than folds on the forehead (well, almost...) and the level end has confused me again. Most time stands one like the ox before the mountain and asks itself what to the hangman the level builder actually wants from one. And if the level is over, most questions are not answered so really. But the central issue is, one reaches the level end after about 25 minutes. There was luckily no opponents, if one refrains sometimes from the lonesome crocodile. Actually, this should be my new domestic animal, but Lara rather wanted to have a crocodile handbag, so I had to do to her the favour and shoot the crocodile. For the dark places a few Flares would have been quite nice. The time run upwards through the open door was easier as I thought. To sum up, one can say that this was a very strange level, but anyhow one also creates this job." - Scottie

"Another oldie that I've tried several times but could never get past the river, until today when I read Torry's review which has put me on the right tracks. The said artifact from the plot is retrieved within 3 minutes of gameplay, and then you have to work your way out with a few timed doors and some platforming. Not a bad debut level at all. You get a revolver, but you only face a small scorpion and a crocodile, so this is a rather peaceful raid. 15 minutes, 1 secret. 01/07" - Treeble

"I enjoyed this level, but not as much as the second part, which I played before this one. I just got a bit confused at the beginning, when trying to get over that monkey swing over the deadly river, but only to find out, by retracing my steps, something else had to be done first, before entering that part of the journey. Once finding the right path and collected my canopic jar, things fell into place and started to happen, which in turn created an earthquake and re-designed the whole first initial room and everything took its course from there and I was soon on my way again, to complete another Lara mission. There isn't many enemies to deal with, nor any tedious puzzle solving as such in this level, but by just keeping an eye out, on certain designed wall tiles and pressing the correct buttons and dealing with a few timed runs, this should see you through in completing this little laid out adventure. In general, the layouts, textures and lighting was nicely done and applied to achieve the right kind of atmosphere, which was required for this snowy and cave type setting. A good game, I enjoyed it." - Gill

"A short level without any real difficulties. I didn't understand which buttons you had to press in one room so I used trial and error to get through. I didn't find any enemies (what was the revolver good for?) but I did find the Canopic Jar. The level is very dark and I didn't really like the texturing but it's okay. After eight minutes the level ended when I thought I had a long way to go. Oh well I didn't really like the level anyway." - Magnus

"Dark caves I would say because I never saw any village. It's a short level with only buttons to push and a timed run or should I say climb and jumps onto blocks with timed fires as well. There were no enemies at all just fire traps and it lasted twenty minutes. An earthquake occurs that changes everything after picking up the canopic jar so you retrace your steps to end the level shortly. This was the first level of the author with nice textures and atmosphere but with no puzzles or challenge. You better try one of his latest levels." - Kristina

"Another Tinnos style level. Lara has to find the Canopic Jar and here way back. A crocodile and a scorpion (real lonesome) you will meet. Between Earthquake and Fire Water with sinks you should find out the right Switches. Then Doors will open - sometimes only for a short time. Cameras and Sound not so often but ok. Textures are well placed and some Light and Shadows and some Fog. Not so long to play and not so much action - about 30 minutes." - Miguel

"The textures are taken from Tinnos I found them a bit monotone and not always carefully placed. There are only a few sounds. Lara only has to find her way out a bit of monkey swinging diving doing a time door run killing some scorpions and crocs. The canopic jar is the only puzzle item to be collected apart from that you only have to press some buttons. There is a puzzle with buttons but to tell the truth I didn't find out the logic about it. It's an easy 30 minutes level." - Sheevah

"This level was a pure nightmare for me. Over the last 8 months I must have started this 15 times or more and simply could not get passed the monkey swing over the river (no earthquake you see). Thanks again to RG who through her review guided me on the right path. Once I had gained a foothold this was a pretty simple level with nice textures and decently lit (for a change) that took me under 20 minutes to complete." - Torry

"Even though this was a relatively short level taking me 25 minutes to play it was still quite full of things to do with the most ingenious and tricky being a wonderful timed door that is reached by many block jumps and some monkey swinging. There are also some nice effects such as the room altering earthquake the use of fog and an underground river but unfortunately it is non-explorable unless you feel like dying in a horrible waterfall accident. Funnily the readme gives the impression that there may be human enemies that want to take Lara prisoner when in fact the only enemies I came across were one crocodile and one sad little scorpion that I didn't have the heart to kill." - Sash

"With a relatively small number of rooms Matt has created a nice little world with snowy textures beautifully crafted foggy caves a deadly stream and waterfall and last but not least a series of tricky puzzles which sometimes really make you search and think for a while. There is a nice timed door sequence that Will Gell would be proud of and a great flip map right at the beginning. On the downside of these 30 minutes of net gaming time it had overall just a little too many dark corners and no flares (at least I did not find any) an illegal slope I got stuck in and it could have used one or two more cameras to support the player. I did not quite understand the logic of the '8-switches-fire-floor puzzle but trial and error with save and reload did the job. A bit disappointing was the end which happens quite suddenly (what was that sequence with the two doors right before the end good for?) and leaves you waiting for a next level to come with a Canopic Jar in your hand." - Michael

"In this level Lara arrives at a deserted cave village where she must solve a series of tricky puzzles to get the canopic jar and then make her escape and it's the puzzles that make this level so much fun. In the first room are some cleverly hidden passages that took me a minute to find - one that led to a room with fire grates and the trigger for an earthquake then I found a crawlspace that led to an eight button puzzle but first I had to find another hidden passage that led to a monkey swing over a river and the solution to the puzzle (there's also a secret nearby). Then I got to a room with two timed doors which I usually hate but these were easy enough for even me. If you do the timed door on the ground first which takes you on another little journey with a croc and a scorpion you can turn off the fire on the pillars which makes it much easier to get to the next timed door. I wish the level hadn't been so dark in some areas because there were plenty of places to explore and I liked the mixture of the Peru style textures with some from the Tinnos levels. I really enjoyed the thirty minutes I spent here." - RaiderGirl

"Probably is me but I found this level a bit confusing. And dark. No wonder I got lost as I didn't find any other flares it's really a pain in the neck to use the binoculars all the time. Never found the croc or the scorpion and for sure didn't explore everything but I did find the end. One of the doors Michael mentioned was open the other still closed. Never found the canopy jar but then you don't need it as in the Caves 2 level you will find the jars you need. I think overall a bit more light and more people might enjoy the true intention the level was made for. As said before I found the end but I was missing a part in this level and I'm not going back. 09-06-2002" - Gerty

"This level got off to a bad start. I don't know how much time I wasted wandering around performing futile jumps jumping into deadly currents; all the while an ordinarily textured climable wall was the solution. The remainder of the level (with the exception of the very well made rushing river) was pretty scrappy with particular criticism going to the sequential switches whose activation (or non-activation) was entirely random and not based on any kind of puzzle logic. One set had a scissor/blade behind it for no apparent reason that I could discern. I didn't find any of it to be particularly atmospheric; on the other hand I did notice a great deal of poorly placed textures. The sequel sounds a lot better. I may give it a try next year." - Orbit Dream

"A nice level with a good atmosphere. It is about raiding in caves with some Tinnos textures to find a canopic jar and trying to escape. I like very much those places. A good puzzle with buttons to push with different patterned tiles in fact the solution is given in another room but you have to monkeyswing across the river after the earthbreak to see the solution. Other reviews mention two enemies but I met zero of them and found one secret. I liked the timed door run where you have to jump other pillars without burning just loosing some health. A good level but it is too short (25 minutes)." - eRIC

"Short and easy but with a certain appeal nevertheless. The best part of this adventure will end in sudden death but isn't life like that? When you jump into the strong current (second time you encounter it) you get carried through a cavern that's really well done. Apart from this you won't find anything outstanding here; neither in the gameplay atmosphere nor textures. There are some beginners mistakes like you can reach the hole in the ceiling at the end without raising the block and some of the switch pushing didn't make much sense to me. One lonesome crocodile an a little scorpion is all that you can test the revolver on and if you don't trip you shall manage both timed doors on the first try. Still it's a solid effort and I enjoyed the 25 minutes in those caves. Mind you everything with a bit of snow in it is most welcome around here. Off you go." - Dimpfelmoser