Level reviews

"One of those sandy levels that make you run around in circles with no meaning or purpose, simply leading to an unwanted misery at the end of the day. Most of the environments covered totally in the sand, which shows the lack of ability of the builder to texture. A mere attempt to include some creativity was putting a mummy and make it roar twice every 30 seconds. Recommended for players who rarely feel sick or dizzy. Thanks." - Mehrbod

"Another Egyptian level from the early days of TRLE. This one with various ways to go. You look for a ba cartouche and the eye of horus. Enemies are some mummies, ninjas and scorpions. I found 2 secrets." - alan

"Short, simple Egyptian raiding in order to locate the Eye of Horus. There seems to be divergent routes in order to accomplish this and if you're interested, I went up the block and into the underwater passageways, whereupon I found the Shotgun. The rooms are a bit empty and bare, but the rather rocky environments do work well. I mean, if you're going for a cave, it's hardly eye candy." - Ryan

"An early level with a misleading title that couldn't fail to catch the attention of Orbit Dream and his ilk; also one with a high conceptâ€"three different routes to take through the level, until they eventually convergeâ€", and possibly even meant to supply a proper ending for (or continuation of) TR4, as it starts with a lengthy drop-and-slide down underground in an Egyptian environment, like thinking cap's Old Haunts (and I see eRIC had the same impression). However, considered as a follow-up to TR4, it remains too generic to be satisfying: Old Haunts, while also built with the tut1 wad, quite appropriately used the Giza textures to go with it, and succeeded in adding what is probably the best plot twist in custom level history; this level, by comparison, plays out in a rather pedestrian manner. As regards the concept of diverging and converging paths, this is a quite complex undertaking which the builder doesn't seem to have thought through entirely, or else the routes wouldn't have to include dead endsâ€"not a terribly big deal, since you don't actually get stuck (correct me if I'm wrong), and the backtracking you'd have to do is (just about) within reasonable limits, but still unnecessarily irritating (in my case, the dead end began with a crawlspace hidden behind a shootable vase and could have been easily avoided by placing that crawlspace higher up on the wall, out of reach from below); plus, having played through once and reloaded to check out the alternative routes, I found that it took me about 30 seconds to reach the areas I've been through beforeâ€"from a different direction, sure, but I don't think that's quite enough. It also seems that the Secrets have been democratically distributed across the different routes, meaning you (probably) can't collect them all in one session. However, even if its most distinguishing features can't be called fully successful, the level still remains an entertaining raid with a bunch of neat ideas thrown in, mildly challenging and with a consistent visual scheme (albeit begging for a bit of contrast in lighting) as well as a clearly discernible will to avoid the boxiness of rooms in the cave sections. Not a classic, but an enjoyable quickie." - Mulf

"Fifteen minutes of very easy raiding in solid if slightly boring environments (perhaps it just needed a woman's touch - some scatter cushions, a few tastefully chosen accent pieces, you know the sort of thing), with mummies, scorpions and ninjas for company. Find two cartouche and two eye pieces and that's about it really. There seem to be alternative routes to achieve this, but I'm not sure if that makes much difference to the playability factor." - Jay

"It seems that I've missed a part of the gameplay in this level, 'cause I followed my way through several caves leaving some openings behind and finally I found the exit with the ninja and the jeep only getting two cartouche pieces and two eye pieces. Also I found ammo for the shotgun and the uzis and never found that guns. The level is too dark for my taste, and there are not enough flares to properly explore the areas. Found a secret and some mummies, white ninjas and scorpions on my way; no puzzles. Almost all the rooms are textured with the same monotonous stone texture but at least the atmosphere is good, cameras and sounds gave a nice touch. Playable but not very entertaining." - Jose

"I agree with other reviewers as qualyfing this one as a weird level, it has differents paths to follow and I didn't like how the author worked with lighting, though it has a ver nice gameplay and loved the part with a back-flip turn and move to a side whilst in mid-air. Took me 15 minutes more or less" - Gonxii

"Lara is in a cave system including a few rooms and must find a way outward. In addition she needs a cartouche and the eye of Horus. Opponents were some Baddies, scorpions and a mummy. There are a lot of levels which deal with, how Lara could leave the pyramid of TR4. This level also belongs to it apparently. The only what Lara must make here is to find a way outward. The caves have always the same textures, but that's not bad, coz they are built quite well. The same one is valid for the few rooms. Good is, that the level builder has build several ways back, so that the player gets no problems, if he missed a part of the cartouche. The lighting was good. Result: Though somewhat short, but still a quite good level" - Scottie

"Actually I found this to be a fairly well done tutorial adventure. It hardly lasts for more than 15 minutes, but has plenty of tasks to keep you occupied, of which the big hall with the dark pit seemed the most memorable to me. The irony and tragedy for this level is that the careless player will miss out on the levels definite highlight - i.e. the diverging paths right at the beginning which offers different possibilities how to play the game till it converges back onto the main path that's required to finish the game. I replayed the game immediately to check out what another one of the paths was till the point where they met up again and am still not sure if I have explored every possible route to get there. No big complaints about texturing really, but there wasn't much that stuck to mind and distinguished this from the other tutorial-inspired levels either. Try it if you're in mood for a short, solid tutorial adventure." - eTux

"Now this was a weird level. I've read the walkthrough and apparently you are given a number of choices and you'll always end up in the same place, I must've taken the easy path as it was over pretty quickly after a short trip to collect two cartouche pieces in opposite rooms and the eye pieces shortly after, before leaving this place. Either way, it was fun while it lasted. The textures weren't really varied (some of the areas look rather bland), but as Ian pointed out in his review, they work. 15 minutes, 1 secret. 02/07" - Treeble

"What an entrance and you've little control over it. It must have taken a while to work out those slopes without killing Lara. I liked this level although it was very short. A run through a pyramid picking up the cartouche halves and eyepieces that cause an earthquake. Enemies are few and are very well placed. I really like the exit as Lara makes her way up to sky and the jeep. A short level if you need a TR fix especially as there are different ways to get through it. Don't know about the Title as Lara did escape but perhaps it refers to the dead ends you reach if you go the wrong route!" - CC

"For as little as there was to do (collecting cartouche and Horus pieces) this tiny level shows this author has some taste for little drama put in a little story. That story consists of making your way out of some excavation caves towards your little jeep waiting for you outside. There's an easy pillar room and the inevitable ninja's and scorpions but the first appear with some imagination just as you take one of the cartouche pieces as if it was guarded by them because yep! there's a gate opening and them storming at you. Over quickly after enduring a little earthquake and a tiny flipmap but not unhappy to have installed it (must take note for next review: mustn't over-do us-age of wo-rds ti-ny and lit-tle end of note)" - bERT

"I got very frustrated with this level. It is pitch black and with not many flares. I had to use the savegame editor to be able to finish this in a room with no lights and at night and still no way of ending it without a lot of flares. The puzzles are a cartouche and the Eye of Horus. I had a lot of trouble locating one half of the cartouche as this level is dark caves with many openings. Big gaps at times and scorpions ninjas and I must have spotted a couple of mummies somewhere. I didn't understand the relevance with the title though as the level ends while Lara is climbing to get out of that place and into the light with a jeep visible in front." - Kristina

"I like the idea of this entertaining level. Does the story take place at the end of the Last revelation? Lara falls underground and lands in a cave from where she has to return to the light. The originality of the level is that she can chooses three different routes to end the level each route has its own secret to find so you can play again the level in a different way. The end is the same though as Lara arrives in a big room and must find a cartouche and the eye of horus to escape. Better play this rather short level (20 minutes) in a dark room." - eRIC

"This is a really short level of 15 minutes IF you take the right path at the beginning. Unfortunately I did not and whilst the author may find the player's need to negotiate a dead end labyrinth amusing I certainly did not. The correct path was in fact pretty standard fare except for one room with a where a backflip/ turn jump needed to be executed." - Torry

"The Gods must be with me as I started in the right direction. Did try all the others as I'm a curious person and the idea this author has is great. Gameplay on its own is straightforward but I had a lot of fun jumping. Some scorpions and ninjas are the ones to shoot and a mummy or two thrown in for good measure. As I came out of a crawl space and there was this statue in Lara's way and before I even could figure out what to do a ninja was in the same cramped space as Lara and she lost that battle. Reloading gave her a better option. Main goal is the 2 pieces of the cartouche which will give you access to the 2 pieces of the eye. I like the sand coloured textures. Playing in the late afternoon after the sun went down this level was bright enough. 14-07-2002" - Gerty

"The only thing about this level that I really thought was noteworthy was the fact that very early on you have a choice of 2 directions to reach the same ending with both of these little adventures lasting 15 minutes. Otherwise this is an exceedingly plain level with nothing but sandy coloured textures used everywhere and no puzzles rather just a few levers to pull a couple of key pick ups to find and some exploring to do." - Sash

"Quite a stunning atmosphere is created in the caves of this level with some very neat lighting effects that guide the way and exploration that really feels like being underground and digging up things. Then however the overall gameplay suddenly turns out to be a little linear though the rooms nicely change from one to the next the puzzles rather become easier than more difficult. Towards the end though which you should reach after about 30 minutes there is another nicely designed cave room and a surprising sound effect. Not sure where the name End in Failure comes from - but this level is worth a try." - Michael

"In the beginning of this level you drop down into a cave with 4 possible exits and in my first attempt at this level I chose the wrong path and ended up traveling down a long cave with many difficult jumps eventually ending up at a dead end. Very frustrating but I finally decided to give it another try and this time chose the right path. The objective of this level is to find the necessary items to open all the doors and escape the tomb before the earth claims you as its own - all in almost complete darkness. I would have enjoyed this level much more if I hadn't had to light a flare every 15 seconds but thankfully there are few enemies and no hard puzzles and it appears that the only textures used were from the tutorial level. I suppose this level is called End in Failure for the people that take the wrong route in the first cave." - Raider Girl

"Stop Press: Orbit Dream plays a level which he quite enjoys. I only awarded 7 for Gameplay which seems a bit harsh as I actually found the concept behind the level quite original and quirky. Three possible routes lead out of a central cavern one of which leads to a dead end the other two to the exit. It's a shame that the other two routes are both over with rather quickly. What I admired most was the way both alternate routes ended up at the same place. It was most ingenious; and in fact I can't quite work out how it was done. The textures were quite convinvcing (albeit rather flat) and conveyed a subterranean atmosphere quite well. A level to play twice - out of necessity!" - Orbit Dream

"Another short tutorial level that doesn't come up with anything spectacular or inventive but still has its charm. Right at the start you can choose different ways to proceed although I have to admit that I never noticed until later when I couldn't find the second piece of the cartouche and backtracked quite a bit. I really liked the way this starts out in some claustrophobic caves and after a bit of crawling you finally reach the entrance to the temple. From then on it's business as usual with the well known enemies a few jumps climbs and a monkeyswing; the odd lever a pillar to drag away and finally you find the two pieces of the eye of Horus in the same room. I could have done without the earthquake that ensues and I was slightly miffed that the game ended before Lara could step outside into the sunlight but otherwise I enjoyed this short adventure for the time it lasted." - Dimpfelmoser