Level reviews

"A level that makes a good use of limited resources, even though it's built with the default alexandria assets, this level achieves to be atmospheric enough and build up a proper oriental setting. The gameplay is fine, it's kind of basic but entertaining, it's easy to miss objects which can make the later parts frustrating due to the turrets but there are enough medipacks to deal with them, the gameplay is overall kind of confusing and lacks of hints at times. The texturing is decent, there are some missplaced and wallpapered textures but its overall functional, the lighting is also pretty flat. Recommended as a not so long entertaining raid." - Neltharion

"I had played this but hadn't reviewed it until now. It's a good level with lots of action. There's a bike, which is a good thing 'cause I like riding vehicles. There's also a lot of enemies but the ammo and weapons provided were enough. I'll probably have to replay it someday just to refresh my memory." - alan

"Emboldened by Mulf's recent review (and surprised that I had not got around to playing this after all these years) I finally gave this level a go.The first hour was enjoyable, with rather addictive gameplay (in that you really want to see what happens next);but the level crossed my 'running out of patience' threshold quite some time before the end - particularly with a protracted sequence of searching out a labyrinth of pitch black rooms on the hunt for the elusive nitro feeder (which,it transpired,wasn't even necessary for completing the level). The choice of routes for progression was a neat idea,although the end result appeared to be a bunch of superfluous closed doors; while the challenge of shooting the sentry guns ended up being fiddly,rather than enjoyable - although it made sense within the levels storyline. From an aesthetic point of view,the player needs to be forgiving toward the frequent end-of-the-world encounters; and the multitude of pickups secreted all over the place (most of which are not especially beneficial with regard to progression). The texturing can't seem to make up its mind what the location is intended to be; but the construction of the central Pagoda is ingenious and occasionally awe-inspiring. Basically,it's an ancient level which exhibits all the technical issues of level-building in those far-off early days - but it still holds up well,despite being around 20 minutes longer than it actually needed to be." - Orbit Dream

"3ki3ro's masterpiece stands out in two ways. In design, the builder manages to achieve an approximation of recognisably Japanese architecture which is nothing short of astonishing in view of the fact that he used nothing but standard TR resources - in this respect similar to, but better by far than Twin Arch Bridge, and entirely unlike Atawalpa (which doesn't even pretend to take place in South America, much less in an Incan setting, or indeed anywhere at all). In gameplay, the standout moment is the elimination of no fewer than ten sentry guns, all clustered in one place to protect the treasure after which the game is named. As a bonus, near the beginning you can, or rather have to, choose between two paths; but I found that you do essentially the same stuff in both versions, just in a different order. The main difference is that in one version, you arrive at the sentry guns fairly late in the game, and it comes as a nasty surprise: you pop out of the water and are immediately under fire. Panic! The other version is easier in this respect, but suffers from the disadvantage that you will be done with the best part early, so the remainder of the game must pale in comparison and appear considerably more tedious than the other way round. There is yet another way of playing this level, namely if you miss the revolver and/or the lasersight in the initial area. You can't retrieve either once you've made your choice of path and so can't legally disable any sentry gun. You can survive this, but it's not as much fun.
The wad is based on City, and textures come mainly from Coastal, but the eclecticism is strong in this one: there are the Egyptian doors from Tut1, a globe and Athena gates from Library, textures from Maria Doria, Chunnel, the Mansion, Venice. It's a hodge-podge, and it doesn't always work, but it does when it's most important. The builder uses standard objects mainly from City (bits and pieces of Islamic architecture) to create buildings on stilts, which you snoop around before making your choice between the paths (a segment which reminded me of No One Lives Forever 2); and the sentry guns are posted all around a pagoda, in which you retrieve the various parts of the prized armour, scaling several tiers.
However, besides these highlights, the game features rather a lot of backtracking and padding. There are other irritations, some of which were present in the builder's previous levels as well. To begin with, you have to find an unknown number of jumpswitches sprinkled all over the map - in itself not an appealing gameplay concept, and made more irksome by the circumstance that you get absolutely no clue as to what any of them does, or whether you found them all. Once again, there's no camera guidance until late into game. Once again, too, you have to navigate labyrinthine underwater passages. These are green, and pretty much the only places where lighting was employed. The map covers a fairly sizeable area, much of it outside, yet the connections between the outside rooms aren't always entirely sound, and you often get a view of the end of the world. Finally, the builder repudiates the concept of the secret - there are several hidden rooms which, in addition to pickups, also contain Golden Laras (and to which the builder, for some occult reason, attached the metal loop), but none of which counts as a secret. Neither does a prominent puzzle (the four-boulder room), although it's entirely irrelevant to the plot and, in the event that you solve it, yields only additional pickups; if you don't, it simply leaves you puzzled as to its purpose. Some of these issues greatly diminish the level's replayability, the option of choosing between two paths notwithstanding; its highlights, however, make the level absolutely worth playing at least once." - Mulf

"I quite liked this little adventure. Despite the Japanese-sounding title, there are no real tricky manoeuvres or puzzles to overcome and the main challenging moments will come from trying to obliterate the sentry guns while remaining out of their line of fire, a motorbike ride and a few tight swimming passages. Plenty of chances to fill Lara's backpack with goodies, so she might consider replacing it with a van or...trolley. It looks quite good for a level of its age, with the centrepiece being the huge pagoda guarded by sentry guns." - Ryan

"This is a major pickup exercise. Lara should probably ditch the backpack in favour of a shopping trolley ... or possibly a small van. Apart from that there is some fun to be had by shooting sentry guns and motorbike riding and you do, of course, get to find the five pieces of armour. For its age, it looks quite impressive and has a good atmosphere. There are lots and lots of guards to shoot, but given the lavish amount of weaponry to hand that's not really a challenge. Fast paced and fun in a 'disengage your brain and just enjoy the carnage' sort of a way. Positively therapeutic." - Jay

"Fun level to play, with non stop action and lot of ammo to use, like a "choose your weapon" adventure". It was a well designed level with some little flaws and annoying sound in the Lara's statues. There were no real puzzles just a walk in the park, there was a lot of action but fun action, the cutscenes were well made and loved the fact i could just roam around with the bike. Nothing big to point out unless the fact that if you choose a door instead of another in the beginning of the game it gets WAY HARDER to play and pass. Still, was fun, lacks a bit in the atmosphere but at least it wasn't annoying and repetitive like most things i find around here. Totally recommended if you love action levels" - Leeth

"Pretty fun level to play, love the fact that there's two paths to choose! And one is considerably harder then the other! The revolver and the laser sight can be found at the beginning, and if you leave that area there's no way of getting them back, only when you pick up the bike, but that's still a hard thing to achieve if you don't pick up those ESSENTIAL items before choosing the path to follow. Now i made a huge mistake: i analyzed the area right in front of me, spotted the revolver and the globe. I went to the globe first, it opened the gate, followed by a non reversal slope. Either if you choose the globe path or not, you'll eventually reach an area full of machine guns. Now in this area, if you have the revolver+laser sight with you, you can easily destroy them, if not, i'm afraid you'll have to spend a good amount of medis to survive, and this was the only thing that i just didn't quite enjoy. The rest of the level was really fun, and if you choose the "non-globe" way you'll be provided with A LOT of items to pick up. Wasn't quite fund of the scenery but the level design was good." - Zhyttya

"This is a quite original level with lots of Japanese buildings with the undoubted highlight - the big temple you need to climb up to find all the armor pieces. The texturing is quite nice throughout the level (in comparison to the often flat lighting) and the objects are nicely placed, the enemies are quite a few but as there are two paths it is easy to miss some of the heavy weapons in the already pretty obscure boulder room - the order you need to let the boulders roll is nowhere hinted and mostly trial-and-error. At some parts this level reminded me on Seven Islands as the connections of the underwater tunnels and the small spaces within the buildings, I discovered it actually is possible to drive the bike through them. What was not so good is that this level had many end-of-world moments, the walls weren't really high and in the big pagoda area you can jump against a black and untextured part of the wall. Also, some sounds seemed to be missing on some doors. The gameplay had definately its moments with the overcoming of the sentry guns, the climbing of the temple and the bike ride, but it also was partially pretty confusing as there often were no camera hints to guide the player, the heavy backtracking to get some items like the parts of the portal guardian enerved me and it was often easy to miss some levers or items in this level, so I advise you to use the walkthrough while playing. After 50 minutes this level ended and I pretty much liked the concept, but a little more could have been made out of it." - manarch2

"While a Japan-themed level with the city wad and coastal tga as a basis would seem somewhat odd of a combination, one has to realize the level does display some objective limitations of its time (but then again, wasn't Beneath the Forbidden City released even before this one?). But at the same time one has to acknowledge that it also showcases a fair amount of sophistication for a level of any time - the architecture for one was unmistakably Japanese even if the texture choice might cause some doubts, and while overall rough around the edges (some semi-stretched textures, flat lighting), it looked pleasant enough. The tasks were what I loved the most about it - in its course of disabling sentry guns, exploring alternate paths to reach the main castle area, riding the bike and searching for the 5 pieces of armor it managed to amount to a decent 40 minute raid. Once you are on the bike and previous areas start opening up, you do have to be careful where you take it to if you don't want to lose it by driving in a pit you can't get out of or something of that sort - and the author could've been more careful in limiting the player's capabilities in that aspect, but I suppose after you break those 2 walls in the castle with it, it is largely an accessory and not really that necessary for gameplay. Some object placement (the Lara statues from Cleopatra's palaces) was odd, and I did manage to miss the revolver, thus had to use the crossbow and the lasersight bug to fight off the sentry guns, but it's a minor point since it is doable. Not without its set of faults - but a nice older level worth a try." - eTux

"Sure, it may be a bit crude by today's standards, but it's a fun, stress-free raid with plenty of light, and those are qualities that always warm my heart even if the surroundings are less than first rate. I was somewhat alarmed by the Japanese-sounding name in the title, but not to worry. This is not one of those hair-pulling exercise requiring one pixel-perfect jump after another. The game map is actually quite compact (which makes backtracking a nonissue), and your main objective is to explore a large temple surrounded by a green moat, with a couple of side excursions on the motor bike. Along the way you'll either blow away or run over scads of SAS and not a few jackals. A nice change of pace from some of the dark, complicated, let's-go-back-this-way-one-more-time levels I've been playing lately. Recommended for the fun of it." - Phil

"One could play this level two times, because there are from a certain point two ways which one can go to reach to a big pagoda. This pagoda is protected by 10 Sentry-Guns. A way leads through a room with four Spikeballs and an underwater labyrinth. This way is a little easier, because one comes out at a place compared to the pagoda, from where one can switch off immediately two Sentry-Guns. Because these both Sentry-Guns stand compared to the pagoda, it is a little more difficult with the other way to switch off these both. Because the degree of difficulty increases only minimally, it is actually insignificant which way one chooses now. Because, however, both have her own charms, one should also play both. In the pagoda are four of the five pieces of the armor and the motorcycle. Moreover, this pagoda is guarded by SAS-Soldiers. The fifth piece of the armor is in a small building which is surrounded by a lake. It gives a possibility to jump up from the lake to this building. Or one uses the motorcycle with special petrol and jumps about a ski jump. Anyway it makes a hell of a lot of fun to play this level. At the end one still needs the Portal Guardian and is after about 50 minutes at the level end. Result: Really good level which one must absolutely play" - Scottie

"Great level! No-lineal you'll can take two options to make your way from the beginning. Very good architecture with nice japanesse pagodas and good gameplay; action, well placed enemies and a main impressive building very well protected with a lot of sentry guns (reserve revolver bullets to destroy them). Intelligent use of the bike to can access some areas and get several pieces of the armour which will open doors to finally get essential items to open the doors to escape. Some nice flybies, cameras will help you, a lot of stuff,... Definitively a level you must play." - Jose

"Now this was a fantastic little level. Probably built before Japanese levels got the fame of extreme difficulty. You're in a set of pagodas looking for the five armor pieces, and despite its age, this quest still proved to be fun. While it may seem very non linear on the beginning (and I'll admit I spotted the lasersight on the rooftop by accident) it gets a tad easier once you get inside the main, central building. There are a LOT of baddies, but nothing that will distract you from the main goal. The motorbike and the nitro boost actually help travelling around the settings once you've opened the main doors around the central area. I found one golden Lara along the way. 45 minutes. 08/07" - Treeble

"The level gave a cool oriental feeling right from the start, I liked the buildings. Action dominates in the level, not much to think about, except that boulder puzzle. Some of the pickups are well hidden, and if you miss the lasersight in the first area you can't go back for it. Other than that it's an easy but very nice level." - Akcy

"I really enjoyed this level. Even though it's a bit confusing at first (no screenshots for switches) once you get in to the flow of things it's really entertaining. I liked shooting the machine guns and thank goodness there were enough flares for the dark spots. I found 2 shotguns revolver laser sight grenade gun and lots of ammo of all sorts (and the 5 pieces of armor and the portal guardian of course). I did not find the crossbow or the uzis even though I got ammunition for them. I liked the fact that you could either drive the motorcycle across the pit or climb down into it. I think I missed one switch - to raise the block to get up on the green roof tiles. I found only 2 golden Laras but I think there was one up on the green roof that I missed. It was also fun traipsing around the roofs so much. All in all a great adventure for anyone who likes Asian themes and some sniper work." - Lady Lara

"First look at this level is great. Well I thought it looked great. I liked that sky and was that lightning or me moving about? I can't fix it at any location it could be oriental with pagoda style buildings on stilts above the water coastal walls and yards even Venice textures figure in a round about way. Loved the green roofs on the pagodas and walls look carefully there's a lot of pickups up there on the roofs under the buildings and in all nooks and crannys. You especially need the lasersight and revolver. I couldn't quite make out what the boulders 'did' but whatever it was it didn't prevent me from finishing. Enemies are a lot of dogs coming each time in threes one golden harpy and some guards. Very satisfying blowing up all those machine guns around the biggest pagoda and I found the gold statue of Lara in a dark room with pickups but didn't see her standing on the title on the roof as others say. Maybe the statue moves around as you play lol. I found the revolver two shotguns and the uzis. I liked collecting all the armour pieces the grenade gun finding the switch getting onto the roof and that flyby when you get to the top. And of course driving the bike around you must find the canister or some jumps will be difficult. Yeah I liked this a lot." - CC

"I liked this level very much. Although there were a couple of doors unopened the one at the beginning and one where the ornate handle was it is a great game. The player will have to collect the pieces of the armor which triggers a door to open every time you pick up a piece. Mostly is about triggers I guess and finding a way to proceed the laser-sight is very useful be sure to explore every square including the roof tops at the start area. The sentry-guns are really a pain so are the SAS guards at some point but with the revolver available from the start and the other guns coming later Lara is safe. Underwater tunnels will lead you back to the main area and a raising block will give access to another roof there is a golden Lara up there standing on the title that's written on the roof. The motorcycle will also help in the quest. If more attention was paid to the horizon while you explore the rooftops so that the blackness and the imperfection was not visible it could get higher marks. A great game recommended." - Kristina

"For me this was a bit strange and I will try to explain. Found the so needed laser-sight and loads of ammo the grenade gun and even the crossbow so the sentry guns were not that much a threat. And I like sneaking up to them and disable them. But some doors stayed closed and reading Matthias' review I am not the only one. I also had problems getting this started so I changed the TR4 file into City.TR4 and could get it running. Probably haven't been looking everywhere but in the end I couldn't be bothered as I was a bit tired of all the shooting. Although I did liked the main building with that fantastic view (and fly by) I also felt rather tired running back and forward all the time to see what opened. In the end there were some camera shots - that was nice. Apart from taking the bike out in the open air and up the ramp again that is all I did with it. And after placing the Ornate Handle I just jumped and reached the end trigger. Haven't seen one golden Lara so I was a bit puzzled by it. 24-10-2002" - Gerty

"It's all been said by the other reviewers before. I had actually started this long ago and failed to survive the machine guns and this time round I made sure I did get the lasersight and therefore could eliminate the sentry guns and get through this very intriguing level in a little over an hour of net gaming. I thought that 15 or so dogs and about the same amount of SAS was a little much for the area but it was so rewarding to finally be inside of the beautiful central pagoda building picking up the armor pieces with a beautiful flyby when you reach the roof. You better have some good biking skills or you will have trouble making it. Nice setting and not easy with well connected rooms - try it out." - Michael

"This is a truly wonderful level with great looking buildings and well thought out game play. Set around a large moated castle with 10 automatic machine guns keeping guard the aim is to infiltrate it and find 5 pieces of armor 1 being elsewhere as well as fighting some enemies along the way finding a myriad of pick ups well spread throughout and locate items to open a pathway for the final motorbike ride out of there. With some nicely executed puzzles that can't initially be fully figured out till near the end a 4 part boulder trap that leads to a stash of pick ups and a couple of bizarrely placed Lara statues that seemingly have no purpose but to give you a little fright especially the one in the dark this is an extremely fun adventurous 90 minutes level." - Sash

"After about an hour of gaming fun you finally reach the end and can ride the motorbike into sunset. Until then you have here a well thought out level with many surprises many SAS soldiers and automatic guns which were perfectly placed. I had to restart the Level about half way through because I had overlooked a crucial pick-up: the lasersight! It does not work without it so watch out. Like most of the Far East levels this one has great attention to detail and is a well rounded entertaining experience." - Qwendo

"Another personalized level with a set of mixed textures from all TR games very nice ambient light lots of action well set cameras and sounds. Although using objects and textures from Egyptian wads the author managed to make a Japanese style design reflected by pagoda-like buildings. The way to the main fortress (with its nice and esoteric interior) is not so easy and you have to be fast and smart enough to avoid and destroy all those machine guns. And through all the level you have plenty of pickups to collect but believe me you'll need them! I really enjoyed the 1h30 of gameplay. Try it!" - Jbc21

"Every level I play by this author has it's own distinct look and this one is no exception. This is actually a nice blend of looks - everything from a beautiful Japanese castle to an Egyptian looking courtyard. Your objective is to locate five pieces of armor and the two parts of the Hathor effigy and make your escape through a set of double doors. Picking up some of the objects opens the doors to pick up other objects. Sounds easy but there are lots of machine guns and soldiers to get by first. You'll find plenty of pickups too but you'll need every one of them as you make your way through the bullets motorcycle rides and boulder traps. You'll also get a big surprise while you're picking up the objects from the top of the castle but it's fun to get up there and necessary. After a few more surprises waiting for you through the last set of doors you're off to acquire your next artifact. This is a very clever level and probable even more fun the second time around." - RaiderGirl

"I really liked the architecture of this level (especially the large castle). This was quite a long level but that was good because the level is quite fun. Nothing too challenging or dangerous except the automatic guns (I didn't find the lasersight!). Anyway a really good level that's worth a download!" - Magnus

"The architecture of this level is very nice. The puzzles are little simple like activate levers to open a door or run from sentry guns etc. It's a good level anyway and worth a download." - Daniel

"This is a hard level. A lot of machine-guns and soldiers are shooting on Lara. I find enough health-packs and too many flares. I miss the lasersight to kill the machine guns. The lightning is good and the textures are very nice. I must ride the motorbike and find some pieces from the armor-king. I had played 1 hour for this action-level and I had a lot of fun." - Andi Croft

"An entertaining and not difficult level from Japan. The setting is very nice with mainly clear outside areas. The author has built some structures which look Asian by using the Coastal textures and it is always enjoyable to climb on the roofs to find pickups against the numerous enemies. It is the first time that Lara was killed by dogs there are also SAS and sentry guns. I often feared to get stuck as in my progression I saw objects I could not take or places I thought I could not visit again but I was wrong. You should better make savegames though after you have found the motorcycle. A pleasant level of 1:15 hours." - eRIC

"A highly original level that I found really satisfying and challenging. The major flaw being that you can miss the lasersight and can't get back to get it. It might be possible to reach the motorbike without destroying the sentry guns but I cared too much about Lara so I started afresh from an earlier savegame. I liked the setting and the non-linear course a lot although there are a few things that remain a mystery to me. For instance the four gates near the four spiked boulders which all remained closed on my second run through (with laser sight) strangely enough on my first try two of the gates opened but I have no idea why. Also there is a hidden jump-switch which raises a block so that you can access the roof but up there I found nothing but a golden Lara a small medi pack and a good view of the end of the world. That seemed wrong somehow. Anyway how you get to explore the whole area -which isn't that big really- get more and more doors to open is a nice idea. The cellars of the main building were beautifully done there is one spectacular fly by and the enemies are well placed. I must have played 200 custom levels by now and yet this did something new for me. Play it and see if I'm right." - Dimpfelmoser