Level reviews

"A level split into two small segments, the first of which seems to be built to resemble the original Tomb of Seth and the second is a bit of a mix of tut1 and cleopal environments. As usual with levels from this author, you get a solid and enjoyable adventure, backtracking is kept to a minimum and none of the timed runs or trap gauntlets are particularly taxing, so you can simply enjoy. The fire trap room seems to be inspired by Midas's Palace in TRA. 40 minutes, 2 secrets. 09/26" - Treeble

"Starting off with temple of Seth vibes this first level starts off quite dark, gloomy but relaxed in its first half with some platforming, torch tasks and levers to find before moving onto lava pools to navigate across, bats and dogs to take down and a timed fire trap room above a croc infested pool that reminded me of TRA palace midas. The dangers don’t stop there as we need to find another 3 blue gems after that: all located in trap/challenge rooms involving an attack of scorpions and giant scorpions, another fun timed run involving fire and lava, and the third one involving just a simple and disappointing climbing/platforming exercise before moving onto the second level. As we make emerge inside the temple area, the lighting is bright the colours are warm and I start to get TR4 Cleopatra palaces vibes when I hear that familiar screeching harpy again lol. Tasks include climbing and exploring before switch sequence puzzles, a fun timed platforming run and a tomb of Qualopec style moving pillar activity. If your a fan of traps, dangers and enemies you’ll be pleased to outmanoeuvre spikes, fire, boulders and swinging blades with tin men,ninjas, harpy and Egyptian monsters all determined to cause your death. Overall a solid adventure with this 2 level set offering a good variety of both gameplay and location/setting." - John

"Gameplay & Puzzles - There is a lot of adventure throughout these two levels. Most things are pretty simple that will keep you interested throughout the entire duration. I think the switch pulling kind of drowned me out to where I was expecting it. But there's variety to definitely enjoy. I liked the TR1 elements here. Enemies, Objects & Secrets - I thought the dog placements were the highlight but the other enemies seemed more intrusive. The TR4 Egypt guards at the end were pretty nice though. I like most object placement. There's a door I remember where there's an invisible box in front of it. Secrets overall were easy to find. I wish the pick ups throughout were placed better specifically ammo. But I was good on the medipacks. Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras - The atmosphere in the first level is pretty memorable. The second level does goes back to the basic. But it was okay. I liked the music choice. Lighting & Textures - I enjoyed the variety in lighting especially in the water sections and throughout parts of the levels here. It's not dark at all. Some texture choices in the second level were a bit questionable and I think the lighting would have helped my eye to avoid looking. This adventure took me about 2hrs to complete. It was an overall smooth raid. And I was satisfied once I collected all the Armour." - StudBuddha

"Wait a moment, what happened here... This is the best thing Opaque has made, he did it before his standard ones, and now he asks me what I mean by "building beyond the standards". THIS, Ryan. THIS is what I mean. This game is logical, makes sense in every room, is also nicely divided in storyline chapters and even includes that soft icing with several NG effects. I think you're thinking too much because you really CAN build levels. Details in the VOD :) :) :)" - DJ Full

"A good double-level adventure that offers solid raiding including some good puzzles and fun situations , my favourite place is in the 1st level in that big fire room , fun gameplay here. Varied enemies , the 1st level is more atmospheric and darker as you raid in 'Tomb of Seth' type of caves , the second one in a temple with various texturing and objects , sometimes the mix works well sometimes less , but i did appreciated the puzzles in this one too. Good work ! ." - eRIC

"I had a real pleasure to play this level. The textures are perfectly correct and the gameplay is simple but effective. a bug on the last raising block that does not go down every time. I enjoyed the animated cat textures. Recommended for all." - Drakan

"A very solid double-level set,this adventure is perhaps better in the first part than the second.The journey to the Temple is an absorbing experience,thanks to the dark and sinister cavern environments;and the challenges which you encounter are demanding enough to entertain,but not so difficult as to frustrate.There are plenty of sneaky hiding places in dark corners;and a consistently tense atmosphere. Once you reach the Temple containing the various pieces of the Golden Armour,it becomes a little more straightforward and somewhat less surprising.The texturing,while everywhere capable,is standard and rather too brightly lit;while the only barriers to progress are the frequent ninja attacks - but even these are quickly neutralised (as are the nasty Ahmets that comprise the Finale) with the heavy arsenal provided.It becomes a reassuringly old-fashioned 'hunt for the two halves of the eye-piece';but is not really on a par with the first level,and is lacking the tense atmosphere. Nonetheless,I was provided with a very decent 80 minute adventure;which should entertain players of all capabilities." - Orbit Dream

"Reading some review I was glad that I wasn't the only one that couldn't get the breastplate. And as it was the end of the level I left it by that. For the rest this two level game is a nice adventure to go through. Nothing too strenuous but do look in every nook and cranny. The textures used in the first level made that a bit hard but there are luckily enough flares to explore the whole lot. A nice adventure to have a go at." - Gerty

"Path to the Temple (8/7/8/8, 30 min, 1 secret): A nice rendition using the rarely applied Temple of Seth elements, so you get well constructed caves, some torch puzzles, lava, fire, scorpions and four quick exercises to collect four gems to open the door to the next part. I really liked this part as it looked good and was fast paced and fun to get through. Temple Interior (8/8/8/7): You get welcomed by a tinman and throughout the level several enemies keep you entertained while you search your way through a temple setting to pick up the five armor parts. Two nice timed runs here (one for the secret) and a neat lever puzzle with a hint and another sequence with moving blocks around were quite fun, so overall a well rounded and very classic experience to play through." - MichaelP

"I quite liked the whole Tomb Raider 4 classic feeling to this two part game. It begins in an atmospheric, although rather dark, cave setting and finishes in an attractive, imposing brightly lit temple area. There's nothing too difficult to accomplish on the gameplay side of things, but I liked the fact that there was enough variation in the tasks, the way that there were different hub rooms to work your way through. They are also situated in fairly confined areas, which means that there's not too much retracing of steps. The ending was fairly abrupt, but I had an enjoyable time along the way." - Ryan

"Another good levels from this author. Not great features in the gameplay section, only classic tasks without serious problems, but a friendly levels nice to play and a good work with the atmosphere and the texturization. I suffered a bug at the end, once I killed all the demigods the cage never lowered and I couldn't get the breast plate or finish the level. But anyway this set of two levels are recommended to take a relaxing time for most players. Good work." - Jose

"Entertaining classic-styled level. I was lost in the beginning because for some reason I couldn't find the torch (lol) but after that I picked the level up again and I'm glad I did because it's perfect for a quick relaxing old school raid. I found both secrets and the whole levelset took me about an hour. Highly recommended!" - misho98

"Returning to his roots with newly-obtained insight & experience, this two-part levelset from Opaque79 makes for a satisfying playthrough from start to finish, with excellent utilization of all design elements across the board(Rooms which serve as a callback to aspects of TR1 or Unfinished Business such as the Qualopec platforms in one room or the animated panther textures in another, being among the significant highlights). Sure, the overall level themes are pretty well-trodden and there won't be anything here that will challenge even the most inexperienced raider, but what's here is very well put together and consistently engaging. Highly recommended." - Ceamonks890

"It's always good to see such a good development from a builder. This level is another proof that you don't need a modern engine and graphics to make a good release. I also like when you can tell a real difference between levels when it comes to style and surroundings. First part is based in and around some Egyptian caves made of rocks and natural passages. There are appropriate enemies like critters and "dogs" (I really don't know the real name for those). After some simple but entertaining tasks, you reach a hub area consisting of four quests in order to open the temple door. Second part is inside the temple with totally new (and better) looks. It consists of two more hub areas with quests and that might be the only real flaw - too much of the same concept. Fortunately, the quests offer enough variety so you won't get bored. After some physical tasks and some Midas-levers-wannabe and Qualopec-wannabe puzzles, you confront three bosses. You have enough ammo and medipacks so it doesn't get frustrating. The atmosphere is good and it really offers some TR1-TR4 vibes. Maybe I missed a few more camera hints, but it's fine. Music is good and appropriate, audio tracks are really placed with good feeling for "where and when". Overall, the level is really fun to play and it is definitely the best so far by Opaque, but the thing that he and his team have to work on is the testing - In more than one occasion, I was able to shorten the intended route and there are also some untextured blocks throughout the level. Nothing too big, but these things should not happen in a mostly simple level. One hour, 1/2 secrets (although at one point I just had a feeling that I'm just passing by the secret when I was in a rush, so after I checked the walkthrough later it turned out there was indeed 2nd secret). Recommended level and noticeable progress for a talented builder." - Tolle87

"A classical adventure, heavily based in TR4's first part. I don't like very much this part's kind of environment, and there is some darkness here, but as a counterpart, I enjoy very much "hub based" adventures, where we have a central room from which some paths irradiate, each one with its own set of challenges. So, we can say that one thing compensates the other. This level is not very difficult, and has some game flaws; in the apparently very hard room where Lara picks up one of the Gems, for example, it was possible to arrive to the top of a flaming tower, and pick up the Gem, without having to turn off the horizontal flames (and additionally, Lara had a nasty shock when a crocodile jumped unexpectedly at her from behind, when she was at the top of a ledge preparing to jump to the flaming tower); and at the end of the game, I couldn't pick up the Breast Plate, because the cage didn't go down after Lara killed the Demigods – and I had to play all the sequence again, using a previous save, to have success. But still, there are brilliant parts: I appreciated in special the hint given by the author for the right levers to use, in the Horus Door area; namely, the number of "death tiles" at the left wall of the N passage. So, play this one, and have a good time." - Josey

"The first level of this two-parter is another example of unreasonable darkness where the builder has made a feeble (and unsuccessful) effort to compensate by providing an overabundance of flares. Even though the tasks here were somewhat engaging, especially that exercise of finding four gems in four side rooms to open the exit door, I wasn't a very happy camper for the 43 minutes it took for me to get through. By contrast, the lighting in the second level was far superior, and I had an infinitely more enjoyable time playing it. It's old school raiding in classic fashion, right down to the block-shifting exercise reminiscent of TR1. Sadly, it was all over in 30 minutes. (Dutchy, the clue to the 8-lever puzzle is on the wall of the preceding hallway, just count the skull panels to your left as you walk along.) If not for the darkness of the first level, my scores would be even higher." - Phil

"And so I found the entire armour, now I'll be able to fight Seth's evil armies (in case they exist, I'll leave that to imagination). I must say the game was basically flawless (except for one of the final demigods who awaited me while being too busy fighting a column - an editor issue, I know) but also not exactly thrilling. One thing I liked was none of the tasks was too demanding. On the other hand, sounds and architecture, as well as the entire route, were just... quite correct. So, it wasn't bad (and some are, God knows) but I can only recommend it if you're into indoor Egyptian adventures." - Jorge22

"What I like in the builder's games is that everything is put together very carefully and there are only few technical mistakes (I found two missing textures and an invisible block in front of a door, though that's not much overall), so one cannot say that the builder didn't care for the outcome. What I don't like, though, is that there is seldom a really creative moment as it's a very traditional game without any surprises or intriguing puzzles or tasks you haven't seen before. I also think that most of the traps are way too easy to negotiate, some didn't pose any threat at all. The lever puzzles are all about trial and error, and the only halfway interesting puzzle including moving pillars was absolutely straightforward so there's no much need to think for the players on what they have to do. Why not at least making some of the elements timed? I found that the overall architecture is quite decent, as well as the skills in terms of visuals, although the lighting in the second level felt a little bland at times. The enemies are very predictably placed and the two secrets are not hard to find. The use of some action sounds was a bit overdone as I expected an epic boulder run in one passage rather than a few scorpions; cameras are also a bit sparsely used. I think that the builder has learned the basics now and should try to create something more unique now, something that can be remembered longer than those solid, but somewhat gray releases. 35 minutes." - manarch2

"There's an appealing 'old school' feel to this two part game that I rather liked. It's a bit gloomy in part one, as is always inevitable with the settomb environment, but part two is bright and colourful for the most part and very nicely made. There's an excellent variety to the gameplay, although it never becomes difficult to achieve (in fact the timed runs are generous to a degree seldom seen). Nice traps (again nothing onerous, but entertaining enough). Enemies aren't over used and there's a boss ending with three demigods that isn't of course a problem as they're at ground level so easily dealt with. I liked the way the tasks are compartmentalised in specific areas, so that there's little if any backtracking. In summary, this is a traditional, well rounded game that should be within the capabilities of most players and, despite being a two-parter, my net gaming time was roughly an hour and a half so you won't spend days on it. Recommended." - Jay

"Opaque79 was already good at designing the architecture, placing textures with care and properly lighting the rooms, but now I can say his gameplay skills have improoved as well from his previous releases. Nothing too challenging or difficult to get stuck, puzzles are rather easy but entertaining. The first level is very well constructed with a "tomb of Seth" nostalgic vibe. The second level has more puzzles to solve, and the Qualopec blocks were a nice surprise. The only thing negative is the abrupt ending, maybe an escape route would've been a nice way the properly close the adventure. Overall, it was fun to return to the classic TR4 for a change of pace. Recommended for nostalgic TR4 players." - Feder