Level reviews

"I guess the most aggravating part of this level is its length. Even at just half an hour of net time, it still feels like it drags on for far too long. It's not even standard tut1fare because it brings elements from pretty much every known wad. The rooms are littered with objects but they seem to be just scattered about, so nothing particularly attractive, and you zoom through these areas collecting a number of key objects to proceed. I understand it's a first attempt, but, like I said, if this had been a 10 minute affair, I'd probably be more lenient towards it. 30 minutes. 10/26" - Treeble

"A first level that is not bad, if only there were less objects in the rooms... and the gameplay is so-so. For the player it is more routine work than fun, well going down into a hole in the ground with only one pickup you don't even need is not my idea of fun. Texturing is quite nice in some rooms , it is obvious the builder took pleasure to ornate them well , in some other places textures are stretched and lighting weak. Still a solid effort." - eRIC

"Well, not a jewel of the custom levels, but playable in any case. A lot of bad placed objects like waterfalls and hundreds of plants lying anywhere on solid floors, simple architecture, some paper walls and textures not well applied; the gameplay is very simple without puzzles and you'll need to explore interconnected rooms searching for keys to open doors, and near the end take a long way back to the beginning. There are several extra weapons but not enough ammo to deal with the numerous enemies and as usual in the levels from this author, I missed a lot some cameras to guide the player. Not entertaining for me but perhaps for another players..." - Jose

"Not bad for a chill non-demanding project which doesn't declare anything specific it turned out pretty solid. The author should work on style coherency because mixing various wads and extreme colours, although intriguing in the beginning, loses power if used for too long like here. In other words you can tone it down a bit. On the opposite edge, textures could be more varied or better used because they're really simplistic and you can spot wall tiles placed on the ceiling. The best thing was a multitude of secrets and the impression of proceeding, contrary to enclosed maps which often lack the sense of adventure. tl;dr nothing big but good for a one-hour break." - DJ Full

"This is a quite spirited first effort. It's not the most polished level out there and the gameplay and setting are both rather simplistic, but there have been worse debut levels out there. There's a lot of backtracking to perform as you acquire the different artefacts and keys, which gets a bit tedious after a while and the object placements were rather incongruous in the context of the Egyptian setting, although they weren't a hindrance to my progression as such. Not bad for a start, so onwards and upwards." - Ryan

"A debut level, and obviously so, but for all that it's definitely worth the time to download and play it. Everything is well lit, but it's the kind of lighting that many would criticize for its lack of ambiance. The titular primates are friendly, but their presence causes game crashes so it's best to them wherever they're encountered. Even so, my game continued to crash with annoying frequency, but only when I switched from game to word processor and started typing (I was writing a walkthrough while playing), so I can't attribute this phenomenon to the primates or to the builder. Gameplay is mainly an exercise in exploration and backtracking. I didn't count all the rooms that are accessed as you move along, but there must have been dozens. The pickups are profuse and for the most part lying around in plain sight, although attempts were made to hide some of them. I found no secrets that registered as such. Everything is fairly straightforward, and there were no surprises that jump immediately to mind unless you count those three chicken monsters that greet you in one fell swoop near the end. There are certainly worse debut levels out there, so I encourage the builder to keep working at it." - Phil

"Not a bad first attempt with the editor. There is still a lot to learn as for texturing how to put them on properly, as some were squashed and some were stretched. Also the lightning could use some TLC. I can understand the why with all those waterfalls/fountains but they are not realistic at all. It does give a pretty picture but I'm sure that you want more than a pretty picture, right? But as I said… not a bad start. And about crashes some people might have, it has to do with the monkeys. If you want to avoid the crashes, you have to kill them." - Gerty

"I was already well into the game until I got a key and I had to remember where it could go. I came back almost to the beginning to find it (I had completely forgotten). Typical level of a 1st level with many errors (textures, lack of textures of water for example, thin walls, far too many objects in some places, enemies that appear suddenly, troublesome collisions .... All this will be to correct and the author should make excellent levels in the future." - Drakan

"It's a start.The first level building steps.There have been many worse debuts.I ought really to leave it there;but I can't stop myself from pointing out that indiscriminate object placement does absolutely nothing to establish a sense of place.Waterfalls are placed obsessively(even underwater);as are plants,oriental arches,Egyptian sarcophagi,Himalayan monsters,mummies,Venetian bladed statues.The gameplay involves backtracking to distant key holes,via many dead-end passageways;and a hugely repetitive series of encounters with Ahmets. The most entertaining part was the ending;where,should you miss the one tile with the Finish Trigger,weird things happen when Lara attempts to mount the motorbike in order to make her escape. There are decent ideas here and there,though." - Orbit Dream

"What this debut level may lack in expertise, it makes up for a sheer enthusiasm. Actually, as debuts go, we've all seen far worse. This is a pleasant romp through rooms that mainly have a Cleopal vibe to them, although there's quite an eclectic mix of objects and textures going on. It's very straightforward gameplay, suitable for all players. Despite the author's insistence that the baboons are friendly, you may just wish to shoot them anyway, as they can cause crashing issues and in any case I just find them really, really irritating. Good start and do please carry on building." - Jay

"For a debut, this is nowhere among the worst levels that I've personally ever played. But at the same time, a generally lacking quality seems to persist throughout. Level design comes off very uninspired(with consistently blocky-looking architecture which lacks an internal logic to its construction), including tons of plants that realistically wouldn't survive in an area such as this without the necessary sunlight, water spouting in from seemingly nothing, enemies that spawn in without explanation and a ton of placed objects, which either feel completely out-of-place or proceed to make rooms more unnecessarily cluttered, than they really should be. Gameplay doesn't fare much better, as you find yourself mainly backtracking from one busy-looking area to the next for out-of-place house keys, doing some fairly routine platforming and traversal whilst confronting stock TR4 enemies and questionably used TR2 Talion Guardians, that as previously stated, seem to spawn in without any real rhyme or reason. And as for the visual design itself, it comes off looking very rough(with plenty of wallpapered/stretched texturing and flat lighting utilization, which when combined with the stock sounds & ambiance, make for an atmosphere that is entirely unmemorable and unengaging). So in conclusion, not really worth the download. But I hope the builder learns from this experience and crafts something even better as a result." - Ceamonks890

"For a first attempt this was not half bad. Game play is relatively simplistic and for the most part linear but there are a few back tracks involved on occasion after locating the necessary key and one was quire a way so naturally the location of the lock had completely vanished from memory. Architecture is quite blocky and some of the plants would trap Lara if she fell into them. Also the water affects did not look real. The water simply flowed but from where? Some outlet or receptacle would have made it more realistic. The game also crashed a few times for me. Enemies where straight out of TR4 except for the three beasts near the end of the level from TR2 Gold who were far too easy to kill. The crocodiles in confined spaces was mean. Not a bad first try Liongirl." - Torry

"Not a very bad debut and there are no major bugs or the like in the game so that it can be properly finished, but there's still a lot to learn for the builder. The lighting is very flat and almost the same in each room, with only colour changes here and there. Texturing is very eclectic and there are lots of mistakes. It's nice that the builder trys to make the areas look different by using a lot of objects, but it is just too much and the objects also often do not quite fit, like all those waterflows, the jeep at the start or the Chinese warrior, in general the placement is just too random. The architecture is functional and it feels like one room is placed after the other just to prolong the gameplay time, there are lots of areas where you just find an item somewhere and leave again. A few traps and jumps are included at least to create a bit of variation. Again, for a first try this is okay, but I wouldn't have released it to the public as it's not so interesting to follow to be honest. Found no secrets." - manarch2