Level reviews

"I don't really mind this being a young Lara level (plus it has been a good while since I last played one anyway), but the general darkness of the level was quite aggravatting. It definitely had in impact on gameplay, which Mulf states is a non-linear affair so there's even less reason to go at it alone — and by following his instructions you can actually reach the end in a timely manner, even. I still had trouble spotting pretty much every single switch or jump lever along the way because they blend so well into the wall thanks to the dim lighting the author chose. Maybe good for atmosphere, but not exactly player friendly I'm afraid. 25 minutes, 3 secrets. 07/26" - Treeble

"Easy, quick, spooky, and fun! Now here's a little game to start autumn with! On her way to find the harp of Dagda, Lara will have to retrieve two crosses and a few old coins in the ruins of an abandoned area in Ireland. Once she has a torch, she's all set. The enemies are spooky in this game. However, they are mostly harmless or at least can be easily avoided. Since Lara has no weapons to defeat them, this seems only fair. There are 3 secrets, one of which includes a witty idea! The atmosphere is really well done! It's very much like the Ireland levels in TR5, but with a whole new area. Sound and cameras do their job to underscore the scary ambience. Personally, I would have preferred to hear an edited version of the background ambient sound, or something new, but the original sound still works its magic. The textures in this game are well known from TR5. A few additions/ edited versions would have been welcome but I didn't mind. In the beginning, I found this game very dark, so it's best played at night or in a dimly lit setting. I walked right over a golden rose and the torches before finding them - the torches really make everything go easy afterwards. It took me about an hour to complete the game with all three secrets in Lara's pocket. The level of difficulty is relatively low, but one really has to keep one's eyes peeled not to overlook any hidden passages, items or switches." - Sponge

"I actually liked this one. Young Lara in Ireland settings are rather rare and the atmosphere created here works quite well throughout and really immerses you into the location. Unfortunately, that is where the remarkable things quickly end, as it is quite a short adventure with very little to do - well, as long as you find the things you need to find and the tasks you need to do, which could take a while as there is really no guidance in that regard and some crawlspaces are well hidden in big areas. Use of enemies and objects is quite thoughtful actually, given Lara has no weapons, and there are 3 rose secrets that are not so hard to come by." - MichaelP

"Twelfth of the Create a Classic 2019 competition that I actually played, this level was a nice adventure, despite my general dislike for TR5 Ireland as a theme(even if this fact didn't influence the review at all).
The level seems to be very big: in fact, rooms are really huge here, and it makes you think there is a lot of stuff going on, but sadly that is not the case.
In fact, playtime is very low(unless you end up getting stuck).
There were some puzzles(mainly with torches) and some exploration in the creepy setting, but nothing too complex.
Talking about atmosphere, it was done somewhat nicely. I want to point out at one of the last rooms of the level: an hallway with a lot of ghostly skeletons. That was very creepy and I loved it!
Graphically, it was not that detailed but the lighting was not even that bad(it was certainly not too dark, that is a good sign).

Overall though, this is the horror entry of the Create a Classic 2019, and it is mainly a level that doesn't offer much to do other than exploring an huge, mostly empty area, with the occasional creepy encounter.
It can still entertain you pretty nicely, thanks to the atmosphere alone.

Recommended? Yes, especially if you are a fan of TR5's Ireland or levels with some kind of creepy theme. Totally not recommended if you dislike young lara.

Difficulty? Peaceful.

Duration? Approx. 30-50 minutes." - TombExplorer

"Many players entertain reservations bordering on prejudice against Young Lara levels, so submitting one to a contest you've presumably entered to win is certainly a bold move. The level acquits itself quite well, albeit far better in terms of design than in terms of gameplay. This is due in part to the circumstance that it is one of several contributions to the 2019 CaC contest which for one reason or another couldn't be properly finished on time; hence the long suite of empty rooms which you pass through at one point, and the emptiness of the area around the church; hence also the wrong collision of several objects imported from TR5. Even so, the builder managed to bring his plot to a satisfying conclusion - in the classical dilemma between the harp and the heart, Lara chooses the former - , and, a few hiccups notwithstanding, delivers an enjoyable level that focuses for the most part on exploration.
As you would expect in a Young Lara level, enemies are few, but they are fitting and well integrated. Traps are also few, though a surprise couple of boulders is quite effective. If the exploration aspect works so well, this is due largely to the coherent environment in which it takes place. It is an open map, but it has a clear structure in which you don't get lost (provided your sense of orientation works reasonably well), and as such it is the very opposite of the more common (and much easier to build) room–corridor–room adventure, in which one thing follows another often enough without too much rhyme or reason. This is no minor achievement.
The level's main attraction, however, is atmosphere. It oozes atmosphere. It is drenched in it. It's been laid on with, as one reviewer put it, a trowel. If you don't like the TR5 Ireland atmosphere, stay away. Inevitably, there are complaints about darkness, even though a wide selection of torches is provided and the level is nowhere near too dark. (I'd rather complain about the many mirrored textures. Mirroring is sometimes necessary in natural areas, but it should never be the rule, as it enhances rather than diminishes the wallpaper effect.) However, the builder's will to atmosphere also causes a few problems: in order to reproduce that Ireland vibe, the builder uses many of the objects that appeared in the original levels, but he divorces them from their context. There is a waterwheel that serves no perceivable function, as it turns and turns in water that is perfectly still - which mysterious forces are at work here? A waterfall is nearby, but where does the water come from? Ostensibly from a small pond with no tributaries; more mysteries. It's raining of course (for atmosphere), but it's not raining that hard. A few steps further is what purports to be a windmill; but it is entirely silent, and it eventually turns out to be nothing more than four walls erected around a small dresser and an unlit torch. The builder placed some sheds along the perimeter (atmosphere!), but the one with the rattling door produces, again, no sound. At the intersection of design and gameplay, we come across the all too common issue of a switch in one building opening the door of another, and typically that, and nothing else, is the raison d'être of the buildings in question.
Such problems notwithstanding, if this level were a demo, it would be a rare case of a demo succeeding in making me actually look forward to playing the full version, realised in its entirety as envisioned. I hear that the possibility of this coming to pass is not entirely off the table, although the builder has since submitted another level to a different contest. Maybe it's time to take a break from competitions and to focus instead on building a level on your own terms, without a deadline?" - Mulf

"A little late to the crowd but decided to pick this one up because of me being a young Lara fan. I liked the overall premise, of searching for a harp in the Irish fantasy setting that resembled Chronicles. The atmosphere and texturing needed some improvement and maybe the areas could've been less large because the world feels empty. This level has potential though, the gameplay is okay , just needed more development." - young Lara Croft

"Even when I'm not a big fan of young Lara's levels, I have to recognize that this one is well builded, and it notices a big effort with the architecture and texturization. On the other hand, the level is too dark, and too much no-lineal for my taste so I was exploring several huge areas often suffering a lot of backtracking 'cause the missing items. Fortunately the level is short, and the items are not too hidden, except one of the bags with coins I discovered thanks to the torch I had to take with me almost all the entire level (even so it was difficult to note the high crack in the darkness). Better than the previous level from this author, but still not very entertaining. Take a try anyway if you have a bright monitor." - Jose

"The size of area in this level suggested there is going to be a lot of things to do, but instead the gameplay was quite lackluster. The level was pretty dark, and by dark I don't mean story or gameplay-wise, but visually that I had to guess which direction to go to hit some light. In general this level was decent, it was functional, offered some exploration and few puzzles to collect, but other than that, it doesn't have anything too exciting. Still, it's a decent package that won't take much of your time even if you get lost a bit be it in darkness or while looking for next task to do." - Raider99

"Another level where I felt kind of lost in it and where I had to look up a walkthrough. Fortunately there weren't any situations, where you had to backtrack if you missed something, but the huge wide open areas promised a lot of gameplay, where there wasn't much in the end. The game didn't take you by the hand, so you had to find out by yourself what there is to do at all and this I would consider as kind of difficult and tedious, if the exploring itself isn't really entertaining or rewarded. But not everything was bad, the author created an eerie and fitting atmosphere and the assets, like textures and objects were also fitting together. Maybe if the author takes more time to focus on gameplay he will create a pretty decent adventure. It took me half an hour (with walkthrough) and I found 2 of the 3 secrets (by myself)." - MarlenaCrystal

"Here we have a Young Lara level and I have never been a fan of these mainly because you wander about utterly at the mercy of your enemies being absolutely defenseless. They could have given her a sling shot. I mean which kid has not had a sling shot at that age? Also in this incarnation you are required to carry a torch with you along the way as the level is so dark this is how you illuminate her path (as flares also are not permitted in Young Lara's world). You actually do need to light one wall torch and burn some roots along your way but other than that it is more to see things than anything else. I did not find all the secrets but that's ok as they did not hold anything of interest anyway. It saddened me to see her spend all those coins to gain access to the cathedral. I was kind of hoping that was her reward for venturing out but no, it was that silly harp that she probably couldn't carry anyway." - Torry

"I've always been leery of Young Lara levels because of the lack of weapons (not so important) and the lack of flares (of vital importance). This places the player at the mercy of the builder's tastes re lighting. And this level is dark, much too dark, making the playing experience something to be endured more than enjoyed. That being said, there are some interesting gameplay sequences presented here, made all the more manageable by Mulf's thoroughly documented walkthrough, including all four secrets. Despite some inevitable floundering in the darkness I was able to finish in about 45 minutes. Not an award winner, probably not even in the upper half of the CaC competition, but definitely worthy of the download." - Phil

"What can I say? This is actually short if you happen to know what you're doing. But the vast, gameplay-wise useless areas and the torch abundance right at the start happen to be quite misleading. I thought the atmosphere, albeit not really creepy was correct and not destroyed by some immensely dark view, as I've already seen happening with a few Ireland levels, and I liked the part in which one has to collect the heart while being attacked by a fast-moving undead plus the skeleton hallway. I don't know what I placed the crosses and picked the book for, even though I'm sure there must have been some reason... To me, an ok level." - Jorge22

"This is a Young Lara level with a fitting Ireland theme. It mixes in the elements well, including a couple of slightly different objects, I do feel it springs enemies on you a bit too early for tension to build but the few that show up are well done (although a certain threat near the end seems to be bugged and doesn't do damage). The design looks good enough, and there's some thought to the overall structure with a village, surrounding terrain and imposing church that is the goal. A lot of areas are somewhat open and empty though, and don't really exploit that to build vulnerability or for some other purpose either.
The gameplay is mostly exploration as you unravel the village and surrounding area (which all links nicely in the end). The actual tasks are quite slight though, with most of it involving semi-hidden entryways, I also felt one elevated passage in the village could have had a visual clue or something because it's easy to overlook when most of the area is empty and it's in a darker section. Once you know where things are it's quite slight in retrospect, and it feels quite unfinished with things like an item that seemingly does nothing, empty areas with nothing meaningfully interactable, and stuff that looks important but then isn't anything. The ending comes somewhat abruptly too. A decent Young Lara level, but it feels like it ran into some major time issues and wasn't fully finished." - Mman

"It's quite probable that after the longest (Russian Base) I picked the shortest level afterwards by chance, and it indeed feels like a decent level to play afterwards. The 15 net gameplay minutes I spent here were okay, but the gameplay is mostly very simple and does not provide many creative tasks. The environments are handled with care and the builder has a grasp on creating nicely connected large scale areas. The lighting, even if a bit dark overall, is quite realistic too. There are other things however that show a bit more work could've been put into things like the sometimes simplistic architecture, object design (there are several no-collision objects), texturing that is too often mirrored and also a more rewarding and involving story, I found everything wrapped up fairly quickly at the end and the game also feels somewhat unfinished. Still an improvement over the builder's debut and there is certainly a possibility to improve next time. Found the three secrets of which only the last one was well hidden." - manarch2

"Would be nice if the [_____] (spoiler censored) didn't take me an hour to find, also sometimes it's just too primitively shaped, too overwhelmingly lit and textured with too many mirrors, so it feels like a proper dish however missing all the spices. But the Irish atmosphere is still impossible to discard for me, so tl;dr I got stuck but still had quite a good time." - DJ Full

"This is the very definition of a non-linear exploration level;beautifully constructed and,thanks to the looming darkness,often maddeningly vague. If it hadn't been for the Walkthrough written by the estimable Mulf,I would have been wandering around in circles;for ever peering into the gloom and contemplating what to do in order to move the level forward. Many of the areas,although neatly connected,contain little of importance - although the player wouldn't know this.There IS a flow and rhythm to the gameplay,though;but I needed constant prompting. The omnipresent darkness wasn't a help either;but in conjunction with excellent texturing,object placement and unsettling sounds (all those ominous hoots and shrieky bird-calls)went a long way to produce an atmosphere so tangible that it could have been laid on with a trowel. Being a Young Lara level,the enemies were all avoidable,of course;but this didn't lessen the feeling of dread that something really sinister could be lurking just around the next corner (it wasn't). The construction (especially the layout design) was very accomplished - and overall this provided a deeply immersive,if occasionally elusive,50 minutes entertainment." - Orbit Dream

"A nice Young Lara level, although a short one. Gameplay is almost completely exploration (including some torch action), aside from one trap sequence and one puzzle, and some enemies to run away from. The lighting has nice sunset vibes, but is a tad too dark for my tastes; thankfully the torch supply prevents this from being a major issue. Textures are applied quite well, and the level is architected nicely, aside from a few large areas that don't seem to have much for the player to do in them. The bright side is that they are nicely ornamented with objects. The cutscenes are constructed well, but a camera cue was missing for the door that the crosses open. 42 minutes." - JesseG

"A decent attempt at recreating the general feel of TR5's Ireland levels here in terms of the visual presentation. But in regards to gameplay and overall level design however, constantine comes off very short in these areas (with a ton of empty rooms that serve little to no purpose and gameplay which simply struggles to engage whilst failing to present any of the atmospheric dread one would expect from the level theme). So overall, not a bad recommendation for first-time players. But more experienced raiders are better off looking elsewhere." - Ceamonks890

"I always enjoy a trip to Black Isle; it's probably the only time I don't mind playing as Young Lara. This is a relatively short trip, but the wonderful atmosphere is present and correct and a few of the original tasks (finding a heart, burning the underground tree roots etc.) are included. It's not at all difficult and should be suitable for all players." - Jay

"I am fond of Ireland and Young Lara levels, and I enjoyed my time in this one, especially the non-linearity and the impressively connected outdoor areas. At times though, the grey textures and dim lighting meant that knowing where to proceed was quite difficult. Coupled with some of the vast areas that looked like fun to explore, but turned out to have very little to do in them, this can be a surprisingly hard level to complete despite the easy gameplay itself. Only a few puzzles, one of which involved a switch sequence that I misinterpreted: the clue involved filling in a blank and assuming a read-order (left to right) rather than an encounter order (right to left), so I think this clue could have been done a bit better. I found myself wishing that flares had been included in the level since, despite the handy torches at the beginning, there were many times I wished I could illuminate an environment more. It was not a problem with darkness, rather a problem with gray light on gray objects and textures. For example, it took my ages to see the switches beside the doors out of the churchyard. What I enjoyed most was the way that everything connected up: it was quite a convincing environment, and the caves and slopes and structures all blended together well. A few bugs or awkward collisions: some of the objects in the mill area prevent you from moving across all surfaces or lack textures from certain angles, and one building has wooden-crossed windows that can be jumped through into the building but not out of it. I missed the demon baby cackles from TRC (the sounds they made in this one were admittedly creepier), and I wished there had been some added creepy factor for the introduction of the skeletons at the end. I enjoyed the last secret with the mirror puzzle! 3/3 secrets, 45 minutes to complete." - Cbl

"A laudable attempt to produce a decent Young Lara level, and for the most part it comes off rather well. The main downsides are the unfortunate inclusion of generally empty rooms with little to do in them and the fact that the gameplay doesn't reach any heights of true excellence, with a lot of exploration being the order of the day. The ending also seemed to arrive a bit too abruptly for my liking after just short of 35 minutes net gaming time, resulting in it not being as immersing an experience as it should have been. Nonetheless, the atmosphere and texturing captures the essence of the TR5 Black Isle levels and the three Golden Rose secrets are neatly placed. Not an absolute masterpiece, but a decent enough addition to this contest." - Ryan

"I always appreciate when builder use real-life mythology in their level and the Harp of Dagda was definitely an interesting read! I enjoyed this Ireland level! Never too difficult, yet enough area's and puzzles to keep you occupied. The level is immersive with lots of stuff to explore (like the creepy skeleton watching over the village). The lightning is very well balanced, especially since Lara doesn't have access to flares or the binoculars. A torch is provides in the beginning, giving the player that little bit of extra light to explore all corners. Textures are well placed, especially considering it's not an easy texture-set to use (imo). The rooms though are a bit of a hit and miss. There are some big empty rooms that take away from the immersion. The smaller, claustrophobic, hallways however really do work. I love the skeletons at the end. Really unexpected and creepy! Got 2/3 secrets. Really liked the one near the end! All in all a very enjoyable raid. Definitely recommend this one!" - Baslakor