Levels listed...
TR5 - 31
TR4 - 3141
TR3 - 177
TR2 - 133
TR1 - 61
72353 reviews (20.4/level)
3532 (99.7%) walkthroughs
445 Hall of Fame levels
1221 levels rated >= 8
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release date: |
29-May-2021 |
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# of downloads: |
71 |
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average rating: |
5.71 |
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review count: |
13 |
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review this level |
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file size: |
27.50 MB |
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file type: |
TR4 |
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class: |
City |
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| Reviewer's comments |
"There’s ‘atmospherically gloomy’ and then there’s ‘which idiot turned the lights out?’
Guess which category this falls into? Anyway, it’s a fairly basic city level, which may or
may not be well made, and the action mainly involves shooting guards and dogs and a morsel
of motorbike riding. So far, so underwhelming until a lever/door puzzle suddenly crops up
to give a taste of what this level could have been. If you are a real diehard city level
fan you might just enjoy it and, in its defence, it is short, but I have to say there are
better examples of the genre." - Jay (14-Sep-2023) |
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| "Raw Cairo mood. Simple but satisfying. The secret is like what the heck, but the rest is fine." - DJ Full (28-Feb-2023) |
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| "Not a level with a good look, too dark, with simple architecture, not entertaining tasks, only pull some switches here and there and find a couple of keys with certain backtracking if you choose the wrong path. In the room with three floor levers (the only "puzzle" I found) there's not a hint (or, at least, I couldn't find it) to know what levers to pull for each door. I missed some more cameras and musics and more objects to ornate the nude rooms and streets. Not a level to enjoy, but playable anyway." - Jose (25-Mar-2022) |
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| "I've played the author's most recent release at the time of writing and this one, which happens to be his first, back to back. I thought Return to the Tomb was dark, but this one is a tad worse. It's made with the dreadful city assets too, so it's all dark and gloomy (and rather empty, all things considered). The city itself is laid out in a very mazey way so I resorted to the walkthrough when two of the paths I took at first led me nowhere and from there on out it was a tad more manageable. With the exception of the running (and riding) back and forth, gameplay is otherwise simple. I quite liked the multiple levers and timed doors set up, that was quite unexpected and all in all a pretty unusual setup. 30 minutes, 1 secret. 10/21" - Treeble (10-Oct-2021) |
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| "All the basic elements of a raid are here: baddies to gun down, an artifact to steal, a temple to break into and make a dramatic escape from. Starting with the visuals, this city environment is essentially a labyrinth of square corridors, so atmosphere is the weakest aspect of this adventure. Texturing and lighting are decent though, if a little on the dark side. The camera could use more work, with timed switches missing cues and a constant earthquake shake at the end that I could have done without. Due to the less-than-friendly layout the gameplay suffers in the beginning (naturally, I accidentally went down the one route that the walkthrough warns you to save for later) but the last part was much more entertaining; flame traps to dodge, timed runs, and a nice color-based puzzle that is used to its full potential. I was glad to end this short level on a high note. 30 minutes." - JesseG (06-Aug-2021) |
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| "This one reminded me a lot of Staticon's earliest levels. Dark and somber throughout, I was
nearly through (detouring for the secret, which in retrospect is really wasted effort)
before I ran out of flares and manufactured an unlimited supply so I could finish. Although
I'm certainly not singing the level's praises, I do feel that the scores to date don't
fairly reflect the thought and effort that went into this 45-minute raid. There are no
flagrant glitches, although I must concede that I could never have navigated that lever room
and the surrounding areas without help from the walkthrough. Speaking of which, I never have
to wonder how Mulf feels about various aspects of a given level as gameplay unfolds, for he
makes his sentiments quite clearly known in his walks. With which I have no problem, by the
way, as I do the same thing myself when circumstances so demand. Not a prize-winner by any
means, but certainly worth the download and the time spent playing." - Phil (09-Jul-2021) |
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| "A short adventure using the City WAD elements, which already makes it one I would not be
enjoying much. Never was a great fan of the gloomy darkness and it is indeed prevalent
here as well. You get the expected with plenty of SAS, dogs and bats to kill and run
around searching a few keys, but the short level still does have its moments, as the
design of the motorbike course is simple but effective, there are some small touches
like the switches that turn on the lights and there is one creative idea put in place
withe the three lever puzzle combined with two timed jumpswitches and a few traps that
really works out quite well, including the fact that it plays into the only secret as
well. I could have done without the earthquake during the escape but it is not too
annoying this time. All in all, nothing extraordinary here, but still worth a look for
that one puzzle area." - MichaelP (04-Jul-2021) |
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| "I was looking lastly to play some cairo themed levels and here we got new released level
with this theme. It's mediocre. Gameplay is simple mostly with pulling levers and
finding keys. But I really liked the lever puzzle at the end of level and last sequence
was also cool. Atmosphere was actually not that bad but it could work better with more
diverse lighting and some roofs on buildings because it looked weird and we can saw
outside of map. Whole city could have also been more decorated with some objects because
it looked quite boring. If you are looking for some cairo levels, you can play this if
you want because they are rarity. But it's nothing special." - BlackWolfTR (17-Jun-2021) |
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"My, did this little level rub manarch the wrong way or what? Although I can see where he’s coming from, my experience with it was a little different; for one, it failed to draw my ire to anything like the same extent.
The ‘story’ may claim that Lara is in ‘an unfamiliar place’, but not only is it obviously the tried-and-trusted City setting, most of the script entries are also the same as in the (Spanish version of) TR4: the in-game title is the equivalent of “City of the Dead”, and there’s even a Roof Key, just like there is one in the TR4 original—even though in this level, not a single roof can be spotted anywhere. In fact, the initial area looks like a giant rode a lawnmower over this city to make it look, from his perspective, like an English lawn. This is a pity, as the map is well constructed overall, and by no means does the builder subscribe to the creed of strict functionalism; they added a few mist pits for purely atmospheric purposes. Had they gone the extra mile and added a bit of verticality as well, it would have done the geometry a world of good. Gameplay, too, may have benefited if the jumping sequence had been stacked on top of the map instead of taking place in a separate area on the same level as the rest. In any case, the builder should not have allowed players to access this area while there’s absolutely nothing for them to do there, so that as a consequence they may have to repeat the entire jumping sequence when eventually there’s something rather than nothing.
The level is dark, yes, as a classic City level is wont to be. There may not be a Sun in every room, but placed lights are used throughout, as well as a few neat lighting effects, some of which you rarely see in custom levels. Based on the sometimes widely divergent assessments of a given level’s ‘darkness’ and my own experiences with the LE, I’ve come to the conclusion that since the advent of LCD displays, it depends largely on the make of your monitor if you experience a level as too dark or not. In this level, I used three flares maybe.
There are also a few placed sounds to add to the atmosphere, and the TR3 track that plays as you’re about to embark on the jumping exercise is well-chosen. The wad has been judiciously (for the most part) augmented with a few objects from other TR4 wads and from TR3 (the small click switch, it should be noted, comes with proper sound and animation), although I’m not so sure about the Temple Key from India. One customisation, presumably the builder’s own, is technically well-made, but caused me a stuck moment (a set of double doors as a puzzle hole with no visible receptacle, and the key that goes there redefined as a puzzle item. Thanks, Teone!).
The texturing is adequate; there’s much too much mirroring, but patchwork texturing has been avoided, and the builder saw to it that every one of the canopies which you have to cross during the jumping sequence has its own window beneath it, so none simply sticks out of a blank wall. The underground ‘temple’, in which the second half of the level takes place, is very loosely defined, and with the exception of some imported ornamental floor tiles, the texturing continues in much the same manner as above ground.
Gameplay, however, takes on a different character altogether, as it’s now focused on an complex puzzle involving multiple levers. It’s quite clever, but it’s set up awkwardly in that it requires a lot of running back and forth in order to check what may or may not have happened; the puzzle should have worked better if you could see directly (e. g. from above, through windows or grates) which effect a given combination of levers has. Still, I thought figuring it out was an entertaining challenge. (I can’t say the same about the secret, which is the kind that requires help from outside the game to obtain.) All in all, an assured debut that’s absolutely worth playing at least once. About its replay value I’m not so sure." - Mulf (14-Jun-2021) |
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| "Another competent debut;but the tell-tale signs of a novice builder are nonetheless
evident throughout - the lack of a single roof or upper story to any of the buildings
(giving the impression of running through corridors,with a sky texture painted on to
every ceiling);progression which can be unintentionally back-to-front (a shatterable
wall can be destroyed far too soon the wrong way round,simply by driving the bike into
close proximity);and a lever puzzle sequence devoid of clues,and which came across as
merely obscure. Against this it must be pointed out that the lighting is actually rather
good throughout (dark,without being impenetrable),with interesting mist effects;and a
pleasing use of flickering light bulbs. The course for progression maintains interest
from start to finish;and there are good uses of enemies and musical cues. It entertains
reasonably well for 45 minutes or so." - Orbit Dream (12-Jun-2021) |
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| "Although a fairly creditable debut (?)
offering, this level ended up being too
aggravating to be fully enjoyable. The
general texturing and atmosphere isn't too
shabby, but the lighting is unreasonably
dark and murky (the City wad tends to be
on the darker side anyway, but this was a
bit too overdone) and the gameplay is
heavily overreliant on backtracking and
lever throwing. The lever puzzle/timed run
combination was a neat touch, but even
then it was a bit difficult to work out
the intended reliable route. Enemies do
tend to spice proceedings up here and
there, but not quite enough to save it,
I'm afraid." - Ryan (03-Jun-2021) |
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| "What the heck was the builder thinking with this one? That entirely dark levels with a rather sparse amount of flares are enjoyable? Or running around in the dark pulling dozens of levers? The puzzle towards the end is the only hint of creative gameplay but it is also spoiled by its vagueness, there is no real hint on which levers you have to use and which not. Texturing was mostly okay, as far as I could see (and I didn't see much), but the architecture is very basic. The enemy attacks in the dark were effective but nothing you wouldn't expect. I found the sole secret, somehow, in 25 minutes that had almost nothing really fun on offer, the only thing required here is patience (not even speaking about the chance to run out of flares...) and this simply doesn't work well. Sorry." - manarch2 (31-May-2021) |
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| "This is a typical rendition of TR4 City of the Dead. There are guards, dogs, sentryguns and a sidecar to drive. You have to find some keys to progress but mainly the gameplay is focused on a tough lever puzzle without hints. The only method to solve the puzzle is trial & error with the hurry of a double timed sequence. I imagine many raiders getting annoyed here and checking the walkthrough. I spent 40 minutes in total and found 1 secret." - Teone (30-May-2021) |
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