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Deathwish by Neltharion

BlackWolfTR 9 8 9 9
DJ Full 9 8 9 9
manarch2 8 7 7 7
MetalOdyssey 9 10 8 10
mojtra 10 8 8 9
nerdfury 7 9 9 9
Petaludas 10 5 8 5
 
release date: 14-Mar-2022
# of downloads: 361

average rating: 8.32
review count: 7
 
review this level

file size: 106.00 MB
file type: TR4
class: Egypt
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
guevaraimre189@protonmail.ch

Reviewer's comments
"There are several phases of playing this game. First, I didn't believe how hard jumps are required. Then I actually believed in performed. The last, and worst, was when I started to assume harder scenario than was intended, and therefore made everything twice more difficult. But after everything was done, I thought the knowledge learnt in this levelset should be rewarded - however, not with a 10 because of the trial and error often transpiring. Possibly there should be some arrows, or any other indicator, showing the intended direction when it's hard to know if it's the correct way or not. What also deserves a praise is, despite of the outworld platforming core, the author cared to provide a decent audio-visual shell so whenever I had to take a break, it was never because of the aesthetics. I'd label this level as "recommended" but you need to be ready - and when the day comes, you will probably know." - DJ Full (11-Jul-2023)
"A new and hit very challenging level from Neltharion who is proficient in building levels of this subgenre. I enjoy most of challenges in this level such as all the timed runs, driving motorbike from one waterfall to another waterfall, laser traps corridor and every toxic/extreme jump. I enjoy playing all 5 levels. I can't say which one is my favourite. The 4th level _The Ordeal_ is under great influence of the level _CIL Castle_. However you will have a different experience in _The Ordeal_, like sprinting to a water puddle after falling from a high place, 2 slopes 1 jump lever puzzle, etc. The sceneries and atmosphere on that level are the best of the entire _Deathwish_. I love the colours of those castle buildings and caves. And it gives a strong mysterious vibe. There is no secret however some quest items are already hard to find. I played the newest version(9/5/2022) of this level and most game crashes are fixed. I haven't encountered any. So need not to worry about game crash anymore. The 64 switches puzzle is confusing, as I don't know what letters those arrows exactly point to. The letters that I guessed were close to the answer but I still couldn't figure out the answer. (Perhaps I wanted to rush that part). There are many shortcuts in the level, which are not really issues but I would like to mention one shortcut that the author might forget to fix it. You can get two storage keys before you use only one of them. The first one was supposed to unlock a room where you can get laser sight in the beta version. But the author removed it as it is a redundant item. But the first storage key also became redundant. So you can skip a fight with 3 enemies one of them drops the second storage key. I also suggest the author remove the explosive bolts. They ruin the vases room puzzle in the last level. The readme Word document is misleading, it says "try to kill your enemies on a smarter way than only using your guns". Actually you can kill every killable enemy before you get the default pistols, and you still have ammo left. One enemy will drop a quest item and the only way to get that item is to kill him either by shotgun or uzi. I was confused and didn't know how to get the item until I asked the author. I thought I could find an Ammit to kill him for me... Despite the fact that there are issues, actually this level is very fun. So far I have played it 6 times. I recommend every challenging level fan play this level. You may get in touch with and learn some TR engine hidden features and mechanics that you haven't known before. The level difficulty is very high as I said there are many toxic, pixel-perfect jumps. The duration is not very long. I don't know how long time I spent on the first playthrough but the full game(S rank ending) can be finished in around 3 hours, even within 3 hours." - MetalOdyssey (24-May-2022)
"Only a few minutes (measured by the game) after starting the game, I found two jumps that worked only by accident, although I knew what to do here. One was what I call the edge push jump. So it seemed as if in this game everything was about difficulty - but fortunately it's not. I really like the look of this game. It has good lighting with an appealing subtle use of colours here and there. There are very few exceptions where Lara loses her 3-D shading. The texturing is very classic and there are many different areas, each with its own look. Some of them appear to be dedicated to a specific classic Tomb Raider theme. There are places with many elements from the tut1 level, others look more like the "industrial" levels from TR2, there is Tinnos and so on. The only thing that did not really excite me was that there are a bit too many mirrored textures. I like high resolution textures and perfectly seamlessly textured, smoothly shaped natural environments. You won't find much like that in this game, but it's obviously meant to be in the tradition of levels like CIL and The Castle. Keeping this in mind, the visual design of this game makes sense and feels organic. I won't describe the levels in detail, because the other reviewers have already done that, I will only mention the fourth level, which is an homage to Vinci's levels The Castle and The Search. And if you have played the originals, it's great fun to see how the author took inspiration from the originals and then created his own. The game has enemies, but I tend to forget about them, in this game and in any other custom level. But I remember that the demigods here shoot with Lara's body parts instead of the lightning arrows. What's more interesting is that you really have to save your ammo, because towards the end of the fourth level you will need it all. Compared to other levels, there are only a few objects like animatings and statics, and I like such a somewhat reduced style. It would have been great if the audio design had the same variety as the visual design. And now back to the difficulty of the game. Yes, every few steps you'll find a move or jump that requires a number of attempts and some practice, but the point is that there are some peaks of particularly high difficulty that took me a long time to accomplish. This can be frustrating, but I want to say that the rest of the game is challenging but playable. Finally, the highlights. There are some moves I haven't seen before in a custom level. One was the edge push jump in the first level. One was a jump with a move to the side and a twist in the air to reach a jump switch in the fourth level. One was the tunnel jump with a twist and a curve in the air in the fifth level. And one was the small backwards movement to reach a jump switch that is located behind Lara in the fifth level. I like the scientific approach of finding out all that is possible with the classic Tomb Raider engine. We see some new discoveries here, and that's why this game feels like a step forward in the history of level building." - mojtra (06-May-2022)
"I finished this massive and unique trle at last.I dont know why this level hasnt got more reviews, i guess there is no walkthrough yet or the community has become smaller. This trle is the only one from the 'frustrating ones' that i actually finished.I have tried vikings, she ,ub4 but couldnt enjoy or end them, guess i dont like fantasy or nc? levels.I prefer casual-egypt games like this one and i was so hooked from the beginning although i feeled the difficulty from the 1st minute.I describe myself as an experienced raider as i have tried many and well known trles but no expert for this kind of difficulty so i had to analyze and watch ordeal in the shadow, cil , autumn , kaizo raider or clips from mojtra , apel, xtimz, neltharion and nightwish1603. --- Levels 1-3 : The most satisfying part of the game . Although you are wandering between these 3 levels and dont know what to do next , its actually not so difficult to find your way, cause you complete different parts of these levels ONCE and in the end all the pieces come together. Pros and memorable moments : All the back and forth between levels,puzzle room with the slopes under you and the shooting vazes(best part of the game) great atmosphere, satisfaction when u find all the syzygys, 64 lever puzzle (i couldnt clearly recognize what to do or understand the connection keyboard-drawings-letters but in these puzzles if you dont know what the lever order is , there is only one solution , the simplest one!, no spoiler) , torch journey , pixel perfect jumps especially the one with the two ladders part , meeting and knowing the TIMERUN-TUNNEL jump (HAVENT EVER DEDICATED SO MANY HOURS IN A JUMP , EVEN HAVING A VIDEO SOLUTION, cause you have to land on laras feet without grabbing so u can be in time for the gate) Cons : few empty rooms for no purpose , gates that never open cause its just there to get you confused, 2-3 rooms that the game crashes many times, no purpose small area near the big area where u find the torch, no purpose 2 vases in the 3rd level --- Level 4 : Very good level with great connection between all the places, good exploration here also. Cons and memorable moments : the room with the fire pipe emitters , slope jump to another twisted-slope jump to grab lever(epic), in the beginning of the level- not triggering? the boulder and able to grab the manuscript easily , CURLED-TWISTED JUMP to a slope(epic). Cons:Right before the 3rd gem there is a small underwated BUGGED part for me that couldnt navigate into the water so couldnt continue,in the pit room with the 2 poles- there is a part where u should download a file or else there is an opening with an invisible block that blocks you(see forum), missing textures.Tip:torch is only used once for a door --- Level 5 : Nice not usual tasks also here , great exploration , ice-maria doria-library-ship- tinnos level combined (not so great). Pros and memorable moments: Another tunnel jump but with twisted jump into a slope for grabbing lever(epic! thank god i found quickly the exact starting tile-place for lara for trying this jump), time run for saving yourself from a whole area getting burned, jumping in the the same tile backwards little by little for grabbing a jump lever, the interconnection for the most areas of this level. Cons: the puzzle room with the slopes-shooting vases was great but is was bugged for me cause i used the explosive ammo maybe and the 2 doors didnt open for me to continue(had to reload and shoot the vases from different position, i would prefer doing it only with pistols or uzis), the escape tiles after the shooting vases puzzle were bugged and were invisible to me, the small area area with the spikes-boulder-one shooting vase was bugged sometimes cause if i destroyed the vase with explosive,the spikes didnt vanish and couldnt press the lever for boulder,the last 2-3 big areas before finishing there is no music and the whole sence feels empty and dull, the finish of the level is very rushed cause there are some blocks serving no purpose u go outside, u meet 2 ally troopers , a truck and the END.Wtf?(tip:there is no torch for this level, no usage for your last 2 items ) --- In conclusion i dont regret at all playing the trle , i feel proud for myself finishing it but the game is so unpolished in many areas and aspects but u play such level for seeing the limits and the tricks of the tr engine.i stucked many times cause of some bugs and i hope there is a newer patch for the next raiders.Worth giving it a try. Many thanks to NELTHARION and NERDFURY for helping me finish this level (tips for finishing this trle : have a look at the reviews here , the readme note from the author and the forum part-stuck in custom level) --- Greetings and cheer up guys" - Petaludas (22-Apr-2022)
"A really tough game and perhaps even one of the toughest out there. Thankfully, this level does not let you in easily, right from the start you'll know this is for hardcore raiders only. What you get afterwards is a rollercoaster ride of pixel perfect jumps, tight timed runs, moments where you have to trick the engine (wouldn't call it cheating or using a bug, though), even lever or tile puzzles, timed runs and bikes (as well as combination of all three) are done in a very challenging way. But I dare say that this level remains fair to players as several endings are provided and I'll treat the last two levels as bonus. One particular jump (the 'tunnel jump') was entirely new to me, and I enjoyed its use in the time run, and the one in the last bonus level where you have to jump with a twist to a ramp was perhaps the jump I had to repeat most often in my whole raiding career. You might think that it's all about expert skills in this game, but many parts are mainly requiring a good strategy so that the execution is not the largest issue - really enjoyed those bits. Sometimes the builder wasn't aware that by using the otherwise intended tricks you can get to place you actually shouldn't access. Some puzzles, e.g. the torch puzzle in the cistern where you can flood or drain several rooms, can be skipped, in this case by throwing the torch over the water puddle. There's also a quite large amount of backtracking, despite a lot of shortcuts provided, and confusion as to which door has just opened (especially in the last level), but the real downside was rather that this game has a very buggy nature, several crashes and damaged savegames are the result and also parts where you can get stuck for good. Anyway, it was a fairly rewarding game when you finally managed to beat it and I was really proud to have done it all by myself. All other elements are at best functional and there are especially several nasty texturing mistakes, worst of all an untextured wall in the fourth level and many wallpapered and streched bits that, together with sometimes rather boxy areas, make this level feel too simplistic to be believable. There are larger areas that felt well designed overall, and the canyon section in the second level as well as the castle outskirts in the fourth are very decently designed. The usage of audio and cameras is okay but not outstanding, while there are some weird sounds e.g. on the soldiers. Overall the design felt a little too eclectic and wild and a more coherent design had helped here; this also holds true to the gameplay which could've concentrated more on the tasks. While there are no secrets to find, I think that finding all the stars and progressing to the bonus levels qualifies as such, and more weren't really reuired. All in all, despite the potential to be much better, a very memorable and possibly rewarding experience that took me 3:40 hours to finish." - manarch2 (21-Apr-2022)
"This game competes with 'CIL' for the title of the hardest custom level ever (and is also inspired by it). It's extremely challenging, there is a lot of insane jumps, very tight timed runs and other crazy sequences. There are 5 levels. The first three, set in Egyptian and Peruvian vibes, are interconnected and are one big puzzle. There is a really hard motorbike sequence and also a torch which we need to traverse across these levels. The puzzles included are really clever and I liked them. You can make your way in different ways as these levels are non-linear. The fourth level is a homeage to the bonus levels of 'CIL'. It's more linear than the previous ones. The only thing that is questionable in this level (personally I didn't like it) was the possible softlock at the beginning if you don't take the scroll. The fifth level continues the madness of the previous. This one is a mishmash designwise; there are ship, arctic, base, TR3Gold and even some Cairo vibes. One thing I didn't like here is that the gameplay wears off at the end of this level. What I mean is that there are a few really big rooms where we basically don't do anything. I wish they included more elaborate and interesting gameplay. Overall, the gameplay of the whole game is very solid and interesting. There are lots of jumps and sequences where you have to think and take the most optimal tactic which is really fun. Everything is very satysfying to do. One of my favourite kind of jumps were the tunnel jumps. But it's not only the hard jumps because there are also some puzzles included as I mentioned before. Probably my favourite ones were the shooting areas in the 2nd and the 5th where you try in many ways to shoot all the vases. It's really fun. By the way, the different skill ranks which allow you to complete the game earlier are an interesting idea. The design of the game is very solid and well-done. The textures are diverse and mostly properly applied, except for a few missing ones and notorious mirrored ones. The lighting is most of the times without any remarks, occasionally pale. The architecture is well-done, maybe at times a bit boxy. The atmosphere is, overall, good and pleasant I would say. The level lacks static objects and that's why some of the rooms may feel empty but I think that the good parts of the design overshadow this a bit. During the game, there are occasional tunes thrown in which soothe the player after and before the madness. All in all, it's an insanely hard game which probably not many people will be able to complete. I do think it has harder platforming than "CIL" but easier exploration than that game. There is basically a hard jump encountered every step. Nevertheless, it's a really solid game which gave me loads of fun and I definitely recommend it to the most fine raiders out here." - BlackWolfTR (01-Apr-2022)
"This is an extraordinarily challenging levelset that took me about 6 hours net gameplay time. My actual gross playing time is more than double that, due to me failing on a handful of pixel-perfect platforming sequences over and over, for many hours. There will be gameplay spoilers below. Some background information before I get started on the actual review: I prefer very challenging levels, and I previously completed 2 of the builder's difficult levels, "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" and "Deviation", the former which I beta-tested. So, going into "Deathwish", I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. However, "Deathwish" is many, many times more difficult than the 2 aforementioned levels (and more frustrating). There are 3 specific tasks below that I will mark with asterisks (*), and I will touch on these when I conclude my review.
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Levels 1/2/3 (5/8/7/8): I'll group these as one level for this review, as they are interconnected. The first two levels are Egyptian ruins (with a sprinkle of TR3 India), and the third level is a South American temple. In standard trle levels, you will sometimes encounter a "puzzle room", dedicated to moving around some pushables. Here, there are so many interesting problem-solving tasks that don't exist in the format of a standard puzzle room, but rather you're puzzling how to platform from area A to B without dying, and it's really refreshing. Some of the gameplay highlights are the problem-solving required to get the motorbike to the right place; the platforming required in the giant torch hall, and the problem-solving in the Greek fountains area. When starting the Greek fountains area puzzle, you will see a 1-click high water puddle that you won't pay much attention to. You will later realize that it's an integral part of the puzzle solution, and it's so dang clever. There's a lot of positives about the gameplay, but there are several strong negatives for me. The backtracking is quite excessive if you don't follow a walkthrough (the later levels also have some backtracking, but it's not as bad). It doesn't make sense to me that the player can score a skill rank of "D" by finding 0 stars and then using the lever at the top of the South American temple, when ranks of "E" and "F" are available. The builder explained the 36 levers puzzle to me and I still find it obscure and confusing. The camerawork has some issues. In the South American temple main hub, there are some raising blocks that get raised and/or lowered and there's no camerawork to show when this happens. I think that the Egyptian vases shooting challenge needs more camerawork to help the player with objectives. When you enter the Indian traps room, the flyby camera is misleading, as you should not follow the camera if you want to progress to the good ending. My biggest issue with this level is the 2 Egyptian ladders challenge, which requires the player to utilize the ledge bug (*). The builder does not provide this info in the "tips & tricks" section of his readme, which I don't like. I think that all "out of the ordinary glitches" background information should be provided to the player in the readme, otherwise it's unfair to the player. If you want to make the player's fingers twist in agony over agility-based platforming, fair enough, but the player needs this background information. Visually, I love the builder's use of color here as well as the classic Egyptian aesthetic. Everything is well-lit, however, the "snowflake" wallpapering on large rocky/cavern walls needs more care. Also, there are some rooms inside the South American temple where there is too much of a cultural/atmospheric clash (a Greek room, a Barkhang Monastery room, modern checkerboard tiles, etc.).
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Level 4 (8/8/9/9): You will need x4 red gems and x1 manuscript in order to unlock level 5. This level combines Castle and Catacombs areas. The exploration here is very interesting, although it's an exhaustingly long level. I found it to be disorientating to play over multiple days, as I started to forget about the various castle tunnels that connect the main hub areas. I think it would have been better if the Catacombs segment was cut and made into its own level, acting as an "intermission" level between the behemoths that are levels 4 and 5. There are so many enjoyable platforming sequences here, with my highlights being the torch tasks, and the problem-solving in the tall metal tower room. For me, it is the only level that doesn't venture into completely sadistic territory in terms of agility-based tasks. There are 2 gameplay aspects that I did not like: Firstly, it's great that the builder informs the player of their objectives for levels 1/2/3 in the readme, but the builder does not do this for level 4. Until a walkthrough is available, the player can reach the end of level 4 without really having an idea of their objectives. I think it would be a frustrating slap in the face for the player to reach the end of level 4, find out they didn't have all of the necessary items, and then be forced to replay most or all of level 4 in order to access level 5 (or take someone's savegame file). The other gameplay issue that really frustrated me is that the builder uses a shatterable object that looks like a raising block in the library area (*). It doesn't look shatterable at all. Based on the appearance and position of this object, and the shimmyable geometry next to it, the player may likely reach the logical conclusion that they need to lower the "raising block" in order to shimmy to the tile that it is blocking. I just don't think this is executed well. Visually, it's my favorite level. The outdoor areas are so beautiful (especially the area where you find the torch). It can get pretty dark in the many castle tunnels, but it's not a big deal as the builder provides many flares. There are a couple of unprofessional areas that needed more fine-tuning prior to release: A) In the early stages of the level, there's a storage key and a small castle room that you can access with that key, however there's absolutely nothing to do or pick up in that room. B) Near the end of the level, there's a Catacombs wall with missing textures.
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Level 5 (7/10/9/10): This level combines Tinnos, Ship and Base areas. As with level 4, the exploration is always thrilling. I think that the builder did a superb job with connecting all of the different areas and giving the player a "sneak peek" of what's to come. For example, initially you are high above a large icy Tinnos area, and much later you are able to finally explore it. There are so many memorable and enjoyable tasks: the multiple timed runs using 3 pushblocks; the laser trap corridor; the gun turret area; the timed run when the icy Tinnos area goes up in flames, and the 6 vases shooting challenge. I think I would have given the gameplay a 10 if not for an absurdly cruel tunnel jump-twist-to jump switch in the ship area (*). I am no slouch and this jump took me over 3 hours, and it really soured my overall enjoyment of the level. Both texturing and lighting are of a very high quality in this level. As with the above levels, there are some smaller corridors where Lara appears 2D/the lighting is flat, but it's a small issue here as everything else here looks fantastic. The camerawork is very helpful, and the atmosphere is awesome (especially the fiery Tinnos hub area), however something feels missing in terms of soundwork. There are so many important, epic events where there are no sounds or music. When you approach the gun turret area, a flyby appears, but it's silent and this seems weird to me. When Lara is making her escape from the icy-turned-fiery Tinnos area, there is no tense music or anything, and when she finally surfaces to the outside world after an arduous, epic adventure, it feels anti-climatic due to a lack of soundwork. Another atmospheric issue is that the final rocky cavern, shortly before you reach the castle, is a giant rectangle, and the builder really should know better after many releases.
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Summarizing thoughts: There are a handful of extremely unfair situations for the player in my opinion. Honestly, I feel a bit disappointed: I enjoyed the beta more, as completing the 3 ridiculous tasks listed above (marked with asterisks *) were not required there. I do very much admire the builder's innovation and dedication to follow his own vision, instead of making "safe & standard" trle levels. I also feel a thrilling sense of accomplishment for finishing the game without cheats/dozy. However, I just don't have very happy feelings about this levelset after completing it. The time it took to complete some sadistic platforming tasks overshadowed all of the time taken for the enjoyable tasks. It's so hard to rate this levelset in terms of gameplay: it's extremely clever, creative and unique, however, for many, many hours, I had NO fun. At the end of the day, isn't gaming about fun, regardless of our skill level?
** I beta-tested this level. This did not inflate my rating ** Average scores: 7/9/9/9." - nerdfury (23-Mar-2022)