Levels listed...
TEN - 11
TR5 - 33
TR4 - 3197
TR3 - 184
TR2 - 142
TR1 - 69
74351 reviews (20.4/level)
3625 (99.7%) walkthroughs
464 Hall of Fame levels
|
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
release date: |
01-Jul-2024 |
|
# of downloads: |
384 |
|
|
average rating: |
9.35 |
|
review count: |
20 |
|
|
|
review this level |
|
|
file size: |
562.00 MB |
|
file type: |
TR4 |
|
class: |
Egypt |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reviewer's comments |
"My favorite level in this BTB. It's true that it doesn't strictly adhere to the usual
rules because of its long duration or because the Loch´s level stands out for its new
concept of puzzles that alter space-time, but everything about it is grand in the best
sense. The first part focuses on very demanding yet incredibly satisfying exploration, and
the second part is set in a beautiful temple full of puzzles and traps. Special mention
goes to the Horus room. This is what I ask from any Tomb Raider. It reminded me a lot of
the mechanics in the great Tomb Raider: Anniversary. An immense room where all the pieces
must fit together like clockwork to reach the summit. It was my favorite moment in this
BTB. The combat system seemed very satisfying to me as it forces you to be very careful,
and the different types of ammunition add a strategic touch (I wish I saw this system more
often in other levels). However, what I liked the least was the final fight. I hate it
when you have to attack an absurd number of enemies just to use up all your hoarded ammo.
The confrontation with Seth was more fun, but I encountered an unfortunate bug. All in
all, I think this is an essential level. Well done." - requiemsoul (05-Feb-2025) |
|
| "Is it just my imagination, or has anyone else noticed that this Jonah character who makes
an appearance from time to time in the BtB levels bears a striking resemblance (whether
intentionally or otherwise) to adrielvicio? Anyway, I regret that I was unable to play
this gem during the two-month competition window, but I'm glad that I didn't then put it
on the back burner to be played at some undetermined future date. In my view this
adventure is the cream of the crop and meets my two-pronged test for a 10-4 review: (1)
would I play it again and (2) would I pay for it. It's an addictive sort of game, but also
one that I nursed like a bottle of fine wine for nearly eight hours of net gaming time
over a period of nearly a week. If not for the detailed written walk provided by the
builder I would not have gotten very far past the starting gate. Indeed, the sprawling
environs, laid out over several interconnected levels, are so widespread that I found
myself frequently confused even with the walk's assistance, as it would often say to "go
back to [specified place]" as if the player should easily remember where, in what
direction and how far away the indicated place might be. I did experience some lag when
first emerging in an area of wide-open spaces, but this was always temporary and never
really affected the flow of the game. In sum, Highpriest is an extraordinary effort for a
maiden release, and Nina Croft deserves high praise for the creative thought and execution
that went into this bona fide mini-game. I liked the idea of crafting special purpose
arrows with the investment of some already accumulated supplies, and I never felt myself
to be in a position of running out of something really important. The enemy encounters
were sometimes quite tough but always manageable with a little advance planning. Same with
the puzzles, which in a number of instances were elaborate to say the least. In terms of
sheer quality, the 2024 BtB competition is likely unsurpassed, but I might say the same
thing when the next one rolls around in a year or so. Such is the caliber of the fine
builders who form the backbone of our community." - Phil (08-Sep-2024) |
|
| "Into the great wide open. I'm not into sandbox in TR but here the amount of activity per
space used is just fine and doesn't get boring. Gameplay is interesting but often made of
ideas you might get or not, while hints don't repeat - a recipe for drama in an open world
game: lose focus and get stuck for long. To me the biggest choke was a four-side ladder
climbable just from one side (got a backseat there and with the revolver). In fact you may
spent so much time in the open area that you may forget what comes after, as it's more
standard, streamlined and even repetitive, what gives this bit less reason to replay (the
elevator puzzle needs a mention though). After all grandeur, the last room should be bigger
as it cuts off too short - but at least it's there, unlike in some levels. In the end, this
game won't win BtB, but may win a more important prize: never age and forever stay among top
immersions of an old culture surviving till today. I'm glad Nina has eventually built a
level, and of must-play class on top of that." - DJ Full (01-Sep-2024) |
|
| "An adventure that tends to alternate between ingenuity and insanity. It is by far the
longest BtB adventure ever, with more than 6 hours of net gaming time for me. It consists
of three interconnected Oasis levels and one final level for the actual titular challenge.
Oasis (3 levels, 235 min, 7 Secrets): An explorers dream, but one that can easily turn
into a bit of nightmare. The setting is a rather widely scaled open world that looks truly
awesome in the desert with market places in the village and massive temple structures
throughout. Which at the same time can make it a very daunting place to roam around in as
you try to find critical items and execute required tasks to progress. Yes, there are
hints via the PDA and also other texts on the screen, but despite that the levels still
lack guidance for the player. Hence you do need one thing the most here: Patience! I spent
almost 3 hours during which I felt only as if I was running around, collecting lots of
pickups and spotting more and more little nooks and crannies that I had not seen before.
The list of places I had to rember to get back to later kept growing and growing, so that
I even began to write things down to not forget them. And then, and only then, the last
hour or so in the Oasis was actually great fun. Thnigs started to connect and click and
fall into place and finally there was a sense of progression. Unfortunately for me that
felt like rather out of balance - 3 hours of relative pain vs 1 hour fun is the wrong way
round. That issue aside there is plenty of amazing things going on here. To name a few
you get a minefield to cross in an unusal way, you get to craft and use different types of
arrows for your main weapon (the bow), you get to find and use the shovel multiple times
to pick up crucial items and you get a number of secrets to find along the way to further
increase your inventory and many, many more. Combat requires a bit of strategy as you do
not have your trusted pistols with unlimited ammo. I am not a big fan of this but it did
create a better sense of immersion into the game.
Temple of the Highpriests (1 level, 145 min, 0 Secrets): Right at the start you will be
awestruck by a beautiful main hub area, but if you thought after all the exploration
before you now get a quick final challenge to master, think again! Instead you are
presented with huge challenge rooms to master for three Gods that will test your skills.
For me I was most impressed with the Horus elevator room. Gameplay here is very clever and
great fun to sort out, even if the (also clever) push puzzle that goes along with it is a
bit too tedious. Other challenge parts are quicker and easier, but no less fun to get
through. What I did not like at all however is that in a game which by design has limited
ammo, the builder then repeatedly throws fairly tough enemies at you. If you are not
exploring and collecting pickups carefully and use them consciously you may end up never
being able to survive the game in the end. Where I disliked this the most is then near the
very end, when you feel you have accomplished so much over many hours and look forward to
a reward moment, you get another almost silly amount of enemies to kill around a little
pyramid. I was impressed with the very different method of killing Seth as the main boss
with the help of another Goddess, but the entire part before you get to do that was rather
frustrating as you have to do a series of tasks for quite a while and during all that time
avoid Seth shooting at you. It is perfectly doable, but the amount of saves and reloads I
had during that part simply took any hint of fun out of the game at that moment for me.
Now, in summary - this is a hell of an impressive game, despite the issues that I
personally have with it. It will challenge any more casual raider to the max. It is not a
walk in the park for a number of reasons and maybe the best recommendation would indeed to
play this with a walkthrough close at hand. (380 min, 7/10 Secrets)" - MichaelP (01-Sep-2024) |
|
| "A history lesson: the original Back to Basics competition started as a way to literally go “back to basics”. This was because back in 2005, custom levels were getting increasingly complex, with custom objects and textures and often multiple levels. So the idea was to go give the builders a break from the pressure to create increasingly complex levels and have them all make a single level with just a standard wad and textures. The BtB competition would soon grow beyond these limitations, which is probably just as well, because can you imagine if we’d still be stuck in Egypt 19 years later? What a nightmare. Anyway, this year’s theme is *checks notes* Egypt? Well, um, Egypt can be fun I guess. Of course, this isn’t your grandfather’s Egypt: this is Egypt with all of the limitations removed. Which I assume is the reason for the name change to Beyond the Basics (at least they were kind enough not to force me to learn a new abbreviation). This was my first level in this year’s competition and the lack of limitations became clear a few minutes in, when I exited the opening cave and found myself in a bustling town with a framerate that could be counted on my two hands. I don’t know if my computer just isn’t up to snuff anymore or if the author has stretched the engine to its absolute limit, but it gets really bad at times. Since I don’t know if the problem is on my end, I don’t feel comfortable docking any points because of this, but the level is honestly barely playable in certain areas. With that said, I was genuinely impressed by how good the level looks. Besides the town, you also get a surprisingly nice-looking cave area, as well as a bunch of temples to explore. Everything’s very intricately built, with a lot of nooks and crannies to find and shortcuts to open up. Parts of it almost feel Metroidvania-esque, as you have to return to previous areas later with explosive arrows, a shovel and a torch (which I used a total of three times right after I found it and then carried around with me like an idiot for the rest of the adventure). There’s a big focus on exploration, which I really enjoyed. That is, until I got stuck, which happened multiple times. A big problem with the level is just how easy it is to miss something vital, forcing you to run all over the level with a fine-tooth comb. The author tries their best to alleviate this problem by showing you hidden areas through things like gratings or cracks in the wall, in order to let you know that, hey, there’s something of interest here, but it only helps so much. Lara also gives hints sometimes, but telling me I need to craft a shovel is mostly just confusing when all I have is a stick and the actual shovel blade is much later into the level. Lara gets a PDA, which is also used for occasional hints, but is mostly used to tell the level’s story. I appreciate the effort, but I don’t think it adds much to have Lara write about how much she hates Trinity or various musings about high priests. The writing is too dry and lacks personality, but since we’re once again facing off against Trinity, I suppose this is meant to be Nu-Lara, so I guess that makes sense. Jonah’s here too, but after killing a few panthers he got stuck and spent the rest of the adventure happily walking against some rocks. But technically that still makes him more useful than in the new Tomb Raider trilogy. Crafting also makes a return from the trilogy, although except for having to craft some explosive arrows to destroy obstacles, I mostly just stuck to the Uzis and shotgun since you get so much ammunition. Which is good, since apparently Lara didn’t think to bring her pistols with her to Egypt, just her bow (what, was she planning to go hunting?). I talked a lot about the exploration, but there are also some clever puzzles, trap sequences and some fairly intense combat encounters, so while you’ll pick up way more ammunition than you’ll need, you’ll still be happy to find it when you do. Overall, it feels like a well-designed level, even if it can get frustrating at times. That said, I did have one big issue with the level: it’s just way too long. Waaaaay too long. I can’t hold down the A key long enough to express just how long this level is. My in-game playtime was just shy of four hours, but that’s *net* gaming time – my actual playtime was way beyond that. And listen. In a vacuum, that’s fine. It’s a good level, and the longer it lasts, the better, right? But it has to be considered in context, and the context is that I have another 15 levels to get through and I just spent seven or eight hours on this one level. The BtB page says that the goal of the competition is to build a level “of about one hour net gameplay” and while authors have always played fast and loose with this rule, the one-level limit has always limited how big the levels can ultimately be. For my own sanity (and the sanity of anyone else who’s hoping to review every level in the competition), I really hope not every level is like this. But to end this review on a more positive note, I did really enjoy this level and I think it has a real shot at winning the competition. Granted, I’ve played a total of one level so far, but wouldn’t it be just my luck to start with the best level…" - Magnus (31-Aug-2024) |
|
| "What I liked about the level: 1) I really liked that the crossbow ammo was in the back of the jeep. Never saw that before. So clever. 2) I liked how enemies had to be killed by Jonas. Running away from the panthers without guns exudes far more adrenalin than shooting enemies. 3) The village with all the domed buildings looks amazing. 4) The small room opened with the djed pillar is one of the nicest rooms I’ve seen despite being so small. Vegetation is elegantly placed and the lighting is gentle and exquisite. I simply love attention to detail such as this. 5) I liked the clue near the trees for medipack pickups. 6) I was very thankful that health refilled upon level change. 7) One thing I look for and crave in a level is fun. And you may agree or disagree but I thought the minefield was extremely fun to navigate. Lara exploding was hilarious and pushing the boulder to explode the mines was simply brilliant. 8) Just a small thing but the textures for the shipping containers look fantastic. Nicely done. 9) The shovel animation is fantastic. Was also fun to watch her take it out of her little backpack. 10) I’m not fond of enemy kills but I loved using the poison arrows on enemies, running away then waiting for their demise. That was cool. 11) Loved the challenge with the synchronized platforms. Was a bit tough but fun and one of the rare times I enjoyed redoing the same sequence to get out of an area. 12) I loved the nostalgic use of classic TR music for flyby clues. 13) Crafting the arrows was super fun and convenient that you could craft them anywhere. I also liked that it used medipacks and other ammo. Clever and makes sense. 14) Enjoyed the horizontal bars with the blade traps.
What I didn’t like or thought could be improved: 1) I was able to jump through a closed locked door in the upper building of the village for a secret but couldn’t get back out and had to reload. 2) Lara stood up and couldn’t get out of a crawlspace without using the new move “rolling out”. 3) Maybe just a small thing but the barbeque fish could have had subtle smoke to indicate smoldering coals or had Lara light it with the torch (and then maybe take a fish would have been so fun) to make it even more realistic. 4) More camera shots to show what levers do would be helpful. 5) I think that showing the player needs a shovel should have been postponed until much later as the shovel only is obtainable near the end and a distraction to early progress. 6) Not a big thing but a very odd glitch happened when I threw the torch against a hut in the village. It stuck to the wall and had to reload. 7) Not fond of secrets having basic ammo when regular pickups are scarce for progression. 8) Lara gets stuck when trying to climb the truck beside the helicopter and had to reload. 9) Just a wishlist but would have preferred more ammo for regular pickups. 10) I think the secret near the lasersight should have replenished more ammo than what was spent to kill the crocs to get the secret. 11) Just a wishlist but would have been nice to have a camera shot after picking up the beetle to show what to do with it. 12) Not fond of forced health loss when falling using a jump switch. 13) Would have liked a camera shot of the two cat fire pedestals (or maybe a written clue when Lara got close with the lit torch?) and of what happened after lighting them. 14) There were lots of nice comments about pickups but would have preferred these used as clues for progression instead. 15) I think there should have been some form of ammo provided after entering the area to shoot the 3 gems with the 3 Hammergods so the player doesn’t potentially get stuck. 16) The Seth fight was so tough and unfair.
Conclusion: This is a very long level. In fact, Level 4 could have been released as a standalone. I found the first part a lot of fun but maybe due to having Phil’s walkthrough in hand, which I don’t mind at all. Definitely the level set needed more clues if the builder wanted the player to play without outside assistance. So if you don’t mind checking a walkthrough, you will enjoy this level very much. Suitable for average players." - Lizard Queen (25-Aug-2024) |
|
| "I finished this BtB entry about a week ago but I needed to let it sink in before my review.
Well, I still want to complain about the lag. True, no hard actions in the lagging areas,
but we still have to spend most of the game in these 4 beautiful and heavily lagging areas
and also backtrack through them quite a lot. I wasn't able to play it on my humble i5, so I
used my son's PC whenever I could, and with an i7/GTX 2060/32 Ram the lag was still
annoying. Ok, done with the gripes. The game is really beautiful and immersive and if it
wasn't for the lag, I'm not one to complain about backtracking. It was also the first time I
liked the limited ammo system. It was well executed and really added to the game. One of the
best entries of this contest. Highly recommended to players with strong PCs." - billie2001 (22-Aug-2024) |
|
| "Thank you to the builder who probably dedicated their whole existence to putting this huge game together. Congratulations on this release of epic proportions! Let me just add: the aim of a BtB is to produce a small game which should be around 1h long. It took me around 7 hours to complete this. Seven. And that's end credits count; I spent much more time in real life with this game. One of the main reasons is the sometimes convoluted gameplay in the very large (and laggy, unfortunately) areas. It is just too much time dedicated to menial tasks like finding the blade for a shovel. I almost never use a walkthrough, and felt forced to use one here five or six times. There were very easy secrets, and "secrets" which were harder to find and were not considered as such. There was some illogical architecture and misleading details in it. Some texturing was missing the final touches. Outside of these details and the enormous length, this game is a gem! The first few moments in each new area will blow you away (at around 10fps). The Horus level should probably have been the BtB entry, as it was almost perfection. The good news is that there is going to be a sequel. Hopefully, the dear builder will make it a little bit easier to navigate, even if it is huge." - MigMarado (21-Aug-2024) |
|
| "So long a level played in multiple sittings that it is hard to remember all aspects of
gameplay. Suffice to say it is a very impressive magnus opus. Beautiful, vast areas
(necessitating some backtracking as objects needed for progression may be quite distant
from their targets), some inventive object placement, sneaky passages and, of course, the
lack of pistols and the need to make poison & explosive arrows. There were challenging
enemy battles, but fair with the available ammo. Found all the secrets, but the walkthrough
was admittedly helpful in a number of spots. In my top 2 so far." - Adrian (21-Aug-2024) |
|
"This is a four level set, with each one being beautiful and full of giant scale environments with lots of detail and great lighting and texturing. This has some of the most impressive vistas I've seen in TR4 in general, and whenever I thought it was winding down it delivered another great looking area. There's also a lot of the original and creative object use. The framerate gets really bad at times, although it's only in sections with no fast reactions needed (I also play with settings above what base TR4 supports, but I'm also on hardware way above what the game needs), so weaker systems could run into some real problems, but maybe something I had enabled was making it worse than intended. The only real visual issue I had is that, for how amazing the main areas look, a lot of the side-paths are dark with few highlights; I almost wonder if there were technical issues given the contrast between them and the main areas.
Each of the four levels is huge, and the first three are all interconnected with multiple tasks between them. This is pretty easily the largest BTB entry I've ever played and is basically a full level pack. You start off in a peaceful town area with a bit of scene setting, although there's still quite a bit of exploration required, then there's an outdoor temple entrance and cave that make up the other levels, before the final level where you explore the actual temple itself. There's a twist on combat as you don't get pistols and have to make do with limited ammo, including crafting arrows using other items; there's plenty provided though, and the poison arrows actually get some use here as your strongest option that shouldn't be overlooked. While I don't like the idea of no fallback at all it mostly works as a way to give the combat some more decision making. The story is also quite well supported throughout, with various messages and set-pieces as you progress through the maps. There's a large range of challenges, and it keeps variety throughout despite the huge size, but I did feel the final level had a few too many momentum-pausing block pushing puzzles even if they were creative in execution. There's also quite a bit of backtracking with how large the areas are and how much you can miss, although plenty of shortcuts are provided as you go. There's also so much that's almost inevitable that you get stalled by missing something at some point, and I feel a few hints like Lara looking at certain easily overlooked interactions and pathways could have mitigated that a lot. This is a stand-out in BTB history and clearly an experienced designer flexing their full skills; I'm not sure if it's quite my favourite of what I've played so far but it's certainly the most incredibly ambitious of them." - Mman (19-Aug-2024) |
|
| "This is by far the longest of the competition levels and I had to play it in very short
tranches in some of the outside areas due to bad ‘lag’ on my computer. However, it was
well worth such minor quibbles. The first section involves scouring the local town for as
many backpack items as possible, since Lara starts out with few assets and lacking her
pistols. So far, so comparatively restful, but don’t be lulled into a false sense of
secuity – you will subsequently need every single pick up you can find as some of the
fighting and agility challenges are quite tricky. Personally, I really appreciated the
ability to craft explosive and poison arrows for the bow – both of which were very useful
for dealing the copious enemies. In fact, poison arrows may just be my new best friend!" - Jay (16-Aug-2024) |
|
| "I wish I could say that I enjoyed this but unfortunately, it was truly a double sided edge and a mixed bag of feelings. The outstanding one is 'relief' now that this is finally over. This was my 14th foray into the BtB-Egypt so I was already rather familiar with the setting and objects, but the way this is built is just excruciatingly overwhelming, all the more because you can tell so much effort and care has been put into making sure every detail is just right. You don't get one massive area here like most levels so far did, you get four distinct levels, all of which seems to try to outscale the previous one, and even though I managed to beat the first level without any help when I realized it took me about half an hour of running around aimlessly just checking out the many, many nooks and crannies in search for possibilities — and still coming up hands empty and often with the feeling you'd missed something, even when you did no such thing —, I felt it was time to go back to my old ways and play by the walkthrough, for the first time so far in this BtB run. There's a lot of jumping back and forth among levels (you see you need a torch and a shovel very early on, for instance, but you only get to them many level jumps later). I appreciate some people prefer this type of experience, but I'm at a point in my life where I prefer to turn off my mind while playing videogames because of a plethora of neverending depressing stuff going on in the real world and not remaing in a singular release throughout an entire week worth of weeknights. Still, my ratings reflect the qualities of the level which, like I stated, cannot be denied, it's gorgeous to look at, despite the constant FPS drops due to big and/or busy areas, there are some great puzzle and platforming sequences, the author has inserted enough lore into the level to last through a promised sequel, and the limited ammo combined with crafting made this a bit of an uneasy experience at times early on, especially in the second level where combat starts taking a more noticeable role. tl;dr: Masterpiece? Undoubtedly. Enjoyable? Your mileage may vary. 4h35min, 10 secrets. 08/24" - Treeble (11-Aug-2024) |
|
| "Finally a BtB 2024 level with nice bright open areas, cute villages and a cute little story. Here on vacation with my boy Jonah, now off to do a solid to old Jean-Yves (hey, don’t fat-shame yourself man!)… Jonah, are you telling me I’m dawdling? You can wave all you want, because in the first map of this level set it‘s all about strolling around breaking pots and picking olives. That makes for an organic interaction with the environments and is very realistic! After all, a true adventure tourist has to prep first, especially before a face-off with Trinity. Just too bad we forgot to bring a shov… - Jonaahh!!! - Sorry for screaming. I just need to tell my „boyfriend“ to kill those kitties for me, cause I left old faithful at home in exchange for a useless bow (pretty unrealistic, no?). Who’s dawdling now, Jonah? Pleease, I’m trying to shake the kitties and I’m starting to feel sick from the lag!!!
Yes, the lag in the big open areas is quite harrowing and might be the first reason for some players to drop the level. But, as it seems, the builder somehow decided to go through with it – like with many other questionable gameplay decisions that come with directing the partly non-linear structure of tasks in the first three maps. A decisice one is denying the player the buggy – for which there must have been a good reason. The on-screen messages and the diary entries give some crucial hints. But if you loose orientation you’ll be running marathons while backtracking. You‘ll be collecting ammo religiously and wonder why it’s still not a secret. And you’ll be probably hearing the camel‘s grunts in your dreams!
The fine boundary between exploration, backtracking and being stuck in this level felt kind of reminiscent of the olden, but golden days of TRLE, where you inspect every object and tile holding down the action button. – And in an environment as lively and beautiful as this I personally LOVE this type of gameplay! Forget el laggo - that’s just motion blurr for poor people (like me)! The only place where I really got stuck (and the reason I put the level on the back burner to finish last of the competition) was a certain shooting target. You’ll know what I’m talking about... Other players, expecially beginners, might not be as forgiving and bin the level early on.
If you stick with the challenge, though, this level set has a lot to offer, because it’s huge and expertly built throughout! From the extensive item hunt in the village, the little tourist markets (what a perfect way to showcase the countless beautiful objects in this package), to the exploration of the ruins and a vast river plain sourrounded by imposing, gravity defying architecture – the first two maps make you feel like a proper tourist! On top of that the level features maybe the single most beautiful non-secret hidden area (yes, that olive grove!), which could have been a sanctuary of peace for our battered souls – IF it wasn’t for that damn helicopter noise…!
Conclusion: This will likely be the BtB 2024 level you‘ll spend the most time on. That said, only the persistent will be rewarded. If the builder dares to fix the various issues (like allowing us to blow up that helicopter), this level will become a classic in it’s own right. From a formal point of view, I would have to deduct points for gameplay, but this was probably the most entertaining level for me.
*
Duration: very long (>6 h and a lot of lectures/podcasts for me)
Difficulty: medium (but if you get stuck, it’s bad)
Rating: 8.5 / 10 / 9 / 10" - evinaru_2 (06-Aug-2024) |
|
| "A massive raid that took me a few seconds more than three hours to finish, easily beating six or more of the BtB '05 levels. A good part of the game is about careful exploration for ammo which you will probably need sooner or later, especially in the epic finale against almost all enemies (except Seth, who was finished off earlier) available. Lack of ammo still isn't a very large problem even if you missed some of those, but it makes life much more easier. Another substantial amount of time goes into quite massive backtracking and especially in the first three, interconnected levels I felt like that part could've been reduced, especially as the level is long enough already. Otherwise, the puzzles and traps are engaging and creative, the pushable bars are well used (though the pushing part is way, way too long). The atmosphere is really fantastic, very good architecture and texturing and lighting are generally cleanly and sensefully used, except of the 'darker' areas and passages that just felt rather uniformly flatly lit, an odd contrast to the otherwise very dynamic and beautiful large halls. The usage of sounds also was a bit lacklustre with some triggers not being one-shot and some fight sounds repeating for way too long. Cameras were generally helping a lot but there is also a discrepancy between nearby doors that get a complete 20 second flyby, some levers where I still don't know what they actually did and some major (obvious) changes that didn't have a flyby either. Enemies tend to get stuck in the objects or scenery, as well as the guide (which was not necessary from that point onwards, though), but are otherwise quite well placed. Not a huge fan of the secret hideouts that were generally easier than the regular gameplay progression, with one or two exceptions. A level that was perhaps a bit too ambitious and could have even worked better with the motto 'less is more' at times, but nevertheless an immersive and memorable experience." - manarch2 (01-Aug-2024) |
|
| "This level could easily have been made into three evening-long levels. Certainly a bit too
long for BtB, but well built with a wealth of tasks, traps, enemies and great ideas. Each
room itself was very well thought out and some very complex, like the one with the platforms
that went up and down. I also really liked the tasks with the poison arrows. Aim, shoot,
wait a moment and someone screams or some monster explodes. The task in the Seth room was a
bit borderline, as Seth didn't get stuck anywhere and kept attacking Lara. One point of
criticism would be the few clues towards the end and the insanely long backtracks. But there
are worse things. Highly recommended for several days of fun." - nad (26-Jul-2024) |
|
| "This level looked amazing, as have all the rest of this competitions offerings. 4
beautifully crafted levels. The gameplay was what let this down for me. The back n forth in
the first 3 levels was frustrating to me, to the point of being quite infuriating! What made
it a bit more frustrating was there was not much in the way of direction telling me I needed
to do it. I was left wandering around the 3 levels, doing what I could within them and then
hitting a brick wall and having to consult a thankfully provided walkthrough. Towards the
end I just gave up and let the walkthrough hold my hand through the process so I could get
to the thankfully self-contained 4th level! I reckon if it was structured a little better so
that not so much backtracking and the levels were a bit more condensed in that tasks were to
be completed within the levels themselves, this level set would have been amazing! The 4th
level I really liked and kinda lessened the sour taste the previous 3 levels left. Would
recommend for sure but definitely have a walkthrough handy!" - Feats (26-Jul-2024) |
|
| "What an epic adventure. This one is really long and enormous. The areas are huge, the levels
are interconnected and there is a lot of exploration. There is backtracking but I don't mind
it. The gameplay is difficult in the way that you can easily miss something in the humongous
areas and you won't even know about it. Traps, combat, parkour, lots of items to pickup,
some puzzles, interesting plot etc. Everything's here. The visuals are top-notch. The areas
are spectacular, wonderful and jaw-dropping. Very good use of lighting and soundtracks. One
minor thing I will complain about is the music trigger in the caves level which isn't one-
shot. It was annoying when it played everytime I stepped on it lol. Besides that, nothing
more to complain about. I enjoyed it thorougly and definitely one of my favourites in this
competition. Definitely recommended." - BlackWolfTR (19-Jul-2024) |
|
| "This must surely rank as the lengthiest BtB
level (set?) out there, at least it seemed
to take longer than BtB2011's Moonlight
Legacies did (just over five hours net time
and as a side note, maybe it's time to scrap
the one hour competition remit? If the
entries are as superb as this, I definitely
don't mind them being longer). I ended up
playing this over quite a few days, due to
illness and other stuff going on and this
four-level set is quite frankly staggering
in its magnitude. The first parts are
exploration based, as you explore the
village and the caves beneath, completing
tasks and picking up necessary artefacts
while making your way deeper. Once you reach
the High Priest Challenge, the puzzles get
more complex and engaging and the enemies
are more fearsome. The Horus Challenge is
like one big puzzle in itself, with its many
elevator platforms and the actions required
to complete it. Lara's supplies are somewhat
limited so she has to fashion ammunition out
of whatever resources she comes across in
the environment, a rather neat touch. The
sense of exhilaration when Lara finally
grabs the Treasure Map and hurries to her
waiting helicopter is undeniable. The
environments are definitely among the most
stunning I've encountered in a custom level,
and the flybys are impressive to boot. The
only couple of minor gripes I have with this
otherwise exceptional game are the two Jesse
mentioned in his earlier review. The
backtracking was a little confusing and
arduous at times and the lagging turned out
to be a bit of an annoyance, although with
this latter issue it's hard to get it right
for everyone's game system, but I probably
would have scaled things down a bit
personally. Otherwise, this is absolutely
top-class raiding." - Ryan (17-Jul-2024) |
|
"Bugs/Functional Issues
- There is a potential crash after using one of the waterskins at the scales. Luckily I was able to go to a save four minutes prior and then there was no crash. Maybe it was caused by having a lit torch near Lara?
- Lara has trouble jumping and grabbing the climbable poles. Your best bet is to run toward a pole holding the action button, she will grab it at its base as she runs off the ledge.
Disliked
- There are two downsides that come with a levelset this large in scale. The first is the amount of backtracking required. Other entries have used a fast travel feature and I would have loved to see that used here, because the first three levels have Lara running from one end to the other several times.
- The second downside is the lagging. As noted by the author, most of the action intensive areas don't have the lagging, but the question still remains: Is the grandiosity of a level worth the accompanying lag? I'm sure the answer will vary from player to player. Personally I would have preferred scaling things down to reduce the lag a little bit, but I did not find it to be a serious issue in this adventure.
Neutral
- This level has limited ammo, which can be a divisive game design decision. Tips to handle this are given by the author. It certainly encourages exploration and resourcefullness from the player, but I have mixed feelings about it. My main hangup in this case is that the main source of ammunition is normal arrows, which are pretty lackluster in combat. Depending on the order the areas are visited in, you might have to bide your time slowly sinking 10 arrows into each enemy for a while.
Liked
- This is the first time in the competition I've seen the pushable parallel bars used, and they are used as an interesting puzzle here. A number of other nice puzzles are seen as well, usually with boulders or blocks, although sometimes the blocks have quite a distance to travel.
- Combat is intense and engaging: Each area offers different types of enemies fitting to the location, and there are quite a few in the fourth level so be sure to save up ammo for it.
- Platforms moving up and down, blades popping out of walls, and rotating blades in a sand pit are just some of the many traps for Lara to overcome.
- This is easily the most immsersive and decorated entry I have played so far. From the village to the Trinity caves to the Egyptian ruins, every area is smartly ornamented and beautifully constructed. There's a lot of sneaky nooks and crannies to explore too, players will need to be very observant!
Time: 5 hours 42 minutes | Difficulty: Very Hard | Rating: 9/10 - Excellent" - JesseG (13-Jul-2024) |
|
| "This is a pretty epic adventure, which consists of four inter-connected levels and took me
roughly 6 h 30 min to complete. The game is highly non-linear and particularly in the first
three levels, you will be running around a lot collecting various items and using them
elsewhere. The fourth level is heavier on platforming challenges and traps including
occasional puzzles, all of which I found excellently designed. Visually, the game looks very
good offering several large and memorable areas to look at. Even though I enjoyed the
exploration, there are many well-hidden passages and switches, which can be easy to miss.
Due to the non-linear structure and large scale of the levels, I found it sometimes
difficult to figure out what I had missed, and thus, I was running around cluelessly quite a
lot. Often times though, these moments were caused by my own stupidity, since I had missed
something highly obvious. I found also few cases where you can access certain areas in ways
that are not intended by the builder. However, you won't get softlocked in any of these
cases, which is good. In summary, this is an excellent level in all aspects, and the game
also hints that there is going to be continuation to the story in future." - Samu (04-Jul-2024) |
|
|
|
