Level reviews

"Not the usual Catacombs level . its missing textures , total absence of depth for lighting , flares bug , flybys going through walls , two shotguns and three crowbars can be found, some of the bigger rooms look empty, and there is a labyrinth. Yet it has some originality and was mildly entertaining , thanks to the numerous skeletons and i like the use of the ropes here. And it was fun to blow out the vases in the pools with the grenade gun instead of using revolver+lasersight." - eRIC

"This isn't a bad level in the Catacombs style, if you're looking for something that's not too difficult or puzzling. Unfortunately the textures were applied in a bit of a slapdash manner and the opening area didn't look particularly pleasing or convincing, despite some nice golden lighting effects used. The environments do tend to improve later on, although there's usually only a couple of tasks to be performed in them. There's enough ammo (of the normal and explosive variety) to deal with the many skeletons in your path, and as mentioned, there's nothing difficult to accomplish. An unremarkable effort, but playable all the same." - Ryan

"A classic catacombs raid. Starting in front of a great building. You'll be using the crowbar, so in case you didn't find the first one there will be another somewhere. You can get rid of the enemies once you find the grenade launcher. Some rooms look nice but nothing outstanding." - alan

"Aside from the exterior entrance to the tomb(which had night sky textures plastered on the top & side walls of the 'room'), another room further in which has a symbol made out of water flowing through a platform, a cool real-time room transition after picking up your 'artifact of the week' and a brief, clever puzzle involving the use of grenades to blow up vases containing progression items underwater, there wasn't really anything else that stood out to me here, in this 36 minute romp. Level design is mainly uninteresting, enemies never really pose a threat to you, lighting, object placement & atmosphere is competently bland & overall texturing is generally quite atrocious, with the flare bug rearing its ugly head(not too far into the level). So in conclusion, not missing out on anything important if you choose to skip it." - Ceamonks890

"I'm surprised that no one else has mentioned this, but near the end of the level, after placing the music scroll, don't try to go back the same way you came, or Lara will refuse to grab the rope over the second spike pit. Anyway, this was a worthwhile if rather uneventful 36-minute romp in a catacombs setting. The gorgeous textures typical of such levels didn't show up until about a third of the way through, but from that point on it was much more pleasant to play. There's nothing unusual or innovative here, just a standard raid to download and play when you don't have anything else to do. You get a shotgun with plenty of shells and convenient skeleton-sized pits, and even an en prise grenade gun that was even more effective. You also get not one, not two, but three crowbars for your backpack." - Phil

"The opening exterior area of this 45 minute level appears interesting but a bit slapdash, but once inside the huge temple building the rooms tend to be rather nicely made, albeit a bit empty. The gameplay is simple and straightforward and involves quite a lot of skeletons, which you have the choice of shotgunning or grenading, take your pick. Nothing challenging really, but it's a blameless catacomb style level and passes the time pleasantly enough if you want something easy." - Jay

"You soon notice that this level is not properly beta tested: a lot of missing textures, paper floors, etc. I didn't like the nasty maze when you enter inside the temple, but later the gameplay is more fluid and tasks are not hard. No much to do in the big rooms, except look for items to open doors and deal with some enemies you can easily avoid so, all the shotgun pickups were not necessary once you have the grenade gun. Perhaps there are too many music tracks near the end; also the flare bug appeared but you wont need extra light anyway. There are several flybies, but not cameras when you really need them (when picking up an item and a door opens). Even so the level is playable and not bad." - Jose

"This level is a mood level. If the level builder had good mood, he has built very nice rooms. Then these rooms had a good lighting, no stretched textures and were formed very nicely. If the level builder had however bad mood, one saw stretched textures, bad lighting and missing textures. Differently I cannot explain to myself these big differences. One can forget the small outside area anyhow immediately again. Though the temple looks quite nice, but the rest is very unsightly. And where were generally the Flares? There were here thus some dark places, but, unfortunately, Flares there was not in this level. The ghost needed several attempts, until he exploded and the underwater door which opened then, stayed open quite obviously only for a certain time. If one did not swim then immediately to this door and got the precious stone, one could not play further. I had a playing time of 40 minutes. And during these 40 minutes I was pleased alternately with the nice rooms, or annoy about the ugly rooms. There the play fun can of course fall by the wayside." - Scottie

"At the beginning of level the first visions which we have seem promising and then Lara follows his running in depths and the decor becomes more lifeless, with sadly identical walls and rather banal rooms. Some some nevertheless go out of the lot with a little more colour and the gout. The gameplay unwinds passage mildly without too much complication with, there also, some who are agreeably surprising. In short, a level to play a day of rain to take care mildly." - Daffy

"The short opening fly-by with the nightsky was quite promising, but then I was able to touch aforementioned sky, and that just ruined it. Too many texture errors, the cameras went through walls, the flare bug, not that were given any flares, which is also a mistake because there were many dark spots. The wraith that wouldn't die before we pick up the gem. All in all, it was released before it got finished. With a little more care for details, this could have been a nice level." - Akcy

"This was a slightly challenging level and it gave me a nostalgic feel for the original Tomb Raider game. It starts off as a maze before you enter a chamber where you have to go on small quests for objects. It is a nicley designed level with everything consistent. I couldn't see any errors in design, although I was wondering why there were at least 3 crowbars scattered around. I loved the idea of getting the head and staff efergy. Again, this was a fairly short level for TR experts but it was enjoyable and a good place to start if you are a moderate player." - Necro

"Well this is the first level from the author and I felt as if it was just a bit disorganised and probably was not up to standards. Don't get me wrong this is a fine effort for a first time level but it did not have much class to it. I will start with the good points being that it was had the feel of a tombraider level. The rooms had a lot of potential and have the basis for something good. The bad points are as follows: The design and layout of the level were not properly thought out the level was only mediocre textures were placed poorly the level should have been play tested before released and the whole thing needed finer adjustments. I'll try not to be too critical though I've never made a level to play so this could be a very good first time try. I'll say again good start more work needed to be done. If I had to give level a grade I would give it a D+ a fail mark." - The Aussie Adventurer

"I couldn't reload in this game although I could keep savegames. So I had to keep going as long as I could each session. It wasn't too bad though as I could finish the level. Apart from the temple in the beginning and the debris around everything else was nightsky with stars which looked odd. I liked the way you had to work your way through this temple maze inside through puzzles and traps and nice little tricks with lovely indoor rooms with fountains and pools. There were major problems with textures not least textures cutting through objects and mistakes in clicking heights that were never corrected stretched and missing textures where you can see through to the next rooms. Nice easy going fun level to play. I suppose L'Antica means Antique but what does Akragas mean?" - CC

"My ignorance was clearly on display when I opened L'Antica Akragas and did not see SNOW. A quick reading of the title had me thinking it would be set in the Antarctic. To those of you who are as language ignorant as I it isn't. It is a fun 30 minutes of raiding with a couple of bugs. The various rooms are quite attractively designed. Textures are too often stretched or compressed but this is Alessandro's first effort. His second effort is much improved. The story line is simple. The game play is not very challenging. But L'Antica Akragas is fun even without the snow. Enjoy." - Dougsan

"Ah this made me remember the old days when I browsed Colin's site to look for levels to play and found this one. When I played it back then I was stuck at the same place I was this time but abandoned it back then. Now there's the forum and with bERT's help I finally found out how to open the door in the water (you have to swim on the same square as the bird statue) and could finish it. It's a small nice level that with some more work would've been big for sure. The opening scene with the star-sky and also the end are rather impressive but could've been done better as the overall effect wasn't that great. I don't remember the details but to name a few things I think there were most of the beginners bugs here - paper-thin walls rooms with no ambient lighting stretched textures the door bug and the like. But that all didn't bother me since I didn't expect much from the level either and couldn't be disappointed. Well it is worth a try but don't expect a masterpiece." - eTux

"This level is very nice architectural work. The outside view of the temple as well as the underground rooms is spectacular and well thought through. However there is a big problem of texture (some are stretched some are non-existent) and placement of objects (floating above the ground). The temple ground could also have been surrounded by mountains (or walls or dunes) to avoid the starry walls. But having said that playing this level is quite enjoyable and we are waiting for the next to come.“ - Jbc21 "Half an hour in this level and I enjoyed it. Without it being difficult or have any hard puzzles it is entertaining in its own way. There is a gem a portal guardian a scroll and a trident you take with you plus a knot and a pillar to be used. The above items are in rooms with a burning floor another is on a pedestal but you need to avoid a spike ball to get it some shooting with the laser-sight is involved and so on. A classic catacomb level as it is it had to have skeletons and mummies. A wraith didn't extinguish at the eagle statue but it just disappeared after picking up the gem. It might not be the greatest level out there but it's still fun." - Kristina

"A Catacomb level with some very nice rooms especially that one with the face emitting water. The enemies are skeletons and you'll have a lot of arms to send them over the Jordan. You have to find different artefacts - they will open you the doors. Some place didn't have textures and the Light/Shadow placing could be improved more. Cameras and Sounds ok. I found a Bug - there where the ghost should be canceled in the water down under mine decided to go away and never coming back and the door was closed for ever there... About 40 minutes." - Miguel

"There was a loadscreen with my copy the elemental exploded after one reload and the grenade launcher worked like a charm but I still have no idea what caused the last door to open. I liked the starry night sky under which you start and end the level some of the rooms where rather impressive gameplay overall is quite entertaining if simple and it's always a great moment if you find the explosives when skeleton is in hot pursuit. However I thought the maze was pretty boring there were simply too many missing textures to ignore them and I could have done with less rope swinging." - Dimpfelmoser

"This is an average level expected flaws for early tries in LE are found and there are a lot of texture errors in the levels. Lara has to get deeper in this temple which lies in the middle of nothing to get a trident. It was a bit boring for me as mostly the rooms were made of the same texture color (typical of catacombs levels) and every time you die the program crashes. Flare bug appears late in the level and exactly when I needed to light a flare. 45 minutes no secrets and THREE crowbars!" - Treeble

"This was a gratifying enough 30 minutes level. I had my doubts at the start although the starry night was beautiful the level itself started out looking bad to me. Things improved as you move inside the pyramid and action picked up with some skeletons and a moving object puzzle and a few spike pits thrown in. Once you accessed the inner sanctum of the pyramid though textures and lighting vastly improved and this became an enjoyable adventure moving from one task to the next one door to the next and one room to the next. Some very nice use of pools and someplace to utilize the laser site. Still more skeletons but somewhere along the way you pick up a grenade gun so - no problem. A stubborn water wraith but I didn't seem to have the long underwater time some of the other reviewers spoke of. I did though forget to pick up the music scroll after shooting all the vases and had to go back searching for it. Finish with some decent rope swings to place the scroll rope swings back and you are back into the starry starry night." - Momster

"Starting off wonderfully out the front of an eerily quiet and foreboding ancient coliseum this level held such a beautiful and interesting game to be found inside. After the initial deadly skeleton and spike trap maze Lara comes across one texturally luscious room after the other I marvelled at the effort this creator put into making the look of this level stand apart from the rest using water as gorgeous central points as well as a superbly done room altering earthquake and a simple but effective looking amphitheatre right at the end. Although quite straightforward this level should not have you sweating over your next move but without doubt when you reach the end you will have had a very enjoyable time with it." - Sash

"This level has only 36 rooms but seems much larger. Starting outside with a nice starry night sky (and unfortunately also wall) you then make your way inside into a mazelike area dealing with many skeletons on the way as well as beetles mummies and a wraith which I could not get to die on the bird statue. I found virtually every standard beginners bug in this level: missing textures missing load screen badly engineered flyby cameras thin walls the door bug and the flare bug. Still it is worth playing through for the 30 minutes it lasts and if only to enjoy the really nicely crafted inside water areas." - Michael

"When I started this level strains of Don McLean's music filled my head but alas this level was full of bugs. A door that would not open the flare bug missing textures paper thin walls and really it does hold so much promise." - Torry

"This level is very nice architectural work. The outside view of the temple as well as the underground rooms is spectacular and well thought through. However there is a big problem of texture (some are stretched, some are non-existent) and placement of objects (floating above the ground). The temple ground could also have been surrounded by mountains (or walls or dunes) to avoid the starry walls. But, having said that, playing this level is quite enjoyable and we are waiting for the next to come.“ - Jbc21

"At first this level looks promising with an opening view of a huge temple and a starry sky. But soon enough you find out the horizon is right next to you and you can see through the roof of the temple because no textures were applied to it. Some places have no textures at all and a particular climbing wall was very strange. The puzzles aren't challenging and are as simple as you can get. The textures are also overused but lighting is not too bad. On a brighter note though the temple looks amazing and the author has clearly spent a lot of time building it and placing all the objects down." - TrueRaider

"The level started out a bit slow to me with yet another indoor maze complete with skeletons. However the fun begins as soon as you reach the end of the maze. You'll then run through many beautiful rooms completing puzzles in order to open the next door. The puzzles aren't too hard but are interesting and the textures used are just magnificent especially the fountains and water areas. Enemies consist of mainly skeletons with some mummies beetles and an elemental thrown in for good measure. There are plenty of pickups and a few objects needed to progress further into the level. Despite only having 36 rooms this is a very large and fun level." - RaiderGirl

"I enjoyed the time I spent wondering around this huge coliseum. As said some textures were stretched like the starry walls did look strange up close. The atmosphere overall was great you never knew what to expect. I played this level on a Mac and had no problem installing it. Found two bugs though the grenade launcher didn't function and also got stuck after pushing a pillar too far. Couldn't get out and had to reload. Hope there will be another game from Alessandro." - Gerty

"This is a level of mixed fortunes. The designer clearly put a great deal of commendable effort into creating the splendid Temple facade at the beginning but lost interest in the details of the foreground resorting to a simple (and unfortunately 'reachable') Star cyclorama which quite spoilt the effect. Similarly with the interiors. Beautifully crafted ornate rooms were succeeded by lazily stretch-textured corridors. The gameplay experience (which lasts about an hour) is an enjoyable one but marred by these discrepancies." - Orbit Dream

"This level I played a while ago. Solid and enjoyable with some nice rooms once you get past the maze with spike pits and skeletons chasing you around. Starts off in a surreal setting with the temple suspended in starry space which I liked. Then inside to a variety of hallways/rooms/tasks. I liked the water rooms especially - though getting that darn wraith thing to die was harder than normal - poor Lara almost drowned she had to wait under water so long for it to extinguish itself on that post thing (whatever you call them). Sometimes the underwater door in the wraith room wouldn't open which was a bit of a pain. I liked using the laser sight to shoot something in a pool for a change. Some interestingly designed rooms and nothing too challenging in the game play department. Definitely worth playing especially for those who like Egyptian levels!" - Lady Lara