Reviewer's comments |
"A brief romp through a Coastal environment, which takes you from a town square through a series of easily accomplished tasks (including a bit of platforming and the obligatory rollingball slope) and back to where you started, so that you may place the Golden Star you picked up along the way and thus open the exit door. Unless you consider a prize pickup an obligatory requirement, this Kurzlevel may count as a full level, its brevity notwithstanding.
I can’t vouch for the claim put forth by ColeMoles that this is the first ever TRLE release that didn’t have stretched textures, but the level is indeed, unusually for the time, quite conscientiously textured. Actually you may spot a stretched texture close to the end of the level, though if anything that proves the rule, as it is clearly the result of an accident rather than sloppiness (the builder selected only part of the texture tile by mistake). Even more uncommonly, the builder made good use of lighting, in outside areas at any rate. In interiors, he used default shadowbulbs perhaps a bit too liberally (and predictably: the secret I found was in a crawlspace signposted by one of them). You can come dangerously close to the end of the world on occasion, and the first of the two flybys strays out of the world for a split second; but that’s the extent of the design errors in this level—fairly negligible, especially in the context of many other offerings of the time.
While you may conceivably miss the Star (and possibly the crowbar) the first time around, I’m not sure whether this would result in a stuck situation. Generally speaking, the level is player-friendly to a fault. The two flybys guide you through a small outside area and through a platforming sequence; you don’t need to kill any of the adversaries—a few warthogs, who have a tendency to run off and amuse themselves elsewhere, and crocodiles—, as they can all be evaded with ease (the two skeletons I came across never sprang to life); and you can collect more pickups than you could possibly use, including ammo for weapons you never find and wouldn’t need if you did. Perhaps the level was meant to grow into a Langlevel eventually. Indeed I should have liked to play an expanded version of this. As it is, it will not blow anybody’s mind, but it’s a solid 20-minute diversion, pleasant to look at and devoid of aggravations." - Mulf (01-Oct-2024) |
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"Another builder who gives you what the title says. A short raid, nothing out of the ordinary, you jump, shimmy, crawl, slide and swim with the occasional boar wanting to nibble your feet (not in the water because then we would call it a fish mind you). Everything is just adequate, nothing really boring in what seems to be a slightly exotic setting what with the trees. Rather nice internal swimming pool as well. The secret I found was easy to find. A few goodies that were not secrets were rather well hidden on the other hand. I suggest you play this one when you are a bit tired with one of the bigger levels or series, just to get your mind off a bit." - bERT (26-Dec-2022) |
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"Well I had set myself the goal of going through all the TRLE levels on this website, oldest
first over the next year or so. This is the first TRLE level I have come across where I'm
happy to say I didn't see a single stretched texture! the lighting was perfect and the
ambience was nicely created. You really do feel like your in a nice structured coastal
village. However that's where it ends, Of course in German "Kurz" means "short" so the
designer let us know this from the get go. However this is too short, 10 minutes at most,
find a star, do some platforming and run out of the village, that's about it. Definitely
worth a playthrough for the lighting, textures and atmosphere. The builder deserves the
credit of being the first one in TRLE to properly place textures and lighting. Well done." - ColeMoles (22-Feb-2022) |
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"If someone looks for a relaxing game with a Coastal ruins atmosphere , and one that does not last long , Kurzlevel can be a good choice. Nothing complicated here , a bit of restricted exploration , some easy platforming, and a few enemies easily dispatched with explosive ammos. It was strange to find a small medipack right near the end, so it may be that the builder may have more planified but decided to call it a day. Anyway this was a pleasant raid." - eRIC (09-May-2020) |
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"Today, nigh on 20 years (!!!) since this level was first released publicly, I've
been wondering to myself why it's taken me so many months to get on with
reviewing it. Now I think I know: simply put, Kurzlevel is just... ordinary, and
very little is remarkable about it, both good and bad. Technically speaking,
there's nothing wrong with this raid - the textures are fine and aren't
wallpapered, the rooms are shaped nicely (albeit with a tad too much
empty space), the lighting is alright (although sometimes dark in odd
places), the music stingers are used appropriately and there aren't too few
or too many enemies and items to be found. The most exciting part is
probably traversing the ledges within a room full of strawberry jam-
coloured lava (and no, I definitely DEFINITELY didn't accidentally kill myself
multiple times during the initial flyby trying to beat the camera...
definitely...), and yet there's still nothing truly challenging there or in the rest
of the level. Kurzlevel has a fitting name and certainly doesn't overstay its
welcome, but if you want a quick 10-minute raid to get the blood pumping,
you're better off just playing the first few levels of any of the original games." - Ejecta (23-Mar-2020) |
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"A great looking short level, however, there is no challenge
and no real puzzles. And very few enemies too." - JoeTheCrazyGamer (18-Aug-2019) |
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"A pretty nice and well lit adventure from the author.
Gameplay and puzzles were nicely designed, which deserves
lots of praise from the reviewers, Enemies and objects were
properly designed, nothing to complain about. The game
consisted of faint camera flybys which guided you around
the adventure. Finally, lighting and texturing job was done
way more better than the other elements in general. Great
job. Recommended level. Thank you!" - Mehrbod (02-Sep-2018) |
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"This is probably one of the shortest
levels I've played, at only 13 minutes and
there's not a lot of substantial gameplay
in that time so it's not really one you'll
want to choose for a long and/or
challenging gameplay experience. Putting
that aside, I liked the quaint coastal
atmosphere and textures and quite liked
the use of the darkish indoor lighting
(atmospheric and not too oppressive)." - Ryan (13-Nov-2017) |
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"This level is made with the coastal wad and textures. Enemies
are boars, skeletons and crocodiles. I liked the flybys,
especially the one in the castle, because you could still move
Lara after they started. After finding a golden star and
putting it in its place, you only pick up a medipack and then
walk to a dark alley to end the short level. 1 secret, 20
minutes." - alan (29-Jun-2017) |
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"While fairly short and insubstantial in the gameplay department, this standard Egyptian coast level manages to get enough right in terms of general atmosphere, texturing, lighting and overall level design, to make it worth a playthrough at the very least. Give it a shot if you're bored and looking for something entertaining enough to kill a bit of time." - Ceamonks890 (01-Jul-2015) |
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"Too short this level to get high rates, but it's well builded, nice textured and lightened and has a good atmosphere. The only "but" I found is that you can abandone the areas with the important items (crowbar and star) whithout that items; but if you explore a bit you'll not get problems. A pain that this creation isn't longer and add some puzzles!" - Jose (14-Apr-2015) |
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"This short level is beautiful aesthetically speaking with the coastal scenery, the little town, the sand, the castle and the little green mound. The shadow effects are particularly fitting in certain corners. While there wasn't much gameplay, I did like the boulder sequence leading to a sliding jump towards a ledge. It was interesting to find the grenade launcher only after dealing with the skeletons, and not before, because I ended up prying the golden star, had to sustain damage from skeleton, jump into a pool, and swim away from one crocodile (among two) I did not have the chance to beat." - Sakusha (10-Jan-2015) |
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"This is such a short taster that it's probably best treated as a demo. There may not be much actual gameplay going on but the coastal village is pretty and I love the genre so much that I can never dislike a coastal level. Shoot a few pigs, explore a bit, find a star to open a gate and leave." - Jay (11-Jun-2014) |
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"It's short level with smooth, slightly boring gameplay. Though level itself is rather nice looking and well built." - Casual Raider (17-Jul-2013) |
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"This is a short (as you would expect from the German title) costal wad level with very basic game play and no challenging moments of any kind. Everything looks clean and solid textured with simple architecture. It is obvious that the builder cared about correct lighting as this was done very well. There are a few enemies in form of crocs and wild pigs and a few hefty pickups like the grenade gun, but all there was ever needed were the pistols. Although there was nothing exciting about this level, I still enjoyed playing through it and would definitely recommend if you were looking something easy and relaxing for in between. (20 minutes, 1 secret)" - Blue43 (16-Jun-2011) |
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"A nice level rather was constructed well, the decor is achieved and it is a pleasure of going it through, the gameplay is rather simple and linear. There is few enemy to fight Lara however find weapon which makes think of the opposite. Although court this level is quite a lot of whole." - Daffy (14-Aug-2009) |
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"This is very nice level - coastal setting. You start in little town, very nice build and textured, worth to see. The castle with lava is also very pretty. Ambience isn't that good because of too dark corners. Enemies are wild boars, skeletons (you get the weapon to blow them away) and crocodiles. Your goal is to find the golden star. Recommended to beginners. 25 minutes, 1 secret." - Oxy (21-Mar-2009) |
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"I wasn't expecting that much from this 'short level', and it turns out that I was right. Only lasting around 10 minutes, there are only a few simple tasks to do, some of which are made even easier due to the flybys that show you exactly where to go. The texturing was actually quite good, as was the lighting, and it seemed suitably Coastal-like. While not lasting long at all, this is a nice level to play if you only have a few minutes or so of free time." - Spike (29-Jul-2007) |
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"Quite a short level, but very welcome to me after playing through a number of catacombish levels. The setting is really well done in this coastal level and the gameplay isn't really taxing, pretty straightforward leading way down into a underground pond where you get the crowbar to later pry a star off a wall and use it in the beginning where you finish the level. 15 minutes, 1 secret. 01/07" - Treeble (28-Jan-2007) |
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"Costal levels are one of my favourite type of levels because most of the ones I play are pretty good and this level is no exception. This level is extremely short and should only take about 15 minutes to finish. The time playing this level is of a high standard. The texturing is pretty good and fits the level and the lighting for the most part is ample. The camera work is good and adds to the atmosphere to this level. The gameplay, however short, is nicely done and makes for a good little distraction. The puzzles consist of jumping and item finding but nothing special. The down part to this level are the lack of enemies and too much ammo. This level doesn't provide much of a challange but is still good none of the less. If I had to give this level a grade, I would give it a B-, a low end distinction." - The Aussie Adventurer (17-Jan-2006) |
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"Rather short level with coastal setting and only one star to pry and skeletons wild boars and crocodiles to shoot. There is some climbing and swimming involved with crawlspaces hidden in dark corner. Nothing else to see the jumps were easy enough and the level ends suddenly somewhere behind the door with the star." - Kristina (14-Sep-2003) |
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"This is another perfectly pleasant level that whiles away 20 minutes or so in a rather relaxing manner. Indeed if you only want to enter a pleasing looking sunset landscape without very much peril (and only a light sprinkling of gameplay) then this is very much the experience for you. If you want a tough challenging adventure go somewhere else." - Orbit Dream (26-May-2003) |
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"There were three baddies (that was a skeleton and two crocodiles). There wasn't much gameplay but the jumps were good." - Cory (24-May-2003) |
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"10 minutes of easy and linear raiding in a solid coastal setting. The grenade launcher is a bit wasted the two fly bys point you into the right direction thus giving you no reason to explore the boulder trap is pretty harmless and enemies pose no threat either but hey every level where it is impossible to miss the crowbar has my blessings." - Dimpfelmoser (01-Dec-2002) |
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"This was a cute tightly packed level that was a lot of fun to play and kept me busy for about 25 minutes. Coastally set I assume although you don't come across any beach the look of the place was fairly standard with some indoor and outdoor action that keeps you moving the most interesting of the areas being an open aired lava room with platforms and ladders to maneuver through. Just don't expect too much in the way of enemies as they hold no threat when they do appear." - Sash (21-Jun-2002) |
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"This is a short level as the name indicates (German for 'Short Level') and it does not hold a single only remotely challenging puzzle. The gameplay is straightforward and if you spend a few minutes on exploring you can find a number of objects in separate corners and rooms which are not really needed to complete the level but at least keep you busy for maybe up to half an hour. If you enjoy the Coastal ruins setting then it might be worth a look otherwise I would suggest to rather download Volki's 'Abu Roasch' level." - Michael (21-Jun-2002) |
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"Whilst I admit to not being a fan of coastal levels this one is a bit of fun and worth the trouble of downloading. The object is to find a 'hand' (or star) to open a door at the beginning of the level which also finishes the level but there is a bit of exploring to do in between which will keep you busy for just under half an hour." - Torry (21-Jun-2002) |
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"From the name of the level and the other reviews I wasn't expecting too much here but I was pleasantly surprised. Though it only took me 17 minutes to play this looked great and had lot's of areas to explore some fun puzzles and traps and plenty of pickups for the few enemies which included boars skeletons and crocs. I found one secret with the grenade gun though I actually thought that the crossbow should have been a secret considering where it was. I wish the name of this level said it was a demo because it was very well done and fun to play but it just seemed to end suddenly. Maybe the author will expand on this someday - he seems to really have a grasp on using the editor and did a great job on camera work and using light and shadows. Short but worth playing." - RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002) |
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"This level was indeed very short bit fun nevertheless. So let's complain about it it was way too short and a bit dark. The author has some good ideas as there are numerous rooms and crawlspaces to explore. Found one secret the grenade gun but neither that nor the crossbow did I use as the skeletons still slept after I left that room. The few boars and the one (or was it two) croc didn't need any heavy armory. Main goal is to find the star to open the door in the square. Some jumping and running and that's all. Hope that the author takes this level and adds some more to it so he can make it even great. 04-07-2002" - Gerty (21-Jun-2002) |
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"This is a standard coastal level. It's very short (it took me about 13 minutes to finish) and there are not many enemies. There's not much to do either just find a star and finish. Also I didn't understand what the use was for the last medi-pack." - Magnus (21-Jun-2002) |
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