| Reviewer's comments |
"This is a quite enjoyable pair of snowy
base levels, each having a duration of
around 45 minutes. There are plenty of
guards, snipers, dogs and sentry guns to
dispose (too many, I thought, which
accounts for my lower score in the second
category), but the cool weaponry made up
for that. Medipacks are plenty, but ammo
is rare, so don't squander it. The
objective is to locate the waiting
chopper. Recommended, as any of this
builder's levels." - Ryan (13-Sep-2017) |
 |
| "It is some time when I played this level. There was a lot of enemies. I liked more the second level, the base. The textures and lighting were good and bright. There were a lot of crawlspaces and only a few flares." - vienna (20-Jul-2016) |
|
| "A fun level to play, with a bit of everything, even places to be stuck if you don't take the bike with you. The first level started with a bit of platforming, then a bit of roaming around with a lot of action and then finding the TR2 box on every PC on this level! That could explain the laziness on the level design on the layout, you could just roam about clueless for a long time. That was something that the level failed a bit (and the first level had close to non camera work, only the annoying one near the boat) There were some lovely battles, even the dogs in the AC (poor dogs) were fun to kill because of the randomness. Never the less, was a surprisingly fun level to play! Not on my top or recommended list, but fun and has a bit of everything for a "Antartica style" level" - Leeth (23-Jun-2016) |
|
| "Pretty fun level made by Cowboy. A lot of difference is seen
between level 1 and level 2. Either in design, puzzling,
challenge or fun factor, level 2 was way better than the
first one. The first level was rather tedious at the
beginning, i had a hard time figuring out that the railings
where actually climbable...i was just swimming and going
around the boat to find a way in...but that's on me, i was
dumb. Saw a bit of TR3 "copy paste" inside the boat, pity,
originality is always welcome. There was lack of camera work
in the first level was well. Further in this level, you'll
inevitably be tanking down turret bullets. That was a lot of
"free" damage if you ask me, and there's a LOT of turrets
further on. However once you reach level 2, things chance.
It's more fun, more interactive, more camera work and much
more. There's also this little detail that will prevent
turrets from hitting you (i suppose it was that at least),
that detail was lovely. More challenge here and a LOT of
enemies to fight off. So the balance in the second level is
pretty awesome. Too bad that the game only provided us with
TWO set of flares. Save them, you'll need them later. To
conclude level 1 was a bit disappointing but level 2 totally
worth it." - Zhyttya (23-Jun-2016) |
|
| "Having just played Port Wladorsk by Agnes, I was struck by the similarities between these two releases. This one comes in two parts, and all told it took me a bit more than two net gaming hours to complete. The environs are varied and immersive, making it a joy to play. The enemies come at you in droves, and there are sentry guns scattered about that are impossible at first to destroy or evade. Playing in god mode removes all pressure, of course, but I imagine that those who insist on playing by the rules would encounter a mighty tough time here. Anyway, this is a adrenalin-pumping adventure that gives you an entertaining raid, and I can recommend it without reservation (as I can for any Cowboy release)." - Phil (30-Nov-2011) |
|
| "Here we have two very looooong levels with a lot of tasks to do. The first one has a natural environment, with nice outside areas and the second one is in a base/lab. Gameplay is not vey good, 'cause many times there's not a camera to show you what a switch triggers, sometimes very far from it; example, when you pull the jumpswitch in the ship. Another times you need to backtrack 'cause you miss necessary items, like in the nasty long crawlspace maze in second level. Also, there are some repeated items in second level you don't need, like the crowbar or the sight 'cause you already had them from the first level; so there are some areas and tasks you can avoid. Even so, the levels are well builded, with some interesting puzzles and good details like the card to deactivate the sentry guns, but perhaps there are excessive switches/artifacts to pull/place and walk through the same places many times. There are hundreds... eeeer thousands... eeeer millions of enemies in the levels, bad guys and dogs, I think excessive; each time you trigger something a bunch of enemies appear everywhere to disturb Lara. At least, you'll have several weapons and enough ammo and medipacks to deal with them.The best for me were the very good architecture with nice objects and the well placed textures. If you like levels with a lot of action, this is your levelset." - Jose (28-Apr-2010) |
|
| "Lara was set down by her helicopter in the Arctic, near a ship. Whether the pilot was incapable now, or Lara too early from the helicopter is out, is not understandable. In any case, she lands first in a big deep hole, luckily in the water. Now she has to go for the moment again upwards. With the ship concerned, she ascertains fast, which does not get on they here. So it walks only and later by the motorcycle further. She must comb some building, fight against soldiers and dogs and avoid Sentry-Guns. If she has done everything, it goes again back to the ship which is accessible now. Then there she must activate the ship and lands in the second part. There must Lara investigate several buildings. And fight against dogs and soldiers. And open several doors. And put sentry-guns out of action Sentry-Guns. Here, all in all, this is a very good double level, indeed, with a few small restrictions: Though only few Sentry-Guns exist, but, nevertheless, they already disturb a little bit. One finds the Uzi's too late. The opponents stand sometimes in grid columns, then they can meet Lara, but vice versa nothing happens. But apart from the fact this level is worth anyway a recommendation." - Scottie (16-Apr-2009) |
|
| "I decided to play this level after reading about Cowboy's upcoming level and I was wondering if I had played all of his levels. This one looked pretty fun, so I decided to give it a go. This level is a really fun snowy base level that I thought was pretty well done. It is usually straightforward with a few instances where a person might want to check the walkthrough. There were parts of ER Ice that were a little confusing, but I figured it out eventually. This level would appeal to the action-oriented gamer because there are a lot of enemies. I was getting low on ammo/medipaks at one point, but Cowboy made sure at least one gun besides the pistols is properly loaded most of the time. I finished the level with 5 large medipaks in stock, so obviously there were enough of those in the end." - Shandroid (30-Nov-2008) |
|
| "Not really my favourite, base levels, but this one was not really what I expected. It was better... Although in this level I had the same bored feeling *see lost city of Pompeii* in some of the crawlspaces, a straight crawlspace of more than 2 flares long isn't funny, certainly when there's nothing too find too. Some of the challenges were put together very nice, like 2 sentry guns you had to pass in order to get the Lasersight to at least take out one of them." - Dutchy (11-Apr-2006) |
|
| "Raiding and writing the walkthrough at the same time is a bit of an ordeal but on the other hand I don't get lost much this way. It does take a bit longer to play a level as you have to figure out what is the shortest way. All in all I found this a rather nice two part level apart from the fact that I got thrown to my desktop going for level 2 of this mini game. And more important couldn't find the bloody crowbar in the second level so I had to use the flycheat or else I would be stuck for ever. Very unfair are the sentry guns in the second level as I lost everything I gathered in the first. Apart from the above this is a solid game but some of it made not much logic to me as the levers opened something miles away. Bit of a hassle I would say. Liked the second part better apart from the health problem. Loved the choppers you saw coming down (I think twice) that alone made me reload to have a look again. Found 8 secrets. 15-08-2004" - Gerty (02-Sep-2004) |
|
| "With a splash Lara is dropped from her helicopter into the icy waters of the arctic where she must explore first a ship and then finally make her way into the base where she will find the treasure she is after - mutant DNA that will fetch a high price from the collector who is funding this little expedition. The base is heavily guarded by soldiers dogs and machine guns and parts of it can only be reached by motorcycle so this won't be an easy task but with at least six secrets to collect it will be an enjoyable one. Between shooting guards and collecting keys be sure to take a look around this well built base and the surrounding ice caves - they look even better in person." - RaiderGirl (02-Jan-2003) |
|
| "2 good tech levels and there are plenty of enemies around ;) But nevertheless the atmosphere pleased me well also visually I liked it a lot. Lara has to do quite a bit of work. She must also find many keys among them a key a gun card and more... with those she has to operate many switches and a few levers. The puzzles are relatively simple it is the opponents that make Lara's life more difficult. The textures and lighting were good well I had the feeling that with Lara the hairdo somehow looked a little strange ;) In the first level find one easily finds a way and from time to time the opponents left also medis in the 2nd level I found very few of those. There is much ammo to be found and fortunately one can find some weapons twice... I especially liked the Desert Eagle and the Ak47. Found 7 Secrets also very useful :) Recommendable levels." - Engelchen Lara (05-Sep-2002) |
|
| "What a set of great levels! I really enjoyed this despite that most of the gameplay is about collecting keys and items and killing enemies. The level has been structured and textured very well the atmosphere makes u feel like you are just there there was lots of variety in the textures and places you needed to go around the level. The high point for me was the ship area with the beautifully sparkling water below with the sunset horizon. This level is fantastic visually the gameplay was good but could have been improved a few puzzles and traps would have made it better I think and maybe a bit less backtracking I enjoyed the first level more then the second as I thought more work had gone into it. The secrets were good and a challenge to find there was a lot of enemies to kill in this level but for me that was a high point because they were placed very well. The level offers a few more extras which you don't see in other levels very much like the new sharks having to collect items from desks and even shelves! Newly textured human enemies and the newly textured motorbike which is always fun to ride but disappointingly there wasn't a lot of riding to do. Overall I think this level is great! A must download for anyone and it's the best Arctic level I've played so far! :)" - John (13-Aug-2002) |
|
| "My levels flowed one after the other so I had some weapons at the start of level 2 to deal with various dangers and then picked up the weapons again. Both levels involved a lot of travel back and forth to find what had changed after visiting a room and flicking a switch or some other action. Not my ideal type of game." - Fairy Godfather (21-Jun-2002) |
|
| "Hey what a great level! Level design and enemies reminded me of Lara's first arctic level. Even the ship near the start of part one has been rebuilt rather carefully. I was a little irritated meeting a shark in that icy water though ;o). Keep your eyes open if you want to get further sometimes it's not easy to find your way especially in the 2nd level. You find a good amount of weapons ammo and medipacks. The AK47 was pretty helpful. The snowy and icy texturing is good enough to let you shiver. - So if you liked playing the arctic levels of TR3 this one is a MUST for you. I had 2'50'' of fun." - Sheevah (21-Jun-2002) |
|
| "This is a level in 2 parts. You can play them separately because you get all the necessary things in both levels but I think it is more fun to play both. North Pole starts with a jump into the cold water. Then comes climbing and swimming and so on. Enemies are sharks special kind of fish dogs and soldiers. You have to find Golden Skulls (secrets) keys and Nitrous Oxide and the Valve Pipe for the motorbike. The soldiers and the machine gun turrets make life unhealthy. So you better watch out for Lara's health. I liked the motorbike which has the same colour like Lara's outfit. Ice ER: You enter buildings and look out for trapdoors and switches. Look closely so you don't miss things. You have to find things like Golden Skulls keys 2 batteries (+/-) and a mutant sample and also the things to tune up the motorbike. Enemies are faceless white soldiers white clad Ninjas dogs and machine gun turrets. The movable crates make a funny sound like there something moving in water in them. I enjoyed the game thoroughly. The outside and the rooms are done really well. There are some tricky parts in the game but not unmanageable. So if you liked Cold War / Antarctic this could be a game for you and for the others just try it." - Monika (21-Jun-2002) |
|
| "Starting in an icy environment the player gets the idea where this level is going to evolve. The textures indicate an ice era and that stays until the end with some puzzles in between. The main goal is to find the keys and crowbar first and therefore access the rooms in which you need to find two batteries and a mutant sample. The element that connects the two levels is that in both of them you must cover a long distance to get from one side to the other with that being more recognizable in the second one. The place is big and it gets really tiring to run crawl climb and then back up run climb and so on for at least an hour in the second level alone. The motorcycle is present in both of them and textured like Lara's outfit but although is perfectly understandable why it's there in 'North Pole' in 'Ice Er' I didn't use it. You can actually jump over those iron bars and it's easy to access the above areas if you have the keys that is and the important area which helps in finishing this game. The result of that problem is that the player is able to access a secret earlier but that's not so bad because there is the so useful AK gun. Regarding the keys when the player is trying to use one of them it seems like there is an invisible obstacle in front of the hole and she needs some effort to by pass it. The enemies are many so are the sentry-guns and how can we forget the dogs in fact it's the first time I see two dogs appear in a crawlspace Lara must kill them and of course their heads aren't visible because of the low height. They must have been very hungry because they decided to pass on Lara after a while and bite the wall. Anyway the secrets are not hard to find and the final scene is reaching the helicopter. Despite some tiring points these levels are worth a try just to look at that big ship and fight the sharks and the ugly big fishes at the first level. One hilarious thing is that killing a dog within the ship you get hold of a key well as far as I know dogs have no pockets but come to think of it the key could drop from its mouth although that wasn't the case when it barked swallowed maybe." - Kristina (21-Jun-2002) |
|
| "This is a strange Level. Dogs carry engine keys and live in the airducts Judo Masters wait underwater ornamented gates give way to snow huts mutant samples are kept in the kitchen and before you find the right door to progress you inevitable stumble upon the secrets. I mean it's ok if the lever-doors cause and effect scenario is enigmatic in Pyramids. The buried can walk through walls and there the whole system is meant to make life for the tomb raider just a little bit more miserable. But in a Tech game like this you expect at least some logic. Here a jumpswitch on the ship opens a trapdoor at a base that is miles away and a lever at some other base opens a trapdoor on the ship. The sailors must be sick of traveling the whole distance to the base every time they want to get on the ship. The textures are ok but we have seen better and I think the atmosphere is kind of artificial like raiding in a movie set. I can't say much about the sound since I switched it off after an hour or so because this constant machine gun fire was getting on my nerves. You'll find more weapons than you can shake a stick at and if you are fond of dogs you might want to stay away from this one. The gameplay is ok but then again we have seen better cause it's basically about opening doors and killing people which is not my favorite way to spend a rainy afternoon." - Dimpfelmoser (21-Jun-2002) |
|
| "North Pole (9/9/9/7): Micheal Allen's (aka 'Cowboy') 'ER Tech 1: North Pole' (1st level of a 2 level set: 'ER Tech 2: Ice ER') was a very fun level for me! The textures may not be the best but that really doesn't bother me. I loved the gameplay even if some of it was a little caricaturish...the huge nasty sharks & some hybrid croc-fish lol. It starts off with a splash & after that first thrill you may not be too impressed but it gets better & better as you go along. I love the costumes & player attire the enemies are very good with some pretty tough ombre's involved. You also get to crank up the ole snow-camo motorcycle & do a 'WOWie' jump hehe. The puzzles really aren't too hard ... it's just pure fun. You should be able to keep the flow going MOST of the time with a few scratchings of the head for brief spots. You'll finally get inside a huge ship & once get its engines going you're off to the next level. It's just fun to play. And if you like snowy levels like I do you'll enjoy this one as well. I'm into the 2nd level now & it looks to be as much fun as the first. P.S......He's working on a 12 level series these 2 levels are like 6 & 7 or so I believe & being only ones he's gotten ready with most errors fixed. Ice ER (9/9/8/8): ER-Tech: Ice ER (2nd of 2 part bundle actually will be #7 if 12 part series completes) follows the ER-North Pole with greater fluidity. You can play straight thru to the end nonstop if just keep vigilante. No puzzles just straight forward great gameplay; finding switches needed items special places to proceed etc. all in the face of very good enemy strength. You also get a special AK-47 & a Triple-backpack full of things to get & pickups. I think I covered everything in the level & found can miss a couple areas gun room etc. & still finish. Also get the motorcycle again but actually is a way to get to that place without it but a bit iffy. I liked this level more than the first (aka #6) both being very fun! Be sure to play it. Keep up the good work Michael!" - IndyDallasJones (21-Jun-2002) |
|
| "I thought that both of these levels I had to play them separately as the game would crash when trying to load the second level were beautifully set out and designed and being located in icy environments which I have recently found a lot of interest in was a plus for me. The first centres around trying to enter a large ship which will actually send you on a long journey looking for the nicely guarded switch and the second has you entering a brilliant base compound looking for a few pick ups that will take you to an awaiting chopper. Even though the gameplay was the normal base like thing switches shooting pick ups I just really liked the exploratory feel of the levels the only downside for me was that the ship in the first level was identical inside to the ship in one of the Antarctica levels so it was very predictable and let the end of that level down. All up I finished these fun levels in 155 minutes with similar time in both and found 8 gold skulls secrets with pick ups 4 in each which were placed nicely especially the one found in a watery cave with a not so friendly pack of dogs and an even unfriendlier shark." - Sash (21-Jun-2002) |
|
| "North Pole (1 hour 7/8/8/8): Lara in her camouflage outfit (including the known issue with her hair unfortunately) explores a freezing area. Texturing is nicely done as you climb up to find a ship and then spend most of the 60 minutes this level lasts exploring a base area to find the lever that opens the ship before you finish it by placing the two engine keys. I liked many of the small touches (the helicopters the TR Box on the desks etc) and the enemies (croco-fish shark plenty of baddies dogs) are nicely reworked. The sentry guns were a nuisance and made health a tough spot to watch. I found two Golden Skull secrets and missed at least one which I saw through a window but never got to. But I got the AK-47 and this weapon is always fun. There is the disappearing horizon issue in the spacious ship area and definitely a lack of cameras which could show what a lever did. Little use made of the movable blocks and the bike but a fun level nonetheless. Ice ER (1 hour 7/8/8/9): This level has a rather nice flyby at the start and you explore a rather small base but you will still spend an hour here because of quite a bit of back and forth progression to eventually collect and place two batteries and a mutant sample. That skeleton key was very useful as it opened five different doors for me. The Gun room key leads to one of three secrets I found (two with Golden Skulls). The alarm effect after shooting the windows was well done but the crawlspace 'maze' was tedious even though not too vast. Enemies are again a load of baddies (counted more than 30) and dogs and the occasional sentry gun to run past. Ice ER stays nicely with the theme of the first level and thus keeps the story alive. Maybe a few more puzzles and a few less baddies could make this an even more exciting adventure." - Michael (21-Jun-2002) |
|
| "This is only a part of a bigger project that is coming soon but after finishing these two great levels I can't wait for the other levels. It's true that Lara's outfit has the hair bug but I got used quickly to that as many other levels had too. My gameplay time was 2:15 and I can say for sure that they're worth the download for all the icy and cold levels! The first level is set in an arctic ship and the second is in the ER-Tech base itself. North Pole (8/8/9/8): Wow! This is the perfect place to be for all the TR2 Gold and TR3 Antarctica levels. Ok I know that it was very frustrating to get through a lot of traps get to the other side to the level and then be able to open the trapdoor that was on the ship but hey it was awesome! If at this point it missed realism on the other hand it has a lot of atmosphere! Lighting seemed a bit simple to me but whew what a nice texturization this level has! Time needed is 1h 15min and I found 5 secrets. Ice ER (8/9/8/8): the final part of this episode was much harder than the first one! I was always out of medipacks and always needing some. With a lot of luck I could get through this level that features a lot of (new) enemies to kill such as technicians and arctic camouflaged troopers and many sentry guns that are disabled with a card. I found all the items I found in the previous level so I guess you can play this without finishing the first and I also found three secrets. This level lasted 1 hour and can be split in two parts: the beginning outside the building and the inside. Outside is just like the previous level good looking nice atmosphere and good lighting. Inside was something similar to Recon Labs with a lot of laboratories with movable blocks to pull and push to find two batteries and a mutant sample that would finally give Lara the way to get a helicopter to get to the next level that unfortunately is not ready yet but I can't wait for it!" - Treeble (21-Jun-2002) |
|
