Level reviews

"A shooter, through and through, infused with an insane amount of padding in the form of backtracking. There are only like four or five areas of interest, all of which are interconnected in a somewhat mazeish way by plenty of huge and lenghty corridors so for every new switch or button you push, you may find yourself running all over because of course there are no camera clues whatsoever. The ending fly-by also flew right through the floor and curiously enough hitting the finish trigger respawned Lara right at the UFO, but the game was completely broken, you could almost say it was as if it were completely under alien influence (shame it was not intentional). At some point you get four rooms filled with ammo and whatnot, make sure to pick them all up as the final showdown will have you fighting well over a dozen SAS at the same time. Could have used a few more flare pickups as well, but generally speaking it looked alright. 50 minutes. 04/20" - Treeble

"I must say that I was hugely relieved when I finished this one. The construction of the security compound isn't too bad and is nicely colourful in places (if also a bit overly dark), but the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired. It basically consists of countless backtracks from one end of the level to the other, collecting keys or pulling switches along the way and repeating throughout the entire 50 minute duration, which gets extremely tedious and soul-destroying after a while. You even have to perform tasks in one level in order to backtrack to the other one about 5 minutes away. There's also far too many guards and dogs to shoot, and in the end I just left the final ones for what they were and dashed up the ramp to the finish trigger. Not fun at all." - Ryan

"Ye gods, the interminable backtracking and general running around in this level made me positively exhausted! It's a nicely made, attractive and atmospheric base setting and if you enjoy shooting a lot (and I do mean a LOT) of guards and dogs, you'll be in your element, but be prepared to grit your teeth when you perform a task in one area, only to be expected to run back to the area you just carried out another task, generally quite a distance away. Irritating." - Jay

"I decided to play an older this time, from 2002. This one is set in an area 51 style base and uses the same texture set as the TR3 level and looks professionally done, although the lighting is too dark in places and there are way too few flares. The gameplay was mainly ok finding switches and using key cards, killing baddies etc, you have to find ways of turning off lasers and there was an amusing bit where doors opened only with lasers behind them! I disliked the backtracking over and over again, and this was not helped by the clear lack of camera's showing what door a switch had opened. When you got close to the end you had to use a plug, but this plug was near the start of the level, and it was just a challenge remembering the way there! This is mainly a shooter level and I realised this near the end when I had to collect 4 rooms worth of ammo, literally took 5 minutes to collect it, and this was required believe me! The ending was nice where it kind of looks like Lara is aboard the UFO flying away, indeed there are some very good flyby's in the game. It took me just under 2 hours but that was mostly getting lost and retracing my steps!" - sonnyd83

"All the areas have a good look in both levels, and I found enough ammo to shoot all the enemies I found (excessive, in my modest opinion), but that was all the good features I found here. The gameplay is quite bad, the author forces the players to run very long distances, even between levels, only to push a button or get a key. Sometimes there are not camera shots to show the open doors very far from the places where they are triggered (three switches in the armory area). Where are the flares? Where are the puzzles? Play this levels only if you don't mind the massive backtracking only to shoot enemies and press buttons / get keys. For some reason, when finishing, the resolution of my computer changed automatically... :O" - Jose

"I started this one several months ago but got confused by the shorthand instructions in OBig's walkthrough and put it aside. I tried again just now and this time made it through the confusing spots through sheer perseverance. In so doing, however, I discovered that I was playing the undisputed title holder of King of Backtracks. You even have to backtrack between different levels. Luckily I was so familiar with the long and sprawling game map by this time that I could find my way much more easily, but the long jaunts back and forth gave me plenty of time to cuss along the way. My total playing time of just under an hour could and should have been shortened considerably with more appropriate gameplay decisions on the builder's part. And don't get me started on the darkness. Playing in god mode and with unlimited flares I got along all right, but this is not one I'll want to play again anytime soon." - Phil

"I decided to try some of the higher rated games with less than 10 reviews, and in this case I can absolutely understand the low review count. One can't really expect a higher gameplay mark from me when each and every task in this level is to use levers and keys which open doors often on the other side of the map, with painfully long crawlspaces and passages to conquer and a severe lack of camera hints, plus excessive darkness in many areas. One door trigger didn't work for me, so I had to move it aside in order to progress. In general, it fits quite well into the shooter category since there is an abuse of soldiers and dogs in this level. Some of them are quite nicely placed, when you can hear their footsteps but can't see them yet, or in areas you already visited, but there are only two different enemy types so even that gets fairly boring. The overall atmosphere is rather decent, the architecture is often rather plain though and the dark ambience often rather ruins than supports the atmosphere, because it's rather random and not all too realistic either. There are some interesting objects used here, like the prisoners, but they are sometimes misplaced (they reach in other objects, for example). The TR 3 inspired parts, especially the UFO at the end, were fine touches though in this 40 minute long level." - manarch2

"To me, this level is unnecessarily dark, pitch black in places. If the idea is to give an ominous sense of the unknown it could have been created with a bit more light and fewer guards. Lara 'lands' in this base from 'up there' and is immediately attacked by I don't know how many guards and dogs. As it's extremely dark the only thing to do is shoot, jump and roll about until the coast is clear. Lara only has her pistols for this first battle, but later on, when she manages to open the armoury, she is well equipped to deal with all-comers. And speaking of which, this is the first 'real' armoury I've discovered in a custom level - well protected, and well worth breaking into. I wondered why we needed such a truck load of ammo, but soon found out. On the other hand we need to desperately keep hold of our medipacks as these are in short supply. As the title might suggest we are in a security compound that holds a UFO for investigation. There are the usual things to do in this type of level, like finding discs, keys and code cards, crawling in vents, switches, trapdoors, shooting grates, and such like. We find prisoners in cells. I don't know about anyone else, but in my game these prisoners are either naturally stupid or something has happened to them, because they bowed as Lara approached and bent over backwards when she passed them, but otherwise did not move. I'm not sure if the author is aware of this, but it's possible to get over the lasers outside where we are supposed to use a disc to clear them. Despite the darkness, some areas and rooms looked quite beautiful with the different colour lighting. Gameplay was straight forward. The only place I was stuck was not seeing a key a soldier left behind in the dark. So check the ground after each kill. A good short level to fill in the time." - CC

"Still a few to go and then I have played all the levels by Piotr. And I be happy to keep at it and get it done and over with. Base levels are not my favorite levels anyway but there are some gems out there and this is not one of them. No cameras to show you were to go and this is a rather big first level and running and crawling back and forward is not my way of having fun. Also the onslaught is a bit wasteful. Needing cards keys and disc to proceed with flipping quite some switches. Still don't know what opened what as there were a couple of places were there are two or even three switches. Some sentry guns will threaten you and I did my utmost to cancel them out but only could get rid of a couple of them. There are some quad bikes but don't wet your appetite as there is no way you can drive them. Probably missed some things as I got lost quite a bit. The UFO was good to see in the end but that is all. Only laugh I had were with the inmates - what a strange bunch of men. 19-01-2003" - Gerty

"All your base belongs to us. What you have here is your typical base level where you must push certain buttons collect a card disk key etc to proceed further into the level and much of the time you are being attacked by lots of guards and dogs. Often the guards drop the needed key or object right next to the door where you use them so it's really no problem getting around. Some of the cell areas contain fellow prisoners that make weird movements when you get close to them so it was fun to play with them for a while. There's also a well stocked armoury where you'll find four rooms fully loaded with ammo and weapons - I could have used more health packs though." - RaiderGirl

"There are really only 3 memorable things about this level for myself an enormous weapon and ammo pick up that took me about 5 minutes just to collect around 3 huge battle scenes where there was really no skill and finesse involved but just merely jumping and shooting continually till either I went down or they did and lastly the inclusion of prisoners that never moved from the spot they stood on but when you walked up to them they would perform bizarre contortionist acts by bending over backwards or doing funny leg kicks which although amusing just creeped me out after a while. There's not much to this set of 2 interconnected levels other than pushing buttons and fighting so it wasn't my type of level but there was something slightly interesting in the setting as I just expected to come across a UFO each time I turned a corner and this did eventually happen right at the end but it was a replica of the UFO and it's hangar from Area 51 from TR3 but without being able to actually enter the craft so it was a little disappointing. Fans of base levels will probably like this 55 minute level but after having played what seems like one base level after another recently I am quite over them unless they actually have something a bit special to offer." - Sash

"This comes along as a double level but as the second part (Area of the UFO) is really only the final battle I review this as one. And yet another base level from Pedros. And again the setting is nicely done the progression starts out rather smooth and easy with the unavoidable SAS and dogs to shoot and cards keys and discs to find and crawling through air ducts and such. I had a laugh at those inmates who were just standing around making strange moves (sometimes taking a polite bow at Lara). If you bother to pick them up you will get three shotguns and six (!) Uzi's here but only near the end (which is handy for the final UFO battle but does not help you to survive the rather tough opening scene). The stealth fighters are always a nice sight and I would have laughed to get to one of those quad bikes but it seems that was not possible. I did not find any secret but there were a few unopened doors so I may have missed something. In the second half of the level the walking from one end of the map to the other (just by guessing a switch might have triggered something as there are almost no cameras helping) became rather tedious and extended the net playing time to almost 1:30 hours. So if you are into base levels try this one out if only to see a nice UFO at the end which you can actually climb but it crashed the game for me when I did." - Michael

"I really had fun playing this double level. Both are in a secret base (a la Area 51) and they have some nice puzzles and a lot of SAS to kill. The graphics are very beautiful but not perfect. I think the greatest thing about this level is the atmosphere that is so good as the original Area 51 levels from Tomb Raider 3 (specially 'Area 51'). If you liked those levels download this one! It's a big file but worth a download." - Leandro

"For me this was an unsatisfactory level. Too many enemies and so many things left undone. No obvious ending although it could have been the UFO taking off past Lara. But Lara was still there and able to wander around pondering." - Fairy Godfather

"One big king of base level with a lot of shooting to start and to end with as you might have already suspected. Guards and dogs are going to be present at all times and some kind of men like but the only thing they are going to do is to make you laugh because as you approach them they are bending back or forth depending on your movement. Generally speaking the main structure of the level is good and the objects are interesting and colorful with that alien sense floating in the air. The puzzles used are from TRC access keys mostly and doors with lasers. The player will have to get involved in some battles often but at the last stage the ammo given as well as the weapons were more than enough taking away a little of the challenge. I would have preferred some health packs as I had to finish with the only health I had at the time. An interesting area with planes of some kind was a nice touch and the sounds are different from what we are used to. Not much else to say except for the long walkways up and down that kind of disturbed me and some aligned rooms with sentry guns which I didn't understand their existence. Were they part of a secret or something; a trapdoor in the middle lead after long paths under the ground to the bikes you were able to see at some point but that area wasn't accessible as far as I know. If you like levels with a lot of shooting and base environments this is definitely the one for you." - Kristina

"Gosh my back hurts from picking up all that ammo. At one stage I had 1380 rounds of UZI clips. The author tells you that this level is basically about being careful with your medi packs. Well I could have worked that out for myself after I barely survived the first onslaught of violence and all the wiped out army left was one small medi pack. Right at the start I thought this was a joke level cause in the first battle you inevitably trigger of some flyby which gracefully pans around the hall all the while the guards continue to riddle you with bullets and there is nothing you can do to defend yourself. On the other hand you can win the final showdown armed with nothing but a blunt breadknife cause everytime you feel a bit weak you just nip back to the first level and refresh your health. In between you get the long crawls through air ducts which seem compulsory for this kind of quest there are endless runs through neonlit corridors and a dorm full of zombie workers. Textures and lightning manage to create a futuristic and apocalyptic atmosphere and the UFO is a nice touch. I'm still not sure what the room depicted in the aforementioned flyby is good for and there is a sentry gun guarded area where I found nothing more to do than to dodge bullets so I made a fast exit. The whole setting is the perfect backdrop for a post war experience I just wish there was something more to do than to kill people. I got the impression that Security Object from Universe is not so much about tomb raiding but more about ethnic cleansing. In my punk heyday I used to wear a T-shirt that read: "Never trust a Hippie" but this level left me with the unhealthy urge to put flowers in my air and board the next plane to San Francisco." - Dimpfelmoser