| Reviewer's comments |
"After witnessing Lara press a button using
her boobs your expectations for this level
will already be set pitifully low, but
truth be told this is not really as
insanity-inducing as some of the other so-
named demos available to download. The
majority of the gameplay and the rooms
involved therein will neither irritate nor
inspire, although I appreciated the
unexpected (and perhaps unintentional)
aesthetic of the checkered floor hallways
bathed in a neon blue light. A grenade gun
thoughtlessly laid on the ground by one of
the pair of unruly ninjas guarding the
temple can be handily deployed against the
family of crocodiles residing within an
expansive basin of water, but remember to
lure the creatures up towards the entry
platform first or the shell will sink
hilariously slowly within the shallow for
some moments before giving out with a
pathetic sputter. Of course the main point
of interest would be the Dreaded
Underwater Maze connected to this basin,
which hides the second canopic jar
somewhere within its depths. Upon
approaching the sunken complex another
croc seeking vengeance for their
slaughtered brethren will make its
presence known; you really ought to draw
him out and add another body to the
reptilian pile but you may choose to let
him pursue you through the labyrinth,
though this does have the same effect on
the human psyche as stepping into an
unseen puddle of water with socks on
whilst heading to the bathroom at three
o'clock in the morning - but you don't
even HAVE to suffer through all of this
nonsense because much like with the oft-
mentioned blade trap, the builder has
graciously provided an alternative route
by placing a clone of that very canopic
jar at a corner of the crocodiles' pool,
cutting an already brief level in half and
then some! How magnanimous of them to
offer players the chance to swiftly move
on to much more entertaining offerings
within the TRLE catalogue…" - Ejecta (16-Jan-2024) |
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"Oddly specific title for a 10-minute debut - demo' that uses the Karnak wad, but of course this is nothing to do with Amun, Mut and Khonsu - it's your garden-variety run through oversized rooms in which you have to find two Canopic Jars while killing the occasional adversary. You'll encounter the usual issues, but the level garners a few points for its architectural variety (not a thing you'd expect in this kind of level) and for its texturing, which, though wallpapered and rendered largely ineffective by lack of lighting, is consistent with its theme and avoids both patchwork randomness and ornamental overload. Also, the opening shot (a black screen until Lara slides into the light) isn't bad at all.
In terms of gameplay, however, there is nothing to grab anybody's attention save perhaps the builder's outstanding act of kindness of allowing access to the first Canopic Jar from both ends of a trap-filled corridor simultaneously, so that you're free to choose between doing it the unnecessarily hard way (Dimpf) or the ridiculously easy way (Orbit Dream). This, however, is undone by the builder's unfortunate and deplorable, yet predictable decision to place the second Canopic Jar in a large underwater maze, which I felt forced to DOZY through. This would normally bring the gameplay count down to zero, but when do you ever get free grenades that you can fire into a large body of water in order to blow up a gang of crocodiles? The grenades trundle so nicely in slo-mo. One point seems only fair." - Mulf (26-Feb-2022) |
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| "At first, when I looked at the name of this level, I
thought that this is going to be one of the most joyful
adventures I have ever seen on this website. Unfortunately,
as soon as I started playing the game, all of my hopes
disappeared into thin air, due to tons of flaws this game
had. Some to mention were the boxy atmosphere, misuse of
blade traps, improper texturing, misplaced objects, missing
sounds, missing animations and unrealistic game
development. In general, I don't recommend this level to
the other members of the community. Hope to see the main
version of this game way better than the current version.
Thank you!" - Mehrbod (14-Jan-2019) |
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| "Nothing remarkable in this short level easy to play except the wrong animation when Lara press the buttons. I was stucked 'cause the receptacles to place both jars, I though I should find two jars to open that door. Later a nasty underwater maze (is it funny for anybody the big mazes?) to find the last jar (at least, there are enough air holes to take a breath while exploring) and back to place it and finish. Playable but not really entertaining." - Jose (12-Nov-2017) |
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| "Second and last level from this author. The readme file says
this is the author's first level but it's not, also it says
that the dozy cheat has been disabled but it's not either ;)
Anyway to the level, is short with some red ninjas and
crocodiles to kill. The animation of pushing a button is wrong
but funny to see Lara pushing it with her chest. The canopic
jar 1 is easy to find. There are 2 canopic jars 2, one in the
pool with the crocs, and another one in the maze. It's easier
just to pick up the one in the water and finish the level.
There are many missing textures, the room with blue lighting
was too blue and I didn't like it. Not recommended." - alan (30-Aug-2017) |
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| "A short demo from the earliest days, so I doubt
it will ever be expanded. I liked the search
for the Canopic Jars but hated the underwater
maze and the view of the missing textures at
the top of it. I found it weird that you could
bypass the blade trap altogether simply by
going a different way, which was hilarious. The
bluish lighting was nice though. 15 minutes,
when all is said and done." - Ryan (09-Jul-2017) |
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| "A twenty minute romp to find two canopic jars, shoot some ninjas and crocodiles and negotiate an underwater maze. Nothing onerous and perhaps a nice little level for beginners. As a demo, it holds up quite well, but obviously it never came to full fruition. Perhaps a pity." - Jay (25-Feb-2015) |
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| "A slightly too short level with rather easy gameplay. It's little boring due to having a lots of corridors and too big pool. Textures are nice but at moments bit monotonous. Nice level for quick gameplay." - Casual Raider (23-Jul-2013) |
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| "The level is actually quite interesting. Only unfortunately, there are too many stretched textures. And if Lara presses a switch, one sees a wrong animation. Moreover, a few sounds are absent. But then there is also a well built underwater maze. Opponents are two Baddies and a few crocodiles. The level quite feels well for beginners. The duties are relatively easy and one can defeat the opponents easily." - Scottie (21-Mar-2010) |
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| "A small decoration for a small history, here is in what comes down this demo, let us hope that a finished version came into the world a little better worked out." - Daffy (30-Jul-2009) |
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| "Yet another Demo,but a very very old one so there's not much chance of anything more happening to it now;which is probably a blessing. The nasty scissors could be rendered entirely harmless if you ran through them from the wrong direction(which was unintentionally humerous) and whatever vestige of entertainment I may have gleaned from the level was entirely dissipated by the underwater maze.Never mind,it's another one in the can." - Orbit Dream (11-May-2008) |
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| "I really liked this level. It is short granted but it was one of those levels that held onto me throughout. And I have to say that even though it was very plainly textured it was done in such a way as to be quite eye-catching in places. Take for example the blue lighted corridors the underwater maze the huge water room with central structure. Normally when we see crocodiles coming towards us our first instinct is to get the weapons out and shoot as soon as possible. Well in this room there were four crocodiles coming towards me but I had to just stop and watch them. Simple but effective. Again in another room we have invisible platforms to jump across. If you analyse this room it is so simple it's unbelievable and yet how well it looked. It just goes to show that you don't have to have the latest objects and textures to make a good level you don't have to cram a room full of distracting stuff and you don't have to have a hundred scorpions attacking you to make a good level. There are a few hiccups though like the ceiling over the scissor blades and the ceiling over the canopic jar in the water maze but then again this is a demo." - CC (04-Oct-2004) |
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| "Ten minutes searching, well more like picking up, two canopic jars and a vraeus I never used. An underwater maze with crocodiles and a room with jumps onto invisible, sort of, blocks. Most of the textures are missing and there are no puzzles or anything interesting to see. Move down on the level index." - Kristina (05-Aug-2003) |
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| "A demo a bit longer than I expected and a nice one at that as well. Just what I needed in between all the buggy ones I am currently playing. After converting had to rename Karnak into Tut as I couldn't open the Word document so I didn't know what was in that. Finding 2 Canopic Jars and a Vraeus but Lara left the building with the latter in her Backpack. I sure hope that this one will be build into a proper level. There are only a couple of ninjas and crocs and if you are patient they will swim towards Lara so she can kill them off before entering the water. Nice structure by the way under water. The invisible platforms are nicely done haven't seen that before. 21-01-2003" - Gerty (22-Jan-2003) |
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| "Search for the two canopic jars. Usual knife blades come into play and a good swimming maze for the 2nd canopic jar. A short level and not very difficult definitely a beginners level. Standard textures with little surprises but some good colouring in places. Enemies are a few ninja and crocs - get rid of them before entering waters." - Whistle (03-Dec-2002) |
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| "This level seems to be very incomplete for me. Objects are misplaced there are a lot of missing textures (there isn't even a water texture) and it lacks puzzles. Other than a short underwater maze (well it was big actually but I found my way quickly) there was nothing but I found interesting the invisible platforms. 10 minutes." - Treeble (07-Nov-2002) |
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| "I really liked this until I came to the underwater maze. There I looked for a place to get out of the water and when I finally reached the all important room I was so distracted by the missing textures that I overlooked the jar on the floor. But I guess that's my own fault and I can't blame the author. The setting is quite good and of course as this is a demo you can't expect that much in the gameplay department. But what you get I found it rather promising. Having said that I'm not a fan of the big scissors especially if you get 8 in a row cause what inevitably happens is that I save before the first and the second then I get a bit bolder and think that's damn easy and make it through the third and fourth without saving; then I get really careless and usually die right at the end and no matter how often I tell myself to save before each scissor I can't follow through with that. What's wrong with me? I particularly cared for the blue lighting and the big room with the crocodiles. Another short demo that never evolved into a full scale adventure. A pity really." - Dimpfelmoser (24-Aug-2002) |
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| "Having in mind that this is a demo I was surprised at its 25 minute duration expecting less I was happily satisfied. With a lovely outdoor starting point and some quite interesting uses of textures throughout it gave it an overall nice look the gameplay especially the water maze and invisible platform puzzles were really well done and when I came to the end I wanted more which is exactly what a demo should make you feel." - Sash (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "I may have missed something but for me this demo finished after only 10 minutes after placing the second canopic jar and exiting through the door next to it. I spent the 10 minutes running through a quite linear setting shooting some vases and a ninja and some crocodiles. I enjoyed the bluish lighting frowned at the missing water textures but thought the water maze was pretty well done except for the bug (?) where you can actually get some air and overlook the (thin walls) of the maze. Promising as a demo but not more." - Michael (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "From the first area this demo looked fairly promising but unfortunately it turned out to be way too easy as all you do is shoot a few ninjas find two canopic jars and then the level ends seconds after placing them. There was a large water filled croc infested room in which I found the 2nd canopic jar then a doorway from this room leads to a large underwater maze where I found a second 2nd canopic jar - but I only needed one of them so I could have skipped this entirely. It took me fifteen minutes to finish but would have taken ten or less if I had skipped the maze. The ninjas were no problem either as I found the crossbow the grenade gun and lots of health packs. Since it's a demo I can forgive that it's too short but it is also way too easy." - RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "There is a bug in the room in the underwater maze where you find an item. You can surface here and overlook the maze. The game is not extremely difficult but this underwater maze has been put together well. Sometimes there are a few textures missing. But of course this is only meant to be a demo." - Henk (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "This is a demo that can be played in less than 15 minutes. Other reviewers have mentioned an invisible platform puzzle it must be really invisible as the level ends when Lara placed two canopic jars she found one after a series of big scissors traps in corridors (her tresses were a bit shorter at the end lol) and the other after some good swimming. There are a few ninjas you get the crossbow and the grenade gun and it was funny to launch grenades in the lake to see if the crocs would eat them. The texturing could be better some textures are stretched and some are missing in the little underwater maze. This demo with the atmosphere of the Karnak wad is nice to play and really not difficult." - eRIC (21-Jun-2002) |
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