trle.net
Your host for all Tomb Raider Custom Levels ever released!

Levels listed...
TR5 - 31
TR4 - 3141
TR3 - 177
TR2 - 133
TR1 - 61

72368 reviews (20.4/level)
3532 (99.7%) walkthroughs
445 Hall of Fame levels
1221 levels rated >= 8

TR Fan Site

 


The Castle of the Maleficent Mask by Trinh

CC 7 8 8 8
Cuqui 9 9 10 10
Dimpfelmoser 9 9 10 9
eRIC 9 9 8 10
eTux 5 7 7 9
Fairy Godfather 8 8 8 9
Freeman Porter 9 9 10 10
G.Croft 9 8 8 10
Gerty 4 8 8 10
Jorge22 4 7 8 8
Jose 5 7 7 9
Kristina 9 9 10 10
Loupar 5 6 9 9
MichaelP 9 8 9 10
Miguel 8 9 10 10
Momster 9 8 10 9
Navi 10 10 10 10
Pam 9 10 10 10
Phil 9 9 10 9
RaiderGirl 7 8 9 10
Ryan 9 9 9 10
Sash 9 10 10 10
Sheevah 7 7 9 10
Sherry 9 9 10 10
Tombaholic 9 9 10 9
TombRaiderFan 7 7 10 9
Treeble 8 10 10 10
Tune Razor 9 8 9 10
Vinci 7 8 9 10
 
release date: 30-Jul-2002
# of downloads: 84

average rating: 8.72
review count: 29
 
review this level

file size: 32.60 MB
file type: TR4
class: Castle
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
trinh@videotron.ca

Reviewer's comments
"I feel this had all the ingredients to be a timeless masterpiece, but sadly the gameplay is too convoluted with a lot of backtracking and as the environments are massive (yet truly beautiful at all times), it's so easy to get lost and lose track of where everything is. I am thankful for Phil's detailed walkthrough as it enabled me to play this to the end, and even by following it closely I still found myself confused every now and then such as when trying to locate a jump switch deep on a pit or locating deviously hidden crawlspaces. This place is designed like a labyrinth with plenty of side activities to do as you search for pyramid keys and tridents to eventually escape with the golden vraeus, but I think the one trap room which stood out the most was the invisible boulder trap. I must have died a dozen times before I finally got across (saving upon each successful step), but it was something unique. One thing I also liked is how the author retextured buttons to make them fit in with the level textures. While the outdoors area were a bit mundane, the indoors were nothing short of magnificent in my opinion. Definitely worth your time, just be mindful you could be here for quite some time if you decide to face it on your own. 105 minutes, 5 secrets. 06/20" - Treeble (14-Jun-2020)
"A very enjoyable two-parter that takes in an around a castle and its outskirts. Part 1 has you inside the castle and the goal is to find two gems. Many skeletons and horsemen to shoot, as well as some keys to find. Then you enter part 2 and the difficulty ramps up a bit. Wraiths to eliminate, challenging jumps, levers and buttons to use, guards to shoot and puzzles to solve. I did have an issue with the puzzle near the end, but finally solved it using the hint in Getty's review and after numerous reloads. Give it a try and hopefully you can finish it too." - Ryan (29-Aug-2016)
"After running around and around through a very very huge castle about half an hour finding only dead ends I though: "it's time to take a look to the walkthrough". I pulled the first lever and again another long time running around finding more dead ends. So I decided to play this levels folowing the walkthrough. Arquitecture and texturing are quite good, magnificent rooms but few furniture. Sometimes you activate something but the camera shows you a place you've not visited yet. If you decide to play this levels prepare yourself to travel kilometers and kilometers. Cross the electrified pool with the invisible blocks you can't see even with binoculars was very very nasty for me, even with the detailed explanations from Phil's walkthrough. Definitively I can't recommend this levels." - Jose (14-Aug-2010)
"This is an older gem that I played recently for the purpose of writing an expanded walkthrough. It has two parts that will take you roughly an hour each to navigate. It's quite non-linear and confusing at times, so I was glad to have Monika's outline to keep me from wasting time going in the wrong direction. However, the gameplay is varied and exciting, so anyone who hasn't already played this should download it right away. The builder left evidence that at least one additional level would be provided as a sequel (since there are receptacles for two golden stars that are nowhere to be found), but sad to say nothing has been forthcoming after several years. The reviews mention a frustrating block puzzle near the end, but the description in the walkthrough should be clear enough to prevent any problems in this area. Most of the action takes place indoors, but you're also treated to some outdoor segments under a clear blue sky. Recommended." - Phil (10-Jul-2008)
"After numerous tries I had to admit defeat with that last pillar puzzle. All the advice in the walkthrough and reviews and on the forums did not work. It's a shame really, because it's always nice to finish a level properly and hit the end trigger. By now, years later, the author might have done something to make it a tad easier to figure out. So, that aside, we are making our way through an enormous castle, inside, outside, high up and low down. Very well designed and all rooms, when opened, interconnect really well. But saving is essential, as it's possible to become stuck forever if you've gone off in one direction, but you need to do something in another direction first, i.e. the pool you can't get out of, you need to form a bridge across. The place is guarded, on the outside by guards, and on the inside by knights (metalmen), skeletons and harpies. The battle with two horsemen was good fun, and not nearly as deadly as this high imposing room looks, because Lara can jump to the column bases at the side if she needs a rest. Down below is a central pool and four doorways to take us to different areas of the castle and retrieve what we want, do some torch exercises, shoot some brass balls and vases, deal with enemies, swinging chains, pushing and pulling blocks, using many switches and face tiles, and a nice cog wheel timed run. Other pickups are keys, gems, and cartouche pieces. A very appropriate exercise here is climbing the ivy on the outside wall of the castle. Not so realistic, but certainly exciting is the timed mirror/spike room, and that maze on three levels that had me running around like a headless chicken until I stumbled across the room I was looking for. And finally into the lovely pool room and up the stairs to the now famous pillar pushing puzzle. If the player is lucky enough to open that gate then they will have a great sense of achievement at the end of an otherwise exciting experience exploring this enormous castle." - CC (12-Nov-2007)
"The look of this game was very much to my liking and you can see at the points I gave it in the different categories what I liked and what not. There are some nice puzzle elements and great jumping with or without traps. Some fiendish timed runs those I even finally could master after a lot of reloading. What I didn't like is the gameplay. Apart from levers hidden so well and crawl spaces with mostly secrets in them there are instances I could strangle the author. As a for instance a block you had to pull out and push in again no logic in that. Had to use the fly cheat twice first to have a look where that door was with the second gem and then to get there as after one whole day I just couldn't figure that out. Then of course there is that pillar pushing thanks to Elvis for the visual in one thread those I had picked out as well. But the gate wouldn't budge. So this is what worked with me went to pillar one took it away from that square did the same with pillar two and pushed pillar one back same with two and voila gate open. The author does have a keen eye but in the logic department it eludes me completely. 24-05-2003" - Gerty (26-May-2003)
"The first level is very well built but it was completely boring for me: I don't like to run everywhere across very similar rooms looking for "something" without any clue about what to do next. Only a couple of times I had the feeling of a real puzzle (the way to get the lasersight). The invisible platforms were indeed invisible; no other way to go than "try and error".... and reload again. I had to skip level because a bug: there was only one horseman on the platform and he didn't have the gem. The second part is mostly in the outside of the castle and Lara has to kill few SAS and search some keys. The way to get out of the castle is a bit tricky (no door or window: only a secret passage). After three hours of statistic game I had to give up this level because I couldn't finish the last puzzle. The beauty of the rooms doesn't make up the game because one's becoming tired of seeing always the same and some switches are very very very well hidden." - Loupar (13-Apr-2003)
"While this level has some good points mostly it just was frustrating and truly unenjoyable for me. As always I shall start with the good points. Sometimes like when shooting the brass ball when sliding down a spiky slope in the fantastic outside area of the castle and the nice castle setting of the Exit I couldn't stop awing about the authors skills and I think those parts in the playtime were executed extremely well. The puzzles mostly are nothing new but the few jumps over the almost invincible platforms above the electrified water the slide and jump over the pool to get a guardian key and the timed run in the mirror room didn't seem so bad anyway. And you knew this was coming - the bad sides of the level (IMO). Though the texturing was not bad I didn't find anything special about it the textures were nicely modified to fit on a castle theme of it's own and I liked the illumination effects in level 2 very much I found it boring (but that might be just me cause I like more colourful settings didn't decrease much in that category anyway). I didn't like the gameplay much either (besides the few parts I mentioned) mostly it was inconsequent there was no clue on what to do and I really felt like the author wanted the player to abandon this as fast as possible. As I've said before I don't want to be guided by hand through the level but I don't like if the author hides the vital switches so well you can only find them by an accident. I was searching for the lever hidden in the alcove about the garden area in level 1 for quite a long time and the jump switch in the pit below the horseman platform was not so obvious to find either. I tried to finish the last movable block puzzle for more than 4 days I think and only succeeded about 30 minutes ago. You could figure it out all right but the pushable object puzzles usually are not so exciting anyway and this one was very badly made. I had to push the blocks one by one one square after the other till it finally worked for me! Of course it is't so bad as I make it here and people have enjoyed it as you see from the ratings and it's spot in the Top 50 but I wouldn't replay these levels again and if the sequels are familiar to these level I'm not really looking forward to them (sorry)." - eTux (06-Mar-2003)
"I admit some may be astonished to see the difference between my marks for this game and the marks that have already been given. That's why I'd like to explain a little... I thought the graphics the sound the textures the overall aspect of the game was solid. But there were some things that make me not be looking forward to its continuation - although I'm certain a lot of people must be! The puzzles mainly. I detested the illogical feel there was in my opinion to many. One of them is the part where there are invisible platforms over electrified water. I tried to see them with flares binoculars shooting pistols. Nothing done. They were simply invisible. Another puzzle I also hated was the very last block puzzle where you get no clue whatsoever as to what you must do. I even checked the walkthrough but even so... I guess it just wasn't clear enough. The timed door in the mirror room is a little daring too I must say if you think of how you really have to dash along the spikey floor and still get to the door in time. And the big room with the two knights dares you to be very patient in finding your way. Therefore I admit it I did use the dozy flycheat (although I also tried things the correct way - one of the main inconveniences of the flycheat is you then get unlimited everything when you were probably just experimenting)... Why? Because I couldn't make it? No. Because it was becoming boring. In my humble opinion the game wasn't much fun. A lot of wandering and a whole lot of illogical puzzles. From what I've learned from games (although that's not always absolutely true in TR) professionals always give you a clue as to where to go how to go what to do and how to do it. That's part of making a game. Not really simply making it as complicated as you possibly can. We're talking entertainment here! Of course this is no more than an opinion and it doesn't affect other aspects of the game which are in my viewpoint not ingenious but solid and even beautiful a couple of times (I'm thinking of the pool room at the beginning of the second level). So what I'm saying is the author has obvious capacities but he should try to be more balanced as he conceives his puzzles and his traps. I thought the game was very frustrating and therefore a little boring but hey that's only me and everyone else is free to disagree... :) " - Jorge22 (16-Feb-2003)
"This was so close to being another perfect level for me that was until I came across the obviously now world infamous movable object puzzle mere minutes from the end. I was loving everything about this almost 2 hour set of levels there are beautifully designed rooms exteriorly and interiorly although it didn't give the feel of a castle until I got outside lots of secrets to find of which I missed one enemy usage that never crossed the line making this a puzzler rather than a shooter except that is for the brilliant double horseman battle in a wonderfully grand room that made me physically sweat by the end of it but what a shame that it all came to a standstill with that one movable object puzzle and even with the help of the walkthrough and forum I still couldn't de-puzzle it so I resorted to using the TR Position Editor to continue to the end. That puzzle was definitely too smart for its own good. Apart from that though this really is a winner and shouldn't be overlooked for that reason also don't do what I did previously and shelve the level because it seems very daunting with all the initial routes to take as you get your bearings pretty quickly and it all flows nicely together after that. Just don't go crazy searching for a couple of stars as they will come in follow up levels." - Sash (14-Feb-2003)
"For me in Textures/Light/Shadow Architecture - the No.1. Even if I liked the first level more than the second. A wonderful harmony in all the rooms - a lot of tension... the 2 Horsemen made me mad...A lot of good ideas - the invisible rolling balls crawlspaces good hidden switches ...I had a lot of fun - but have to give a little critique - the blocks in the water room (electrical) - you could not see - Lara has died for hunger there... The moving-block-challenge has an error - I proved different ways and the non-logical helped me out. Nice objects like candles shatter window at the end - especially the textures have been the cream... and of course the load.bmp. One of my favorites." - Miguel (04-Feb-2003)
"A brilliant and enjoyable couple of levels. The atmosphere is excellent. The castle is beautifully designed and there are very impressive rooms. Textures and lighting are perfect and the gameplay is clever and interesting. I liked the timed door in mirror room. However the fight with two horsemen was quite hard and there were two sequences that made my hair stand on end: the multilevel maze and the movable pillars puzzle. I was really on edge. In spite of this it's a great adventure fun to play." - Cuqui (08-Jan-2003)
"The Castle (9/8/9/10 70 min. 5 secrets): Absolutely brilliant texturing and lighting here. It really feels as if you were there in this 'Castle' and it is great fun to explore the four branches from the central fountain room. There are movable blocks (smartly used) spikes an invisible boulder room with a nice secret a torch puzzle rope swings a great slide/shoot/jump move a timed run in a mirror room with spikes and right after it a deadly slide across fire tiles - great stuff. Enemies are just a few tinmen (although the two on a horse are tough to overcome) and an occasional skeleton. A cartouche and two gems help you move on to the next level. The two star receptacles seem to be for a level to come. The Exit (9/8/9/10 60 min. 1/3 secrets): If possible this looks even better than the first part and I really liked the pool area. Again a movable block (push it back in!) and two guardian keys a Gate Key and a Hypostyle Key to find and use. Enemies are a few harpies (seemed a little out of place) wraiths (but always a statue nearby) and SAS guards. Found only one of the three secrets. The outside setting looks great too and this part has at least a little more camera work. There is an easy timed door some burners and a spikeball or two and a few slicer dicers to handle. I found it interesting how you can collect a torch from a crawlspace and how it was subsequently used. The three level maze was a pain (and yields the first trident) and I am not sure I liked the rather very invisible blocks over the electrified pool. As many others I had my troubles with the movable object puzzle near the end but finally got it to work (for the second trident). Very much looking forward to the announced sequels." - Michael (30-Dec-2002)
"This huge castle is very beautiful with flowing fountains some greenery and exquisitely furnished rooms that are very enjoyable to look at and this is good as you'll be looking at every room at least ten times as you're running around the place looking for a switch or a crawlspace that you may have missed in your last run through. The first level is mainly exploring for objects with a torch puzzle and some good jumps and ropeswings involving fire thrown in. The second level takes you outside for a few minutes and also requires some careful searching and quick moves for the torch puzzle there the rolling boulder and wonderful three-tiered maze. I very much enjoyed this level up to the pushable object puzzle near the end. I spent hours working on it and no matter what combinations I tried could never get the door open so with five secrets found and 2:30 hours on the clock I had to admit defeat and give up finishing this great set of levels. Apparently I was near the end but I hated that I spent all that time and could not complete the game. Hopefully we won't see any more puzzles like this one." - RaiderGirl (13-Dec-2002)
"A very good level. Textures lighting everything looks so convincing. The atmosphere is gloomy at times with skeletons and harpies coming after you. Your goal is to find gems tridents and guardian keys in both levels to finish them. One puzzle with two movable blocks really had me going around like mad everything I tried wasn't successful until of course I looked up the answer in the forum. From indoors to the outside swimming solving a puzzle with the torch and a very complex maze with three levels. If you don't know what you are looking for it makes you wonder why the suffering but there is an important item you need to collect inside. A few SAS guards will give you a bit of trouble. The first part is quite complex with many iron doors and hallways. Crawlspaces and jump switches are often in this part so watch out for them. There were also two stars to place next to a door but I guess those are to be found in the levels to come. In one room with almost invisible rolling blocks I was fooled and tried to go across just like that well you can imagine what happened. In the second level I also got a bit frustrated with the invisible blocks and again I needed some help to proceed. After finding a golden vraeus the level ends leaving you asking for more. Definitely a level worth playing." - Kristina (01-Nov-2002)
"I started this level when it first was released along with several others and I was soon left in their dust. I could not make heads nor tails of the entire thing. Some months later I decided to take the bull by the horns and get through this superb level. It took me the better part of 2 days although actual time on the clock shows 3 hours and found only 2 secrets but I am happy I made it through at all. Extremely non-linear and until you become familiar with the lay of the land you are basically running blind. This author has outdone himself in this level with cleverly hidden crawl spaces and switches difficult jumps and all sorts of ways for lovely Lara to meet her demise. There is not an overabundance of enemies to be dealt with actually they are almost non-existent in the castle segment. I had a terrible time finding the 2nd torch and great difficulty trying to figure out where to place the tridents once I obtained them. Thank you forum members for a thread that contained just about every question I had. I am breathlessly awaiting the next installment." - Momster (05-Oct-2002)
"The last level I played left me so exhausted that I'd taken a bit of a break from Raiding. Lucky then that I chose to download this level which turned out to be just to my taste. The first thing to commend the author on is the excellent use of texture. Visually this is a truly impressive and attractive level quite beautiful and thankfully not so dark that you can't appreciate the exquisite environment you are fortunate enough to be playing in. The environment you are playing in is large and expansive; consisting of a multitude of (eventually) interconnecting rooms. The nature of the environment does make gameplay challenging there's very little linear progression through this level. You'll also need keen eyes to spot the crawlspaces and jump switches that you'll need to find to progress. I walked past the torch in the first 'Castle' level several times - in the end it was my son looking over my shoulder at the time who spotted it and I was late finding the shotgun too. I had to take on those skeletons unarmed as a result. Enemies are sparsely scattered a few tin men a couple of harpies some SAS soldiers. At one point Lara has to take on a pair of mounted tin men on a raised platform that leaves little room for error. Quite a challenging bout but in the end a little tedious due to the reluctance of them to die! I think it took me about 10 minutes to polish off those two! And then I had to figure out how to open the gate to get access to the second horseman's gem. Thank goodness for the forum! But this level isn't really about the enemies anyway. There are a couple of really innovative 'puzzles'. The timed run juxtaposed with a 'Mirror' puzzle is quite inspired and once you've beaten the clock you're not out of the woods! Thank goodness I saved my game at that point! The second level is equally as attractive and also features some welcome external areas (once you find the crawl space that accesses them). The three-level maze is as ingenious as it is infuriating and in the end I just found the trident and left immediately without exploring further. The level is spoilt by the infamous 'block-pulling' puzzle that doesn't quite work properly but by that time you're almost through with the level anyway - which is a great shame because this really is a level that leaves you wanting more. This level won't be to everyone's liking but if you gain as much enjoyment from the 'look' of a level as from the actual gameplay if you can live without near-impossible timed runs and if you don't need to be shooting enemies left right and centre this level may well be to your taste. It certainly was to mine." - Tune Razor (26-Sep-2002)
"This is a wonderful level. I needed some help from the Forum but I believe less experienced gamers will have fun with this level. Beautiful atmosphere inside the castle. The puzzles are good and there are not too many enemies to distract you from the game play. The author advises there will be a second level and I can hardly wait to play it." - Sherry (11-Sep-2002)
"This is a two-part/four-level adventure. This review is about the first two levels. I could put it in one sentence: First I hated it then I loved it. I played it for several days and it was worth every minute of it. Like with most of the really great levels the first time you play this you would be better off with a walkthrough but like most of the other great levels you could play this one again and again without getting bored. In the beginning I kept running around this huge and absolutely beautiful castle looking for anything to do. It was very frustrating. Only with the help from the forum I finally found out how to proceed. But after a while I had somewhat figured out how this levelbuilder 'ticks' so I was looking for very well hidden switches and crawlspaces invisible blocks and invisible climbing walls. By that time I knew my way around and got to solve some really clever but not too hard puzzles. A real challenge was also this timed door that had me on the verge of tears (but I made it!). The enemies in these levels can keep you quite busy and I had the feeling there was not much ammo to waste. I liked the part where you could kill the SAS guards with the gun and lasersight ;). There were also some horsemen (with and without horses) skeletons and these golden flying things. This level really has everything that a great level needs and I will keep my eyes open for anything else that this levelbuilder does." - Pam (01-Sep-2002)
"This is a grand adventure with a lot of puzzles to solve. In the first part you're in a big really good looking castle where you have to find your way through in a no way linear gameplay and find two gems to be able to move on to the next level. There you enter a sophisticated pool area and as you move along you come outside the castle and among other things to a 3-D maze. I'm not a big fan of mazes but this one wasn't too hard (or maybe I was just lucky to find the item after not searching for too long ;-) ). In this second part the task is to find two tridents that open the door to the golden vraeus. This level was a great deal of fun and I'm looking forward to the next one." - G.Croft (01-Sep-2002)
"One of the best looking levels I have ever played! In the beginning I spent nearly half an hour with exploring until I found my way to start. But the castle is so nicely built that I didn't mind about that and once you make your way the gameplay gets fluent. Nothing for beginners but once you know all the rooms the difficulty is ok. The game is very clever and professionally designed. Also the secrets you know there could be a secret but the difficulty is how to get to it! Good idea was the timed run in a mirror area. In the second level 'Exit' you have to fight against two riding horsemen on a big platform explore a huge outside area and solve a very complicated pushing puzzle. Fantastic gameplay nearly perfect my playing time was nearly 4 hours and I have found 3 out of 7 secrets. Absolutely recommended this game should be in the Top 10." - Freeman Porter (26-Aug-2002)
"Textures lighting atmosphere map-structure look professional work. In the 1st level 'The Castle' I was very satisfied in playing but in 2nd level 'The Exit' triggers are incomplete in some cases and bothered me. The ending is not so good. (TRLE itself crashed. I guess it continues to 3rd level and so....). Its appearance is very admirable so I'm sorry for this incompleteness. I hope the sequel is expected to be released earlier." - Vinci (15-Aug-2002)
"2 levels that took me 7 hours to end with some breaks as I wanted to end it in one go because it kept my interest so much. Actually only 3 hours of net gaming but I ran for ages to find some well-hidden crawlspaces and the brass ball. Some puzzles are really fine like the one to pickup the lasersight and the use of the torch and the movable objects puzzle is really good and quite logical even if you have to place the 2 objects on the correct tiles at the same time. The texturing and the setting are really great the textures are very well chosen as for the enemies (tinmen skeletons harpies wraiths SAS and a boss at the end of the first level with 2 horsemen on a huge platform). The tasks are very various movable blocks time doors not so hard a maze where I was lucky to find the first trident quickly good traps shooting puzzles and of course a lot of exploration is necessary in this so beautiful castle." - eRIC (12-Aug-2002)
"These two Levels were something completely different. They represented an (almost) deserted Castle. My Lara was enthused. The graphics alone were simply superb. For that an extra praise. In the beginning my Lara stood there facing various ways that again and again brought her back. There are quite a few things to master though lots of running for Lara but it was all worthwhile. In the first part I found all 5 secrets as well as both in the second. Again a lot of work for all of them - very well hidden but my Lara gladly enjoys the treasure hunt. The riddles were wonderful. Lara has to find many artifacts. I also reached a door which required two stars but I never found them - they are probably for the next level. The invisible platforms were great as Lara had to look twice. The labyrinth was simply superb. Lara finds everything in the levels she needs. The sound and the opponents suited very well.. The atmosphere was classy. It was quite dark but in a deserted casdtle there are of course no lights on. :) One should play the level best in an darkened room - then one will look at it with entirely different eyes. The difficulty degree climbs slowly which makes it playable for everybody. Therefore the Level gets a 10 throughout from me. Is very recommended!" - Navi (11-Aug-2002)
"From the very start the beauty of texturing and architecture catches your eye that was really great. But I am not so enthusiastic about the gameplay. I found it too confusing there was no real 'thread' in it you have to run around a lot and come back to places you've been to before very often. Most of the time I wondered what to do or where to go next. There was a push puzzle that didn't seem to work like it should. Besides there was a rather needless 3-floor-maze that got me about one hour running around in there not even knowing what I was looking for. Some more castle-like sounds would have been nice. I would recommend this level only to advanced players." - Sheevah (11-Aug-2002)
"This brilliant level has some minor flaws. The invisible boulders the pool that you can't get out off and most seriously the very frustrating movable pillar puzzle near the end. As Ted put it: It's just not designed well whereas everything else is designed professionally while the setting and the gameplay correspond rather nicely. Trinh combines the magic mirror with a timed run (great idea) let's you battle with two iron horsemen at once (great thrill) creates a torch puzzle with a difference and is mean enough to hide some crawlspaces rather cleverly. There are quite a few jumps to perform swims climbs and a maze that seems impossible to master (as it incorporates 3 storeys). I got completely lost and most of the time had no idea whatsoever where I was. Nevertheless I managed to find the crucial item and the exit by the old and trusted formular of taking only left turns. The architecture the rooms the course the atmosphere it's all excellent stuff; well it better be cause as the gameplay is not very linear and the crawlspaces aren't the only things that are hidden so you have a fair amount of running to do. But as the surroundings are so impressive you don't really mind passing the same rooms over and over again. I might add that it looks more like a Temple than a castle. The tasks in hand are highly inventive and I was determined to reward this with 10 points for gameplay. Unfortunately the moving pillars kept me awake for the best part of a night and ruined the level somewhat for me. Still it's great fun for most of the time and there are a many satisfying moments in here. In fact levels like this are the reason why I still look forward to new custom levels being released. I eagerly await the next two parts of this Castle adventure. Go onto the fourth page of the castle thread to find the solution to the movable pillar puzzle." - Dimpfelmoser (02-Aug-2002)
"For my taste this is an almost perfect level. The layout and design of the building is realistic and very pleasing to the eye. There is a lot of exploring and getting one's bearings before things really start to progress. There's no linear path to follow here and careful observation is required to advance. A multi-level maze spoils the fun a bit (sorry - have I said I hate mazes?) but the major flaw was a dual pushable object puzzle near the end. Had it functioned properly it would have made a fine penultimate challenge for the level. It doesn't though and it took a combined effort by several very talented raiders [plus myself ;-)] to sort it out in the forum. Still the solution is now available and this shouldn't stop anyone from playing this superb game. Enemies are fairly scarce but at this point in LE history who cares anymore? There's just not too much new to do with enemies. One battle with two horsemen at the same time did present a nice challenge and the invisible boulder trap was good as well. Rounding out the fun are some well-hidden secrets which gave me a good excuse to replay the levels to find the ones I missed during the first pass. Trinh has eclipsed his first (very fine) level building effort here and I'm looking forward to the rest of this series." - Tombaholic (02-Aug-2002)
"A really good first two parts of a series. At first it looks very complicated with many rooms and similar looking areas but after much to-ing and fro-ing you begin to know where you are. Some good puzzles and some very well hidden crawlspaces. One particularly difficult battle with two chocolate horsemen with only pistols to fight with. Fortunately the one I killed first had the gem. The castle and scenery was especially realistic. I look forward to more of this." - Fairy Godfather (02-Aug-2002)
"There's lots of places to explore here this must have been a REALLY big castle. Some nice fountain features and one big room that had four passages that just looked beautiful. I felt this level could have got a higher grade by putting some extra spooky audio and spooky noises. That would lift the levels rating right up. So overall a good level but a little boring." - TombRaiderFan (01-Aug-2002)