| Reviewer's comments |
"It's just a demo, altough it looks more like a concept
prototype than even a demo. Still, the concept of the
Tower Bridge being destroyed and Lara having to cross
through it is an intriguing one however the gameplay was
a bit annoying and uselessly time-consuming since there
were a few design mistakes, for example there is a hatch
that you have to open before you pull a high wall lever
so if you do the opposite than you can't progress any
further and have to restart the level (which isn't a big
deal since this happens 2-3 minutes into the level but
still this is a flaw). The guards are initially friendly
but then they turn hostile for some reason and if you
left the guard down on the bridge alive than he will
shoot you when you are trying to traverse the top part of
the bridge forcing you to go all the way back again just
to kill him so that you can then safely do the annoying
rope swing part from above. Other than these issues the
gameplay isn't very consistent here, just some lever
pulling, some climbing, rope swininging that I mentioned
and some electrical floor to avoid and it all ends by
getting on the motorcycle and jumping off the ramp to the
end of the bridge.
So, a sparse level from a gameplay point but interesting
concept which the builder may have managed to pull off a
succesful spin-off of this with "Tower Bridge 2 - The
Last Renovation" TRLE which he also made (I'm saying this
just by judging the higher scores on that level; I
haven't played it yet so I can't give an personal opinion
on that one). I sappose you could give this one a try if
you want to see what a cool (yet flawed) concept level
looks like." - Cruzader (29-Aug-2020) |
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| "This is just a brief taster, so there's
not really a lot of gameplay to involve
yourself in (and the progression is very
simplistic), but the atmosphere and the
construction of Tower Bridge is certainly
to be applauded. It's possible to end the
level in a few minutes by jumping to the
left rather than the right, but I
travelled there the correct way. The
objective is to scale the two towers and
eventually the bridge itself and then make
your escape via a brief motorbike ride
after killing a couple of guards. Worth a
try for the pleasing environments." - Ryan (17-Nov-2018) |
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| "This level starts off extremely dark and swimming into a
large pool (that's why there are 3 packs of flares at the
beginning). The tower and the atmosphere is very nice. Lara
has to get into some rooms to pick up a golden thing, get
on the bike and ride away from there. The guards are
harmless, so it isn't necessary to kill them (except one
that when I used the pistols to break a barricade, he got
mad and started shooting.) The level is quite mysterious
too: What do mean the Sasha was here writings on the
walls and ceilings, and who is Sasha? Also, in a room,
there was a dead guard being pulled by some invisible
force. That was creepy (I had seen that in a previous level
and it's still creepy.) So, it doesn't last for long,
unless you don't know where to go." - alan (05-Apr-2018) |
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| "This builder gave us some memorable levels before his untimely death. I remember working with him on some walkthrough projects, and he was always kind, prompt and courteous. This early level is a demo and therefore short (a bit less than 20 minutes), but it provides a convincing spooky atmosphere from start to finish. As Harry Laudie points out in his walkthrough, you can reach the bridge and the motorbike rather early in the level and thus finish prematurely, but I enjoyed getting up there the intended way. Brief but fun. Play it as a tribute to a good and faithful raider." - Phil (27-Oct-2016) |
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| "Short, as befits a demo, and really atmospheric, this sees Lara climbing up Tower Bridge and making her way across, down the other side and escaping by motorbike. There's not a great deal of gameplay to get your teeth into, but do admire the scenery and sense of devastation. Certainly innovative at the time and has made me look forward to playing the full version." - Jay (04-Mar-2016) |
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| "When I finished the level in less than 5 minutes I though: "this can't be possible"; and checking Harry's walkthrough I decided to play it in a "legal" way. The level is too no-lineal, and it's easy you reach a place without do the things you should do before; example: I reached the top of the tower with the trapdoor before raise the block to can get up. I reached the window where the swinging ball was without the sight. Also I wasted a lot of time exploring the very huge lake for nothing. The environment is too dark and even the flares are unuseful in many places. No puzzles to solve, bad applied textures, no cameras to help... Definitively, not a level for my taste." - Jose (13-Nov-2015) |
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| "The level is mostly for admiration of the tower and a bus rather than playing. There is a big sea with the tower and a jump switch to help you access the bus. Then you climb up and make your escape with bike. It's easy to skip the part with the raising block and just finish the level. Anyway it sure is a nice sight." - Kristina (09-Sep-2003) |
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| "Dhama has explained why this level was developed. Why it was released to the TR public is another question. As promised there is nothing to do but go up one side of the bridge and down the other and then motorbike off the bridge. The bad guys are sophmoric at best. The bridge is attractive on the outside but boring as hexx on the inside. The Thames is TOO clean and its bottom is lacking debris! No puzzles -- as promised. No reason to play." - Dougsan (03-Mar-2003) |
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| "This level designer seems to love darkness ;-) Lara starts in an area with lots of water and then has to pull many levers kills (very few) guards make a few jumps and climb. I found an armor piece and after shooting the pendulum drove the bike to the level end. That was very short or was my Lara blind? ;-) Well let's see what part 2 has to offer." - Engelchen Lara (21-Jan-2003) |
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| "I avoided this level so far cause it proved to be too big for my little Mac and ran really jerky. But for some reason -that I don't want to get into right now- I need some more reviews by the end of next month so I gave this another go and inside the towers it's almost back to the normal flow. Right; a demo in which you basically climb up one tower shimmy swing across the top climb down at the other side and then take the motorbike to exit the level. That is if you don't get stuck right at the start when you pull the jump switch before you open the trapdoor. Chances are that you reach the jump switch before you come to the room with the trapdoor so the whole thing seems to be set up deliberately which I find rather irritating. The bridge itself is truly impressive if a little dark in places but it is too big for its own good with the horizon disappearing which marrs the effect to some degree." - Dimpfelmoser (24-Nov-2002) |
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| "Not so much an 'incident' as a small 'apocalypse'! The Bridge has been extremely badly damaged and is burning away dramatically. This is a splendid and imaginative concept and the level itself (while slightly short on gameplay) is an atmospheric little excursion. I first tried to play this (a year or so back) on an old low powered PC and the poor frame rate prevented me from making much progress. This time around (and with a much better machine) everything swept along. Only the lasersight eluded me so I had to resort to a spot of cheating in order to shoot the all-important target. I would have given full marks for textures (as Tower Bridge has been meticulously recreated) but some simple little errors spoilt the illusion; namely easily avoided stretched and compressed textures. Still I shall overlook those as I'm moving right on to the sequel/update. Wish me luck!" - Orbit Dream (12-Oct-2002) |
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| "Set in and around the famed Tower Bridge in London this level in one word is immense. So wonderfully realistic the aim is to make your way from one of the bridges towers to the other where you will find a motorbike waiting ready for your escape. Along the way though you may want to save your game at the very top of the bridge to make one of the longest swan-dives around but be careful as after successfully making my third somersault I missed the water by inches (CRUNCH!) Check out the stunningly perfect double-decker bus and the amazing use of explosions as you sail through the air on the bike. Another totally original level from one of the most imaginative and clever level creators out there." - Sash (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "More an experiment in terms of level design with relatively poor more exploratory gameplay this one is just awesome to look at. Authenticity seems pretty high to me and while I found it too dark in places this fits the moody atmosphere. There are only a few SAS on the way in terms of enemies but the look of the bus the references to Sash and staticon and the triple somersault dive from the top and the bike jump to the end make up for all the deficiencies. What annoyed me was that if you pull a certain lever before you did open the trap door you can get stuck in the level." - Michael (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "This is a short but huge level that lasted 20 minutes. Lara has to find a golden gauntlet and escape on her bike. The look of the level was very cool! A collapsed bridge with explosions near a bus. I think this is a unique level and it is very original and creative! Dhama made again a great work in texturization -- including a "Sasha was here" texture tile that was funny :) -- and lighting. Though I was not able to get the laser sight I could progress in the level. I don't think I finished the level in the right way. I mean Dhama states that we have to change buildings but the level can be finished earlier than the right way. I did a diagonal jump and get to the part of the bridge that lead to the end. Anyway the level is great and worth a download." - Treeble (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Indeed this level has been nicely designed. Well crafted but unfortunately a little short. The author could have come up with a lot more involving the motorbike but the Tower Bridge itself is brilliant. The explosions really made me jump!" - Qwendo (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Well this level is obviously an exercise in architecture and in this respect the author did a wonderful job. Apart from that the level is a succession of empty rooms and corridor with the minimal number of objects and baddies. There is almost no gameplay. Music and camera effects are totally absent and it is a real pity. They would have brought an indispensable element of interest. In short this level is meant to be elaborated into something huge and fantastic and I am sure the author whose designing skills are proven brilliant would get an excellence grade for refining it. By the way the river Thames is so clean!" - Jbc21 (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Not much to do here and some slow frame rates but the thing that caught my eye was the explosions. The recreation of the tower bridge is pretty good if a little dark though." - TrueRaider (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "I thought this level was a little easier than 'Tower Bridge 2' but it still had its moments. It was a little dark so I had a hard time figuring out how to get into the second tower and there were plenty of fires soldiers and floor tiles emitting these electric blue flames to keep me busy on the way to the top of the bridge. Overall a fun interesting level with a great environment. I didn't find any secrets and there aren't a lot of puzzles. Some lucky person got her name written in a secret underwater message. Weird moments: At the very beginning of the level when you drop down I saw a little dog or some kind of animal running down the water filled tunnel ahead of me never to be seen again and when I jumped onto the tile near the dead soldier the corpse dragged itself a tile away. How creepy!" - RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Nice one Dhama even if it is an exercise. Of course I used the bike immediately only to end up in the Little Tomb of Egypt level I played together with this one LOL. Finding my way to the other tower was a bit of a puzzle because I didn't look. I loved the dive from the highest point just for the heck of it. Made 5 somersaults going to try for more though what else you would use a saved game for. Couple of time I did jump in my chair the soldier that dragged his body..yuck and the first time I encountered the explosions and lights. Saw the same animal(?) Raider Girl is referring to too creepy." - Gerty (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "This is not an actual Tomb Raider Level. As the author said in the readme file the level was purely an exercise. He just wanted to see how authentic he could get this to look. And of course Dhama did a good job! The place is very good looking well textured and has a great atmosphere. If the game engine did not suffer from the 20 square texture limits which makes textures disappear in distance the scenario would be just amazing! So I just want to say to the author that he could please reassume this project and turn it into a real level. It would become very good I'm sure!" - Fabio Ribeiro (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "This level is one of the better ones that I've played but it's still not great. The overall gameplay was not great but I still find myself going back to it just to do that awesome leap off of the top of the bridge or riding the bike off it. This level has the best atmosphere that I've ever played in a custom level or even an official level. It's definitely worth a download. My main complaint though was that Dhama exceeded the maximum polygon rate by adding too many blue-electric flame emitters. Thus making the game greatly slow down at times and making Lara's animations very choppy. But it still doesn't ruin the level! You might rather check out the sequel though. I haven't actually played it but I've heard good things about it. Oh just download this level!" - Elpasodude (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Here Dhama does what he sets out to do and gives us an exercise in stunning graphics in this trial level. For once the title is fully justified in the portrayal of Tower Bridge. Don't expect lots of enemies and most of the games play is to find your way up one tower of the bridge and down the other not an arduous task but a very pleasant one. Play it" - Whistle (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "There are some really cool things to do in this level! Like swan dive and flip off the top of the Tower Bridge into the water or pavement or run around near the bottom ledge below the bike and observe your heart beat out your body when you have the volume really loud and explosions are everywhere! It's a very enjoyable level to play but its a bit too short and easy - but for me the whole Tower Bridge setting makes up for that because I love London. I say give this level a play its worth downloading just for the famous dive! :)" - Lara (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "I liked this level more than part two where there was so much shooting. This time I only met three or four SAS guards no sentry guns and that was okay. Sometimes a bit dark to my taste and not so many flares to find but the bridge buildings outside and inside are nicely designed and the atmosphere was quite impressive. The water even looked dirty and polluted - very realistic. Your only quest is finding the bike to do a jump with it over the destroyed bridge. So it's not such a long level it took me less than 30 minutes." - Sheevah (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "This level is very dark. But the textures are nice. There are only a few soldiers coming and the puzzles are not hard. I had found a way to end the level after 10 minutes but I want to play the game correctly. I like the red bus that is hanging over the bridge. I was playing 35 minutes and I had fun." - Andi Croft (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "The Tower Bridge Incident. As the author says this is more an exercise in realism than a proper level but what an exercise. This is more a work of art than a Tomb Raider custom level. OK! There are not many enemies and few puzzles but the exploration alone makes this worth playing. Detail is superb even if the scale is slightly out and this level has one of the best dives going. Save the game on the top gantry and dive into the Thames - a full three-somersault dive (at least) - try not to hit the tarmac. It took me about forty minutes to complete but I did have to go round again to get the laser sight for the revolver so the hardened player may take a little less time. Nonetheless this is still a thing of beauty." - Staticon (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "A nice level that is nice in the looks but weak in gameplay as there's not much to do here. You can just climb to the top and do a 4 somerault swan dive from there and enjoy the looks if you're afraid you won't see the Tower bridge ever in real life." - eTux (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "According to the accompanying readme 'The Tower Bridge Incident' is just an exercise in level building but this rather belies the fact that it is a highly atmospheric and enjoyable level to play. A traffic accident involving a red London bus on the bridge has left Lara stranded and she needs to make her way across the gantry from one tower to the next to get to the motorbike and safety. First however she needs to find the entrance to the tower which took me quite some time in the murky waters of the Thames. Actually I had to resort to using the flycheat to backtrack through the first part of the level and find the entrance to the tower that way! In my searching I discovered that a cunning jump will allow you to bypass the entire level and reach the motorbike immediately but that is another story. The atmosphere is wonderfully dark and moody from the murky waters to the grey London sky and as an exercise in creating an evocative mood Dhama has been entirely successful. There is also a wonderfully animated casualty that adds further to the drama. On the negative side the level is rather too dark in places and certainly it's over too soon but my main criticism would be of the jerky movements and slow keyboard response though this may be as much to do with my steam-powered computer as with the level itself. This isn't the cleverest the biggest or the best level you'll ever play but nevertheless it's worth the download if only for the atmosphere the level captures so effectively." - Tune Razor (21-Jun-2002) |
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