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The Jurassic Stone by GMac

Cbl 7 6 7 6
JesseG 7 7 6 7
JoeTheCrazyGamer 8 9 7 7
Jose 6 7 8 8
manarch2 6 7 8 8
Phil 8 9 8 9
Ryan 7 7 8 8
Treeble 8 8 8 8
 
release date: 19-Aug-2003
# of downloads: 98

average rating: 7.44
review count: 8
 
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file size: 57.10 MB
file type: TR4
class: nc
 


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Reviewer's comments
"This is the debut level from a prolific author and you already get a glimpse of what was to come, but admittedly it's not quite as polished as his later levels. There's a huge mix of textures and objects from several differents sets, it still looks conceiving as a whole but things feel slightly off when you spot manor balustrades or T-Rex head trophies around the temple areas. There's a prevalence of Egyptian objects throughout the first level, slightly toned down in the second one in favor of India ones, which don't quite match with the wasps and raptors. There are nice challenging platforming sequences and a nice timed run encompassing a number of doors and levers, plus a lot of exploring to be done, which is slightly more confusing in the second level as the compass is removed but Dutchy got you covered. 105 minutes, 6 secrets. 06/22" - Treeble (05-Jun-2022)
"A complicated two-level game that left me with mixed feelings overall. Being the first offering from this prolific builder, it's actually quite well done. The settings have a mostly solid and attractive appearance to them and the gameplay has its fair share of enjoyable challenges to conquer. The timed runs were well executed (although having to use an unmarked trigger tile to exit one particular room probably wasn't a good idea and fooled me into thinking I had gotten fatally stuck), the jumping challenges were exhilarating and the hub room concepts were used nicely. The pace is kept up well until you reach the second level. I actually thought it began to run out of steam here, as there was a definite overuse of switches and few if any puzzles. Raptors and wasps are also repetitively used throughout and it did get wearisome having to fight them off around every corner. The bonus room was the only highlight here, I thought. Overall, certainly a worthwhile play, but I can't help thinking it could have been better." - Ryan (23-Feb-2019)
"Lara searches for an ancient stone guarded by 31 raptors. Gameplay is a decent balance of traps, exploration and combat. I have to point out a frustrating trap which is a series of spikes with slopes on the side, which I initially ignored thinking that I would use the wind-up beetle on them when I finished it. To my horror, the only way to proceed is performing a pixel-perfect side jump that causes the spikes to rise without you dying. This is counter-intuitive and I would be surprised if many raiders naturally figured out this solution. I would have liked to see some more puzzles, the bonus room serves as a decent one. Enemies provide good combat but get very repetitive. There are 31 raptors and 21 skeletons (that I could not kill because I never found a shotgun) but some wasps and 6-armed guards to spice it up. Decorative objects are nicely used in some spots, but could have been used more often to help offset the large empty chambers. Another thing which I never thought I would say is that there are way too many fountains. Yes they can look nice, but they quickly became an eyesore in these two levels. Architecture is pretty good but a bit on the large side, leading to tall chambers and caves that feel empty and like a waste of space. Many switches desperately need camera cues and instead leave you wandering around the many rooms to figure out what they caused to happen, if anything. Some of the enemy sound effects are not suitable to the enemy. Lighting is decent but could use more color and variety. Texturing is a mixed bag as some rooms are textured lovingly while others are a bland wallpaper. To add salt to the wound are very poor texture choices for monkeyswings, making them easy to miss since you will have seen the textures used elsewhere where they are not able to be grabbed. Overall it is a decent raid, but one that is constantly interrupted by issues that could be resolved with common- sense fixes. 2 hours 5 minutes." - JesseG (01-Feb-2019)
"Equal parts nostalgic and frustrating, this double-level set is definitely a reminder of what pushing the limits of gameplay could look like in the first several years of TRLE. Unfortunately it does not hold up well due to stretched textures, opaque puzzles, giant empty rooms, and an overall lack of cohesion in the atmosphere. Borrowed objects include a healthy dose of objects from Cleopatra’s Palaces and a few other TR4 levels, but also things from TR3 India, Antarctica, and Lara’s Home. The textures are equally eclectic, drawn from Jungle, Highland Fling, and Egypt in both TR1 and TR4. It’s a complete mystery where the level is supposed to cover: an Egyptian jungle with Celtic carvings? With Roman skeletons and velociraptors? Where the level shines is the surprise placement of enemies (despite the variety the combat is fun!) and the way the player is forced to stretch the limit of Lara’s traversal abilities. This latter can also be one of the frustrating elements of gameplay, since multiple banana jumps are necessary to complete the two levels. There was a spike puzzle that required a sideways jump so precise that there was no way I could ever have known what to do without a walkthrough. However, I appreciated the use of Lara’s sideways monkey swing ability, definitely an underutilized move, and some of the tricky jumps were quite satisfying to complete. The final slanting cave is a great set-piece for a finale, and make sure to hang on to Medina is because there are hardly any. I missed the shotgun in level 1, which made parts of Level 2 very difficult because of the skeletons. I did find the last key and the bonus section, which was fun (the current walkthrough misses the fact that the crossbow ammo is explosive, which means the last combat is especially bombastic). Overall, while I don’t recommend the levels, the tricky moves in an otherwise confusing environment did give me ideas as a builder." - Cbl (08-Oct-2018)
"The reviews of George's earlier levels have gotten lost in the shuffle, with the result that several of the fine levels he has produced over his career are unknown to the current crop of raiders. They deserve to be played and reviewed, so I'll do my best to bring some much-deserved attention to them. I'm sure I played Jurassic Stone back when it was first released, but I remembered nothing about it this time around. Everything looked gorgeous to me and is also uncharacteristically well lighted, such that I rarely felt the need to light a flare. The gameplay is remarkably complex, requiring a great deal of going back and forth, so I made frequent reference to Dutchy's walkthrough. There was also a convoluted timed run with many switches to pull, and I was never able to make it to the last door in time, so I had to call upon Dutchy's playing skills as well as his writing skills. There are two levels with three secrets in each one. If you find them all you're treated to a bonus area near the end that contains ample firepower for dealing with the flurry of enemies you'll meet on the way to the finish trigger. An enjoyable raid, very competently put together." - Phil (26-Mar-2017)
"Very surprised with the number of ratings for this levels. I've heard that years ago it was a "problem" with the hosting for GMac's levels, but I think it was solved in any way. Only 2 reviews? Strange... Even when those are the first levels from this author, you already notice a solid design, with a decent architecture and texturization, good use of musics and cameras, etc. There are several tricky jumps here and there, but doable, as the timed runs too. I missed more ammo for the extra guns, and what I didn't like was to repeat several times the same tricky jumps in the corridor with spikes and slopes; the room with 6 wall switches was a "mistery" for me too (trial and error). This second level was a little worse, with long distances to run, many switches to pull and more backtracking. Even so this is a very good debut, and the levels are worth to play. Take a try." - Jose (11-Oct-2016)
"This TRLE has been in the Review Wishlist for a long time but it is really cool. Has some textures that look amazing. GMAC did an awesome job with this one. I got lost a few times playing this one." - JoeTheCrazyGamer (06-Jan-2016)
"This is another game of two halves. The first level was fairly enjoyable with a good dose of everything - nice puzzles, timed runs and creative usage of traps to spice things up. There are some longer backtracks but since enough clues are provided they don't pose a problem. There's an interesting colour scheme that tends to be a little bland, but overall the looks are decently applied. But the second level should have better been left away. Starting with a confusingly constructed and hintless lever puzzle, things never quite get better in here. Endless running from point A to B for just another lever that is now accessible, mostly no helpful cameras and some fairly time-consuming tasks (like a way too long monkeyswing, much, much backtracking and a lot of running around wondering what to do next) is not exactly my type of gameplay. This game's also rather low on health reserves so that I feared to run out of health, but it worked until the end... somehow. On the positive side, (apart of a few rougher areas) texturing and lighting are decent and the atmosphere works quite well, although the room connections between natural and man-made are sometimes a tad artificial - on the whole it's still rather effective. The secrets are nicely hidden, although I left two out in the second level because I really wanted it to end, which is not a good thing. Spent 1:20 hours in here." - manarch2 (09-Oct-2014)