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Lost Temple of Vaara: Revised by DOS

eRIC 8 8 7 5
Gerty 5 5 5 5
Jay 5 4 6 5
Jose 3 5 5 6
Kitkat 6 5 7 6
Kristina 4 4 4 5
Lizard Queen 5 4 4 4
MichaelP 5 5 7 5
Orbit Dream 3 3 6 6
Ryan 4 5 5 6
Sash 6 5 7 5
Scottie 9 8 8 8
Treeble 5 5 5 5
 
release date: 27-Oct-2004
# of downloads: 64

average rating: 5.40
review count: 13
 
review this level

file size: 15.20 MB
file type: TR4
class: Cave/Cat
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
DOS@mypersonalemail.com

Reviewer's comments
"In the readme file, the author states that he built this level without any help other than the manual, so no hints or support from other builders in the community, in a way it makes sense, but perhaps it's not something you'd want to boast about when releasing a revision. I've yet to play the original release (currently working my way through the remaining dozen levels released in 2004), but even this one still needed a lot more polish to be a worthwhile affair. It's obnoxiously dark, some sound effects and animations are missing, none of the wall buttons has a frame around them, the flare bug kicks in at the rotating room (but fortunately the author has set antitriggers so they work again later on), and several of the rooms are entirely textured with a single tile. On the flip side, there were some nice ideas, such as the aforementioned rotating room, despite being a fast track to a headache, and the blue abyss chamber. I also appreciate the author has a name for every single room in his supplied walkthrough. 40 minutes, 3 secrets. 07/21" - Treeble (25-Jul-2021)
"I must be a glutton for punishment as I just finished playing the original but sheer curiosity got the best of me. So here I am. What I liked about the level: 1) The slope jump room, of course!! I wish the builder made the entire level like this. 2) The blue pathway room, another great addition. 3) The “eye candy” room. I can’t stress enough how the builder should be ditching the “realistic” textures and going for this kind of “pure out of world fantasy” themed textures and environments. Do these things and I would rate these levels high and play them over and over again. The level is definitely an improvement over the original, but could have been SO much better given these few signs of potential greatness." - Lizard Queen (26-Dec-2019)
"Looking back at my review for the original version of this level, I see little need to alter my scores a lot as the changes aren't that noticeable, which was rather disappointing. The environments and texturing are maybe a little cleaner and more attractive this time around, but everything else is as it was previously. The looping camera angle is as irritating as it was, and the gameplay is still predictable and not a little tedious, despite a couple of neat touches (the huge slope jump room and the lever puzzle). Not sure whether I'd recommend it but each to their own." - Ryan (15-Mar-2019)
"It seems that the author still ignored the comments from the reviewers. Except some minor changes on the texturization and atmosphere, the level is mainly the same, so my comments are almost the same: the continuous flyby in the room with fire tiles, if you miss a lever you'll have to reload, no added hints in some rooms, again pull excessive levers only to open so many doors, poor architecture, absence of puzzles, etc. Definitively, still not worth to replay for me. Sorry." - Jose (25-Jun-2017)
"Who may have been Vaara, she has put quite a lot of money in her temple. And the interior decorator was probably a genius of his time. So many ways, which he has put on. So many traps, which he has inserted for the future generations. So many ways, which go back over and over again to the central room. But Lara would not be Lara, if she did not finish with all difficulties. Until she has found both stars, with which she opens the door to the level end, she is well occupied nearly 1 hour. But than she can disappear with the Horsemen-Gem into the night. Opponents were skeletons and mummies. For such a small download the inclined players gets quite a lot, because the level is very well built and textured. The riddles are really good, thus it gives a lot of pleasure to run through this level. Nevertheless, the lighting is very fluctuating in the quality. One can find suitable weapons for the opponents, thus there should be here no problems. A problem is a room in which the camera goes constantly in the circle, as soon as Lara enters him. This stops only if one presses a certain key. If one lets go them again, the journey of a circle goes on. There is sometimes a problem with the representation, coz a line goes from her hair straight through the room. Here helps loading a savegame. Result: Good level, which one should play in any case." - Scottie (21-Apr-2009)
"I did not played the original version of the level. Playing the revised one which was still on the review wishlist, I thought it would be an average level but to my surprise I quite enjoyed this one hour raid, which is on the easy side. True, the lighting is mediocre, there is a couple of minor bugs (flares bug that fortunately lasts only a few minutes, and wrong animation for the crowbar), the decor often minimalist (intentionnally in some areas in my opinion) and there are a lot of doors and switches, but the gameplay is quite entertaining , and the puzzles well made. There are inventive moments, and the pace is rather fast and fluent. I especially enjoyed the room with many floor switches and doors where you can see what's behind them, and the pad tiles room. The first skeletons were a thrill as you don't have any weapons, but soon you will get your hands on the grenade gun. One hour without a dull moment , even in some maze like areas." - eRIC (19-Oct-2007)
"{I haven't played"Lost Temple of Vaara" so I don't know what revisions have been made to this level.} I quite liked the look of this level even though it is very dark in places, which did a good job in hiding some stretched textures. There was a great 'jumps' room and I liked the church-esque room with the boulders and mummies, which was interesting to navigate. The camera angle in the room with the deadly floor was also interesting but I found it was more of a hindrance than a help while making my way round the room. There is also a lot of lever pulling in this level. There are a lot of good ideas in this level. I am looking forward to DOS' second level. {As this is a revision of the builder's first level I am not counting it as a second level.}" - Kitkat (23-Jul-2007)
"I am sure it is revised from a builders perspective but it really hardly shows to the casual player so by and large you could read my original review first to know what's going on in this level. The good things are the avoiding of the possible stuck situation and the nice 'credit room' near the end. The bad things for a revised version are that the flare bug is still there in the room with the rotating camera the crowbar animation could have been added just by using the revised wads darkness is still a bit much and the push buttons could use a frame around them which is also in the standard catacomb wad. Also when hiding things in vases you should push the invisible button in the OCB and heavy trigger them. So all in all a rather mild improvement and I wish DOS would have focused the energy on a new level rather than revising the old but maybe he did both so we'll see what's coming up next." - Michael (21-Nov-2004)
"From memory I couldn't detect anything new in this level unless it was the last room. It had the same nasty annoying fly by and in the readme it says that it is breakable well it is not. Sure when you use the look button you can have a look but that was also the case in the first level. Also had a hard time to open the exit door of that room as the lever didn't work properly in my download. All in all I was a bit disappointed. But looking forward for the brand new one as the author promised. 27-10-2004" - Gerty (21-Nov-2004)
"Well I know it does say revised and it is some time since I played the original version but I'm not entirely sure just what exactly has changed. I really can't do more than refer you to my comments on the first one - they still stand." - Jay (16-Nov-2004)
"It's said there are differences to this and the original Lost Temple of Vaara well from memory I don't really see any so if you want to know what I thought about it you can read my original review. There is a room at the end with vivid colours and some promoting of the author's webpage but nothing to do in it. So as I see no difference here I rate as I rated the original." - Sash (11-Nov-2004)
"For every good idea in this level (and there are quite a few) there's an equally bad one just around the corner. For me this was an increasingly annoying and frustrating gaming experience; all the more irritating as the potential was clearly there but never rose to the fore. Indeed the gameplay (after an interesting beginning) increasingly reverted to ever more irritating devices (the repetitive mazes; the lever pulling/door opening 'puzzles'; the labyrinth with the unmarked and unannounced combustible areas) and left me feeling underwhelmed by the whole thing. This is the revised version. I think I will leave the original well alone!" - Orbit Dream (01-Nov-2004)
"The revised version didn't change the level of enjoyment for me. Don't get me wrong it's not a bad level just not to my liking. The fact that it is very dark is always a problem so you see I can't enjoy a level that I have to light a flare in every step of the way. Then the whole setting is kind of dull and although the author wrote that he liked the room where the camera breaks I have to say I hated it. I never liked the parts in a level that have broken cameras for such a long time so I guess it's a matter of taste. Moving on we get to the maze like part which was not a good experience. I fail to see the challenge in a maze that consists of levers and doors; it's just confusing and not rewarding at all. I would have liked it better if there was a secret area to find just to make your effort worth while. The rest of the level was similar to the first with some changes but as said above the darkness didn't let me enjoy it. I would like to see the author build a game with a lighter setting and more puzzle based. The traps had replaced the puzzles in my opinion but the spike ball one was nice. I rated it this slightly higher because of the author's effort to fix the problems the first level had." - Kristina (29-Oct-2004)