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
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release date: |
01-Jan-2008 |
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# of downloads: |
91 |
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average rating: |
9.10 |
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review count: |
25 |
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review this level |
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file size: |
51.60 MB |
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file type: |
TR4 |
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class: |
South America |
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| Reviewer's comments |
"What an epic adventure. As far as visuals go, the architecture is very good, but the lighting is a bit flat and the texturing is warped in some places. Everything was going pretty good until I got to the long pushblock puzzle near the end, where you have to push it past flames. It is a long-winded exercise and the flames are timed way too tight for this task (the timing is more granular than a quarter of a second), I feel this part would have been better off being scrapped. There are also quite a few missing camera cues. However these issues don't eclipse the good parts of the gameplay: plenty of traps to dodge, timed runs to overcome, and pushblock puzzles to solve as you fend off multiple t-rexes, raptors and tribesmen. A great submission for sure. 1 hour 49 minutes." - JesseG (13-Dec-2020) |
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| "Quite possibly one of the longest BtB levels
I've played, lasting just over two hours for
me. There are some nice tasks here like a
couple of push/raise puzzles, a timed run and a
huge hub room to explore. So, I bet you're
wondering why the lower score in Gameplay and
Puzzles is for, then? Well, the reason is that
overlong cage push through fire burner traps. A
nice idea, but rather poorly executed and Lara
kept being set on fire more times than I care
to admit. There was no way I could progress
(even through saving and reloading) so I had to
use the corner bug to trigger the flyby to let
me continue. If not for that, I would have
rated gameplay higher as it was otherwise
enjoyable. Shame, really." - Ryan (23-Feb-2017) |
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| "There are examples of levels that are just not very interesting to follow, aren't very creative or brave in their design elements and just flow along without trouble and at the end you will easily forget them. This is certainly not one of those, it actually has quite a few brave decisions, but I'm still not really content with what I've experienced, sadly, although there's also much good to say about it. For once, the atmosphere has a TR 1 character and actually is quite successful, all those valleys, temples with their unusual architecture, even all linking paths and also the nice sky are all parts of a quite atmospheric world. The texturing is generally competent, while not utterly perfectly applied on non-squaric surfaces, and the lighting is at least not grey and pretty solid overall, but not especially full of contrast either. Cameras and musics are used correctly, even if some enemy attacks are presented a bit too dramatically (e.g. at the very first native). Even parts of the gameplay, like the solid exploration of the areas, decent platforming (like at the waterwheel) are enjoyable, and the boulders (eyeballs) of Chupacabra himself (?) chasing you were a nice idea. A net playtime of above an hour is quite long though, but other levels have proven that even long levels can be interesting. The problem with this playtime is that the time has to be filled with tasks, and perhaps this is the major critisism I have - despite not exactly lacking more tasks for the given playtime, the builder wanted to strech the time in here as much as possible and put in some fairly questionable (to say the least) things. It's probably sounding more like an accusatory list, but here is a listing of all the issues I found: The pushable puzzles are mainly designed in a way that it's fairly easy to solve but very tedious to get the blocks to the right tiles, in most you also have to do the same task twice which makes it extra tedious - the latter also holds for the long monkeyswing task. This level is not utterly dark but has a few quite gloomy areas, which isn't a bad thing per se but with only a single package of flares provided in the entire game (checked with Fexinspect) things get fairly unclear towards the end. Then there is the crossbow which doesn't work correctly, and it's easily possible to enter the T-Rex area without the shotgun or the revolver and be stuck for good (I thankfully found the latter and therefore could kill the first incarnation and was able to progress, but due to running out of ammo I had to avoid the second). But personally the worst thing for me was that block puzzle in the fiery room, pointless, buggy (I only was able to progress due to the save/reload trick) and way, way too long. Towards the end I really found that the builder was just adding more and more to his level to prolong the playtime, but he didn't respect the player side. Add to that a few odd details (like a door opening when you reach the top of the building) and I really was more than happy to finish this level which more and more lost most of its initial charm despite of better parts. The builder really put a lot in this level, but often, like in this case, less is more. A half that long level with all decent tasks would've received a much better mark from me. Found four secrets in a total of 70 minutes of net playtime." - manarch2 (18-Mar-2016) |
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| "There's a large variety of areas in this level, and the orange
sky is a slight twist from the other Back to Basics Peru
entries. There's all kinds of interesting geometry and the
lighting is mostly great, the only thing that lets it down a
little is that the texturing in some areas is a bit dodgy,
although that may be in part due to limitations with a level
as massive as this. Despite the huge size the gameplay here
mostly maintains a good flow and variety with only occasional
weaker points. It also does a good job constantly previewing
later areas, and one area seemed an intentional homage to
Tibetan Foothills. The thing that tipped my gameplay score
over to a nine however is the final pushblock puzzle, which is
over-long and is frustrating due to relying on engine bugs for
challenge. I'm pretty sure this is the longest BTB level I've
ever seen and it's one of the strongest levels in BTB Peru." - Mman (12-Nov-2012) |
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| "Is there not a rule at Back to Basic which means which should last a level at least 1 hour? Anyhow Pouco must have misunderstood this rule something. He has apparently read, that the level at least two hours should last. But it should not be our damage. I was on the move here really 2 hours and 40 minutes. Then this might probably be the longest level at Back to Basic 08. And certain is he one of the most interesting ones. Since here the player gets everything offered what puts out Tomb Raider. Time runs, well placed opponents and diverse places. However, there were a few things which I have not liked at all. It existed unambiguously not enough Flares. I have put the monitor already a little brighter, but, nevertheless, there were still several places which were so dark which one would have had to use, actually, a Flare. There it would have been nice if Pouco had distributed more Flares in the level. Another problem concerns the cage push in the room with the fire blower. On the one hand, I find it irritating if Lara can push the cage only one or two Squares and must place herself then differently because the direction changes. On the other hand the was the one square wide footbridge a big problem, because the fire blower were placed right next to it and Lara caught constantly fire. Here generally one was very often occupied to push a cage. This must not be bad, however, becomes a problem when the distances are too long and one must push too many cages. Very well I found the waterfalls. They were a real feast for the eyes. Sometimes I have regretted it that one could play this level "only" with normal exe. Since there were many big rooms which were built so nicely which I would have seen them with pleasure with a big sight in her whole splendour. The opponents were not a big problem. Either there were blocks where one was able to jump up and was in safety before the dinos or the skeletons. Or one dealt it with the natives, from those, however, maximum two appeared all at once. Moreover, one found in the level the shotgun, the crossbow with explosive ammunition and the revolver.
Result: First-class level with small beauty mistakes" - Scottie (07-Jul-2009) |
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| "This definitely wins the"Longest level of the competition" trophy! I spent 3 hours roaming around the chupacabras lair. There is just so much to do: platforming, puzzles, shooting, lots and lots of exploring. (I have no idea how so much gameplay was squeezed into one level.) And not all of it easy; there are a few tricky jumps and timed runs, but they are do-able. And to finish it off there is a mammoth fight to the death at the end. But I have to say I thought the placement of the crowbar was very unfair, it was actually at the last place I thought to look for it because the area looked inaccessible. Atmosphere is great; lonely isolation to anxious wonder - plus my heart rate shot up several times through the level. (The T-Rex always scares me. Raptors too.) Maybe one or two more camera hints would have speeded proceedings up abit but that would only have been a problem if the enviroment wasn't so lovely. I thought the lighting and textures were just right. A great, and challenging in places, raid." - Kitkat (07-May-2008) |
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| "Pouco has offered us for the BTB08 contest a mammoth level with more than 2 hours of net gaming time...almost 3 hours. Many areas are to be explored in this great map, I like a lot the fact that some future or past areas with pickups visible can be seen through grilles.
There are enjoyable actions to perform through out the level , exploration of course , and good pushable objects puzzles. One thing I also particularly enjoyed are the secrets which were a great satisfaction to get. I don't agree with some comments made about the long underwater passage near the end, as I found it quite enjoyable and despite some traps in it and the length of it , it did not cost me any health at all : a satisfying moment. Also most of the time I did not needed more cameras as what you have to do is always rather obvious ; only at the end I wished the gameplay to be more user friendly , maybe it was because of some tiredness after so much raiding. I could have done without the fire room with pushable cages for example as it was not so enjoyable.
Some great moments like the flooding of areas, and I really loved the great water canyon. The looks are good without being particularly eye-catching and polished ; If you are in the mood for a long and great adventure with various and spacious areas , you certainly will have a lot of good raiding for your money with Chupacabra's lair. A lot of work has been put into it." - eRIC (02-Mar-2008) |
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| ""Chupacabras Lair" is for me the best level of this competition and I hope it is going to win. The level is so big and with so big space and architecture, beautiful environments with so many different locations, villages, temples, waterfalls, and so much more.
I really have no idea who the level designer of this level is, but I really want to congratulate him, because I have really never played a level like this. The game is the longest of this competition and you will play the level until its end. What I really liked of this level was its big architecture and space and the beautiful atmosphere... it reminds me of some place of Tomb Raider 3 and the final level of Tr1. The puzzles are very different and I must say that there isn't anything difficult to do in this level, but there are some good time sections and good puzzles with the movable object. Good choice of music and good collocation of the enemies.
For me this is not only a level, it's a big adventure. In fact it's duration is at least 3 hour of play.
Congratulation level designer. Masterpiece." - diamond (29-Feb-2008) |
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| "Epic is the keyword for this level. Not only the environments are huge, but also all of your quests. You spend about one hour looking for the mask of parabailarlabamba (hey, isn't that the name of the next level?) and the golden disk, and when you think you're done with it, you get more pushables puzzles, a humongous room you'll have to flood and then quickly swim out of it before you drown, pushing a block through flame emmiters, lots of monkeyswinging, a timed sequence with a rope swing, well, the list of things to do in this level goes on. I never found the crowbar but only came across one door that required it so no harm done. I think the author was a bit unfair with the movable cage on the catwalk over the lava pit with flame emmiters, I felt that sequence was not necessary at all. All in all, this is a good massive level that will keep you occupied for quite a while! 120 minutes, 4 secrets. 02/08" - Treeble (24-Feb-2008) |
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| "What is the most convincing of this level is it`s excellent level architecture, with it's deep chasms, huge caves and temples and all it's nice views and always new angles on certain areas. So you get a lot to explore in this longest level of the contest and I never got bored. The gameplay otherwise is rather stanard and generally not very difficult, but always entertaining enough. A patched exe with extending viewing distance and the ability place more objects, escpecially in the outside areas would have been made the level even better, but you have to accept the constraints of the contest, of course. I didn't like the choice of the black horizon and the yellow sky very much, but it'wasn't too bad.
So it should be an entertaining level to play for everyone!" - Raymond (22-Feb-2008) |
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| "A high-voted level... I was naturally very strained to play it. But now that I have finished it, I must say that not everything pleased me well. Very impressively built are all external areas and premises, but with cracks the level builder does not seem to disturb himself, everywhere one could see the orange sky gleaming through the rocks ... not a straight beautiful sight. A way over gigantic rocks and deep ravines leads Lara to a small accumulation of huts of the natives. Here one could omit a whole passage completely by jumping from high above to the other side of the canyon. Starting from here Lara has to search through three enormous ranges and she has to collect three artifacts. The interiors pleased me here much better than the rock landscapes, and the puzzels and tasks are very beautifully varied and made fine. Which disturbed me however mostly, was the missing of torches/flares and this with very very many and very very dark ranges... and this from the beginning of the game to the end. I had to play with only one flare 4/5 of the game by loading again and again. Also I unfortunately missed the shotgun. Thus the play pleasure left me honestly said somewhere in the middle of the game." - Eva (21-Feb-2008) |
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| "My net gaming time was well into the three hours. Not that I minded it that much as once I was in the game I had to try and find out how to get through this one. Mind you, it took me several days as my patience got severely tested with this one. There was definitively a lack of cameras. The reloading was also an issue because the lack of cameras, especially in the underwater rooms to figure finally out where to go took its toll. I had also a bug in the pushable block room with all the emitters as Lara experienced spontaneous combustion, even if she was on a safe tile. This is a huge level with loads of exploring and although I did explore I couldn't find some items but I take it they were for secrets as I could finish without laying my hand on them. You also never ever get the chance to go back to look for the secrets as some parts close up after you go through a sort of glass window. Some textures could use a bit more attention, as they were right in your face." - Gerty (04-Feb-2008) |
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| "Despite the sometimes frustrating lack of camera hints early in the adventure, this turns out to be one of the most outstanding, rich and cared after levels of this year's BtB project. When you just push a block one square away to make a door open at the very start, you may consider that the rest of the level will be equally easy... But soon you find out that it is a complex, vast and prolific level and you see its qualities develop as you proceed. Although it's just level-pulling to open gates up to a point, gameplay gradually gets more and more elaborate; trials become tricky and challenging, pushable puzzles get more complicated, the tasks you have to accomplish require more thought and action; to mention just two examples among the so many amazing moments that this level offers, there's an evilly long swim in a tunnel with no place to take a breath, as well as a fantastic timed run near the end, involving a rope swing and a timed platform; and the finale is equally impressive. The settings are detailed and tasteful, putting you in the mood for exploration, and there is such a great variety of them - from atmospheric, realistic exteriors to underground caves with waterwheel mechanisms, futuristic tunnels and huge temple-like rooms with hidden switches and entrances. With just two more levels to play so as to complete BtB08, I can almost safely say that this level is the one that took me the longest to complete (over 2.30 hours!) and it's surely among those with the most action, gameplay variety and originality - and definitely one of those that I enjoyed the most playing." - Ravenwen (01-Feb-2008) |
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| "Superb level, I like, not too difficult, very big level, I put 2h 10 to finish ouffffff!i think never arrive to the end, the rooms are huge and beautiful, enemies not too many and well placed. The puzzles are not too difficult, you just have to really look to find what to do. I really loved this level. I just wanted to have a little more matches and bullets for the shotgun. And the end is original, bravo to the builder, I give an opinion? Maybe Christoph!" - Minox (27-Jan-2008) |
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| "Is this a level, or is this a complete TR game? I think it's the very most longer level I've ever played, it took me several hours and a lot of work to finish. Sometimes you can get stucked 'cause there are some missed cameras, but it's not difficult to advance and solve the tasks. The lonely pack of flares I found was not sufficient for me; I missed the shotgun too so I had to deal with the enemies only with the pistols and the crossbow but with 10 misers arrows; at least I found the revolver but I was lucky to reserve some bullets to the final T-Rexs otherwise I should never finish the level. Even so, I enjoyed a lot this level." - Jose (23-Jan-2008) |
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| "Huge and impressive level, probably not that much "back to the basics" but that could be said about others as well. The atmosphere is rather immersive right from the very first moment with those reddish skies and the omnipresent thunders all around us. I was left quite puzzled and even very stuck a few times but I don't hold any grudge because of that. On the other hand, there's a very missable secret at the start because the crowbar is easy to miss and you can't go back for it after you get down to the valley. So, what's the point in having those stairs by the right ledge except for misleading the player? That's where my 9 instead of 10 in gameplay comes from. Apart from that, I liked it a lot, even the push/pull cage puzzle among the fires and all the very tough moments as, for example, the long swim back to the beginning. Higly recommendable, just don't forget the crowbar." - Jorge22 (22-Jan-2008) |
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| "As in Primal Breathe, I played this one over a period of several days, tweaking Yoav's excellent walkthrough in the process, and when I finished last evening I found that my game clock registered an astounding 2:43. I had no idea so much gameplay could be packed into a single level, so that category merits a 10 with no further discussion. It was good, solid gameplay, too. There were a few block puzzles that stretched out the playing time a bit, particularly the last one that was fraught with horizontal and vertical flame emitters, but not unreasonably so. Parts of the environs are simply stunning, namely that steep canyon with the river down below about halfway through the level. The one timed run I can recall was fairly easy, and although there are some tricky sequences you won't encounter any frustrating game-stoppers. If you're not in a hurry, this is a great level to savor. Highly recommended." - Phil (17-Jan-2008) |
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| "There is so much good--very good--in this level, and yet it can drive a player to distraction. My playing time was 2:35 hrs, twice what most levels take. The level opens with a canyon with a crowbar on a pillar in the middle, and nothing here contributes to the level. Same with the Inca huts that Lara soon gets to. Then there is some exploration, and Lara comes out at the top of a deep ravine that is obviously a TR2 moment (remember "Tibetan Foothills," at the beginning when the eagle attacks?) This reference is nothing but a distraction. Then Lara drops down (same as in "Tibetan Foothills") and comes to some jump slopes over water. Really the level should start here, since what follows is good, and then the level would become much stronger and unified. The waterwheels and the trapdoors are nice. Then when Lara comes out in the open and climbs to the top of the ravine there can be a dramatic moment on entering the level hub which won't be spoiled by players still having TR2 in their minds. Lara has to travel from here to find various items: a mask, a golden medallion, and finally a cogwheel. A lot of the exploration and tasks are fun, classic tomb raider gymnastics stuff. I enjoyed going for the mask, dropping boulders into a pool to raise the water level. When you get the torch, light a fireplace and get the crossbow and explosive ammo as a secret, otherwise some pesky skeletons will drive you nuts later on. Then the monkey swings and jump switches to get to the gold medallion were fine, but I wish the author had raised the light level throughout. A wraith that Lara picked up keeps dogging her. When Lara goes for the cogwheel I began to feel the need for a few flyby hints. After getting the cogwheel, what does the underwater lever do? When Lara finally does find the underwater opening, it turns out she needs twice her normal air supply to make it through the passage with spikes popping up along the way. Then back at the central hub Lara has to push a crate between flame channels. This is when one really questions whether the author has any sense of proportion. That entire irritating sequence should have been cut. Soon Lara enters the next huge room and from the far end a T-rex comes running toward her. I was so frustrated that I had Lara draw her revolver (you find the revolver in a crawlspace) and run straight at the charging T-rex, firing as she went. It turns out this works great. Just as they meet the T-rex stumbles, throws back his head, then keels over dead on his side. I tried this again on a higher story in this room, and it worked there too. And end. Definitely one of the better Peru levels." - dmdibl (16-Jan-2008) |
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| "There's bags of atmosphere in this level, with the livid, lightning-filled sky and the sound of thunder. This is a very impressive looking level altogether, with a pleasing contrast of areas - grand open-air settings, gloomy, claustrophobic caves, water-filled ravines - and well balanced gameplay. Some of the battles with enemies are pretty hard - especially the dramatic 'dino fest' at the end of the game and equally some of the agility tests take some mastering. The only thing I had real difficulty with however was a clever little timed rope swing - if you manage that one in the first couple of attempts feel free to give yourself a great big pat on the back. You'll not get through this level in a short time, but you certainly won't be bored along the way." - Jay (14-Jan-2008) |
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| "A Big Game , I must admit ! Certaily one of my favorites in BtB 2008. I have rated it 8 only for lighting and textures as the game is simply too dark in too many locations , you soon get frustrated by having to use the binos all the time in order to save your few precious candlelights . I have nothing against a dark , spooky athmosphere but stumbling around in a game almost blind is just not my cup of tea. A T-Rex that could almost walk through walls I found a bit annoying too. This species was one particular nuisance in all this years BtB issues : In some games you to fill him in in order to proceed in the game , in others you may simply leave him alone ,in some games he is invulnerable , so you're never raelly sure how to deal with him . This TRLE issue has more than enough highlights to make good the few minor points I just mentioned .For dancing the 'Bamba' with all her enemies and to overcome the challenges Lara has to put forth all her skills in a remarkable contribution to BtB 2008 !" - Ruben (13-Jan-2008) |
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| "With taking me 90 minutes to the second to complete this level, this turned out to be the longest one in the competition for me yet - and those who love long levels will undoubtedly love this to bits, yet for me this already is the second level I have rather mixed feelings about, so I hope you'll pardon me if I won't jump on the bandwagon of the level's praisers so far. While I don't mind long levels if the tasks they present justify your stay there, from my experience that is very rarely the case and turned out to be no different for me here, but I'll start with the good bits first. And when the level has the good moments - it shines. I thought the trapdoor - waterwheel moment was very clever, as were the timed rope swings and fire pillars closer to the end, and the way you had to get boulders to drop into a pool to raise the water level. While the duration is rather long - I appreciated the linear approach - which, while didn't make the individual tasks easier - certainly made the whole experience less complicated from the players perspective as you had one problem at a time and weren't confused by all the possibilities. While I'm generally not very supportive of designs and areas used from original games, the ravine area from Tibetan Foothills and another setting from TR2 Gold seemed more like tributes to the original games rather than a sign of lack of ideas from the author's part and introduced enough of his own original moments to make it a nice nostalgia trip with a fresh taste added in as well. The looks are decent and stand out for the numerous ominous face like structures integrated into the level's architecture and the dozens of huge areas to explore. There are a few texture problems but they're few and far in between, if there's anything to complain about in that department, then I think the author could've been less stingy with flare pickups, as there are quite a few dark corners and alleys along the way. Also - using wooden boxes as decor seemed like a very odd choice and looked out of place inside the temple environments. All that said - as you can guess - I didn't think the tasks chosen by the author were always the best there could've possibly been. You can give him credit that there was always something going on - but I think with summing up the highlights of the game this would've made an excellent and innovative 45 minute game at most. Which is not the case here as there are a number of tasks whose purpose blatantly seems to be to prolong your suff... I mean play time here. A few movable box puzzles I could deal with - but they didn't differ a whole lot in their design, so I was sighing every time it became evident I'd have to do another one. Particularly cumbersome was the puzzle involving fires. Not so much that it probably took 5 to 10 minutes alone from my overall game time and that it wasn't fun timing the right moments to push or pull the cage through the fire - but Lara seemed to get caught on fire in the safe distances for no obvious reasons, and the only way I managed to solve this was using the save/reload trick. Pushable boxes aren't the only device used to prolong the gameplay as there are long climbs and very long swimming sections as well. Occasionally they have some traps thrown into somewhere along the distance too, but they seem like an afterthought and are more an annoyance than challenge - especially if you have to swim the whole section again after being accidentally spiked underwater. At the moment you're being chased by a pack of wraiths - I started wishing there had been a kind of unified element used as the wraith disposal point among the builders, as its kind of annoying when you have to figure this out all over again with every new level, but at least the author somehow hints to the block here, though you'll probably have forgotten all about it when the chase starts. At some point the nano-second camera bug crawls in too (I assume caused by the 2 boulders raising the water level), but instead of fixing it, it seems the author made a deliberate choice not to put any more camera hints in the level, though there were some points where they would've been appreciated. I can't judge much about the secrets though - I know I left some areas behind unfinished, thus never found any. Now that that has been put behind me - I certainly didn't find this to be a bad level as such - and I'm sure there are players to whom this kind of gameplay will appeal to (though I admit I never understood why people enjoy lengthy games for the sake of being lengthy (and thus consider them crazy)) but I sincerely thought less could've been so much more in this case. Mind you - you could do a whole lot worse than playing this level, as it certainly shows the quality of a seasoned builder and thus will provide an entertaining game for most part. I guess you should try it to see for yourself, though." - eTux (12-Jan-2008) |
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| "I played this big adventure over several days, but gosh, what an adventure it was. It was a tough game at that, which seemed never-ending, with some challenging moments and absorbing game-play, which kept me well entertained. As one works their way around fast areas of breathtaking views over canyons and waterfalls to entering villages of the not so friendly tribesman, which will eventually lead you around the canyon to the Incan Temple for more fun and exploration, to search for a disk, mask and a Gog wheel to help you proceed further and deeper into the Incan Temple itself. During your exploit you are treated to plenty of stimulating and challenging tasks, timed runs, tricky jumps and puzzles to overcome and solve, which made this level quite an absorbing adventure to be in. My biggest gripe with this level, was lack of camera shots and flares. Going around various dark areas finding out what the lever did, was frustrating at times. But saying that, and on the whole, the layouts and textures of these rooms, was nicely applied and well designed, which suited this kind of environment and style perfectly, which kept me entertained for quite some time, with some memorable moments of game-play and in awe of some well constructed rooms by this level builder. All in all, this level flowed together just nicely to encounter and capture a great Lara Adventure." - Gill (12-Jan-2008) |
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| "Left the biggest for last it seems...even with a shortcut this was an adventure that had a net gaming time of just under two hours for me, so easily twice the usual BtB Level length. The level is not actually particularly hard or difficult. At the start it flows quite nicely in beautiful surroundings and you are always busy doing the next best fairly obvious thing. Quite an amount of enemies thrown in along the way, usually in packs of three or four and in the end it is all about various ways of making it to the next stage and the next lever. When reaching the canyon I apparently found a shortcut and simply jumped across, while it seems what should have happened was a longer trip down and around it, which I play through separately instead just to visit the rooms, but likely kind of backwards, which got a bit confusing. But from the top village on the other side of the canyon the flow is pretty clear and there is a LOT of work to accomplish to open up the three double doors and finally reach the double boss battle at the end and the finish trigger. Some of the tasks are unfortunately a bit tedious, like the push the block through many fires exercise, but still there is enough variety to keep you entertained. Also, I did not find a single flare pickup in the whole level (missed two of the secrets though) and there are many dark corners, so had to often shoot around and use binoculars which became quite annoying after a while. But those are minor issues in an otherwise very long and satisfying adventure which I am sure will be a contender for winning this years competition." - MichaelP (06-Jan-2008) |
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| "This is definitely a large level and probably the longest one I played through so far in the BtB08 series. Taking place in a small village, a huge ravine with a river, and Incan temple complexes, the gameplay is quite varied and at times a little tricky. There is a lot of exploring to do around the level to find the proper way to progress, so it's best to take a good look around each area. Being a huge level, there are also huge, impressive areas that are rather fun to play around in. A fair bit of the level is quite nostalgic to TR1's Tomb of Qualopec, sharing many textural elements, in higher quality of course. In terms of gameplay, it is mostly about exploration, added in with some pushblock puzzles, fairly long swims, as well as some danger elements like burners and wall slicers to maneuver around. Overall, this is quite a good level, yet it has some cons - The one that bothered me the most were the wraiths that are unleashed once the two boulders are released. In the WAD of these levels, I still haven't been able to find the object that destroys them, and it's quite annoying when you're trying to complete the level without having to resort to glitches or anything, but I had to use the famous "shoot like crazy and the ghosties stop bothering you" trick since there wasn't any wraith totem in sight. I understand the wraiths were to challenge the player and add spice to the gameplay, which it did, yet the inability to get rid of them in a legit way is kind of detrimental to the level. If someone does know what the new "wraith totem" is in the WAD of these levels, it'd be nice to know for future reference. All other enemies are used fairly well to provide a challenge and a small break from the overall complexity of the level, especially the dinosaur showdown towards the end. I was a bit disappointed as well in the "Chupacabra" of the level, since it wasn't quite what I expected and didn't feel to authentic to me, but it's a matter of personal taste and WAD limitations. I mentioned the texturing is quite good, and the lighting is applied well too, yet nothing too spectacular or quite atmospheric to warrant a 10. Overall, it's a very fun and complex level, though the inexperienced players may be a little daunted by some of the trickiness required in completing it. However, I found the level quite enjoyable and recommend it." - Relic Hunter (05-Jan-2008) |
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| "Whew! There are so many amazing aspects to this level it is tough to put it into words. This was quite the challenging level with many puzzles, timed runs, timed swims and tough enemies. I am literally exhausted mentally and physically after completing this level. I feel like Lara travelled the entire length of South America. It took me 3 hours and 30 minutes for a level I figured I could finish in one hour! Ambitious is an understatement. This builder is in it to win it, with lush surroundings and massive rooms that go on and on. A few parts were frustrating, like a timed swim that had me eating medi-paks and an ultra-challenging ropeswing timed run that I think took me about 50 tries. I was a bit baffled by the "chupacabra," but oh well, I can forgive him for that, given the fact that this level was so amazing. This is not a level for the beginner, but the seasoned raider will appreciate such an immense accomplishment." - Shandroid (01-Jan-2008) |
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