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Himalayan Mysteries - Full Version by Titak

Abelisk 10 10 10 10
afzalmiah 10 10 10 10
AKlara 10 8 9 10
AlexCroft 10 10 10 10
Ashandmisty 10 10 10 10
Athukraz 10 10 10 10
awsumpossum 9 10 10 10
Bigfoot 10 10 10 10
billie2001 10 10 10 10
birdmonster 10 9 10 10
CalrOsario 10 10 10 10
Ceamonks890 9 9 9 9
Cory 10 10 10 10
DJ Full 10 10 10 10
dmdibl 10 10 10 10
drguycrain 8 10 9 9
Dutchy 10 10 10 10
dya1403 10 10 10 10
eRIC 10 10 10 10
ersatz 10 10 10 10
EssGee 10 10 10 10
eTux 9 10 10 10
Feats 10 10 10 10
Gerty 9 10 10 10
ggctuk 10 10 10 10
God Horus 10 10 10 10
HaveFaith4Lara 10 10 10 10
High Priestess 10 10 10 10
Jack& 9 10 9 10
jawi 10 10 9 10
Jay 10 10 10 10
Jeffrey 10 10 10 10
Jerrod 10 9 10 10
JesseG 10 9 10 10
Jez 10 10 10 10
JoanaCroft 8 7 10 8
JohnC 10 10 10 10
Jorge22 10 10 10 10
Jose 10 10 10 10
Juno Jim 10 10 10 10
Keith 10 10 10 10
Kitkat 10 10 10 10
LadyCroft 9 9 10 10
Leeth 9 10 9 10
lokky99101 10 10 10 10
LolauMylenium 10 10 10 10
Lorax 10 10 10 10
Magnus 8 10 9 10
Manymee 10 10 10 10
Matie 10 10 10 10
MichaelP 9 10 10 10
MigMarado 9 10 10 10
misho98 10 10 10 10
MizzCroft 10 10 10 10
Moon 10 10 10 10
Moonliteshadow 10 10 10 10
Moonpooka 10 10 10 10
Mytly 10 10 10 10
Nina Croft 10 10 9 10
Nuri 10 10 10 10
Nutman 10 10 10 10
OverRaider 10 10 10 10
Phil 10 10 10 10
Potkanka 10 10 10 10
QRS 10 10 10 10
rtrger 9 10 10 10
Ruben 10 10 10 10
Ryan 10 10 10 10
Sabatu 10 10 10 10
Sakusha 10 10 10 10
Samu 9 10 9 10
Shandroid 10 10 10 10
SlyRaider 10 9 10 10
Torry 7 10 10 10
Treeble 10 10 10 10
TrueRaider 10 10 10 10
Vaughnage 10 10 10 10
Ward Dragon 10 10 10 10
young Lara Croft 10 10 10 10
Zhyttya 9 10 10 10
 
release date: 06-Feb-2008
# of downloads: 579

average rating: 9.86
review count: 80
 
review this level

file size: 167.33 MB
file type: TR4
class: Cold/Snowy
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
titakd@gmail.com

Reviewer's comments
"I had the feeling I've not played as many Titak levels as I'd have liked (Just Xumongkh at the time of typing) thought I'd go some way to changing that. I can happily report what a fantastic time I had with this level! Gameplay flowed along nicely with a healthy amount of challenge but not too much. The Exploration/Combat ratio is just how like it, with it leaning more towards exploration with a gentle sprinkling of combat. All levels looked fantastic and some really nice use of music. Loved the variety of levels and aesthetics on show. All in all this level set is a must play for anyone who hasn't already!" - Feats (29-Sep-2023)
"There's nothing to say that hasn't been said already, but this is the best TR game I've ever played, OGs included. A true masterpiece that even Titak will have a hard time to surpass. lol The overall difficulty is set to medium with a couple of mildly challenging moments. A must play for sure." - billie2001 (08-Jun-2023)
"This is an amazing levelset. Fantastic athmosphere, textures, spaces and objects. Great Puzzles. This is a perfect game with a very good story. It takes me around 10 Hours to complete (enjoying all the details and areas), engaged with pleasure, all rooms, all levels. One of the best! A masterpiece!! Four tens, of course!" - CalrOsario (20-Nov-2022)
"Easily the best TRLE I've experienced up to this point and right up there with the best Tomb Raider games. Anyone interested in TRLE's who hasn't played this yet should make the time to play this masterpiece." - Lorax (26-Dec-2021)
"This is a wonderfully crafted level that is very much worth all the praise. The story is very good. I just wish it felt more appropriately related to the crash and to the role of getting Lara to become an adventurer. The last few levels look as well as all of them, yet don't feel as fun to play, as the gameplay tends to be convoluted and repetitive. If you're a beginner and want to start developing skill and stamina, this may be the perfect levelset for you. Thank you very much, Titak! Congratulations on this masterpiece, that is just shy of perfect!" - MigMarado (10-Aug-2021)
"I finally decided to play this famous levelset - and it's famous for a good reason. Even though I played it years after it had come out (I can't imagine how amazing it must have been in 2008 - or even in 2003 when the first part came out - before many other amazing levels were created), it was still an amazing experience. The beginning of the story is a well-known one from Lara's biography, and the cutscenes help us follow the author's version of the events with ease. The locations are varied, nicely textured and generally make sense in their design and progress the story rather than being there "just because". I greatly appreciate that many buttons in the spaceship were close to the doors they opened - as one would expect in real life. Of course, some were also quite far away, but that's part of the fun. While I got stuck a few times, not knowing how to continue, the solution revealed itself eventually in - again - a fairly logical fashion. Game mechanics I haven't come across before (such as the "light lift") were possible to figure out without help. The locations were incredible, the objects added to the overall impression - such as the flora and fauna on the spaceship - and there was just enough enemies to keep me on my toes without being frustrating. They dwindled in latter levels because, again, they wouldn't make much sense story-wise, but there was plenty to do even without combat. The puzzles weren't overly difficult, but not boring, and cameras were used well to hint as to what was happening. Traversal was quite challenging at some times, which I greatly appreciated. While I didn't find all the secrets, I enjoyed the idea of finding a certain set of secrets to gain an access to an "extra" secret (which I managed once). It gives an extra incentive to try replaying the game and trying to find them all. Himalayan Mysteries is a very imaginative and story-driven levelset with fairly moderate, but sometimes challenging difficulty, and in case anyone is even slower than me and haven't played this game yet, I'm greatly recommending you give it a chance." - Potkanka (03-Dec-2020)
"I realised I never send a review for my personnal favorite adventure. This game if perfect. A pure jewel of the editor. I played it seven or eight times and everytime I discovered it. Since the plane crash on the mountains to the starship leave the Earth in the end and credits, everything is extraordinary. Also, the game is not very hard (even is there are difficult moments but nothing impossible) and can be easily play by beginners who want discovered customs levels. Recommanded for everyone and congratulations to Titak :-) !!" - Bigfoot (14-May-2020)
"12 years after the release date, I finally took up again and finished Himalayan Mysteries. I must say that I’m amazed. Like many people in the light of the average rating (9.85 to this day) on 73 reviews. In all the published reviews, none of the four rating criteria is below 7, and it’s well deserved. This TRLE adventure must have taken such a crazy job to Titak! Congratulations. This interpretation of what happened to Lara during her crash in the Himalayas at the age of 21 – her first adventure so – is better that the one from Tomb Raider: Legend in my view. It matches with the Core Design’s Lara Croft. Let’s go to the rating criteria! • Gameplay & Puzzles: a vivid imagination, rooms as fantastic as each other, there’s really nothing to blame the gameplay and puzzles. If we add to that the improved Lara’s moves (accelerated shimmy, roll in the crawlspaces, the 360-degree on the monkey swings…), all the cutscenes and these really good lines of dialogue, the perfection is achieved. 10/10! • Enemies, Objects & Secrets: I have few things to say about the enemies except that they are almost non-existent at the end and I don’t understand why the flying robots are hostile while we are here as a friend. A huge variety of objects, used intelligently. However, what is the purpose of this bottle of water we drag around from the beginning to the end?! As regards the secrets, I find the idea of using several of them to unlock others interesting. It’s a pity, though, that they bring nothing more (ammo?) to the gameplay. 9/10. Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras: a very good atmosphere throughout the adventure, the music always accompanies the action or the calm of each place and the camera is very well managed. One would think that for such a long adventure, the quality would gradually deteriorate… but no! It’s always perfect! 10/10! Lighting & Textures: a great work was also done on the textures, it’s amazing! I’m less convinced by the navigation room at the end, but I like the idea. Find the way out wasn’t easy! :) Another 10/10. Once again, congratulations for this great work Titak!" - SlyRaider (18-Apr-2020)
"This level set absolutely did my head in. There are just too many things one must do, find, look for, pick up, backtrack and pull. I found myself pulling the walk through very early on and even with that aid found myself confused beyond all measure. I finally found a video walk through that was my saving grace. Without that I would have given up and trashed this long ago. Levels do not need to be this complex. This is reflected in the game play score. There were insufficient platforming in my opinion. Yes, there were a couple of areas but not enough. Now the story line was wonderful and the opening gambit where Lara had to find all her gear refreshing. Atmosphere and graphics are spot on and the innovative new moves a pleasure, so for the main it was a great level set and deserves all the accolades. I spent just over five hours game time here but near on five days in real time playing on and off until I simply could take no more of the confusing level design and gave it away until the next day." - Torry (23-Oct-2019)
"Well to be honest. No words can describe this amazing levelset.. Pure joy. Great story and athmosphere. TITAK= best author.." - Sabatu (10-Jan-2018)
"Summary: A masterpiece that blends gameplay and visuals to a surreal degree, topped with inspiring soundtracks and excellent voice-overs. This was my favorite project from Titak. You could tell how inspired she was, from natural environments to the sci-fi sections. Additionally, I was surprised at the detail in the textures, geometry, and overall setting. These levels were definitely well thought-out. Gameplay & Puzzles: 10 --> What can I say? Well, to say the least, there are some brilliant ideas that stick out. Some of the puzzles are beautifully immersed into the background and textures. Although this may make it hard to see for some, I had no issue with this. Nevertheless, there was a great balance between positive and negative in the gameplay. Enemies, Objects & Secrets: 10 --> A believable amount of enemies. Not only that, but I would like to say that the models were done very well. Loved all of Lara's outfits too. The objects had some really nice designs too! As for the secrets, I can't answer because I missed more than half of them on my first playthrough. That just shows how well hidden they are (do note I looked around as much as possible to find any secrets, guessed my eyes aren't sharp enough!) Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras: 10 --> Excellent design, with textures and models that are out of this world. The soundtracks were perfectly fitting for each level. The voice-overs were well done, but I felt the mixing was a little off at some points (that doesn't bother me though, the quality of the acting is what counts, and it was great). As for the cutscenes and general in-game camera, well done. They were placed in areas where I'd want them to be placed, and be comfortable with it. Lighting & Textures: 10 --> The lighting is realistic, even in the sci-fi segments. That is a huge plus. Additionally, the textures like I said previously are some of the best I have ever seen. Incredible! CONCLUSION: Should you play Himalayan Mysteries? All my yeses, this is a TRLE classic that all fans must try out." - Abelisk (23-Dec-2016)
"The enemies are sensibly placed, an incredible decoration, the levels are all more sublime some than the others! Himalayan Mysteries will remain for ever the best level which I would never have played... Not too many difficulties, everything is measured well, it is accessible for any follower of the publishing levels. If continuation there is, I would be in on this... Oh, and another thing: ascenceurs at the end is enormous !!!" - LolauMylenium (18-May-2016)
"I really enjoyed this level set it had a very good story and everything else about this game was brilliant good textures good level design I also loved how it reminded me of tomb raider 2 a brilliant story for one of the best level sets I have ever played to be honest this definitely has to be one of my favourite TRLE of all time I loved the alien towards the end and I think he also helps Lara escape if you've never played this then you're missing out on a lot deffinitly reccomend it brings back so many memories of tr2" - lokky99101 (07-Mar-2016)
"About time I started playing this masterpiece. The glowing reviews were well deserved. I always like levels that tell a story that I can get immersed in. The wind chill audio was atmospheric, lighting, textures and gameplay spot on. Very authentic voice-overs. Thanks for this experience, Titak! Four tens, of course!" - Ryan (16-Feb-2016)
"This custom level is my absolute favorite...I completed it and I assure you it is a really great game, a must that should not ever miss in the collection of custom level, a "pastiche" of environments and unique emotions where the hibernated Lara Croft is inebriated with icy Himalayan landscapes, a Denboche monastery style Barkhang monastery, an underground city of the legend of Tannhauser in the "Tannhauser Gate" and finally a cyber-space landscape in a spacecraft Yavi'ny that recalls both the fateful TV series Star Trek, Stargate and Star Wars ... To taste it absolutely!" - AlexCroft (27-Oct-2015)
"Now this is how you handle a prequel game! And to think, this is all based off the smallest bit of backstory that was present in the original TR1 manual. But somehow Titak manages to make it all work as a cohesive whole, and for that, I applaud her for accomplishing such a daunting and no less difficult task. The story is handled with such great care and manages to keep a smooth silky pace throughout(to the point that you could easily slot this into the original Core Design TR timeline and officially classify it as canon). Yeah, it works that brilliantly. Not to mention the performances from all the voice actors involved, help to bring these characters to life with such charismatic and expressive personalities, that you just can't help but enjoy the ride. Level design is equally as strong, with well-designed and inventive gameplay helping to keep you on your toes, alongside excellent lighting, texturing, object and enemy utilization. To top all that off, we find ourselves with a soundtrack that consists not only of classic TR tunes that we've all heard a million times before, but some truly exquisite original musical pieces that are just as effective and memorable in creating an immersive atmosphere, as the work done by Nathan McCree and Peter Connelly all those years ago. So in conclusion, it was a real pleasure to play through this completely for the first time and its easy to see why Titak is among some of the more highly-revered builders within the community. Does that make this game perfect? Of course not, but I don't think the minor problems present, will do much to ruin your overall enjoyment of the adventure as a whole. Highly recommended to anyone looking for an incredibly engaging and fun experience that they won't soon forget, long after proper completion." - Ceamonks890 (26-Sep-2015)
"One of the obligatory TRLE games. It has everything! A great game play, an awesome atmosphere and the sound effects are 5*. It really was a pleasure to play this game even if i ask my self every time if the Aliens were all athletes so they could run through the timed doors! Still the slippery panels made me forget everything negative about it The graphics, textures and atmosphere were spot on, the sound effects were one of the best i ever heard on a TR game and the puzzles were great, even if a bit random some times. There were some stuff that was a bit counter-intuitive like swimming until you almost die in the freeze. The camera was a bit buggy in one of the last levels but nothing that made the zone unplayable. Other buggs like balls dont falling or triggers don't working were always solved by just reloading. One think that could be better balanced was the MediPacks, to much large and almost non small. Still, would highly recommend anyone to play it even if some areas make you get a bit frustrated by not knowing where to go because the passage is a random place in a high wall that you have to brake in a dark corner.. My 9 on gameplay its because of this, and the 9 on the camera.. I hope every fan of Tomb Raider can expend a bit of time on this game.. it really deserves it" - Leeth (01-Sep-2015)
"AMAZING! Just another amazing game done by Titak. Absolutely loved playing this game, the futuristic vibe on the last three levels really took the game up higher on my score. Throughout the game, i've noted down the things that i loved most and the things that stopped me from giving a full 10 score. First of all, love all of the custom clothes that Lara has on this game. Absolutely adore the details since having the glasses on or not, and the fact that Lara undresses sometimes according to the weather. The fact that the small medipack are cans was a nice touch, would expect to see some change on the large medipack as well. One thing that i hated, probably the only thing that truly annoyed me, was the deadly icy waters. Literally sucks up your HP when you dive into those waters. That was a bad idea, and also counter intuitive. I avoided them first, not knowing that i should continued through them. The deadly icy waters forces you to use medipacks unnecessary. There are almost no bugs existent in the game, however, small bugs with the cutscenes and others were annoying and forced me to load the game. For example, on Icy Waters, a guy starts hitting me during the cutscene, on Denboche Monastery, when you place the powders, a cutscene rolls, but it doesn't reset, forcing you to save and load the game. The binoculars don't work properly. In Frozen in Time - To the Starship, the hitbox on the glass balls up in the ceiling is weird, as some of the times when i shot the glass the ball inside it didn't fall, forcing me to load a previous save. On the level The Yavi'ny Starship - Engineering, the hitbox on the balls that make the fountains, is kinda broken as well. For some of them i needed to jump several times in order to hit them. Other than the bugs the only thing that i'll point out is the fact that sometimes, the game isn't very intuitive on how you need to progress. Ultimately the game was fantastic, definitely on my favorite list. Loved the slippery platform puzzle! OHHHH! One thing.... I'M IN LOVE WITH THE ROBOTS THAT ASSIST YOU!!! I WANT ONE AS A PET :3" - Zhyttya (01-Sep-2015)
"WOW!! First of all, the graphic in this is beautiful. The textures are in higher resolution, which looks great! And the atmosphere at the beginning is incredibly awesome. I wished, I was in those places. The game also includes many custom objects and I suppose most of them are created by you, so we get to see that you worked really hard for this custom level. This custom level includes many pretty puzzles and it's very looong, like a real tomb raider game. The secrets in this are very cool made, I mean that you can insert some secrets in a wall to reach another secret. That's cool. There is also a cool soundtrack and the game is very fun. So, 10 points for every category!!!" - Nuri (15-Apr-2015)
"This game is splendid. It left me speechless the first time I played and I was sad it ended. This is Titak's best project yet in my opinion. Don't give up Titak, thank you for putting a smile on our face." - Athukraz (09-Jun-2014)
"This is what we call a MASTERPIECE!!! Himalayan Mysteries - Full Version is the best level set from Titak ever so far, in my opinion even better than Mists of Avalon - First Clues!!! This is a TR game for every TR player!!! Breathtaking areas, perfect clever puzzles, impressive storyline, perfectly hidden secrets, superb atmosphere, amazing choise of audio, excelent textures and lighting, objects, cameras, enemies and ideas - everything what a TR game must contain is here!!! It was like as i was playing the next Core Design adventure. Titia you are the best!!! All i can say is a big Thank for this unforgettable adventure. I found all 15/15 secrets when i was playing it second time :) 10/10/10/10" - OverRaider (05-Feb-2013)
"Oh boy what an adventure! I can only say first class raiding, Titak has is a gifted builder I am one of her fans and will be, there's no mistake about that! Thanks for making this!" - young Lara Croft (26-Dec-2012)
"This is one of the most interesting fan games I've ever played. An original and creative story about what could've happened to Lara, really leaves me glued to find out what happens next. Interesting concept of item usage, vehicles and environment, this is definitely a game to play and re-play." - JoanaCroft (29-Jul-2012)
"Amazing levelset! A true masterpiece! My favorite level was "Denboche Monastery", but I loved all the others as well. I'm not really into the "base" class levels, but in this game they were very interesting and fun. There are many new custom objects and animations, texturing and lighting are brilliant. If you haven't you should play this right now!" - misho98 (11-Dec-2011)
"For the graphics, it's hard to imagine a better result with the TR4 engine, most of the places seems paint with the hand and the level design is truly awesome. In the same way, the cutscenes and the visual effects looks very professional, I also liked the new objects (raygun, translator, belt anti-gravity...), new models (the funny bike-duck-robot) and don't forget the good soundtrack. Although exploration and all kind of jumps are the heart of the gameplay, a large variety of tasks and puzzles waits miss Croft. My only complain is about the low numbers of enemies in the second half of the game, except that, I totally enjoyed this great adventure and the quest of the secrets (15/15). Congratulations Titak for creating this masterpiece." - Jerrod (19-Aug-2011)
"This is probably the best level I ever played in my Tomb Raider experience. I'm big fan of Lara Croft and I've been playing the games since when I was 5 and I have to admit that the creativity and quality of this level impressed me. The only thing that left me a little disappointed is the plot: in fact it begins with an airplane crash...this is something that happens in every episode of the official game, however the cerator of it personalized it in a great way, made it entrhalling and that's why I love it. Awesome theme music and puzzles, I liked the textures and the atmosphere makes you concentrate and go on until you find a way to solve the riddles. Not too much or too muche less enemies and traps. I loved when she talked when you're playing and tha's not something that everybdy can do. Trust this is really worth playing and enjoying. Himalayas are a good place for an exciting and interesting story searching for food and a spot to stay safe, away from the dangers of a cold and lonely place. I don't konw why but this level made me think how nature can get revenge on us for the disasters we make. I think Titak is really talented and deserves to be popular in the level-making area. When I first saw the level I though "finally I found what I was looking for" because many levels are really well done but in the end they don't left anything inside of me, instead "himalayan Mysteries" DID!! I hope Titak will be releasing more content done by him and also makes something even more exciting and endearing!! -GLORIA-" - LadyCroft (29-Jul-2011)
"This was an amazing level series. Lara starts off looking for survival gear after a plane crash in the Himalayas. The sheer immensity of the area can be intimidating, but it's possible to get used to it. It was very original to light up spilled petroleum and to have a timed run where Lara had to return to the plane before freezing to death. Then she explores icy caverns, stumbles upon enemies who were after the same artifact she was aiming for and ends up in a monastery. I have to say that once I reached the monastery, I felt relieved that there was finally some water that wasn't so deadly. This is the first time I actually dreaded underwater passages because the freezing water was a prominent feature before the monastery. I was finally able to focus on Lara's air bar instead of her life bar. However, the monastery wasn't really a place to catch Lara's breath, despite the absence of enemies. The beginning of that level mostly consists of pushable block puzzles, but then things get a lot more complicated with tricky jumps, blades and firetraps. It took me many attempts to jump up sliding sequences to grab ladders and shoot bells whenever a jump required Lara to flip and to do standing jumps at a slight angle to the left or right. The boulders weren't a big deal, except for the mirror passage. Once I realized that I just needed to do standing jumps instead of running jumps, the boulders in the mirror passage were easier to avoid. After the monastery, Lara encountered enemies again and there were a few items to pick up. After that, she discovered another world involving (nearly) empty settlements and a cool space bike to use. I once did get Lara stuck in the wall, but it was possible to maneuver out of it. Nonetheless, even the bike jumps were challenging to do. The illuminated bridge was beautiful, the hydroponic gardens were impressive, the primary colors pushable block puzzle was original and the space map was very creative. However, the shifting transparent platform passages were very difficult. This was one of the few adventures where I had to press F5 often because I realized that some jumping passages were only achievable by saving jump-by-jump. Throughout the adventure, I always got excited to see the key items I got, and it's a great idea to use secrets to get extra secrets. I liked the idea of using Campbell's Soup as a small medipack, the use of the raygun as a crossbow against robots and the use of an anti-gravity belt to climb ladders. It was also really innovative to make cinematic cutscenes, use armor to avoid getting burned and have a robot open a door for Lara. Playing this adventure is a rewarding and memorable experience." - Sakusha (09-May-2011)
"I heard about this game everywhere and I thought I should try it out. I really wish I tried this earlier! Titak is a very very very talented builder! One of the best games I have ever played! Amazing story and each level is very different. The textures, lighting, objects and cutscenes were just brilliant! My favourite levels were inside the spaceship because the spaceship was really beautiful with the doors, lights and EVERYTHING!!! Another level I liked was the icy waters. The second level and the first level where you had to kill enemies. I like the snowy mountains and the huts and caves. A level which was pretty annoying was the monastary. At first it was very fun when you have to do a timed run to get the key but when you get to the main area it can get pretty annoying and it can be pretty hard to know where you have to go. There was a lot of trps in this level which makes the level more entertaining though. The voice actors for the characters were very talented and it makes the level a whole lot better. Amazing game and if anyone hasn't played this game yet they should. Everyone will love it!" - afzalmiah (19-Apr-2011)
"Why did it have to end? This Jam-Packed series was AMAZING, I was thoroughly entertained.. This has got to be one of the very best Levels on the TRLE.. I advise EVERYONE to download this masterpiece! :D" - MizzCroft (05-Mar-2011)
"I cannot believe it has taken me this long to get around to this brilliant adventure, and without ado let us dive into the various worlds that Lara dives into:
Crashed: Lara must find all the items on von croy's list in the remains of the plane crash. There is a bit of backtracking that may occur especially if you missed one of the items, but it gets interesting when the final backtrack becomes a timed run. I hope you are good at swimming because the cold water hurts Lara - I used up both the large medpacks I found in this level from swimming. The burning oil bit was neat and the cutscenes and secrets so far are well done. 30 minutes.
Icy Waters: The health-draining swims can start to get trying here, so remember to save before you begin a swim in case you get caught on something. Enemies and weapons begin to appear in this level to make things interesting, and there are plenty of caverns and secrets to uncover. Nice. 30 minutes.
Deboche Monastary: If you thought all the levels would be as simple as the first two, think again. This hour-long level has a ton of puzzles and traps to overcome as you collect several foods to get to the sacred artifact (a variation of how builders like to split certain levels into "elements"). It was a great experience except for the last timed swim run at the end which can have potential problems. For instance there is no way to save yourself if the door closes too early (which I think is intentional, but tough), and if you have low health then you will die crossing the short chilly lake at the end - and if you cross levels while dying then you will start the next level with no breath bar and you are screwed.So be careful when you grab for that artifact! The monks are friendly - sometimes they like to stand in your way and pose or whatever, but you can slide past them.
Tannhauser Gate: Another hour-long level. I'm usually not a fan of mazes, but the one in this level was bearable since its contents and secrets become engaging.
Settlement: Things get very interesting as you break into an underground alien world. This is a very large and complex level, so it is a bet overwhelming at first. But in time you should find it to be fun to explore, and I am glad the bike was there to help with the journey. Many neat ideas are shown here: charging an energy cell in some sort of dangerous electrical machine, and using heat plasma to change the greenhouses from winter to spring weather. One hour.
To the Starship: Some more neat ideas shown as you get to a huge starship by turning on various abandoned machines, including a bridge of pure energy. The tower ascension was particularly interesting. 40 minutes.
Yavin'y Starship: This very expansive level took me about an hour and is split into three sections. Beginnings is only visited once and is rather brief (although that tall green chamber left me speechless), but the other two sections are more intricate and include some timed doors, trapdoors, puzzles, lasers...just about anything that could be thrown at you. Titak of course didn't stop there and decided, instead of using ladders, to create a gravity belt, which I helped fix up to make it function smoothly once upon a time. It was great to see that in action.
Overall I clocked in at 5 hours and 45 minutes, and I enjoyed just about every second of it. It is a great and unique experience, especially how poor Lara goes from a plane crash in the cold, to reactivating a huge alien spacecraft that will remain secret for eternity. Really the only thing that threw me off is that for all the weaponry you collect, the combat is only barely existent after the first few levels. But the audio is excellent, and the cameras know just what to show off. All the custom textures and objects look sleek. If I haven't expressed it enough, this adventure is one that every single person out there needs to play and enjoy. You won't regret it." - SSJ6Wolf (22-Oct-2010)
"I played this level couple of years ago when it was released. I remember being stunned at this mini-game, and spending days and weeks in trying to beat it. Then I replayed it recently, and I must admit, I was still amazed like the first time I played it! This game is unique for its original idea and most interesting plot and turns in the story. Lara starts her survival quest with nothing except her will to survive. As she collects the necessary gear and items, she conquers the mountain and reaches the hidden monastery. This reminded me of the China levels in TR2 and the most favorite level Barkhang Monastery. But this Titak's monastery is even more beautiful and designed far better than the Barkhang. I was amazed at its complexity and beauty. After the monastery, the story gets a sharp turn, and Lara ends up discovering a frozen alien ship, which she manages to fix and help the survived alien to get back to his home planet. Nice! So we have mountain and snowy levels, we have indoor level inside the monastery, and finaly, we have couple of mystery levels inside the high-tech alien vessel. All three main locations are perfectly designed, equipped with brand new static and animated objects, there are a lot of enemies, action, combat, climbing, puzzles that are cleverly designed, timed runs, everything a good game must have in order to be extremely interesting. This game is far from being easy, but it is not too hard, either. This is a perfect blend of adventure, action, climbing and puzzle. Nothing is too excessive, except for maybe, a couple of very tight timed runs (oh, I remember the one across the toxic pool in the alien cave to be very very hard), but the game overall is not too hard, compared to many custom levels that require tons of our nerves and hours of our time to complete. There are some big areas to explore, very complex mazes, very interesting and tough traps (for example, the climbing sequence near the exit from the monastery was particularly tough), very original puzzles, and an average player would definitely need a walkthrough in some situations. This game belongs to the Hall of Fame and should be among the top five of all times. This game can even beat the original games as well. Original TR designers would have a lot to learn from Titak. This game made a legend of its builder, ingenious Titia Drent, for a very good reason indeed." - Nina Croft (21-Jul-2010)
"Levels one by one: Crashed: 7/10 +1 for snow leopards wandering far away -1 Two times through the cold water? It was cruuuel... Total 7 Icy waters: 7/10 +1 for the first leopard attack. It is right where it should be. I heard the roar, jumped backwards and started to shoot into the darkness. Generally - there's too much snowballs. Good idea with the Prayer Wheels. Total 8 Denboche Monastery: 7/10 + 1 for sweet memories of TR2 + 1 for music in Durva Grass part + 1 for Lotus Flower Iron Ball Death (one of few moments when death of Lara was fun for me) - 1 for underwater labyrinth (it was really aaaaarrghh, I swam lots of miles there) Total 9 Tannhauser Gate: 6/10 I gave only 6 because it reminds me too much of the levels that were previously constructed and put in TR games for no reason. For example the Lost City Of Tinnos, with the bridge, some pushables, a fire trap and the same version of labyrinth that was even repeated by Core D. in TR4. I must say I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. As a result of escaping, I died many times, performing stupid mistakes. A torch puzzle was original. I had to think hard before I solved it. Frozen in time: Alien Settlement: 10/10 Here the moment has come, when I completely forgot the mood of previous level. The city seems to have been constructed by the hordes of alien constructors connected together with a mind filled with one common thought: BUILD! All the objects seem to be like never before, from the Universal Translator device to Yagull scooter. A great contrast between Tannhauser Gate and Alien Settlement makes the impression even better. Textures made me feel like inside the "Independence Day" alien starcraft. Everything matches everything. Total union of gameplay, graphics and atmosphere. + 1 for Raygun + 1 for Heat Plasma + 0,5 for Orb secret (simply a minilevel with two traps, a pickup, a switch and a door, and all high above the floor) Total 12,5* *((NOTE: I can't give so many points for single level - so please folks treat the "12,5" like "10 overall + 2,5 as a different kind of a rank. I wanted to separate what is USUALLY found in the levels from things that really MAKE memories from this level. I'll keep this scoring system till the the end of the review, when I'm gonna add both categories to make an overall score.)) Frozen in time: To the starship: 10/10 The same as previous. + 1 for the Flying Skateboard or whatever else it is + 0,4 for the Bridge animation + 0,6 for the teleporter animation - 0,5 for UNINTENDED similarity to The Tower of Babel level from UUB3 but + 0,5 for keeping the climate alive though. It's still cool. Total 12 The Yavi'ny starship: The Beginnings. Too short for giving normal points, I think. I'll say what surprised me. + 1 for turning the light beams on. I only wonder how can they work with deactivated triclon core? Maybe the Cai'xia Stone powered them wirelessly. The Yavi'ny starship: Engineering: 10/10 Now I was sure the Yagull is a space duck. + 1 for giving him the intelligence of a smart creature. - 1 for underwater doors. Titia, I'm begging You for mercy! I had to look in the walkthrough. + 0,5 for the triclon core object. + 1 for the bouncing death room. A usage of platforms like I've never seen before. Total 11,5 The Yavi'ny starship: Hydroponics: 10/10 At last. Her autograph. Her favourite plants... What Titak's levels could look like without them? + 0,5 for the look of the fishes. - 0,5 for placing canned food on the alien spacecraft (I see no reason) + 0,3 for the cosmic bugs. They remind of that green ones from Martian movie, eating people and everything else. + 0,3 for 'Some sort of screwdriver' object. + 1 for Planetary system model. :O + 1 for the final cutscene. ET go home, Lara go Lara's home. Total 12,6 Overall score for GAPS (gameplay, atmosphere, puzzles, sound): 8,375 + 1,575 from extra points Overall Total: 9,95/10 Overall opinion: One of the best levels I ever played. It was a honor to help Lara finding the clues in each part of discovery, which was one big puzzle for me, lasting for many levels and many hours, and the plot wasn't lost for a moment during the play. Secrets were perfectly fit in and very interesting. Atmosphere of being on a mission that changed to isolation feeling, then to happiness when Lara (and me) weren't alone anymore, which transformed to need of helping somebody and to final relief - was simply beautiful. Wanna have good dreams today like me? PLAY IT NOW!!" - DJ Full (13-Jul-2010)
"Himalayan Mysteries was the first custom level I ever played, a little more than 2 years ago. I have now played it 2 more times - and each time, it remains as delightful as ever. It is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful custom levels I have had the pleasure of playing: be it the stunningly lovely lakeside area in Icy Waters, or the beautifully decorated monastery interior in Denboche Monastery, or even the colourful plant-filled hydroponics bay of the Yavi'ny Starship ... Titak's artistry shines through everywhere. This is of course, not just related to the textures and lighting, but also all the multitudes of custom objects, all of which have Titak's unique artistic touch.
Gameplay is consistently good too: lots of exploration, interspersed with interesting puzzles and some tricky platforming and traps. And every now and then, there's something so unusual or unexpected, that I am not even sure how to categorize it, especially in the later levels: stuff like 'climbing' up shafts of light using an anti-gravity belt, or the cute little Yagull robot that opens doors for you, or wandering around the room that looks like outer-space, or even just watching Lara 'bounce' to death in the wind-tunnel room (one of the most hilarious Lara deaths I have ever seen - yes, I'm evil! ;))
The secrets system is wonderful, and I particularly like the fact that the secret objects have a relevance to the story as well as real-life meaning (not the alien artefacts, obviously!). It's also nice to see the puzzles in Denboche Monastery centred around real Tibetan symbols.
If I have to pick one tiny flaw in this magnificent game, it's the lack of balance in the enemies. There are dozens of human and animal enemies in the Icy Waters and Tannhauser Gate levels, to the extent that they can get a bit overwhelming at times; but in the second half of the game, there are practically no enemies at all, except for a few flying robots. I am particularly disappointed that I wound up having very little use for the cool ray gun.
Overall: This is undoubtedly a must-play level. Highly, extremely, hugely recommended!" - Mytly (19-May-2010)
"I love the textures and objects in this level, this was my first TRLE level to play and finish, I was awestruck by the way Titak, had made all the textures and objects flow together. The gameplay was awesome I love the factyou know how lara became stuck in the Himalayas. I am a big fan of Titaks work and this is one of her best. This has made me a fan of snowy levels.Recomended for thoses who love cutscenes." - AKlara (14-Mar-2010)
"I finished this game yesterday and I'm tempted to replay it right away. It was fantastic! I loved every bits of it. The levels are huge and full of gameplay that starts with searching for items after the plane crash, continues with jumping and climbing in a beautiful area with frozen waters, then in a village with soldiers. There are many deadly traps in the Denboche Monastery. I liked riding the strange alien vehicle and sliding on the slide board was incredible! There are many puzzles in the game and they are brilliant! I loved especially the one in Frozen in Time - To the Starship level where you have to shoot the balls, the changing platform ones, the one with the planets near the end of the game (and many other puzzles too). I've spent quite some time in the maze with the pushable blocks. There aren't many enemies in the game and there aren't too few. They fit the environment perfectly; in the beginning you can find some leopards (I loved to see them in the first level, they couldn't reach Lara, however they gave a dangerous feel to the place), then soldiers and guards. Later in the alien-levels there are some robots and flies. The objects are detailed and original. It's not easy to find the secrets. I like very much that each secret is a mysterious artifact and some of them can be combined and used to get another one. The atmosphere is perfect everywhere, especially in the snowy outside areas and in the Yavi'ny Starship - Hydrophonics level. The sounds are great too, I could recognise some from Tomb Raider III. Mosly flyby cameras are used to show new areas or help the player. The cutscenes are very well made. The textures are very nice and well applied. Every place has a good, colorful lighting. All in all this game is amazing, I enjoyed it very much. Playing it is a must." - Matie (25-Jan-2010)
"This one is very complex. Both in storyline and gameplay. Lara's plane crashes in the Himalayas, and we have to collect her equipment to survive. Nice idea, the gameplay was very good and exciting, and it wasn't so hard. After we find a key, we can go to the next area. It's still beautiful, and it wasn't so boring. And we find the key to the TNT, so there's no more ice, free way to the temple. We enter to a mesmerizing monastery, and the story becomes exciting: We have to collect the Yavi'ny Artifact before the enemy soldiers collect it. But we have to face the traps and solve the puzzles, that was very entertaining. We do it, and, of course, we can collect the artifact and leave this beautiful monastery. But unfortunately, the gameplay remains a bit slow from there, but there are quite a lot of puzzles around to solve. They're not so hard to do, and we can also collect the secrets. They're increase the gameplay very much, but it doesn't make sense, in my opinion. So, we enter to the alien settlement. Lots of very cool puzzles to solve, also there are quite a lot of new things for me: Like Lara slides on the icy platforms. While we're heading to that starship, we find what we missed before: The Cai'xia Stone. And we find the owners of this artifact: the aliens! Wow, really...I loved that idea. After that, we solve many more puzzles in the final levels, in a beautiful atmosphere, we engineering the starship and such. But the gameplay remained easy. Too easy. Tougher timed runs, and a bit harder tasks would have been fixed this problem. And we do it, so happyend and the aliens go home. This levelset is surely a wonderful one, but the gameplay was too boring. That doesn't mean that I didn't like this one. It was very good. I hope Mists of Avalon will be released soon...:)" - rtrger (03-Dec-2009)
"Snowy levels are my favourite ones but for many years of custom levels building there was nobody who would build a classic level with the view of big mountains. And here I've come to Titak's level. A game which I loved from the first view. I downloaded it one year ago and I finished it about one year later. That can tell you how long I have been playing this! I had only some small breaths while playing it. It's very long and not boring game but fascinating and fun. First three levels are the best in my opinion because they are similar to TR2 Tibet levels and TR2 is my favourite Tomb Raider game.
Crashed!: Introducing cutscene explains how Lara get to Himalayas and shows which artifact the story is about. The Cai'Xia Stone is not only beautiful but also powerful and it destroys the plane. Then Lara wakes up in the Himalayas in the wreck of her airplane. In this place the gameplay starts. As it's the first level in this multi-level game so it is very simple. What's more it's enjoyable too. However, first surprise isn't pleasant at all. We have to jump through the electrical pole which is difficult due to hanging cables. In the first try I did it well but when I was replaying this moment I found it nearly impossible to do. When we can finally leave the plane behind we come to magnificent area. I appreciate Titak's effort to bring this place to life. There are wild animals all around but they can't get close to you or hurt you; they are only to be shown. From this moment we can see almost the whole level which we move around. There are amazing textures and very nice objects. Architecture is good too. All is very realistic. I smiled when I saw canned food in place of small medipack. It's very inventive thing. I enjoyed a bit the last timed run. Lara has to get on the plane because she freezes. It's tricky but on the third try I did it. After beautiful cutscene the level ends.
Icy Waters: Finally Lara has her equipment so now begins the real raiding. As well as in the first level, here are great textures and objects. There are first enemies: wild panthers and soldiers. Those are really hard to kill. Here I have to mention that secrets are given in other way than in Tomb Raider games. You have to find some secrets to find other secrets in the following levels. I have come across this way of finding secrets for the first time. Mountain architecture, for example great frozen waterfall, looks lovely. The whole game is full of such 'pearls'. This level reminds me of the Tibetan Foothills and it meant to be like this.
Denboche Monastery: Again TR2-styled level this time it looks like Barkhang Monastery. It's quite complicated to get through this level because author added plenty of puzzles and other difficulties. Architecture is very impressive and so are remaked textures. What's more this level has no enemies so it's peaceful. I was interested in this location because of involving puzzles. I am glad that they are different from each other so you don't have a feeling that you have already done something like that. Player can easily get lost in corridors trying to find new clue what to do and suddenly you are smashed by the ball which falls from the ceiling. In the level gameplay order is as followed: puzzle-trap-jumping-puzzle-trap-jumping and so on; I am really impressed by the ending of the level because Lara took artifact and I thought it will be end of the hard level and I suddenly found myself trying to escape from the flooded temple. It was unexpectable thing but I was satisfied when I managed to find the way out.
Tannhauser Gate: Back to the mountains which was a nice surprise but soon I realized that it's a real mix of styles from all levels. Here you have snow, monastery and alien parts (though this last isn't my favourite at all). Again marvelous architecture, textures and gameplay. Main difficulties are: labyrinth in which I got lost and a lot of jumps in caves.
Frozen in Time: These two levels will not stay in my mind as enjoyable ones. I found them a little bit boring especially that there is the same background music which I hated. As the second is fine the first isn't good despite of there are some quite unusual and funny things (like translator or super vehicle) but all in all I don't like this type of levels.
Yaviny's Starship: Wow - it's the first word that came to my mind after coming to this place. Starship reminds me of one my favourite levels in TR2 & Offshore Rig. Here the fun begins. All three parts are great, the best from the whole game. I love well-built areas and high-detailed objects There are no words to describe the fantastic fun. It's a real masterpiece.
To sum up: Great game with marvelous gameplay which is enjoyable to play. I think every player should try this. Everyone would find here something for him/her. Congratulations Titak, I hope to play your next levels soon." - jawi (17-Jul-2009)
"About time I played and reviewed this masterpiece, but sometimes you just have to keep the best for last. After just spending about a week with this adventure, I can honestly say that it deserves all the credit it got, right from the wonderful title flyby that sets the mood.
Crashed (8/10/10/10, 30 min, 1 secret): Fabulous intro and a nice intro level as you warm up with Lara collecting her belongings, including a neat timed run.
Icy Waters (9/10/10/10, 45 min, 4 secrets): Those frozen waterfalls do look impressive and the jumping around the deep pits is great fun. Some tigers, guards and snowballs to deal with, keys to find and swimming through the icy, health draining waters.
Denboche Monastery (10/10/10/10, 60 min, 3 secrets): One of my favourite levels of the set. A friendly monk greets you and then Lara gets to deal with the less friendly blade traps, boulders and burners, master timed runs, mirror room, some jumping and target shooting. It is all here and more.
Tannhauser Gate (9/10/10/10, 70 min, 3 secrets): More fun climbing around the beautifully crafted caves. The block pushing and the maze like area with the torch did get a little tedious here but nothing too bad.
Frozen in Time - Settlement (8/10/10/10, 75 min, 1 secret): We begin to step into more alien territory now, with cute drones attacking and tons of other very cool custom objects to marvel at. Gameplay revolves maybe a bit too much around finding that next jump switch or button, but things like the vehicle, the ray gun and other fancy items make more than up for it.
Frozen in Time - To The Starship (10/10/10/10, 55 min, 2 secrets): An action and puzzle packed level that I enjoyed greatly and to top it off there is the nice cutscene at the end as Lara finally runs into the alien ship captain.
Yaviny Starship (8/10/10/10, 80 min, 1 secret): The somewhat sterile, yet colourful look of the inside of the starship works really well and the green houses are very impressive. Many, many WOW! moments in this final part. Gameplay as such did get a little too 'pedestrian' for my taste, but that is really just a minor gripe.
Overall, this long adventure provides for grand scale entertainment, supported by a nice storyline that gets told as you progress deeper and the ending cutscene leaves you wanting so much more of this. Thanks for this wonderful experience, Titak!" - MichaelP (09-Jul-2009)
"This was my first ever experience with a custom-created level and boy, what sheer joy it brought me. Lara's accent is slightly off but hey, when you are given such a great level-set what is a slight accent glitch?! Lara starts off after a plane crash in the Himalayas and ends up in an Alien spacecraft. The gameplay is flawless and the challenges are not too unrealistic. The timed run in the first level is a bit tricky for the stressed-out keyboard player - namely because if you inadvertantly press both the up and downward arrow keys simultaneously, this causes Lara to perform a roll and wastes valuable time. It's something I often do when under pressure and running against the clock but I got past this by performing the old corner bug trick to get a head start to the higher platform before Lara froze. The locations are simply stunning and I liked the idea of powering-up on Cambell's Tomato Soup cans too! There are some very neat new enemies and some nice friendly, quirky creatures too. Exploring the spacecraft was immense fun, a very well-mapped out environment. This is as close to old-skool Tomb Raiding as it gets in terms of a very professional and balanced set piece. Thank you Titak and affiliates for my first experience of Level Editor gaming. Thanks to you and those like you, old-skool gamers can continue to derive much pleasure from exciting new locations and themes. I highly recommend this level-set and award it duly with 10 points on all categories." - High Priestess (08-Jul-2009)
"I don't have words to this level. Say that it is great could be an insult because this level is more than great! It is super-hyper-mega-ultra-giga-extra-power great! Now I remember what I wanted to say." - birdmonster (03-Apr-2009)
"The best quality about this level set is that it's polished and lovingly crafted. On such a mammoth scale, there isn't a singly glaring imperfection, every texture is nicely rotated, every object carefully placed and lit, every room sculpted to combine a stunning visual with gripping gameplay. I don't care for Sci-Fi levels so I was at first hesitant to even try this but I'm so glad I did. It's a flawless, fun experience." - Keith (28-Mar-2009)
"I'm going to admit it: I don't like alien stories. But when one compares the story of this, to that of the original Tomb Raider, it doesn't seem that "far out". The thing that I love about this is how coherent and complete it seems. It's professional (if CORE was still around making Tomb Raider, you can imagine that this fan-made game, if any, would receive their attention). No, it's jaw-droppingly profesional. The gameplay is complex, intricate and a well-rounded experience. As the story progresses, so does the ability of the player (for example, Lara starts off without her guns). It's been recognized for the atmosphere, and rightfully so. All of the cameras seem to be coherent, and it has lovely sound, voice-acting and music. I'd say that if you're willing to play a game with a story slightly less, but close to as insane, than TR 1: give this a play! It's almost cannon it's so good." - awsumpossum (04-Feb-2009)
"As I was in close contact with Titia from the first go, testing every level that she finished, it was fun to see how the changes came about, texture wise and object wise, as the gameplay was working quite well. I still have the"old" ones and I'll keep them. We both were quite disappointed that at the Sanctuary level, we found out that it still was playable on the Mac, but you couldn't save. We had no idea about"the what" let alone"the why". So from that moment Titia abandoned her idea to also have a game for the Mac, sorry folks. As said, she is a great one for atmosphere and that oozes through these levels. Titia knows her strengths and her weakness, but the combination is not a bad one at all, as you can see playing this level. The story in it self is nice unfolding and exploring is a must, especially if you go for all the secrets in this mini game. Not saying that this is a walk in the park, as there are traps and puzzles to solve and sometimes one can wander around wondering what to do next. In that case just look at the surroundings as that is magnificent." - Gerty (21-Oct-2008)
"If you haven't already played this level then do! This is definately one of the very best levels that I've played. The graphics, atmospehre and sounds are amazing, especially in the snow. Top atmosphere, graphics, gameplay, great puzzles, and enemies. I've read a few of the reviews others have writtin and I can only endorse the good comments. This level is a must to play. I was really sad when I finished it!" - Moonliteshadow (21-Sep-2008)
"I have a confession to make: this is the first time I play a level using a patched tomb4.exe. I guess that gives you an idea of how often I play custom levels these days. Which should also give you an idea of how much I'd been looking forward to this level set - I conquered my fear of progress to play it! Impressive, I know. Since this level set has already been reviewed about a million times and has been played by everyone and their grandmother, I'm going to keep this review short. Visually, the levels are stunning. It's hard to find any fault in the beautiful surroundings Lara finds herself in, and the custom objects are some of the best you're ever going to see. Gameplay-wise, the level is a bit of a mixed bag. There are thrilling bike rides, challenging traps and unique puzzles, but there's also a surprisingly large amount of backtracking, lever after lever to pull and dull fetch quests. But in the end, you're going to be dazzled by the high quality of the level, and while some areas aren't quite as good as you'd expect, the ones that are more than make up for the ones that don't." - Magnus (30-Aug-2008)
"This is the greatest level in TRLE history! The author has put much time an effort into this, it shows that anything is possible in TRLE. This gives me hope that builders will learn from this, I give this level a perfect 10." - HaveFaith4Lara (31-Jul-2008)
"I was blown away by this incredible game. I'm replaying it it was so good! The beautiful snowy scenario and sounds of the boots crunching into the snow, this is a tomb raider game." - Ashandmisty (26-Jul-2008)
"It's taken me three months to finish this level series. I basically got stuck in the monastery level, forgot where I had already been and became utterly confused in the big room with the rolling balls and the entrances to the side quests you had to do. But last weekend I decided to open the walkthrough and just make some headway and I'm certainly glad I did. It's already been said by everyone else, but HM is extraordinary beyond words. Despite getting stuck, I loved almost every minute of it. I was only stuck because I didn't play it long enough at a time (I recommend finishing a level you start in one go as many of them are practically maze-like if you take a break). It's attention to detail that really blew me away. Almost every object is made by Titak herself and even the roof tiles are original. If you think the snowy levels are good, just wait until the alien ship parts, so much originality such as the prism puzzle, the anti-gravity climbwalls etc. The only downside is that some levels are quite confusing and there were only one or two where I didn't need the walkthrough at some point. The difficulty is perfect, so many levels recently have been far too challenging and I prefer more gentle evenings! The cutscenes were also fabulous, from the opening flyby to the ending. Just a shame there weren't more of them I guess, but I know how hard they are to make. I'm really not a fan of alien stories or sci-fi, but since this allowed the invention of so many new objects and puzzles it was never an issue." - TrueRaider (09-Jul-2008)
"Hmz... What can I say.. The gameplay is unbelievable.. If the player hasn't got much interest in playing custom levels then this levelpack will certainly change the player's mind. It is so much fun to play and you can see how much work it must have been to get it all running and working. I especially like the levels inside the starship. They reminded me of TRAOD the Biodome etc. I envy Titia for her will to keep going to finish the levelpack. Every builder runs out of inspiration sometimes, but this levelpack shows no sign from lack of inspiration at all. I have truly enjoyed playing it and it is the most fun TombRaider game I have finished in years. I think Titia deserves a medal or something for this as it truly is extraordinary. The game was not easy to play, even my aunt says that this game is difficult to play because we sometimes played it together :D She likes TombRaider too. No problem really because the gameplay and puzzles are excellent. Well Done Titia!! You should be proud!" - Jeffrey (21-Jun-2008)
"I really enjoyed the early part of this game. But i must admit i was horribly disappointed when the plot took the turn into aliens and spaceships. it was entirely too hoky for me (much like the new Indy film). i would've much rather enjoyed a more artifact-themed or legend-themed (ex., abominable snowman) plot. despite this big disappointment, i played through the whole game. And despite my plot-preference, each level is done very, very well. MY BIGGEST PRAISE: i am so glad the author took the time to make the ending a grand finale of sorts. so many levels have abrupt and entirely anti-climactic endings. this ending is really great--the setting, the cut scene, and the credits. kudos! MY BIGGEST CRITIQUE: a lot of the gameplay was just TOO back-and-forth this-button-and-that-button. i realize buttons and levers are very tombraider-esque, but with the length of this game, there needed to be a bit more creativity and diversity in the game play than there was. all around good work. i won't play it again just cuz i don't like alien stuff. but if you do like that, i'm sure you'll think these are incredibly fun." - drguycrain (12-Jun-2008)
"This level set really is a masterpiece: imaginative gameplay with tasks and puzzles that are never too difficult, just difficult enough; enemies that fit the locations, beautiful custom objects and alot of thought and research obviously went into the secrets; the atmosphere is simply absorbing with sounds and cameras being used to full effect; and as for the lighting and custom textures? Superb. Everything fits together perfectly - Thank you, Titia." - Kitkat (24-Apr-2008)
"Well you have done it again, a perfect level series from the great start to the beautiful end. Totally charmed I was of that Monastery part in Icy Waters, those wooden houses in the snow where almost real... So much time and effort given to create a series like this for us, deserves all tens... Well done Titia" - Dutchy (28-Mar-2008)
"I think of myself as a pretty descriptive guy, yet words fail me when I attempt to describe this marvelous adventure. I nursed it along for several weeks while playing other levels on the side, and I couldn't help but be impressed by the quantum leap separating this from the vast majority of custom levels out there. Indeed, the only one I can think of that's even in the same league as this one is TRA. It starts well enough, with several introductory levels set in an arctic environment that impresses you with its sheer immensity, but I wasn't really overwhelmed in the early going. I even grumbled at times because of what I felt was unnecessary darkness. But when I reached the starship levels, my jaw simply dropped to the ground. The graphics in these concluding levels are nothing short of astounding, and I must have have milked two hours or so out of the last two pages of Dutchy's wondrous walkthough in an effort to stretch out my sense of euphoria and avoid that finish trigger. You simply have to experience it to know what I'm talking about. This is a tour de force, one for the ages, and it easily meets my two-pronged test for a 4-10 release: I would definitely play it again, and I would happily part with a goodly number of my hard-earned dollars if that was what was needed to enjoy the privilege of this grand romp. Highest recommendations." - Phil (27-Mar-2008)
"My browser stopped awnsering when i clicked submit, and the review was very big... But i dont want you to lose my review because of that. I bassically said everything was perfect... Good luck in your new game :D" - Moon (26-Mar-2008)
"When I started the game and see the initial title flyby I thought: "it'll be a very good game". And I was not mistaked, one of the best I've ever played! Really a masterpiece. Fantastic design, nice animations, a very good history, clever gameplay, excellent new features, great environment with a very worked decoration and details,... But the very best I liked from this game were the fantastic and very well applied textures, the very best I've ever seen in a TR custom level, really impressive. Although I've found a couple of bugs, one of them in the level 6 when I shooted the blue crystals and only one of the four balls falled and I had to reload and try again; another one in the hydroponic gardens when I shooted the five wired balls and the platform didn't raise and I had to reload and try again; this can't be an obstacle to consider this excellent work as one of the best from all the times. Of course, I felt sad when I finished the game... I wanted more and more! Congratulations for this fantastic work!" - Jose (20-Mar-2008)
"I remember playing Himalayan Mysteries part one way back when and thinking that I can't wait to play the next part of the adventure. I had no idea how fabulously my wish would come true a few years later. These levels are so amazing, fresh and superior to almost everything I have seen before. Titak has gussied up her part one considerably and added truly awe-inspiring additional sub-levels that will drop your jaw. Gameplay was super smooth and rarely was there a moment that I felt stumped. There were times I would come to a place that looked tough, but actually it turned out not to be tough, but fun! I enjoyed the snowy segments, especially Crashed, and the monastery, but the alien levels were just so amazing and gorgeous that I wish I could rate these levels higher than a ten. The level set is completely top-notch and not to be missed be any player, experienced or newbie." - Shandroid (17-Mar-2008)
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. The begining wasn't very interesting , no flares, no guns , a lot of dark places and caves to check ,and no walkthru :-( i was dissapointed and the first level took me a lot of time. But step by step action became more intensive, textures and music more interesting. Now i can say that this is one of the best TRLE games , new animation , a lot of new ideas , new textures, extraordinary music , beautiful story with many places to visit and a lot of surprices , beautifull villages , Aliens and finally amazing Alien's ship with a lot of wonderful plants, places and riddles. 40/40 i wish i could give more:-) Congratulations !It is a brilliant work Titak." - ersatz (14-Mar-2008)
"WOW, i just wanted to play this on a better computer. I really congratulate Titak in building this absolute masterpiece. From the opening cut scene to the credits, it is incredibly good fun and a great raid. What amazes me is that you are able to change the gameplay and never make it boring for six hours. All done by one builder as well. The aha whenever she picked up an item can become annoying but this is no worry. From the lovely himalayan landscape to the alien caves to the alien starship, the texturing is floorless and the atmosphere is incredible. The final cutscene is incredible and nice to watch. Because of my small mind i had to look back to the walkthrough a lot of times but the answer was always relitively simple. I found the To the settlement level the hardest but never irritatingly hard. Again i just want to congratulate Titak on what she had done. It is simply amazing. A must play." - Cory (12-Mar-2008)
"A perfect game where every bit and feature has been thought and worked on to fit the storyline, even the rather low number of enemies in some of the levels is in adequation ; everything make sense. Along the game , I delight myself watching at the beautiful architecture , faultless texturing , beautiful objects , without speaking of the impressive new animations and special effects. The gameplay is quite entertaining also , rather well balanced , some places give way to non straightforward quests at times. Well there is everything that we enjoy in a good TR adventure, except here many aspects are reaching perfection. Many thanks for this beautiful and enjoyable adventure." - eRIC (11-Mar-2008)
"What can I say, that hasn't been said ??? This full game (took longer than AOD) sets a new high in custom levels. Everything was done perfectly (I didn't even see any of those weird optical things that some other custom levels have). This game was thououghly pleasureable to play, with a little of everything I could have expected, and several I had never seen before. It was a little difficult at times, but with persistance, yeilded the next challenge. Beautiful and inventive scenery. I've never seen such good looking mountain or alien environments. I felt like this was a "real" alien design !!! This deserves a new category - 10 with five stars !!!" - Juno Jim (10-Mar-2008)
"Well, what can I say? Absolutely amazing. There have been some cracking levels recently that this well deserves straight tens - so how will we be able to score this author's next offering? The whole level set is superbly designed and although we revisit some levels we have seen before they are much improved this time around. As Lara progresses to the starship things get even more atmospheric with great use of sound, and custom objects, and a very spooky hydroponics area. There is so much that is new and well thought out that if I say more then I will start rambling. Do not miss out. Play this flawless level set now." - Jez (03-Mar-2008)
"What can I say other than perfect, it was the most fun I have had in TRLE. You spent years working on it and it has payed off big time, this shows the best of all aspects of TRLE, especially the atmosphere, I love it!" - Nutman (02-Mar-2008)
"Whoah!! This is an absolutely first-class adventure with a clever storyline. Where to start? There's so much to rave about. The gameplay is always interesting as you make your way through a diversity of icy settings and then later onto a snow-wrecked alien spaceship. There is great use of novel puzzle items, artefacts, the peaceful monk, the super-cute Yagul guide, the antigravity belt, the freaky plants and the very-cool raygun. You'll encounter some unique trapdoor puzzles and slippery platforms. Generally, progression through the game is good, although the going gets tough during the devious caves section of the the Settlement level, as it's easy to become disorientated in the complex cave system. The level design, texturing, lighting and fog effects are so good, that even if you are getting stuck you just want to go on, to explore the next pixel-dripping scene. The rich environments are enhanced by a smorgasboard of custom machinery and objects. It's the attention to little details that caught my eye - like the roped ladders in the ice pits, and the embedded metal wrung ladders in the space ship, and the WOW cutscenes which really are a pleasure to sit back and watch. Enemies are used sparingly and become even rarer the further one progresses into the heart of the spaceship. But this really doesn't detract from the game as the isolation and eery plant noises echo around you in the final levels. Secrets are never my strong point but the ones I bagged were well set as side play. Flyby and cutscene camera work are smooth, and static clue cameras were helpful, although there were a couple of open-ended situations where I was crying out to be led the way a little. And finally... the atmosphere - this really is Titak's artistic trademark. The memory of walking into the snow-bound valley with the outer areas of the monastery will stay with me for a long time - truly picturesque and in total a benchmark levelset. Thanks for a great fortnight of raiding Titia." - EssGee (28-Feb-2008)
"I've been playing custom levels since 2001, and this is the one I have enjoyed the most in that time. The imagination in storyline, detailed touches, overall vision for the level is just superb, obviously a labor of love. I've never scored a level as perfect before, and although I there were a couple of places where I ALMOST thought it was too frustrating to continue, somehow Lara overcomes before I lose interest, and the adventure continues to the end. What a wonderful ride! The imagination and level-building skill of Titak is displayed here in excellent form. I spent 10 hours on this level when I should have been doing RL things, and yet I feel it time very well spent. :) Invest the time yourself to play this fantastic level, you'll not regret it." - JohnC (28-Feb-2008)
"Simply, the best there is out there. This game has every element that you could wish for in any kind of tomb raider level editor game. Nice lighting and textures, pretty awesome gameplay in imersive puzzles are the topper. The enemies are well placed, and the secrets are incredibly hard for me to find, but they were well hidden. The objects were well placed, nothing left to be desired with coldness. Sounds are impressive, with nice music and voice acting, and the atmosphere is simply the best that there will ever be. Every square inch of this game is well put, I hope you love it." - Vaughnage (27-Feb-2008)
"This game is the epitome of what Tomb Raider is all about. The level design is complex yet logical. The music is beautiful and really adds to the feeling of awe and mystery. There is a lot of exploration involved, not too much combat, and some really clever puzzles, especially in the Monastery. In addition, the storyline is quite good (I think this should be the official version of Lara's crash and what made her into an adventurer). The secrets system was a very nice touch and the document with descriptions of the artifacts added depth to the game. It reminded me of the relics in Anniversary, although I suspect Titak came up with this idea before Anniversary was released. In any case, this level set looked great, sounded great, and most importantly it played great. A perfect 10/10 from me :D" - Ward Dragon (24-Feb-2008)
"I was amazed when I saw on youtube the trailer for this game so I have waited without patience its release. It took me 9 hours and plus to finish it but I must say it's extraordinary. Congratulation to the author for such an imagination and talent. The world created abord the alien ship is true art and the mathematical part of the puzzles combine in one superb Tomb raider game." - dya1403 (23-Feb-2008)
"Quite frankly, you just can't rate this game any less than four perfect tens. It's hours and hours of a rather original and so impecably built game by only one artist named Titia... Not even a team work. Amazing, I can't even start to think how much effort was put into this labour of love. Lara starts in a plane crash in Tibet, visits mountains and monasteries and ends up in an alien spacecraft. Many original objects and solutions, good music, beautiful graphics. I liked it that Titak made the icy waters really icy as in Tomb Raider III. I also liked the light beams that helped Lara float. I liked so many things about it! One thing I also liked is that Titak was able to create an amazing adventure without having to resort to traps of all sorts and enemies a go-go. Even the fish won't harm Lara. And still, the game is most challenging... Truly well done and I'm only sorry it ended. By the way, you don't have to install the game to play - good thing, isn't it?" - Jorge22 (16-Feb-2008)
"I do believe a rating 10 - 11 - 11 - 12 would probably fully reflect the superior quality of this highly recommendable game created by Titak . Soaring high above most of the recently released good adventures in its best moments it even rivals such masterpieces as Nadines NG or Richards UB4. As Elvis has mentioned before the amount of hands to shake (press) and levers to pull seems a little bit over-exaggerated near the end but is definetely made good by the real eye-candy locations and new textures Titia has created for us . The amount of weapons Lara picks up during her crusade is surely more than enough to fill her armoury although it`s never beeing used as no enemies come up in the later levels but it somehow keeps up the tension in the game . And is`nt it better to explore a location fully armed always beeing on the alert than to stumble blindly into hosts of enemies with nothing but a water gun to defend yourself ? This marvellous adventure is definetely an entry for the Game Of The Year . Thank You so much Titak for this wonderful game . Dank je wel , Titia !" - Ruben (15-Feb-2008)
"An excellent game from start to finish, and one which well deserves full 10's all round. Lara will travel through snow covered mountains to a monastery, and then eventually to a star ship. This is a mega level set which will take a long time to complete, but man it was worth the all night Raiding and bleary eyes the next day!!! The locations are fabulous, the the game play is fun and exciting and the entire game is beautifully textured. There are not many enemies to tackle throughout the game, but exploration and traps play a huge part.. and having a keen memory is vital as you wander from one area to another finding your items and then returning to place them in places you might well have forgotten all about. I must say it bores me to read a huge level by level review so I won't go on and on, only to say this is a must to play.. a top class game.. and one that has to be admired for it's beauty and excellently well thought out story line and game play. It was a long time in coming, but well worth the wait. Thank you Titak for yet another great adventure." - Moonpooka (13-Feb-2008)
"T'was the night before Christmas, three quarter past ten, When I thought: I need to go climbing again. I asked in the forum for levels like that, And they pulled some suggestions out of their hat. I tried a few levels and then stumbled upon “Himalayan Mysteries by Titak, Part One." What a great game, I thought, there was Climbing galore, It was just what I had been hoping for. But it ended too soon, at a promising door. However, Titak promised us more! And just my luck, only six weeks from then I find myself playing the Mysteries again! I'm excited and delighted with the textures and the lighting, There's a lot of cool puzzles but not too much fighting. After climbing my way deep into the ground Where a fabulous spaceship waits to be found, I learned to speak Alien. Woot! What a treat! And that supercute hoverbike swept me off my feet. I actually said Good-bye when I left Thinking about things like hoverbike theft :D But it got even better! The spaceship, indeed Provided me with Yagulls without any feet! I only wish he would have helped me some more Like finding the next button or the next door. Reaching the end, I just couldn't believe That there was nothing else left to retrieve, And with sadness I watched the credits roll by... In the Hall of Fame, I think, this will rank very high." - Manymee (12-Feb-2008)
"One of the most anticipated level-series finally has reached the players and proves it was well worth the wait. It's no surprise that Titia is a master (or is that mistress?) of excellent TR looks, and if nothing else this level just affirms that even more. Even with the advent of new possibilities like hi-res textures, patching of the executable, custom objects & animations - it seems like she has managed to keep up with everything the level building scene has thrown at us, and raised the quality bar to lofty heights for everyone who intends to step in her footprints as far as those features go. But as everyone knows, all those things are merely accessories to the 2 things that really matter in levels - gameplay & atmosphere. So how does the game compare in those aspects? The looks are near flawless - both in setting design and execution - the icy valleys seem authentic and had chills running down my spine, especially the icy water added a touch of realism, which annoyed the hell out of you when you had to maneuver through the frigid streams, but overall came across as a neat addition. The monastery offered an inventive setting as well, though maybe borrowed a bit too much idea-wise from the original TR2 levels that served as the inspiration for these. The alien settings seemed unnecessary story-wise in my opinion, but they were executed convincingly enough with the cool objects and settings, and also offered some of the most inventive moments gameplay-wise in the game, so overall, I did not mind. As far as the gameplay overall goes - through the 5 and a half hours I spent here I was actually surprised about the simplicity of the approach - the levels are far from difficult and can be figured out without any extra help for most part, though I did have a hiccup or two along the way, mostly in form of finding some of the total of 15 secrets (which offered interesting side-quests to the main tasks). There are some wonderfully inspired moments along the way - I liked the run from the cold water back to the plane, the teleporters were a cool touch, using protective armor to enter a dangerous room, using water and fertilizer to make grass you can monkey-swing on grow and numerous more examples. I can't say I enjoyed every moment here - one level (the settlement frozen in time) was particularly confusing and disrupted the great flow the level had before and after that. Also - while generally this wasn't my biggest complaint - I thought the enemy ratio as the game unfolded was a bit odd - having most of your fights in the icy fields with some mercenaries whose subplot (if you can call it that) was left hanging when Lara entered the more out of this world settings, and as you did the game became more and more deserted even though you had a plethora of guns n' ammo at that point, and enemy inclusion could've been written down on the malfunctioning spaceship system unleashing deadly zombie-vampire-killer-cyborgs (or whatever) on Lara. But as said - that wasn't entirely my biggest complaint - and the only reason I deducted from the perfect 4-tenner score was that I thought the gameplay relied too much on the scavenger hunt scenario moving on from button to button, or just finding the next item - I would've preferred it to focus more on the creative moments it had and/or include more of them instead of the usual run to and fro. All that said - this is an excellent game fitting for any player out there and showcasing Titia's talents well. An instant classic that's highly recommended!" - eTux (12-Feb-2008)
"This is a great idea for a level - what might have happened to Lara during the two weeks she was lost in the Himalayas (according to her biography from TR1). Crashed: Following an excellent cut scene Lara finds herself amidst the wreckage of the aeroplane and being a resourceful girl she sets about salvaging anything she can before setting out into the cold. The secret in this section is a yeti bone - how cool is that? I loved the 'realism' of Lara having health loss from swimming in the cold water and having to make an emergency timed dash back to the plane to get warm. Icy Waters: Having now kitted herself out in cold weather gear, Lara is ready to leave the plane wreck and strike out for civilisation. Looking back on my original review for this level I said the atmosphere was so authentic that I had to go and put on a cardigan. Nothing has changed in that regard. Brrrr. I was also glad to appreciate once more the beauty of the small village (which is even lovelier this time around) and surrounding scenery (when the guards let me have five minutes breathing space that is). Denboche Monastery: Another brilliant cut scene here (and I absolutely must say at this point how very good the 'Lara' voiceover is - most authentic). There are some truly interesting items to collect in the monastery and that involves a lot of highly enjoyable agility tests and wonderfully inventive puzzles. Tannhauser Gate: After some fun climbing about in caves, it's back out into the cold, cold snow and the shock of being shot at after the peaceful stay with the friendly monks. For those of you who played the two original levels, this will be familiar as part two, but greatly enhanced. Frozen in Time - Settlement/To the Starship: This is nicely futuristic and has some very good animations, wonderful textures/objects and very effective sound files. There's also a cute little bike to ride to help you explore the caves and alien technology and you can blow up the annoying droids with your raygun - great stuff. There's a really good disappearing/reappearing tile run that I particularly enjoyed and a breathtaking first sight of the spaceship. Yavi'ny Starship - Beginnings/Engineering/Hydroponics: The starship is huge and very impressive and you get a bit of help from some highly unusual looking robots(?) I know I've been mentioning the amazing animations, but just wait until you get to Hydroponics to see something incredible - I was sooooo impressed. Also in this section you get a good opportunity to admire Titia's super weird alien plant life. Another excellent cut scene provides a most satisfactory outcome to this brilliant adventure. Bravo Titia, superb work." - Jay (11-Feb-2008)
"The level begins in a snowy scenarion -- one of my favourites -- and along the way blends and morphs into a sci-fi spaceship. The way this is done is quite elaborate and ingenious. Titak is undoubtedly one of the most passionate builders around, since her early days you could notice the little details she put in her levels and no matter what level of expectation you're at for this level, you're likely to leave pleasantly surprised. There are several new animations and quite a few cutscenes to keep the story moving, something I am not used to, but then again, I haven't been playing many of the recent levels. Level by level comments. Crashed (30 minutes): the scenery is just breathtaking, and gameplay revolves around questing for inventory items. This is rather quick, but ingenious nonetheless. What seemed to me to be a deadend soon provided me the torch, which is rather new to me. I particularly loved when the snowstorm began and Lara has to look for shelter before she freezes to death. Icy Waters (40 minutes, 3 secrets): gameplay in this level is slightly more difficult than in the first level but still fair enough to make it a pleasant journey. You get additional firepower in this level and I was surprised to see the TR4 shotgun remade, as well as the single automatic pistol. There's also an animation of Lara using a computer and learning more about the nearby sanctuary which was a great addition to keep the storyline moving. Denboche Sanctuary (60 minutes): a dramatic turn in terms of difficulty here, but still manageable. I just have to thank Jackie for his never ending patience to get me through several different spots, and thanks to him, the main sanctuary area wasn't as confusing to play as it was to understand it. Collecting the four different herbs lead Lara to her first reward, but it's a long quest. After guidance from a monk, you have a double layered pushables puzzle, bells to shoot at the top of slide-jump sequences, damming the water, and a few timed runs. Tannhauser Gate (50 minutes, 3 secrets): quite a lot to explore here and a variety of environments, all of them blending with each other seamlessly. There was an underground maze that wasn't much of my liking, but it was rather simple and the room shortly after make me think it was a nod to City of Tinnos (TR3). I got the Dharma Wheel on this level after conquering the two prayer flags that tease you long before you get to them. The frozen aliens in the snowy hills were a brilliant and spooky touch. Frozen in Time - Settlement (60 minutes): one word? HUGE. First few rooms earned me a dejà vu, but that feeling soon was gone. This alien/cave hybrid environment is really confusing at first sight, but after a while you get used to it, and the hoverbike provides some fun to get through the level questing for four heat plasmas. There are a few poleswings which don't look like your average poles and some sliding flat panels too, been a while since I last saw those. Only a handful of enemies appear and pose no threat at all. Frozen in Time - To the Starship (55 minutes, 1 secret): I was actually impressed with this level, when I first reached it, after having played through the entire night, I reach the first area and thought it was going to be another huge level, and in fact it is, but it's very straightforward with only a few stuck moments. There are working teleporters, and a few elaborate jumping sequences as you travel up and down this environment hunting for items to proceed. I thought the armor/dressing room was a neat idea (not to mention a novelty). Yavi'ny Starship (5+30+30+20 minutes, 1 secret): this level is divided in several others, Beginnings after getting orientation from a dying alien hologram, Lara loses her heavy clothing - but not her sunglasses (lol). This level provides just a quick quest for an antigravity belt (which doesn't work from the get go, so don't try jumping down the shaft like I did, it comes into play brilliantly later). then in Engineering you realize the starship is much larger than what you'd expect. There's a nice timed trapdoors sequence here (and jumping to your death provides you with a fun death animation), a simple pushable block puzzle and two sneakily hidden underwater doors. Transporting down to the Hydroponics lots of keys and a very cozy environment, albeit somewhat confusing with all the back and forth running. I particularly liked the cockroaches in the tank, and also the occasional dragonflies that would be spawned of this biolab of sorts. With all items collected, it's time to return to Engineering to put them all to use. There is a planetary room that is very impressive! Shortly after, the rendezvous with the sole survivor brings the exciting adventure to an end. Bottomline, this is one adventure you won't want to miss for anything in this world, thank you very much Titak! 6:20 hours, 8 secrets. 02/08" - Treeble (11-Feb-2008)
"Well ....after TR Search HQ _emergency -wich still beats all - this one is very close too ....this is a multilevel variated very nice work nice big maps very nice graphics and puzzles ... albeit a bit confusing sometimes , cos not manny flybyes and alot off buttons to push also the builder have exagerated inclination for burner trapps to manny off them....this level is sometimes very tough and especialy cos that mentionated burner trapps - is not for begginer riders for sure ...is still one off the best custom levels around .....highly recomanded for download and play .... but cos that ' burner trapps opsession -wich is fun at a time but get anoying iff is used too much i cannot give 10 in the line but 9.50 /9.75 deserve for sure ..... this Titak baby is a very talented builder and i hope will see soon another masterpiece from her very good jobb thx alot" - Jack& (11-Feb-2008)
"Well, sometimes adventures arrive. Some bad some good...and some extremely good. This levelset is top quality and I must admit that I have never seen anything like it before. Also that this is the work of one builder makes it even more impressive. When it comes to lighting and textures it is done to perfection. This is the first long adventures I have seen that really make use for the HQ textures. Everything looks amazing, period. Objects are also out of this world. Everything from switches, statics, animations, cutscenes etc. Is done by our artist Titia. All of it fits so well for the story and for Laras environment. Sound, atmosphere and camera are the usual Titia stuff. From time to time I get a feeling of both Passage to Mu and UB3-4 when I play these levels. Just breathtaking. We all knew that none of the visual categories would disappoint us, right? What about the gameplay then? the most important category IMO. Also a category that has not always been the authors speciality. This time however, it is just as fantastic as the rest of the game. No dull moments! You either explore or solve puzzles. Highlights: All of it! There are so many cool things in this game that you just got to play it and experience it! If you are stuck, you can go around for a long time just to admire the surroundings! This is an epic adventure that is never boring, never hard, never easy. Just pure 110% fun. So far I have yet to see an adventure that can mach this one. Way to go Titia! It was worth the wait. Can we have a sequel maybe? :):) All tens from me. It would be blasphemy to give it a lower score!" - QRS (11-Feb-2008)
"What a great masterpiece this game is. Author has really managed to create a game which has an elaborated story line and extremely detailed surroundings including snowy mountains, old monastery and some strange underground areas built by aliens. Author has also made a great deal of new objects, textures, custom animations and cutscenes. Gameplay is good as well consisting mainly of various jumping tasks but there's also many puzzles and new puzzle objects to interact with in the game. All in all this is a great game which is very hard to describe shortly. You have to play and experience it by yourselves. I'm sure you won't be disappointed." - Samu (10-Feb-2008)
"Nothing but superlatives for these levels: breathtaking, amazing, awesome, brilliant, years in the making. With incredible attention given to every detail, object, and construction, these levels have the quality that lets players submerge themselves in the action. Many of the levels feature naturalistic landscapes; this can be difficult to pull off, but the author makes it seem effortless. There is a real plot, not the typical Lara loots a cave scenario. We all know (from the original Tomb Raider booklet) that young Lara's plane crashed in the Himalayas, and that Lara, the sole survivor, had walked out of this cold bleak landscape two weeks later into the village of Tokakeriby, profoundly affected by her experiences. Lara has always been very reticent about what happened, and most assumed this was due to the trauma of the tragic event. But now the author reveals the truth of what happened during those two weeks. No wonder Lara has kept quiet. The adventure starts with the plane crash, caused by emanations from the Cia 'Xia Stone that Lara found. Soon Lara falls back on Von Croy's survival tips: food, water, weapons, sturdy boots, compass, and suitable clothings. The debris from the plane is scattered about the mountains, the Cia 'Xia missing, and hungry snow leopards prowl about, waiting for Lara to succumb to the cold. [This first level is quite effective in engaging the player in the story.] As if her journey across the roof of the world isn't bad enough, Lara has to contend with mercenaries. At one encampment, Lara finds data on one of their computers about a long lost monastery. Lara discovers the monastery. The monks have been waiting for her, having foreseen her arrival. The mercenaries are coming for a precious artifact, but a monk offers it to Lara for safekeeping. Lara enjoys the various trials, commenting, "When I have my own mansion, I'll transform the ballroom into a gym like this." But there is much more, a gateway to an alien settlement hidden beneath the ground and ice. The Cia 'Xia has been called home, and rests on top of a spaceship. In a holographic encounter, Lara learns the aliens, in suspended sleep, need her help to restore power to their craft so that they can return home. [Historically, this marks Lara's first encounter with all those villagers who can't manage without her.] These are huge levels, either "Frozen in Time" level is easily equivalent to two or three normal-sized levels. Navigating them is intimidating at first, but the author uses appropriate cameras to direct the player. Tomb Raider games can brake to a halt with a missed jump switch or crawlspace, but I was surprised at how few problems I had with such huge levels, again, a mark of the author's planning. For once an author uses TREP to improve play, including things like crawlspace climb and TR2 flares, and of course many other features. The levels are so well lit that one hardly needs binoculars. [The binocular bug is fixed with TREP, so if Lara looks in a mirror her reflection is actually using binoculars. This can cause the up and down controls for the binoculars to lock. Looking up Draco patches, I found "...edit animation #441 in WadMerger and change next animation number to 103--up/down binocular controls will be unlocked."] I had some problems in spaceship hydroponics--shoot the sprinklers with explosive ammo--so my playing time was over 11 hours. Don't expect to rush through these levels. Take the time to savor them. I certainly intend to play them again." - dmdibl (09-Feb-2008)
"Wow. I really like this game, even though I'm not one for snow levels. It keeps me on my toes without knowing what to expect at all. And I always wondered what happened to Lara when her plane crashed in the Himalayas. Now I can see it for myself. Keep it up!" - ggctuk (08-Feb-2008)
"Alright, so I know that when there are really good games, people just randomly pick numbers and rank the game by them. This game however, could be the best TRLE game ever. Every single inch of it is perfect. I went through the game and looked at texturing lighting, all of it is perfect. Titia spent a great deal of time working on this game, and she also had her beta testers test it, and she went through the game over and over, and that was certainly worth it. When I downloaded this game, I thought it would be pretty good, but not as good as UB4. I was oh so very wrong. This game is incredibly great, I cannot even describe how good it is. Titia of course had a lot of problems with the game, but in the end all prevailed! This game is just GREAT! The sound, cameras etc. are all perfect. Gameplay and Puzzle Elements really make the game much more fun. I highly recommend that you download and play this game, it is wonderfully done. Excellent Job Titak, keep up the superb work, if you ever decide to continue the Weekley Buisness Series, I hope that they are as good as this! Excellent Job Titak! (download it now)" - God Horus (06-Feb-2008)