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Area 51 by Shader

Blue43 2 2 3 4
Cory 2 2 4 5
DJ Full 5 2 5 6
eRIC 2 2 4 4
Gerty 2 3 3 3
herothing 2 2 5 7
Jay 3 3 6 6
Jose 3 2 2 4
manarch2 2 2 5 4
MichaelP 2 3 4 3
Mulf 2 2 5 4
Orbit Dream 2 4 5 5
Ryan 3 3 4 4
Scottie 4 3 3 3
Treeble 4 4 6 6
 
release date: 17-Aug-2009
# of downloads: 86

average rating: 3.52
review count: 15
 
review this level

file size: 16.40 MB
file type: TR4
class: Desert
 


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email(s):
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Reviewer's comments
"For the little that you get to play it's not so bad (nothing particularly outstanding though). I like the added TR3 sound effects and music, plus visually it's actually decent, even if the level design is rather simplistic with just a couple of different areas. A couple of switches to pull, a couple of guys to kill, a key to retrieve and it comes to an abruptly short end. 10 minutes. 03/23" - Treeble (26-Mar-2023)
"Yes, yes, this is decent enough for a ten-minute level which had its life brutally cut short by a sudden onset of lack of ideas (as the readme states), but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we? It replicates the TR3 Nevada look adequately, and if that’s your thing, you can call it ‘promising’, maybe, with reservations. Room geometry is solid; texturing adequate (certainly not ‘great’, given the wallpapering and the many squashed and otherwise distorted textures), lighting mostly non-existent; and gameplay, crucially, is very, very lightweight. There’s nothing here to make one expect more than ‘base’ level basics from a full version: find switch, open door, shoot opponents (here including some ill-fitting wildlife) in an environment that is, true enough, more pleasant to look at than in many other examples of the genre. Where it does go beyond the standard is in the audio department: Although the Coastal background audio is spectacularly ill-chosen, there’s the four chords Lara strikes on the harp in the title, and a TR3 ‘action’ tune that gets your heart pumping and ironically plays just as the level is about to end. Why is that shotgun so very yellow?" - Mulf (04-Jan-2021)
"It's hard to award high marks for this level, as it only lasts six minutes and all you do is collect a key, do some brief jumps and shoot a few enemies. Not too bad settings-wise, though." - Ryan (16-Sep-2017)
"There are two reasons why this debut level of the builder is slightly superior to Labyrinth: a) the fact this level isn't based around a huge maze and thus not being tedious and b) a not monotonous design with some quite nice and to some extent convincing areas, with glimpses to rooms you'll visit or have already visited and a nice way how the base is integrated in the desert architecture. Of course, this level is rather mediocre when it comes to gameplay that only revolves around finding levers and keys, it has a fairly obvious shortcut that can skip more than half of the level and a rather bad usage of textures in the last rooms, but compared to the newest effort by this builder it at least shows kind of a talent. After seven minutes I had already finished it." - manarch2 (06-Dec-2012)
"This game normally takes 13 mins. However, if one grabs certain ledge, which is a potential shortcut, playtime is reduced to 90 secs. Apparently the hidden function of this ledge remained unknown to the constructor, so that's why the shelf wasn't removed from the game. Truly, I thought this shortcut is intended way. But this is, as I think, the only one weakness of this game. Maybe except the warthog and the crocodile. The level is very short, but very well done - texturing is great, lighting - good, and the atmosphere of TR3 is resembled perfectly. Glass panels, metal crawlspaces, the dam in the desert canyon, the construction pillars, crates, rockets... All of this things, for those 15 mins of play, made me feel like playing some original sequel of TR3 desert levels... Beautiful. So why is this game so short??? I loved it!!! SUMMARY: Short, but recommended. A climatic, classic level, that might have unfortunately been only an excellent intro to some bigger raid in Nevada base. I'm sad it's so short, but I'm also sure Nevada fans will appreciate it and pick this custom for one of their short breaks." - DJ Full (13-Nov-2010)
"This is a quick run through an indoor and outdoor area. The textures are OK, except for the last room which has horribly stretched texturing. There are a couple of gunmen and one croc to kill and also a little jumping from rock to rock. Finally a key to open a door and that's about it. Very short - 10 minutes max, but considering it's a debut it might not be that bad." - Blue43 (11-Oct-2010)
"No much to say about this very short level. Some switches to pull, a key to find and few enemies to kill. No cameras, no puzzles, no secrets? a couple of musics and a 10 minutes gameplay. I've not found interest. :S" - Jose (15-Sep-2009)
"I do not know at all what I should hold from this level. Lara is somewhere in desert on the area of a base. However, should this really be the area 51? Looks quite measly. How has she come there? Why is she here? Unfortunately, there is no answer to both questions. In any case, after a few minutes she finds a key, slides down a long slant and is also at the level end. At least the desert looks quite tolerable. The rooms in the building were empty, except a few boxes. Two rockets stood in a corner and were bored. Those probably lacked a third rocket to play cards. Up to the big slide the textures were applied cleanly. Nevertheless, in the subterranean room after the slide the level builder has worked badly slovenly, because the textures were applied very much sloppy and stretched. Moreover, the shot noises from the opponents were absent. Result: The desert looks quite well-arranged, but this it was then also. With his next work the author should work with more care and get some tester aboard, so that at least the coarsest mistakes will removed." - Scottie (30-Aug-2009)
"Another level that seems to be unfinished or at least without great purpose. It could be as the dwarf of a good adventure in a Nevada kind of setting, lasting only some minutes, with no lighting worked on. A few enemies that pose no great threat , 2 or 3 switches to find, some panels to shoot to retrieve a key , hardly can we find a few basics moves and that's it. The biggest mystery is what is the purpose of the area where Lara can go down with this nice music played as if something had been achieved ?" - eRIC (22-Aug-2009)
"That was short and sweet and even if you take the crawlspace into consideration and find a switch there, and then start looking for a door you opened or trigger something else, don't bother, it still is a short level. The whole feels like it isn't finished, but... there is a finishing trigger LOL" - Gerty (21-Aug-2009)
"I feel that this level was rather incomplete, or the builder just lost their inspiration. It started off quite nicely with a small desert area, however, after placing a key and shooting a baddy or two, it ends quite abruptly. If the builder had carried on in the opening style and kept it going for a lot longer, this could have been a very nice level. As a result, it is hard to rate 5 mins of level. I hope to see a follow-on to this level, as it could do well." - Cory (20-Aug-2009)
"This level would have made such a good one if some more time had been put into it. It is a game lasting about 10 minutes which is almost exemplarly build and textured. There were very few guards i though seeing as though there usually would be more for a place like Area 51, this ruined the atmosphere a tiny bit for me. Basically the overview of the story is that you kill a crocodile and then some strange Pig/Warthog creature followed by a few guards and then the find a key. Grade = D+" - herothing (19-Aug-2009)
"Although quite solidly built and textured,this tiny little adventure was over before it had barely started; which was a shame,I was rather enjoying it.Considering this was a secret military base with missiles poised to be launched,there were surprisingly few guards on patrol;and the lone Croc and Warthog could be easily despatched from a distance.Lighting was nonexistent until the final dramatic slide toward the deep pit,and the textures (although competantly applied) were often compressed. Sound was standard and the atmosphere wasn't at all bad;but when you only need 6 minutes to complete a level there's simply not enough time to become fully engrossed. Actually,this came across as a project in which the builder had completely lost interest;which is a shame,because (with a few more puzzles and challenges) something quite entertaining could have developed." - Orbit Dream (17-Aug-2009)
"I was just settling down to enjoy myself with this one when it finished - less than ten minutes of gameplay really makes it more of a demo than anything else so it's hard to give it much of a score for that aspect. I only wish it had been a demo as I'd like to see more - it seems such a while since we've had a Nevada level and it was lovely to see the old desert textures again. Sunshine, bright light and no rain - oh please someone make us a full length Nevada level, beg, plead, grovel, grovel. Anyway, if you too are craving an Area 51 type level, give this one a go just for nostalgic reasons. Yes, it's short and simple, but it is a nice little taster." - Jay (17-Aug-2009)
"An unfinished effort found on the web - clearly the author did have good intentions here and it seems he (or she?) did not manage to stick with it. It is over too soon to even properly review it (less than 1:30 minutes on replay). You kill a croc, a warthog and a few guards, find a key, and two shotguns, slide down into darkness and hit the finish trigger as you see the light at the end of the tunnel." - MichaelP (17-Aug-2009)