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Level: Catacombs Sample Level back home search
Author(s): Keith T.
total rating:4.68 Gameplay &
Puzzles		 Enemies,
Objects &
Secrets		 Atmosphere,
Sound &
Cameras		 Lighting &
Textures
CC 4 3 5 3
Dimpfelmoser 5 4 4 4
eRIC 5 4 6 5
eTux 3 3 3 3
Gerty 6 6 5 5
Kristina 6 6 7 6
Magnus 2 2 2 3
MichaelP 6 7 4 4
Orbit Dream 3 5 5 5
RaiderGirl 6 7 5 5
Sakusha 5 4 4 4
Sash 4 4 4 4
The Aussie Adventurer 7 5 5 4
Tombaholic 6 6 7 5
Treeble 5 6 5 5
category averages
(15 reviews)		 4.87 4.80 4.73 4.33

Reviewer's comments

"I have to admit that the mismatched textures, the large rooms and the chaotic lighting turned me off from this level at the end, even though the gameplay had some interesting points. Even though it was interesting to have a significant part of the level focus on one large room with switches to activate and two key items to pick up (the horseman's gem and the music scroll), the rooms were too big for my taste. Also, a lot of the textures were mismatched, the water was untextured, the lack of harmony in the huge lighting contrasts wasn't very pleasing to the eye, one of the switches has the wrong OCB animation (Lara should be pushing the button instead of giving the impression she is pulling a lever), and some pickups were pointless. However, I have to admit that the explosive crossbow and grenade ammo were useful against the army of skeletons running after Lara, sliding and jumping to get the mechanical scarab was fun, and the author used the darkness to hide pretty effectively the spike traps at some point (fortunately, the use of a flare helped expose the spike traps. So I was able to avoid them). I managed to find three secrets. This level could be better if more effort were put in lighting and textures." - Sakusha (20-Oct-2009)

"Here's another contender for 'first ever Custom Level' and back in the day it was probably rather entertaining.It's not dated well,though.All those stretched textures,irrelevantly long corridors,huge climbs,lack of ambient lighting,masses of pointless pickups...they don't do anything to endear you to the adventure. That being said,it's still a reasonably entertaining romp in an environment that resembles a Tut1 Level more than a Catacomb and which contains the occasional lively moment (the funny jump/slide sequence;all those killable skeletons attacking en-masse;the completely harmless rolling boulder - complete with accompanying scary music!)and it passes 25 minutes enjoyably enough." - Orbit Dream (08-Jul-2008)

"You can discover something new in every level you play - while this short and sweet catacombs level as such doesn't offer any new and novel concepts, the biggest discovery for me was Magnus' review. The description of all the diseases it has somehow caught, down to the suggestion to perform a coup de grâce on the poor level had me in stitches, and that's actually one of the main reasons I started this up. The jump sequence for the beetle secret is fun, as is getting rid of all the baddies with the countless explosive ammo, but on the whole there're probably better levels to pick to play out there, unless you want to run and swim through endless corridors, pick up countless pickups, and do other countless things in the 10 minutes it takes you to reach the end of the level." - eTux (16-Aug-2007)

"As the title suggests, this is just a sample level from the author or also known as a demonstration of what is to come. In this level is a very clever jump sequence to get a secret. The secrets are well placed and are well thought out. The biggest thing to entice you to play this level is the gameplay. There is a lot of shooting with all sorts of guns to kill mummies and skeletons and your supplied with heaps of ammo to boot. The biggest let down was the texturing and a some bad level design. There are some areas with stretched textures and rooms with not much in them and sometimes, a bit of both. But overall, it's a nice catacomb level with a little bit of action. If I had to give this level a grade, I would give it a C, a pass mark." - The Aussie Adventurer (25-Nov-2005)

“A nice short catacomb level. Nothing spectacular just a good raiding experience in a decent catacomb setting. I particularly liked the easy but long jumping sequence to get the mechanical beetle. And I had a laugh at the 'winking' block to the monkeyswing. Lots of skellies to deal with but you have the crossbow so that's not a problem. There wasn't a need for the revolver so I didn't bother with it. Long swims and tall climbs. Yes it certainly is a sample level and much obliged to the author for actually saying it is so there's no disappointment for players.” – CC (21-Oct-2004)

“What we have here is a very sick level. It shows a lot of symptoms for the most common diseases amongst first levels. The most striking are the symptoms it shows for ‘Largius Roomius’ – a disease that often results in overly large and swollen rooms. It also shows all the signs for an early stage of ‘Gameplay impossibletofindicus’ – a disease that results in lack of gameplay. It also has the disease commonly referred to as ‘Bad Texturiung’ – a very common disease which usually only first and sometimes second levels get. It results in bad texturing and often also bad lighting. It also has the rare disease ‘Toomuch pickups’ – a disease that makes the level get pickups all over its body and to which there is no known cure. Don’t ask me how it got it – probably a trip to The Himalayas or something. During this ten-minute examination I’ve noticed one thing – this level is in severe pain. I’m sorry to say this mister author but I think we’ll have to put it too sleep.” – Magnus (29-Jan-2004)

“It's been three years since I first played this one and yet I still remember it with all the hundreds of levels in between. And I actually had fun playing it again. Well let's face it comparing one of these very early levels to what we've become accustomed to since is a bit like comparing a Model-T to a Ferrari. It's just a more old-fashioned way of getting where you want to go - a little TR fun. Here you'll get a quick TR fix with the action pretty non-stop other than a couple overly long hallways and ladders. And despite the clumsy texturing in places the overall atmosphere is not all that bad. After the initial running around with a skellie on your heels you'll meet many more but have plenty of explosive ammo to take care of them. The use of cameras is also quite good for an early level (or many that have come since). So if you have a spare 30 minutes to kill give it a try.” – Tombaholic (20-Jan-2004)

“There is a lot of running as the corridors are very long also some breathtaking swims a pole to climb I thought would never end two rope jumps one was a bit hard to do (because of the angle). But the absolute best part is the jumping to get to the mechanical beetle. You don’t need it but the jumping is great. The pick-ups are lined up in neat rows and plenty of them. Finding the crossbow right at the beginning and even later the grenade gun do make easy work of all the skeletons you meet. You have to find the blue gem and almost at the end the scrolls. After the second rope jump have a try to dive in the water although there is a climbable surface to get down. Some parts are pitch black but I made it with the flares. 04-01-2003” – Gerty (05-Jan-2003)

“Stretched textures huge boxy and empty rooms far too many pick ups an easy gameplay long climbs uneventful swims and yet I enjoyed this quite a bit. When I came across the 7 big medi packs I thought the persistent wraith that Michael mentioned was supposed to chase you to the end so I was rather disappointed when it exploded at the bird statue. The jump sequence is impossible to cock up but great fun nevertheless the two fly bys are well done you get a harmless boulder trap tons of skeletons and there isn't a maze. Well I guess when you don't bother to pick up all the ammo (apart from a few explosive arrows) and forget about the revolver (which you don't need anyway) you can reach the end in 20 minutes. Let this be your aim to give you a bit of a challenge.” – Dimpfelmoser (11-Aug-2002)

“The title of this level says what it is about. A sample level using the Catacombs wad. Actually it's a pure training level which will test your swimming swinging and jumping skills mainly. The level lasted for 30 minutes and had some design bugs mainly in the final big room where the floor was all randomized and then the untexturized polygons appeared. Also there were some secrets not hidden as they should and one of them was the mechanic beetle that wasn't used at all. One of the earliest levels released so don't expect anything unusual.” – Treeble (11-Jul-2002)

“A fairly basic and empty looking level I was kind of disappointed at how some large rooms were used almost only to hold huge unnecessary amounts of pick ups such as around 8 boxes of revolver shells in one place and 6 large medipacks in another. There are also plenty of skeletons but having the crossbow and explosive arrows early on they are no challenge and you have good warning that they are coming for you. The only really interesting thing was for me the sloping block jump as it had the most continuous jumps 19 I had ever played but otherwise there is nothing special here.” – Sash (21-Jun-2002)

“With about half an hour of gameplay this level does not hold any huge surprises but is quite fun nevertheless. Memorable is certainly the sloping block jump sequence for the scarab beetle as a secret the various ‘pick-up-frenzies’ not serving any real purpose and quite a few skeletons. I did not like the numerous loooong climbs walkways pole climbs swims so much and for some reason that bird statue did not work which kept me real busy in the second half of the level as I had to keep dodging that wraith.” - Michael (21-Jun-2002)

“I guess this is called a sample level because you find a little bit of everything - a gem and scroll skeletons and mummies a rope jump and underwater passages a boulder and some spikes. I found every weapon and lots of ammo and health packs including three secrets but I was glad for the health packs as like Michael I also had an elemental that just would not die so I used a few because of it. I had a great time in the sliding block room - in fact I did it a few times. There should have been some lava underneath. Otherwise there's nothing spectacular or difficult here but I still spent an enjoyable 30 minutes playing it.” – RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002)

“A classic level like the title says. As puzzles it has a gem and the rest of it is a little bit of swimming climbing and killing skeletons. The only challenging thing although you can't quite call it that is the slope area with the mechanical scarab. Now the room which you are supposed to use it is so easy to pass that I don't think it serves any purpose at all. The tiles with the spikes are scattered left and right or in the middle and Lara can pass from the sides. The textures are not very well placed with some of them not matching at all with the rest. A quick level to practice.” – Kristina (21-Jun-2002)

“This is a cute and short catacomb level that can be completed in less than 25 minutes. The first room was interesting with various things to do but after it began to be a little monotonous. We have the usual personages here : the reckless skellies a lunatic spirit mummies carrying illegal uzi clips and an healthy Miss Croft for an extra and good training. The level is not difficult so maybe it was one of Lara’s unknown first missions. I think it was a good idea to mix the catacomb textures of TR4 with the Egyptian textures from TR1.” – eRIC (21-Jun-2002)
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