trle.net
Level: The Rescue 1-4 back home search
Author(s): MagPlus
total rating:9.04 Gameplay &
Puzzles		 Enemies,
Objects &
Secrets		 Atmosphere,
Sound &
Cameras		 Lighting &
Textures
Akcy 9 10 8 10
Andi Croft 10 10 9 9
bERT 8 8 9 9
Bex 9 9 8 8
CC 10 9 9 9
Cuqui 10 9 9 10
Dimpfelmoser 9 9 9 9
Engelchen Lara 10 9 10 10
eRIC 10 10 9 9
eTux 9 10 8 8
Gerty 8 8 9 9
gfd 8 7 8 9
Jose 7 7 6 9
Josi 10 9 9 9
Kristina 9 9 10 10
Leandro 9 8 10 10
Loupar 10 10 9 9
MichaelB 10 10 10 10
MichaelP 9 9 10 9
Mytly 8 8 7 8
Navi 10 10 9 10
Nutman 10 9 9 10
Paul 9 8 7 9
Phabius Phodes 9 8 8 7
Phil 9 9 10 9
Qwendo 10 9 10 10
RaiderGirl 10 9 9 10
Relic Hunter 9 9 9 9
Sakusha 10 9 9 9
Sash 10 10 10 10
SSJ6Wolf 8 8 7 7
Staticon 9 9 10 8
TC14 9 9 8 10
tizerist 10 8 9 10
Tombaholic 10 10 10 10
Torry 9 8 8 9
Treeble 9 10 10 9
TrueRaider 9 7 10 10
WebKnight 10 10 10 9
Wendee 10 9 9 8
Whistle 9 7 7 8
Xxenofex 10 9 9 9
category averages
(42 reviews)		 9.29 8.86 8.88 9.12

Reviewer's comments

"This adventure definitely left me scratching my head a few times while figuring out what I needed to do, and where I needed to go. In some ways, this adventure was a brain-teaser to test my memory, and I see where I could improve! It was incredibly easy to get lost along the way, but I think that overall, the levels were very brilliantly done. Some passages involved deep exploration and backtracking while others required skillful jumping and trap-dodging skills. Enemies are also present in this series, though they do not dominate the whole landscape. The lighting, the placement of the objects, and the textures were usually decent, but at times, the shadow devices stood out a bit too much, and there were a few stretched textures here and there, and one of the palm trees was floating above the sand in one area. I wonder what the next part of The Rescue has in store for me..." - Sakusha (21-Mar-2013)

"Boy did these four levels take me a while to complete. For gameplay there were several interesting touches, like the floor tiles puzzle (which has a bit of a red herring, sneaky!), but also some hindrances such as going back-and-forth between switches at least once in each level. You can also get stuck in certain parts, such as the room with the fire pillars and the water key. If you go for the key before extinguishing the pillar at the other end, you are stuck for good. There are also some rather unfortunate mazes, most of them underwater. Objects are used quite well, with some simple but fun secrets to find, except for several invisible walls in front of doors and floating tree objects. The massive amount of dog attacks got predictable after a while as well. This camera badly needs camera cues. The underwater mazes don't have them. Neither do the courtyards in the second level, or many places in the last level. Too many times you push a button and hear a door rumble in some indeterminate direction. With the labyrinth architecture of the levels, it is more than just an inconvenience to revisit all the areas you can remember. I have mixed feelings about the textures. Some areas look great but others feel rather sporadic. Walls tend to be painted in clumps that don't flow together, and there are also some very stretched walls (the aforementioned fire pillar room for instance). Despite its unpolished marks, I still find it to be a decent level set and a substantial amount of gameplay." - SSJ6Wolf (02-Jun-2012)

"I'm now working my way through this series for the third time, yet large chunks of it seem as fresh as if I were seeing them for the first time. Along the way I'm making the walkthroughs a little easier on the eyes and correcting minor errors that I've come across. For some reason I've failed to review this magnificent set (other than the 11th in the series), so I'll start rectifying that injustice now, even though most of the levels are safely ensconced in the Hall of Fame. The opening quartet is still treated as a bundled package (as it was upon initial release), although the first two are stand-alones and should by rights be treated separately. My scores are reflective of the four levels as a unit. Although there are some things I didn't particularly like (the tedium of the globe pushing puzzle comes starkly to mind), I'm convinced that the scores of these nine-year-old levels would be nearly as high if they were to be released today. The gameplay is quite convoluted in spots, with some diabolical red herrings thrown in to make things even more difficult, and if Tombaholic's walkthrough hadn't been available I may have given up in frustration. I found the lighting and the surroundings to be superb, with the dark areas placed appropriately and intelligently. I did encounter one glitch where a trigger tile didn't function as intended, but Pascal may have known this to be the case, as an alternate means of accomplishing the necessary task (that may not have been available in the original version) is provided. I see that Mytly has also recently played and reviewed this series, and other newcomers to the wonderful world of Tomb Raider would do well to download and experience an example of what caused us old timers to become hooked back in the early days of the level editor." - Phil (02-Sep-2010)

"On one hand, it’s a bit hard to review the levels of this game separately, as the game is obviously a single unit. On the other hand, it’s quite useful, as I can then elaborate on my impressions of each individual level (or at least each instalment), instead of trying to generalize among 13 very different levels.
These 4 levels, which comprise the first instalment, are MagPlus’s debut levels, and that fact becomes glaringly apparent at times. While there plenty of moments of fantastic gameplay, there are also plenty of moments of tedium when gameplay devolves into a hunt for a switch to open a door to uncover another switch ... and so on. To add to the tedium, quite often you have to trek halfway across the level to pull a switch to raise a block or open a door in the room you just left. And occasionally, there are push-block puzzles which rely on pure luck to get them right, and getting them wrong involves a penalty of having to redo the previous section to reset the puzzle. Camera hints are woefully lacking most of the time, so the walkthrough is often necessary. There are many small shortcuts that were surely not intended by the builder; but for me at least, looking for such shortcuts in games adds an extra layer of challenge, so I’m not really complaining about that. Apart from the aforesaid push-block puzzles, there are some great puzzles in two of the levels, The Secret Temple and The Timeless Sands, for example, the first room of the latter level. These two levels are so much better in quality than the other two that I wonder if they were built later.
Lookswise too, these two levels much better than the rest, with colourful textures and lighting and lovely architecture, especially in the first one. Edfou, Kingdom of Horus has some nice outdoor areas, but looks rather colourless. Philae’s Ruins is not bad in itself, but its Tinnos textures look completely out of place in this Egyptian-themed levelset.
It’s not hard to find flaws in this levelset, but that’s mainly because the later levels in this game are so dazzlingly good, that this debut instalment feels positively pedestrian by comparison. But such comparisons aside, it’s a mostly enjoyable, classic-style raid, and makes a very good introduction to the game." - Mytly (26-Aug-2010)

"Considering that this level is made in 2001 you have to watch the title fly by at the beginning, awesome. As for the level, there are no new textures and no new objects, it still is a great adventure though. I started this adventure ages ago when the full download was up but had problems at a certain point to continue on the Mac. Even with the help from the builder, something was not right. After a chat with my Danish friend I picked it up again (now on the PC) and these first couple of levels I played before and I forgot how much time you do have to travel back and fro. There are many levers and/or buttons to push (sometimes 5 for one door to be opened) and at times it can be very confusing, but luckily the walkthrough is out and having a peek every now and then, got me to the end of this series. The level series itself is a slowly build up of traps/puzzles and fighting and most of the time you are exploring. Of course Lara is hunting for artefact and there are plenty of them. Every newbie should have a look at these series and see what is possible without all the fancy stuff that is floating around and get a good gameplay without being bored easily" - Gerty (01-May-2008)

"Those levels are good, well planified, nice architecture and textures with good puzzles, but there are some defects: In the room with the first piece eye of Horus (first level, room with four switches and fire wraith) you can runjump and enter swimming into the low entrance at north wall but you can't go out (reload). There's an invisible wall in front of a door near the burning pedestal with the Hand of Sirius. In the three pools room there are many missed cameras to show you were to go when you pull switches or doing some actions. There are ilegal slopes where you have to reload. In the room with the two golden moveable urns if you push one of them over certain yellow-blue square a door closes and you can't open it anymore (reload). In the second level there are some actions which doesn't have a camera, and the objects triggered are sometimes very far so you have to explore the same places many times. In the white and blue room with the two diamonds of the nil, you can trigger the boulders jumping over the slopes before open the doors or place the gems so, one of the boulders obstruct one of the doors wich you'll never open and the other boulder obstruct the gem receptacle wich you'll never use; this force you to reload again. In the Timeless Sands level there are pits in a lava room where you can go down but you can't go up (reload). In the second part of Philae's Ruins there is a room with a very small lava pit near an easy secret behind a ladder; here there is a not marked climbable wall necessary to continue playing so players can get disoriented and confused looking back in another places. In the room with red patterned pillars and rope where I placed the waters key and pushed a button to open a high door, I get stucked and I had to read the walkthrough 'cause in my game the rope didn't appear so I had to reload and try again; second time the rope appeared. In the courtyard with big vases, obelisks and gold statue you can drop into a trench with a small lava pool but you can't go up and have to reload. Good levels anyway." - José (23-Oct-2007)

"I'm going to review this as the whole series, as i feel to merely review a single level does a disservice to what is a brilliant and mammoth adventure. The Rescue kicks off exactly where Last Revelation ended, which is with Lara in deep trouble. The first minute or two appears quite buggy, the first trap i fell victim to didnt give a good impression as it looked rather cheap, but after that the quality rises and rises. Just like TRLR, a beautiful view seems to appear every few minutes and matches its older half-brother in memorable architechture and horizons. (Impossibly high standards!) I found myself genuinely excited to see the next location hour after hour, each time not being dissapointed. Up until level 11 that is, which is an absolute travesty, as it takes place in some sort of high tech future. What a shame this is, as it ruins the convincing feel the game otherwise had. Its not a bad level per se, its just woefully out of place in this game. (Imagine tuning into coronation street, only to find tonights episode is set on a spaceship???????) I can't stress enough how much this damages the game, and i plead with the author to somehow chop this level out in a future update. The Egyptian feel is magnificent in this game, and every level links on to the next geographically (apart from level 11) making this game one big level. Excellent. Game time is about 25-30 hours, and how it maintains the excellence for hours upon end i have no idea, but it is wonderfully done. Criticisms? Well, apart from the above, the enemys, while mostly really good and unique, can be at odds with the game also. An SAS guard in an ancient hidden temple? more flares would have been nice, and didnt like the static cameras either. I like to examine the surroundings at all times. The artifacts are recycled a bit much too. God only knows how many "Hand Of Orion"'s i picked up. Theres so many high points in this game. The environments are breathtaking for the most part and truly unforgettable. It's an epic. One day i will play TRLR and then this straight afterwards for a massive 70 hour adventure. Download this masterpiece. If only it could lose the high-tech level......." - tizerist (22-Aug-2006)

"The Rescue series are another one of those levels I've tried a long time ago and never did finish since I didn't have a great amount of raiding experience back then. Although I do regret giving up on these levels a few times as I missed out on quite a lot of fun, so now I'm glad I'm giving the levels another go, and they are all some top-notch fun. The Secret Temple - (9, 9, 10, 10) - It starts out with quite a harum-scarum with an earthquake, slopes, and spike balls which really engage the player into the level set. This level is filled with a multitude of tasks and puzzles, mostly consisting of finding buttons in a somewhat non-linear fashion, but at times they may be difficult to reach, which encourage the use of tricky manuevers to get to your goal. Eventually, you'll find yourself in the great hall of the original title level, so it was nice to see how the author made quite a nice rendition of that temple that taunts us everytime we try to play the game. It also shows us renditions of some of the other rooms we see in that title level, like the nicely done treasure chamber. There is also a nice finale at the end here that can build a bit of an adrenaline rush. I would have given this a 10 for gameplay, but the globe pushing in the great hall was somewhat tedious. Edfou, Kingdom of Horus - (9, 8, 9, 9) - After the confrontation from the last level, we escape to Edfou, an outdoor paradise that sure doesn't get boring. The action takes place in an outdoor city/archaeological site place that has some ninjas, jackals, and crocodiles awaiting. There is quite a bit of swimming in this part, as you have to find diamonds which will open doors in the level. It is quite engaging with it's somewhat non-linear gameplay type, though the lack of camera hints can get you lost in here. It is still a nice level if you enjoy the outdoor atmosphere. Philae's Ruins - (8, 9, 9, 9) - We visit this level shortly for the first time to get one of two canopic jars which will truly open up this level. Once we get that jar, it turns into a quite fun playground with interesting gameplay. Here, there is quite a bit of crawling and swimming to do in this nice mix of a tinnos/egypt atmosphere, along with other feats there are to accomplish. It is also quite aesthetically pleasing too, and I did like the foggy parts. There are more helpful cameras this time around which was a plus, but the gameplay wasn't so engaging as in the other parts. There is also a design error that you can miss the Garden Key which you'll need in the fifth level, and without it you won't be able to finish. I would have given a 10 for atmosphere, but I wasn't given that feeling of 'the ruins' with tomb background music, even in the outside parts. Don't get me wrong though, this level is still very nice. The Timeless Sands - (8, 8, 9, 9) - A shorter level which you must visit in order to finish Philae's Ruins, but fun nonetheless. This part has quite a bit of lava rooms and sand rooms to play around in, featuring the textures from Tomb of Seth. I didn't find the gameplay so engaging as the first two level, but this was still nice to play. The tomb here is riddled with traps and other tasks, like a few spiky-boulders here and there, the author's unique approach to the flashing tiles puzzle, and there are also the dreaded slicer-dicers here. Can't really say much more about this level. Overall, the author's debut is one that is really enjoyable and fun to play, especially if you like Egyptian levels and don't mind seeing more of Egypt as you will in the subsequent levels. You are provided with about 4 hours of gaming time with these, and they are quite an enjoyable experience and opening to The Rescue." - Relic Hunter (29-May-2006)

"The first four levels of a huge project. There are some illegal slopes, and in the outdoor levels you can get up and reach some areas earlier, or the end of the world, in Edfou you can go around the whole place on the roofs. However, this kind of stuff is peculiar to some official TR levels, so there is no reason to complain, besides, it's all a work of one person, and an awesome work, that is. Real TR feeling, and that says it all. There are lot of switching and running around. The fixed cameras were annoying for me in Edfou. The Timeess Sands is quite different than the other levels both in style and in gameplay; it's linear and less complicated, so when pushing a switch, the door it opened or block it raised is somewhere nearby; also has the nicest puzzles." - Akcy (05-Jun-2005)

“This is for me the real sequel to TR4 explaining how Lara got off the pyramid alive. A great series of levels that can't be forgotten. I think that the title flyby is worth being watched to until it ends because it's just great and unfolds the storyline especially in the part within the Pyramid and in Edfou where we see Von Croy looking for something (that he'll find see in level 12...) The Secret Temple: From the beginning with those spike balls to the huge rooms coming next and the battle with Seth this level is truly entertaining. Almost everything has been said but the absolute highlights for me are solving puzzles in the rooms of the TR4 title flyby and the final battle with Seth. Only to mention a certain lack of camera shots as you might be wondering what the switches did. Edfou Kingdom of Horus: This is an enjoyable outside level with a nice change of setting from the previous level. Everything is well done and flows very well with a motorbike run at the very end. So a nice first visit to Edfou before returning in level 12... Philae Ruins: You actually visit the level two times. There are many Tinnos textures used around there and they quite fit the environment. The first visit enables you to go to Timeless Sands. When you come back you can face timed runs and jumps within lava and finally come to the way to the next Temple... The Timeless Sands: There are quite a lot of huge beautiful rooms in this level where you look for a Canopic Jar. A Settomb ambiance in there and is a special mention to the flipmaps with sand enabling Lara to get over lava and to the room with the floor hieroglyphs.” – Thibault (11-Jul-2004)

“1: Secret Temple (9/7/9/10) Beware beginners this level starts with a tough jump sequence right away smack bang in the middle of an earthquake! Try not to be put off though as this level soon reveals itself as one of the greatest made. What with the nice puzzles and wonderful atmosphere. Pity about the lack of enemies here though just a few dogs and a couple of mummies. Well almost because there IS a Seth at the level's end but I don't think he can be killed. It must be said that there is an awful lot of block pulling in this level a bit too much me thinks. Lovely start none the less. This level took me 2 and a half hours and I found 2 secrets. 2: Edfou - Kingdom of Horus (9/8/8/9) Another excellent level nothing too tough or puzzling. However there was a distinct lack of cameras as well as a few annoying 'fixed' cameras. There were also a couple of rather irritating 'invisible' walls. Enemies were dogs bats ninjas and crocs; nothing too taxing. Very nice level then well put together and featuring some superb secrets too. A word of warning regarding the very end of this level though (or the beginning of the next if you prefer) in that there is a very long drop so be sure to be at full health before you leave this one. This level took me 1 and a half hours and I found no less than 5 secrets! 3: Philae’s Ruins (7/7/8/7) Let me just say that I seemed to have encountered a bug whilst playing this level that left me hopelessly stuck (without even realising it) for quite some time. This didn't make me happy and I left the game alone for a long while. I came back though eventually and completed it. I must say that I didn't like the bit whereby you apparently had to deliberately set Lara on fire to place an artefact then jump into some water! Faults aside this was still a nice level and not too taxing on the old grey matter either. I completed it in 2 hours and found 2 secrets (I would have found another but encountered the apparent bug). 4: The Timeless Sands (8/7/8/8) The 4th level is not for beginners because it features quite a lot of very difficult puzzles one after the other in some cases. Each one spelling instant death if failed. The worst of these is (it must be said) a kind of annoying 'lever and block' puzzle. There are hardly any enemies and those that you do find will pose you no threat. I'm afraid I had to access a walkthrough on a few occasions to give me a little extra help. A fun if slightly frustrating level. This map took me 1 and a quarter hours and I didn't find a single secret! :( I completed the first four episodes as a whole in 7 and a quarter hours and found a total of 9 secrets.” – gfd (29-Dec-2003)

“The first second has Lara falling into a temple during an earthquake, (would be a very good follow-up to what happens to her at the end of TR4), and if she doesn't do something on her way down she dies immediately. Talk about throwing you in face first! I remember when I did these levels I went a long long way into the level trying to work during this earthquake, I got a major headache. Then I read the I could turn it off in the first room. But that's not all, there's boulders, spikes and fire to deal with, Hopping about that ledge and the monkeyswing underneath it. Oh boy, Pascal starts off in style, and if this is the first couple of minutes, then we're in for some ride! When I played this first I thought, this is even better than a lot of the original games, and looking at it now I haven't changed my mind, August 2003. This time I paid more attention to architecture, textures, lighting, objects, as I knew what to do gameplay-wise. If there are tiny faults here and there it's still far superior to the original games. Those guys could do with a lot of help from Pascal if they are thinking of releasing a new game soon, what is it, TR6? And he did The Rescue series all on his own! Stick that in your pipes and smoke it. The other reviewers have pretty much covered what these first 4 levels are about, so I'll just give a few personal comments. There's a lot to do in each room, not as sometimes happens, huge empty useless rooms. I liked the good use of the rooms in the Editor flyby. There aren't many enemies, just a few black pharaoh dogs, so you can concentrate on the puzzles, which is good because some puzzles are fairly complicated. Edfou is a huge complex of buildings and waterways and I particularly liked the ancient Egyptian boat bobbing up and down in the water, hearing the jeep's engine idling, and all that running around on top of the walls and buildings (no wonder these levels take me so long to play). Getting more enemies now, crocs, scorpions and great looking green ninjas. I wasn't crazy about the look of the Timeless Sands level, but the gameplay as usual was good, and I liked that little tease at the start where you see the canopic jar but don't actually get it until the end of the level. Philae's Ruins is a major exploration job looking for green switches, levels 3 and 4 were not good looking like the first two, and consequently affected the atmosphere and textures score, sorry. The most important thing throughout the whole series is collecting the stars because you'll need 8 to play the bonus level. I'm here to make you all feel good as I don't play custom levels very quickly, so take heart when you hear that first time round these four levels took me 12:37 hours to play, covering 25764m, and getting 20 secrets.” – CC (24-Aug-2003)

“What a huge set of levels with a lot of tasks to perform. Secret Temple: Beautiful temple settings with a nice atmosphere, be it spooky (the big room with the howling locked dogs) or majestic (burning water room with on the side the big god statues with spread arms). Gameplay wise it comes down to looking around real good. Nice water action in not too complicated mazes. Progressive raiding all together though with a bit too much pushing to do (globes). Illegal slope shows up after passing the first spread arm God. Edfou: Nice settings again, this time out in the open. One chance for getting stuck in the room with dark blue textures where when the rolling rocks fall down too early you have no chance of placing the white gems. Game play wise it basically comes down to locating the necessary holes in walls (very sneaky now and then). After the jump with the sidecar the secret down deep did not register at first when not standing near the climbable green wall. Timeless sands: Memorable big lava room where at a glance you are able to plan your progress. The tile room (with four grated doors) got me fooled to be logical in its solution which it wasn't because the solution just happened to be published somewhere before entering it (duh!): had to check the walkthrough for that (not months ago when I just ran around in that room so much I got them all four to open) but it was solvable if unlike me you at least look around good. The lever pushing near the little lava room was a bit boring to get the Times of Sand thingie but the change of the room after placing that one was beautiful and well done. Philae's Ruins: Once again beautiful spaces as well as outside as inside though on the gameplay side way too much running and swimming around I'm afraid. Luckily the author did not made the mistake to make every room look the same so after a while of searching you were able to locate what you just opened by pushing a button. Not everything works as it should be though: first I burned and extinguished myself hence being able to put the gold statue and I was also able to finish without using the garden key. Found 16 secrets in all of which some were memorable (the one with the sneaky button that made a side dune explode where you find the grenade gun). In short: Tomb Raiding with classic touches and certainly worth it when you have a lot time on hands!” – bERT (11-Jun-2003)

“What a great set of levels amazing. There are so many great rooms (will always remember the huge room with two big statues at either end where you can jump on the outstretched hands) and a lot of inventive and different puzzles. Classic tomb raiding all the way it doesn't get much better than this.” – Nutman (09-Jun-2003)

“I played these levels for the second time and was wondering if I still would like them so much as the first. Well I did. It's an amazing set of levels and a joy to play. Classic raiding if you ask me this should have been the official follow-up for TR4 it's just great.” – Josi (04-Jun-2003)

“My Lara had a lot of fun in these four levels. The graphics are designed with much care and there was a lot of diversity in gameplay. Very much reminds you of TR 4. There were several types of enemies but not too many of the. I like it when it is more puzzle based. Lara had to accomplish quite a lot. I found 18 secrets in the four parts and collected a star and a key for the next levels. Several artifacts to collect along the way: guardian key ankh gems canopic jars. Sound was suitably added cameras could have been a few more but even without them the atmosphere was great. Considering that this was a debut back then – very impressive.” – Navi (06-Mar-2003)

“Who doesn't know Pascal's work by now not many I guess. Although I played that some time ago I found the series so great that I admit I must have started these again at least four times. The kind of puzzles are already mentioned so I will just say a few words about my experience. I was amazed looking at the textures and lighting it is so convincing I was practically left with my mouth open when I first looked at the levels. The start is very challenging you need to avoid boulders and spikes and land safely if you fail you're dead of course. You will see all sort of enemies here plus the awesome title level that really had me going I couldn't believe that someone could create it. Ropes to swing from our dear Seth mummies another challenge in every corner. Pascal must be considered as a professional he showed his talent from day one and frankly I don't know how Eidos hasn't grabbed him yet. Well their lose our gain. Don't let these levels in fact the entire series escape you.” – Kristina (02-Dec-2002)

“Simply AMAZING!! Very beautiful set of levels. Wonderful rooms. Nice and difficult puzzles. Lighting and textures are perfect. At the beginning when Lara is sliding with these spike balls falling it is not easy to find how to stop the earthquake. And the way through the underwater mazes is a little hard too. But the gameplay is excellent and I liked specially the flyby of lava room. It's fantastic.” – Cuqui (07-Nov-2002)

“A very good series of levels. With a very impressive beginning and some of the most beautiful locations I've ever seen in custom levels (Edfou). The gameplay is fluent and only few times I had to read in the walkthrough but only because of my fault. Nothing serious... Now I'm playing the sixth of this series and of course I'll play it all.” – Loupar (13-Oct-2002)

“When I first started the first of this set of four levels, I really didn't think I'd like them. The reason for this was because at first it not only looked like your standard Egyptian level, but it was also really hard right from the start - and personally I like to ease into things gently rather than being slapped in the middle of a boulder-fest as soon as I begin a new game. However, something about that first level kept me playing it. And I'm glad I did because each level seemed to me to get progressively better, and in fact 'The Rescue' series is now one of my all time favourites. I mentioned that the textures etc were standard. Well, yes they are in some places, but that doesn't mean that they're not perfectly done. These levels could have been part of TR4, they look so professional. Some places were so beautifully done that I literally sat and just looked on in amazement for a few minutes rather than getting down to raiding. Enemies here are not the focal point; exploration and puzzle solving are the order of the day. Just how I like it. It's both interesting and commendable that almost everyone who has reviewed these levels so far has a different favourite - it shows that Pascal has managed the impossible. He's created a game that truly does have something for everyone. My only complaints are (and they really are very tiny): There's a bit too much backtracking at times for my liking, and I would really have welcomed a bit more camera work. But that's just personal taste. In short, you would be mad not to download this masterpiece, and if you don't gasp aloud in awe at least once during the time you spend in the world Pascal has created here, then there's surely something wrong with you. And even better - if you (quite rightly) think that these levels are outstanding, and that Pascal couldn't possibly do any better, then you're in for a real treat with the remainder of the series. :)” – Bex (10-Sep-2002)

“Tombraider fans will enjoy this series a lot. There are countless puzzles to solve which are not too tricky. Lara has to stay alert as she needs to gather numerous puzzle pieces and artifacts. The are also many secrets to find I collected a total of 16. There are many switches and levers a lot of diving tricky jumps – everything that belongs to a good series of puzzles. The rooms were designed very well textures were very cleanly processed the atmosphere brilliant. The opponents were scorpions baddies ninjas mummies crocodiles and not to forget Seth. The sound was really always suitably inserted. I can only say it is even better than the original Tombraider simply great. Download it!” – Engelchen Lara (17-Aug-2002)

“Well what can I say about these four levels? I felt like starting to play the last revelation again. Spent about five and a half hours into these levels found 16 or 17 secrets + 2 golden stars which I presume are for unlocking a secret level at the end of the series. Level 1 - The secret temple: I'll say this is a very 'elegant' level in my opinion. It always will keep you moving doesn't matter if those are spike balls demon hounds fire spirits or little flames that can burst the water you're wading in in every second. It has some small surprises when you find out you are actually playing the title level or the meeting with Seth at the end of the level. It maybe lasted a bit too long but it was made very professionally and carefully and had less bugs than any other of the levels. Level 2 - Edfou Kingdom of Horus: This was quite a fun level to play and quite a relief after the never ending action in the secret temple. But it was a bit too short and I wouldn't have minded if this level would've lasted as long as the first one. But then again it might have gotten boring after a while so maybe it was good enough as long as it lasted. But there was a gate which needed a key so I could unlock it and shoot a vase which I never did. That kinda bothered me at first and then surprised that I could go on without it. And talking about vases I didn't see any logic how a shattered vase could open a gate? But then again there aren't so many logical things in TR anyway. Unfortunately the end of the world bug occurred too. But despite all of that a nice level. Level 3 - Philaes ruins + The timeless sands: My biggest disappointment that is a bit ironical was that I was so happy after finishing Edfou The kingdom of Horus with not much health and wanted to start the next level with new strength - Lara falls down and loses a LOT of health and I have just as much as at the end of E KoH. But the first part of Philae’s Ruins was nice with the nice flipeffect when placing the vraeus and the beautiful gorge where you left this level first left me wondering how great it will be when I come back. And then I entered the timeless sands. The fly-by was nice but I'm sorry to say this the first rooms were ugly. It improved when you were deeper in this level but I couldn't forget that room for along time and it was a trauma for me to find something like that in such great series of levels. But the level was quite good and a lot of fun also. It could've been more original in places but I didn't actually mind. Level 4 - Philaes Ruins: Quite boring this level was but at least different from the previous ones. The outside areas were magnificent (even if the end of the world occurred in some places again) loved the placement of secrets especially loved the Grenade Gun secret I was scared to death when the explosion took place but soon enough I was rewarded with a good firearm for this. There were also some more bugs than just the end of the world in this level. Near the end you could see a floating Lara's bum in the sky which I presume was supposed to be a lensflare. Also some of the trees were floating in the air you could see the golden star through the wall near the pool complex if you watched carefully. The ending was a bit dull too but I hope the best has yet to come in the series....” – eTux (19-Jul-2002)

“WOW! When I started to play these levels (Jun-30/02) I was already late: these levels already were in the top 50. I then started to play thinking ‘It shall be a great game!’ and when it started I had no more doubts: it IS a great game! The Secret Temple (9/10/10/9): This was an about perfection level. I would even give to puzzles a 10 but there are simply too many pushable object puzzles. You need to solve them to find more pieces to open the doors in the central area - by the way this ‘central area’ is just like the central area in the TR4 title level and that was a great touch. The amulet room is very similar to the treasure room in the Times Exclusive level :-). Well leaving the similar rooms behind we get to the enemies: not many not annoying just fine! Even Seth made his appearance but Lara escaped from him - Seth is free once again. Textures work is impressive but the lighting could be better. Also I missed the sky - what happened to it? 90 minutes 6 secrets. Edfou Kingdom of Horus (10/10/10/9): hmmm... maybe my ratings for the second level of this pack is too high but it's not exaggerated at all! This level is set in a city style environment very well done I must say. The enemies again were not many but they were. There's only two rooms that in my opinion could be way better texturized. The one were you have to use the two Diamonds of Nil for the second time and the blue carpet corridor. Those textures didn't please me. There was a maze but you can walk over the walls and discover easily your path ;-). 50 minutes 6 secrets. Timeless Sands (9/9/10/10): Ok we only get to this level after 10 short minutes in Philae's Ruins but we play this level before that one. As the name may remind you yes there is a puzzle like the one in Tomb of Seth with the hieroglyphs on the floor -- and this one took me a lot of time to discover how to complete it! Even a look at the walkthrough was needed but that didn't help though. As the previous levels this is a plausible one and the green ninjas looked cool :-). 60 minutes to get through it and I found only 1 secret. Philae's Ruins (9/10/10/9): this probably is the best of these first four levels and very big as well! It features nice flipmaps with water and sand (using the respective keys) and it has the hardest puzzles too. But there were the push button open door find door push another button puzzles too. Nothing really bad but the level is very big and few times cameras showed what just happened. The Tinnos (TR3) textures didn't please me but the outside areas were just awesome. Nice fogs too :-). 70 minutes and I found two secrets. And don't forget to keep your savegames for the next levels!” – Treeble (11-Jul-2002)

“Really what can I say about this level. This magnificent piece of work plays just like a small well just over 6 hours Core designed game with 4 levels of tricky puzzles and wonderful locations. The Secret Temple (2hr 10min): From the first second you are dropped literally into the earthquake shaking spike ball rolling level you can tell this is gonna be one hell of an adventure. The aim here is to make your way through the temple of Seth the dog headed god with whom a winged version you must have a confrontation with near the end. Along the way there is plenty to do including finding many underwater switches triggering many gates and doors with pressure tiles locating 6 secrets and completing an intricate 4 part puzzle that allows access to a 4 piece push and pull object puzzle. A highlight for me was walking onto the palm of a large golden idol of Seth it was awe inspiring. Edfou Kingdom of Horus (70min): This level is totally played outside apart from a couple of small stops inside and the setting is broken up into a few sections the initial open garden like area with an idling 4 wheel drive a waterway with a gondola and a sealed off courtyard where you will find the motorbike for the great escape at the end. With some more back and forth through the sections exploring 6 more secrets deviously well hidden a fun double bike jump and having probably the easiest although still not that easy gameplay this level is where you should take a deep breath and get ready for the final levels. Just a hint be careful as there is a puzzle here that if you trigger some boulders too early they will stop progression and if you have no savegames then you will have played 3 hours for nothing. Philae’s Ruins and The Timeless Sands (2hr 50min): These last 2 levels are intermingled and they offer a more Egyptian feel but don’t think ‘yawn’ as these are extraordinary levels with many complex puzzles actually the most difficult puzzles so far and indoor and outdoor locations that sometimes change their look with some small tremors opening new places to explore again don’t forget to backtrack often and look everywhere or you will miss the 8 combined secrets in these 2 levels. These 4 levels are not rife with enemies and actually that really suited the game perfectly as you need to think about each new move without too much distraction. And keep your last savegame as the author of these incredible levels is actually building a complete full game and these are the first four levels included through these levels are stars 3 so far and when 5 more have been found through the not yet completed levels this will trigger a bonus level!” – Sash (21-Jun-2002)

“So here is me writing review number 9 for these 4 levels after almost a full weekend of playing them and actually then replaying them using Tombaholic’s walkthrough to find a few things I had missed. A net gaming time at this replay of 4:45 hours is humongous e.g. compared to my personal net gaming time of 4:08 hours for the whole of TR Chronicles so before diving into this adventure ‘buckle up your seatbelts Dorothy coz’ Kansas is going bye-bye’. The Secret Temple (1:30 hours; 9/9/9/10): Making your way through a temple always on your toes fighting mummys scorpions devilish fire demons and dogs each room adds another smart puzzle to the list. Fire and water a perfectly used to support the gameplay and those underwater switches can be easily overlooked. As with all 4 levels a few more cameras showing what has changed after pushing a switch would have been nice and with all the perfect design I was surprised to end up in an illegal slope once. The 6 secrets here are not overly difficult to find and I have to say that while the overall design of the puzzle with the four globes is brilliant there was just a bit too much pushing and pulling involved for me. The grande finale with ole’ friend Seth is magnificent and would well fit the overall end of the series. Edfou Kingdom of Horus (0:45 hours; 8/8/9/9): While I enjoy outside settings and really loved the gondola I found this level the least impressive of the set. There is some nice architecture crocodiles dogs and white ninjas and that double bike jump towards the end and I remember a few neat camera angles but other than that nothing much. The Timeless Sands (1:00 hour; 10/9/10/9): After a few minutes in Philae’s Ruins you enter this level with a great initial flyby of that marvelous lava room puzzle. This level has a few more helpful cameras and uses sand to perfection by creating an ever-changing environment. There are many traps some scorpions and bats and a tricky multi-lever puzzle to reach the timeless sand. Overall lots of puzzle pieces switches and levers to deal with. Philae’s Ruins (1:30 hours; 10/10/10/9): This one starts out as level three and with a highlight (the flip effect in the first room is gorgeous). There are crocodiles and newly dressed black and green ninjas and when you come back later from Level 4 you are facing cave-like atmosphere a series of nice flip effects and well designed secret areas and a number of challenging swims and dives in this Karnak WAD inspired level. I had a smile at one palm tree floating in mid air but not much more to complain about. Bottomline this is as if you had bought a new game in the shops so go get it and download for free before Core/Eidos buy it to make it a commercial product. By the way do yourself a favour and before starting to play sit back and enjoy that awesome title fly-by (download the additional wavs too!)” – Michael (21-Jun-2002)

“Level 1: This is a wonderful return to the Last Revelation and whilst I must admit I am not a great fan of these style of levels this is one of the better representations. The textures are great puzzles difficult enough without being over taxing on the old brain box and there is sufficient variation to continually keep you guessing. Level 2: Another similar level to the first with perhaps some darker and more devious puzzles to keep you occupied. A recurring theme of boulders falling from nowhere is starting to become old but other than that a nicely structured level. Levels 3 and 4: As these two levels morph backwards and forwards into each other they really are one rather long level and the tradition of the first two continues here except for the addition of some underwater mazes that will drive you crazy. Thankfully the falling boulder traps have ceased and these levels get you thinking more and running from death less. I may have progressed incorrectly but as I could not see how to turn some fires off opted to take health hits complete the job and run for water sucking down health packs like crazy. At the end of the day these are truly a fun set of levels.” – Torry (21-Jun-2002)

“The rating speaks for itself. This not-so-mini game (7+ hours) stands head and shoulders above anything done to date on LE. Rather than writing a 1 000 word review to encompass all that's great in these levels I'll just say: downlaod it hold on to your hat and enjoy a masterpiece. P.S. To the author: throughout the gane I kept thinking that someone from Core MUST have done this level. It's amazing.”- Tombaholic (21-Jun-2002)

“These 4 levels and also the 5th (Temple of Osiris) are the benchmark in terms of creativity difficulty complexity and beauty of the rooms. The other reviewers have already mentioned enough about part 1-4. Find my comments about Level 5 in the separate Review page for Temple of Osiris. MagPlus is really setting a mark with this level series and I would guess Core/Eidos would love to have him in their team. I am looking forward to the upcoming levels. Some facts: about 10 hours of net gaming time for all 5 levels 16 secrets found (?) und the (more than) marathon distance of 47 kilometers run. Important: Keep a savegame. There’s more to come....” – Qwendo (21-Jun-2002)

“Overall an excellent level setting new standards for level design. The textures are superb and merge so it isn't easy to tell where they start and end. Lighting is good and the atmosphere thus created suits these levels well. Some of the puzzles are very unrealistic and some faults in the trigger placement. For example on the first level you can jump so that the earthquake is not turned off and it goes on for the whole level! But this is a minor glitch in a well rounded fun to play set of levels.” – TrueRaider (21-Jun-2002)

“The atmosphere textures and lighting of this adventure are absolutely amazing. And it has nice traps and puzzles too. The third level (Philae's Ruins) is a bit boring but the second one (Edfou Kingdom of Horus) is one of the best levels (created with the official editor) I have ever played! Congratulations Magplus!” – Leandro (21-Jun-2002)

“As other people have said this series of levels are as good as many of the original levels and are definitely worth playing more than once. By the end of the four levels my time said it had taken me six hours but I actually spent days completing this very clever and exciting series. The first ten minutes are the toughest with spikes difficult jumps an earthquake and some fire elementals thrown in for a little excitement. From then on it's a nice blend of both easy and difficult puzzles that include new pushable and shootable objects rooms you have to fill with sand blocks to raise and lower boulder traps a maze floating platforms that catch on fire seconds after you step onto them long slides over lava pits and a floor puzzle with hieroglyphics where you have to step on certain tiles to make it through. The author has the ability to put many puzzles into a small space. There are at least two rooms that look simple at first but actually contain many puzzles and by the time you leave them you will have the layout memorized as well as that of your own house. Thankfully there are few enemies so you can concentrate on figuring out what to do next and looking for the hidden passages and switches. I found 18 of the 20 well placed secrets and enjoyed everything from the well designed and textured rooms to the custom title fly-by. I have played all ten levels of the series - the first four are my favorite and remind me just why I love Tomb Raider so much.” – RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002)

“Do I really have to comment this? Ok at first sight I thought it was TR 6 from Core but then I realized that its much better than Core´s levels. Just a few missing lights in the first part made me stop with the 10´s at the end. Who can top these levels? I don´t have the answer. If you don´t download it you must be stupid. ;-)” – WebKnight (21-Jun-2002)

“This is a great series of four Egyptian levels with high entertainment great puzzles and a nice design. I’ll have to deal with the levels separately to make things more clear. It all starts with a custom title screen and a nice custom title fly by based on the second level Edfou - Kingdom of Horus with sound effects triggers and a custom sound track. One of the best title fly by projects I’ve seen. I just think the lights could be better to enhance the atmosphere. The Secret Temple (10/8/8/7): The beginning is already a nightmare with the earthquake and those deadly boulders falling. I took me some time to actually ‘start’ the level. An advice about the upcoming good adventure. This is an internal level with some very beautiful places and a complex gameplay. The author puts some effort on texturing and the result is nice. Some places reminded me of the original title fly by or the Times Exclusive Level. I just should point some design mistakes that in my opinion should be rectified. Some simple ones like a missing 999 ocb setting for the Horus Door. And some more serious like a horizontal water corridor showing through a dry pit with spikes and another one that for sure should be corrected - After the Horus Door fire demons appear. Running from them I fell in one of the dry pools (that later should be filled with water) and ended into another misconnected water corridor. There was a way of coming back to the dry corridor and I died. When the pools are with water it doesn’t happen of course. At this same big room I’ve found one of the greatest puzzles of the levels with shatter statues ropes and rising block. Very good! The pushable objects puzzles later on in the level was also very well designed. And the ending of the level with the scary confrontation with Seth was amazing with good effects and atmosphere. It could have been the final scene for the four levels. Overall a very good level especially for its gameplay. It seems I’ve missed one of the secrets. Edfou Kingdom of Horus (10/8/8/8): This is an outside level very beautiful and well textured. The atmosphere is great! I like the very good use of fixed cameras. The baddies ninjas and crocs are well placed. I had a strange bug with the ninjas when they shoot I could hear a strange water noise. As with the other three levels I like the inclusion of custom object names. The pickups and secrets are well hidden and you must work hard for some of them this is cool. I wolud like a few more cameras to show what happens when some actions are performed. There are some apparent design mistakes here too. Sometimes I felt like I could get to places before the author’s idea. For example I could get to the top of the city and found a secret before I had the crowbar. There are some places where you can get stuck like some deep pits. And I could reach areas which of course were not intended like the high roofs where I could see the end of the world and walk over non-textured places. Gameplay is again excellent. The Timeless Sands (8/8/7/6): This level actually begins after a short trip to level 4. The areas are not as beautiful as the other levels. Textures and lights could be better. The gameplay is good I like good puzzles with rising blocks poles and climbing. Overall this is the weakest of all four levels which makes me think it was built first and then connected as the third in the levels series. The quality difference is very clear. Philaes Ruins (9/8/8/8): This is a very good level with internal and outside areas well designed and built. Puzzles are again very well done although not as creative as in the first and second levels. The pickups and secrets are well hidden which I like. Texturing is great but the lights could be tweaked to enhance atmosphere. Again I’ve found some design mistakes not that bad but they’re there and should be corrected. I got stuck in a lava pit near the gold statue. Could get to the other side of the high sand walls before the flipmap got the grenade gun (which later is a secret) and got stuck. Could also get to the gold statue before the water maze puzzle (which is a very good puzzle!) and got stuck. At the ending outside area I could get to high places and saw the end of the world and parts of other rooms. Also found some illegal slopes. I’m so sorry to point so many irrelevant design mistakes but in a so well designed and built series of levels like this if they’re corrected the whole set will be just perfect! So MagPlus please don’t get me wrong your levels are among the best ones I’ve played so far and I know how difficult it is for a single person to manage all those issues. The strategy is just perfect and so are the puzzles. I can’t wait to play the next one!” - Phabius Phodes (21-Jun-2002)

“Having played the majority of the levels created I must say that The Rescue (all 4 parts) is the best one yet IMHO. I was so excited that I wanted to give all 10's but had to grade down on things like occasional thin textures really easy to defeat baddies and fire that doesn't burn. However overall the entire 10 hour (!) experience was AWESOME. The rooms beautifully vary in size shape atmosphere skill level necessary and colors. The mazes and puzzles make you think. (overlooking something simple can increase playing time by hours). The pickups were well spaced and not just lying around everywhere. Bravo Pascal. I hope Eidos offers you a job!” - Wendee (21-Jun-2002)

“Good use of puzzle traps- get it wrong and you have to start again. Despite the, at time tedious pushing some of objects, others have to be thought out both where as well as how to get an object to the correct place. Like all good (to me) levels this one allows you to get going in a gentle way, before taxing the old grey cells. Puzzles need to be done in the right order or else you end up good and stuck. Same with the route through the levels, alternative wrong ones possible which then gets you thinking.“ – Whistle (21-Jun-2002)

“Holy Shit!! (can I say that?) If that doesn't make it past the censors then PLAY THIS GAME! I've been ruined and can never play another Core game again...” – MichaelB (21-Jun-2002)

“This is a damn fine effort. Puzzle design and gameplay amongst the best I've seen and superior to even Core in my opinion. Well planned and well executed and isn't it nice to play a level where gratuitous slaughter is kept to a minimum? I hope this level reaches the audience it deserves and that the author receives the acknowledgement that is deserved because make no mistake this is the benchmark. This is the standard to which we should all aspire although I have to admit I would fall over my bootlaces in the first 5 minutes. My advice is play as many other created levels as you can before you play this because there are very few that will be able to compare. And there’s more to follow.” - Paul (21-Jun-2002)

“Great. This is a level, you think you are playing Tomb Raider 6. This is a long game and I have played only the first 4. I like the puzzles, they are not so very hard, but you must open your eyes to find the buttons and the objects you need. The atmosphere of these levels is very good and the enemies are not so hard. I was playing over 8 hours and I finished level number 3 with the garden key, 1 star and 1 vraeus. I think I need this objects in the next level. I hope the next 6 levels are as good as the first 4 levels. I must say: All have to play this big, long tomb raider game.” – Andi Croft (21-Jun-2002)

“Good use of puzzle traps- get it wrong and you have to start again. Despite the at time tedious pushing some of objects others have to be thought out both where as well as how to get an object to the correct place. Like all good (to me) levels this one allows you to get going in a gentle way before taxing the old grey cells. Puzzles need to be done in the right order or else you end up good and stuck. Same with the route through the levels alternative wrong ones possible which then gets you thinking.“ – Whistle “Fantastic gigantic levels Pascal has created here. Very nicely textured imaginative puzzles and outstanding jump combinations; these 4 levels are a real challenge for every TR fan. It is like in an original TR game and still 6 other Level wait for me. The single point that has disturbed me was the endless pushing in the first level otherwise I would have smoothly given away 10 points.” – Xxenofex (21-Jun-2002)

“Wow! I have just spent the best part of a week playing this excellent set of levels. It has virtually everything going for it - puzzles secrets enemies pick-ups galore. In a few places Lara was a little flatly lit and I found a palm tree hovering in the air in Philaes Ruins but these are such minor things in such a huge level. I particularly enjoyed the globe puzzle in that big room that features in the Level Editor Games title flythrough. Texturing lighting atmosphere are all very good and good use is made of cameras and cut scenes throughout. Net game time was just over seven hours and I must admit I had to resort to Tombaholic's excellent walkthroughs on more than one occasion. All I can add to this is - Play this level. (Part five - here I come).” – Staticon (21-Jun-2002)

“I think it's pretty hard to make a better adventure than the Rescue. If you don't like Egyptian levels you will surely enjoy this one. The texturing is very great often exceptional especially in the first two levels. You will find in them everything you expect from a tombraider game: some difficult traps and jumps all kinds of moves a lot of exploring and very good puzzles various enemies some of them are well placed like crocs and ninjas the most frightening are Seth and a few fire sprites. The author has a treasure of imagination in his mind to create always good puzzles. If you like to find secrets and pickups your efforts will be rewarded. The Secret temple is maybe the best custom level I've played. Edfou is very nice with outside areas a strong gameplay but is not very difficult. I like very much Philae ruins for the Tinnos textures the caves and underwater tunnels and the not straightforward way: you can choose which way you want to go. For me Eternal sands was the weaker of these four levels: very good puzzles indeed but the atmosphere and textures are less good. Good camera work but it does not make all the work for you so you'd better have a good sense of orientation in this set of long levels (almost 7 hours for me).” – eRIC (21-Jun-2002)

“This is unfair. Why can't I write three reviews about this as it took me more than 6 hours to complete? After the first hour I thought: what the hell is this level doing in the Top 50? Ok gameplay wise texture- and atmosphere wise it's all solid TR standard and I guess you have to bear in mind that it is an early custom level (Those good old days right at the start you'll find a piece of Eye on a burning pedestal right above a pool and of course nowadays you are used to just grab the thing and backflip into the water whereas here you can actually turn the heat off in a nearby corridor). At the heart of the first level are two cleverly constructed rooms but if you get down to it the first half is basically about lever pushing while in the second half you have to drag an awful lot of heavy objects to and fro. Both are by no means my favorite activities and so I was getting a bit restless after 90 minutes or so. There aren't many enemies nor pick ups to distract you from the tasks that were getting more tedious by the minute. The second part is less linear and I thought the gameplay was definitely an improvement. More resistance and more pick-ups and a great variety in the actions that have to be done in order to make progress. My only complaint here is that you can climb most of the walls but there is nothing to do up there than admire the End of the World. A troughoutly enjoyable adventure that is rather fast paced since you don't have to do so much pushing and dragging. But once you get to the double level 3 and 4 things really start to get interesting. You know I sometimes read reviews and they go on about the good puzzles of the respective level and when I recall the level I can't remember any puzzles. I mean if you have to work out that the only way to get to the other side of the abyss is to shimmy along the edge well that isn't a proper puzzle in my book. If you want to know what proper puzzles are you have to have a look at the Rescue part 3 and 4. Having said that at the end it becomes a bit too complex for my liking. I was really surprised that I never got stuck in the first five hours but after that you are presented with so many doors and options while the information you get when pushing buttons remains sparse that I got completely lost. Not entirely my fault cause one of those many doors failed to open. However the brilliant course the construction of the area how you have to revisit rooms again and see other places through windows is truly ingenious. So it is a really great sequence of events as things get better and better from level to level. Not only the gameplay and puzzles but the atmosphere and textures as well. In one word it's a classic! It stays faithful to the original idea of Tomb Raider while still being unique original and highly inventive. An absolute must play if you ask me. I found 12 secrets but I guess there must be a lot more.” – Dimpfelmoser (21-Jun-2002)
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