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Level: Ice Palace back home search
Author(s): Unkwon
total rating:2.84 Gameplay &
Puzzles		 Enemies,
Objects &
Secrets		 Atmosphere,
Sound &
Cameras		 Lighting &
Textures
Dimpfelmoser 2 2 4 4
eTux 3 2 2 3
Gerty 2 2 2 2
Jay 4 3 4 4
Kristina 2 3 5 5
Magnus 3 1 2 2
MichaelP 4 4 5 5
Orbit Dream 2 2 2 3
RaiderGirl 3 3 3 4
Sakusha 4 3 3 3
Sash 3 4 2 4
The Aussie Adventurer 1 3 2 3
TheStig 2 2 2 2
Torry 2 3 2 2
Treeble 2 2 1 3
Yoav 3 3 4 4
category averages
(16 reviews)		 2.63 2.63 2.81 3.31

Reviewer's comments

"This little adventure starts off rather well,with a "do something,or you'll die" mini-gauntlet;followed by a straightforward door opening task containing a sneakily placed Gem.From then on,it's downhill (literally and metaphorically) all the way.Trial-and-error tasks;an earthquake which might easily not be triggered;and no Finish Trigger.The textures serve their purpose,but have been placed without much care;while lighting is sparse indeed.Enemies are undoubtedly the best feature,and are fun to eliminate (or run away from).This was one of the earliest level releases,yet I'm finding it hard to be forgiving.Only recommended if you fancy an incomplete short raid." - Orbit Dream (26-Mar-2013)

"Every now and then I wish I would read the other reviews before playing one of the older levels. At least I would always know whether they actually have a finish trigger or not - but I suppose one can't blame the "2011 me" for expecting to find such a commodity something that simply should be present, no questions asked? I suppose what aggravated me is that with even a little more rudimentary care like that having went into it, this could've been half-decent. You start the level by immediately having to jump over 2 rows of spikes, and the first area, though compact actually had more going on than I would've expected from it. It went downhill for me afterwards - as I failed to pick up on the logic for the 2 pressure pad puzzles and the "final area" ended up being the source of my confusion as to whether the game actually ends or not. You're not trapped on the final platform for good, which, if cruel, could've been one possible ending, but the author also didn't seem to build any rooms beyond it (how hard could 1 more room with a finish trigger have been, really?) so you can't really progress beyond it too. There's nothing particularly memorable about the looks, and it seems almost a waste of breath going through the list of what was and was not done here to set them up. I suppose I liked the fly-bys a little bit and the non-existent lighting is a plus if you consider that the author could've made it ridiculously dark too - and I couldn't help wondering whether the gem blending in with the environment was intentional or not. Is it an experience you should not miss out on? Probably not. As said - the most aggravating part is that it could've actually been somewhat acceptable with not that much more effort put into it - other than that it's fairly forgettable." - eTux (16-Oct-2011)

"An unfinished project always leads to an unfinished review. In this instance I didnt really enjoy this level, and when I looked to the walk through I could see there wasnt much more to play. The bizzare decision to have to jump on a set of squares in a specific order was frustrating to say the least, and when I saw there was no end trigger (and reading other reviews), decided to leave it there." - TheStig (25-Dec-2009)

"I'm full aware of this level age and realize what was going on back then. First off, the texture set used seems to be a mess, merging catacombs, Nevada and City of Tinnos textures together and they're applied in a very non convincing way, so atmosphere here is nearly null - there are no lighting effects at all and the few cameras used could have used a lot more work. Gameplay is also on the weird side, you start sliding down some spiked slopes to then climb around and pick some crystals to reach the next area, where what you do is pure trial and error, as the camera show you that stepping on a "earth" symbol is safe, but the other nearby "earth" symbols are not. How do we figure that out? Major thanks for Harry for taking his time to write a walkthrough for this level, I'd have dropped it then. It's over pretty soon, anyway, as the final area is unfinished and the rising floor doesn't take Lara up (unless she's dead, then miraculously it works). 5 minutes. 01/07" - Treeble (28-Jan-2007)

"In this level, lara is faced with an underground palace which looks crumbling and deserted. What left behind are mummies, skeletons and beetles. What also left behind is a good adventure. There are many traps to be faced and poor level design. This level was not fun. Some puzzles were illogical and had a randomness to them in their solution. There is no finishing trigger either so don't expect to finish it. The best and only part is the fact it looks passable, which kind of describes this level..passable. That's right, pass this one up and find a better one. If I had to give this level a grade, I would give it a D-, a fail mark." - The Aussie Adventurer (25-Nov-2005)

“This level seems pretty incomplete especially since it doesn't have a finishing trigger. At least the author solved the load screen problem. I enjoyed jumping over the spikes inserting a horseman's gem while trying to ward off morgue beetles and facing four or five skeletons at once. The lighting is always at R 128 G 128 B 128 there are two relatively harmless mummies a few texture errors and a firetrap puzzle that has to be solved randomly because there isn't a pattern in the floor textures. It's a good start but it could've been longer since the author managed to throw in a few good elements of gameplay such as the constant obligation to jump diagonally (because of the lava) and climb ladders in order to go from one room to another.” – Sakusha (08-Aug-2004)

“I don't know why I did not read the reviews before I played this level lol. It's a combination of ice and catacomb wads with too many spikes many skeletons and an unfinished level grrrrrr.” – Yoav (10-May-2004)

“This was a really bad level. The texturing was bad and there was no lighting. There are some traps which gets really annoying since you get kicked out to the desktop every time Lara dies. The worst place was a floor that would kill Lara on some tiles but on some tiles she would survive. That room seemed to be purely trial and error. After five minutes I got to dead-end which I suppose is the end. If it wasn’t… Well I couldn’t really care less. But to be fair there were actually some good ideas in this level.” – Magnus (29-Jan-2004)

“I am sorry to say this but you better stay away from this level. I don’t like it when I have to say that but the level has serious bugs. After starting it and avoiding the spikes which I thought was a nice idea to place at the start and finding two gems I dropped down to continue playing. The icy setting was nice and there were mummies skeletons and beetles. Passing the fire floor and swimming passed the pool the problems started. No matter how many combinations and I am pretty sure I tried them all I tried there was nothing happening so I couldn’t proceed. I was there running up and down the tiles revisiting previous rooms but nothing. That is until after many many times of stepping onto the blue tiles one more step on the middle one and an earthquake occurred. I thought well I am past that so everything is ok wrong. Choosing one of the three openings and eventually visiting all three lead me to a room with an elevator. There are torches around which I am guessing have to be lit somehow and therefore open the roof for Lara to get up there. Unfortunately I think there’s another bug there so when she gets on the elevator can’t proceed but only drop down hanging from one half of it. Well I had to give up at that point I just can’t waste my time on such a buggy level and neither should you.” - Kristina (25-Aug-2003)

“This started off rather promisingly with a nice little spike jump routine the moment the level began but unfortunately the whole thing rather lost its impetus after that. I can't really add much to the other reviewers' comments except to say that I experienced no crashes to desktop despite dying quite a bit so perhaps the author has since resolved that issue. 26.07.2003” – Jay (26-Jul-2003)

“I don't know if I finished this. Somewhere along the lines I stepped onto a raising platform and that brought me to the top of the room with nowhere to go. By then I was heartily fed up with the many desktop deaths that strike everytime you run in one of the booby traps. The setting is not bad actually but since you're in constant fear of being kicked out of the game you don't feel like marveling at the textures. You're just irritated that there is no loadscreen.” – Dimpfelmoser (07-Nov-2002)

“Starting with some promise this level just seemed to go nowhere fast and after less than 10 minutes it was finished. There are quite a few enemies but they are dealt with easily and some booby traps that will have you reloading more than once but there really is not anything of interest here that you can not find executed better in some other level.” - Sash (21-Jun-2002)

“Actually a very short level with a few nice ideas but unfortunately many of the puzzles seem to be purely trial & error with error being equal to Lara dying. It had me running around a lot trying to find anything to do and then suddenly having triggered an event and not exactly knowing how. Also a little annoying when I started the level and did not immediately look I was already dead so had to start again. Maybe it was just me not being smart enough so you may want to try and find out for yourself.” - Michael (21-Jun-2002)

“This is one of the very few levels I deleted. Don't bother.” – Torry (21-Jun-2002)

“This looks like a first attempt at making a level. There are few puzzles and those are extremely simple. Enemies consist of skeletons and beetles and your main objective is to find and place two gems. The lighting was fine and the textures were ok - nothing too original. Most of your time will be spent avoiding the many booby traps spread throughout the level starting just 5 seconds into the game and restarting the level editor when you find one. Every time I died I was kicked back to the desktop. I wish a little more work had been put into this one.” – RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002)

“Sloppy that is the only word I have for this level. Being thrown to my desktop every time Lara died is not my idea of having fun. And Lara died a lot as the place is full of booby traps. Was glad when it was over. 24-05-2002” – Gerty (21-Jun-2002)
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