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Level: The Citadel back home search
Author(s): Igor
total rating:4.27 Gameplay &
Puzzles		 Enemies,
Objects &
Secrets		 Atmosphere,
Sound &
Cameras		 Lighting &
Textures
Blue43 5 5 4 4
Boris 4 4 4 5
CC 3 3 2 3
Daffy 6 6 5 5
Dimpfelmoser 4 5 5 5
Emeritus 5 4 6 5
eTux 5 4 4 4
Fairy Godfather 6 6 5 5
Gerty 3 3 4 5
Jason 4 4 4 5
Kristina 3 3 4 4
Leandro 1 2 2 2
Magnus 2 2 2 3
MichaelP 6 7 5 6
Momster 6 6 5 4
Orbit Dream 4 7 5 2
RaiderGirl 6 6 5 5
Sakusha 5 4 3 2
Sash 3 3 4 5
Scottie 5 5 5 4
Treeble 4 4 5 5
category averages
(21 reviews)		 4.29 4.43 4.19 4.19

Reviewer's comments

"A short and easy to play beginners level where Lara has to climb and jump through an icy dog infested Tibetan environment and later enter a temple area. The level is fast paced and straightforward – a lever is pulled, a door nearby opens and so on. There was a well-done room with deadly fire tiles to spice up game play a bit. No one will get lost in this one. Lots of pickups, especially of revolver ammo and the player finds out quickly why, as in the next area hordes of brown dogs attack Lara, which is obviously the highlight of the game. The lighting is bright for the most part with occasional dark areas but the builder provided plenty of flares. The texturing were from TR2 and unfortunately were very receptive looking in the outside areas and plenty of them were stretched and some were missing. The design was very minimalist and I also noted a few paper-thin walls. It is clearly a beginners level and has its flaws, but everything works as it should and there were no major bugs. Despite it’s flaws it was fun to play and had a nice hint of nostalgia to it. (15 minutes)." - Blue43 (01-Jan-2011)

"This level has a few good ideas. For example, the invisible bridge at the level beginning. And somewhere nearby must live a dog breeder, because I have never seen so many dogs on a heap. And a few rooms look quite good. But there are also too many stretched textures. And now and again a texture is absent sometimes. And the lighting could also have been better. But for the small play hunger occasionally the level was quite well-arranged." - Scottie (22-Mar-2010)

"The citadel is not beautiful, textures are often too square to have an effect of uniformity. Some rooms are better decorated and are nicer to look. The gameplay is easy with dog's attack (wolf) rather impressive when in the numbers of attackers. A nice level without big claim." - Daffy (17-Aug-2009)

“Compared to 'The Fate of Atlantis' this level is an improvement (especially when it comes to gameplay) but there is still some work to be done in order to make a decent level next time. This level is a little strange because it doesn't look like a citadel especially since the enemies the player will encounter are jackals and it doesn't look like a stronghold at all. At some point after you reach an area with a stash of ammunition and medipacks the player will encounter a horde of jackals that Lara has to dispose of immediately. The WAD file (settomb.wad) wasn't a well-chosen one because it adds some Egyptian characteristics to a Tibetan area. I don't think Egypt has ever influenced Tibet but in this level I guess we can try to imagine how far Egypt's scope of influence would've been if its empire had continued expanding. The lighting is very uneven (either too dark or too bright) the textures are stretched and repetitive there are a few paper-thin walls and some jackals appeared out of nowhere. The objective is to get the Timeless Sands and the Eye of Horus. Gameplay consists of finding the objects listed above killing jackals jumping and pulling switches in order to open doors. The level ends suddenly when Lara pulls a switch in the 'Seraph Room' which opens a door leading to a room where an ending would be unexpected. I found something strange in this level. In a sloped area I saw a spiked boulder that suddenly disappeared (you can only see this with DOZY. I felt like using it at that point but I reloaded after that so that I could do it without cheating). Was the author trying to scare the player? I don't know.” – Sakusha (22-Dec-2004)

“Strange little level. This Citadel has pretensions towards Barkhang Monastery and in some rooms it almost makes it but overall it has texture problems and really doesn't convince. There was a few very strange things happened along the way for me. One was an obvious boulder corridor I looked up to see the boulder sink into the slope not roll down it. So I ran further down looked up again and saw another boulder sink into the slope. Intriguing to look at but I'm guessing that's not what the author intended. The next lever after the boulders had me baffled for a while. Only using a previous savegame and waiting just a couple of seconds opened the nearby gate if you run away immediately no gates open. So what we're left with is a peculiar little level with Egyptian statues timeless sands eye of Horus wall in a snow bound Barkhang setting. Oh and I counted 43 dogs to shoot but as you get the revolver and a truck load of ammo for it this is not as bad as it sounds. Well bad in the sense that usually we only have to deal with one or two dogs together and when they squeal it's upsetting but it's over with very quickly. In one room about 20 dogs attack and it's a case of shooting shooting shooting and all those squeals really got to me when it was finished. On a lighter note the invisible bridge at the start was good because you can only see it from way below.” – CC (10-Oct-2004)

“This is an ice level and I thought that the first invisible bridge was well done. I spotted it while Lara was wading knee-deep in (what must have been) icy water. There are some jumps to do and then you are in search for the Eye and the Timeless sands. That is also where the fun begins. I was a bit baffled with the 15 pick-ups in one go for the revolver. And just around the corner I found out why this was a slaughterhouse and not funny. Poor animals. 10-01-2003” – Gerty (11-Jan-2003)

“This is level for the dog haters if you really really hate 'em donwload this immediately and unleash all your fury towards them! There are dozens of them coming to fight against you in this Tibetan temple and it would be quite tricky to take them out if you couldn't get 96 bullets for your revolver in the room before this one so the dogs fell as flies here. There is an unfairly hidden transparent bridge (I immediatly knew something's not right when I noticed that the surroundings disappear at some points) but the rest of the level is quite straightforward. If the author wanted to take you through the ‘Tibetan Foothils’ & ‘Barkhang Monastery’ in 15 minutes he did a splendid job and you should definitely try this level for the few hilarious things (the dog bloodbath the lighting (it was either too bright or too dark I don't recall a room with a lighting I would call 'normal')) and the TR 2 Tibet alike environment.” – eTux (29-Dec-2002)

“Nothing exciting to see here. Fifteen minutes of poor gameplay with the timeless sands and the Eye pieces to collect. A lot of dogs will come right at you but not to fear as at that point you will have the revolver and plenty of ammo. The textures are ordinary and in the icy areas you will see I am sure you will wonder what the library has to do with the whole scenery well beats me. Anyway one slide step at the side was untextured at the beginning and the invisible bridge made me stand and think for a minute before I found it. That's all folks.” – Kristina (02-Dec-2002)

“I liked the concept of this 20 minute level but just too many dogs to kill. Basically climbing and finding levers to pull opening doors and one fire tile room. You find the two halves of the Eye place them and you are out of there. Poor texturing and this could have been a pretty good level with some more puzzles and traps.” – Momster (13-Aug-2002)

“Magpus convinced me recently that you shouldn't downrate a level just because you happen to dislike a certain kind of landscape and I wonder does that mean I can't uprate a level just because I'm not particular fond of a certain kind of animal. Oh what the smeg if in doubt always in favour of the author I say. He certainly needs it badly in this case as there isn't that much apart from the slaughtering of those dogs. Well I guess that's unfair; of course I remember the invisible ledge a few levers a rather long monkeyswing a few jumps (actually I don't remember this bit but Michael mentions them so it must be true) a room with deadly tiles and an arctic atmosphere that wasn't half bad. So if you're a cat person like me I recommend this short and quirky experience. It is certainly unique in one way.” – Dimpfelmoser (28-Jul-2002)

“If this level is going to be remembered at all it is going to be for one thing the huge dog attack thankfully though just before this assault you happen upon a revolver and about a dozen boxes of shells so those poor mutts never stand a chance besides that this is a very easy and short at around 15 minutes level. I was surprised by one thing though I expected this to be set in a castle of some kind from the name but instead it is set in a Barkhong monastery type building and the outlying icy environment which I’m quite a fan of but here it wasn’t taken to its fullest potential and in the end fell quite a way short of the mark.” – Sash (21-Jun-2002)

“You are welcomed in this level by two dogs and snowy and ice grounds and you will be seeing more dogs along the way. Overall a good choice of textures though often too repetitively applied. After an invisible walkway a long monkey sequence and some nice pillar jumps you get inside and here you meet some of this typical design bugs such as a door placed the wrong way round thin walls only half of a lion statue placed etc. But then the fun starts as you find a room with a lot (and really a lot) of revolver ammo and shortly after find yourself in one of the wildest battles I have seen. Must have been more than 40 dogs attacking you at once in this room – hilarious! After that quickly find the two Eye pieces and the level ends after only about 15 minutes – but worth a try - if only for the dogfight.” – Michael (21-Jun-2002)

“A brief level 20 minutes of game easy simple and with graphical imperfections lacking textures and the sky seems frozen! You have to find some artifact to go into a room of a to all appearances Tibetan temple but with statues Egyptian! And kill a lot of dogs. In a room you find the revolver with 102 munitions (!). The author has a lot of confusion on the use of the objects!” – Boris (21-Jun-2002)

“This is a small level set in an icy place. Through the 15 minutes of netgaming you will kill some dogs kill more dogs AND kill even more dogs! That's all I think...” – Treeble (21-Jun-2002)

“I think the main problem of this level is that the author didn't use the right WAD. He created a Tibet-like level but with the Tomb of Seth WAD! So instead of using a sky he used some cloud textures... really bad! And the use of textures in the rest of the level is poor too. The architecture is terrible and the puzzles didn't help much in the atmosphere. But I think the area of the level that's inside a monastery (the citadel?) could be better... and that's good maybe creating new levels we could have an excellent tomb maker here. But we still have to wait because The Citadel isn't good...” – Leandro (21-Jun-2002)

“Reminding me of the Tibetan levels from Tomb Raider II I liked the look of The Citadel but I felt like it could have been so much better. The sky and cave areas were very unnatural looking and the rooms were all big empty and plainly textured. Just a little work and a few more puzzles and this could be great though. The majority of the level is spent opening doors pulling switches and climbing ladders with a few puzzles and lot's of dogs thrown in for some excitement. The dogs are no problem though with the amount of weapons and ammo lying around. This would be great if you're looking for a short easy level.” – RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002)

“If you like killing dogs you’ll no doubt love this level. It has the largest amount of dogs I’ve ever seen. Especially in one place where they just keep coming. You get the revolver right before that place though so they’re not hard to kill. Bang! Dead. Bang! Dead. Bang! Dead - and so on. I liked the textures in this level. Not the texturing though. The level uses the textures from the Tibet-levels in Tomb Raider 2 but they seem to be applied in a rush since many of them are stretched and the texturing is also very repetitive. Well at least the level is well lit in most places. The level might be worth playing just because of the fight with the dogs and it only lasts for ten minutes but if you’re looking for gameplay - keep looking there’s nothing to see here.” – Magnus (21-Jun-2002)

“Easy level scenery either very bright or nearly dark. At one point a pickup of a revolver and over 100 bullets seemed ominous. It was loads of dogs. Nothing really difficult to do throughout.” – Fairy Godfather (21-Jun-2002)

“Level reviewing; oh the omnipotence! I have the power to destroy with a simple set of four numbers all the hard work some poor chap has put into creating a Lara Croft adventure of his/her very own. This one for instance. I could write plenty concerning the static sky effect or the repetitive and stretched textures or the simple puzzles. Instead I shall dwell on the interesting (and quite clever) air bridge over the first pit (detectable only from below) and the massive canine attack later in the level. The latter could have been far more challenging with only Lara's pistols but you really can't go wrong with the dogs; they're guaranteeed to give you a fright each time they run into sight (and that includes the attack that occurs approximately one second into this level). As far as I recall these animals only make an appearance in one level of TR:LR (Tomb of Seth) which explains why this Wad was chosen despite being incompatible with the textures. I think it was chosen well and therefore I recommend this level for a short and entertaining diversion.” – Orbit Dream (21-Jun-2002)

“Always curios when you see a new author. A good try but too short and too easy.” – Emeritus (21-Jun-2002)

“I don’t know what to say. This level was so straightforward pull a lever to open a door pull a lever to open a door etc. The room with the invisible platforms had me stumped for about thirty seconds. The room with the four gates and mummies everywhere was well lit with some nice shadow effects. Nothing original or inspiring in this level. At least I couldn’t find any unfinished textures.” – Jason (21-Jun-2002)
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