| Reviewer's comments |
"From time to time, I actually find myself quite enjoying a shooter. This was one of those
admittedly rare occasions. I found the look and atmosphere of the mainly VCI inspired
setting appealing and, although Lara initially needs to battle the guards with just her
trusty pistols, she soon gets an upgrade. Less crawling through ducts would have improved
the gameplay, but overall I found it very playable and it certainly doesn’t outstay its
welcome." - Jay (18-Jan-2021) |
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| "Now, I don't mind playing shooter levels now and then, but for some reason I didn't particularly like this one. The environments were nice, but I think there were one too many "clever" shatterables (ie some grates are opened by switches while others need to be shot; some crates need to be moved out of the way, while others need to be shot; and my personal favorite, one single guardrail could be shot to open up a new path). Having a helicopter blow up by shooting a crate also didn't make sense at all, so in that sense I had to refer to the very condensed walkthrough quite a few times, even though otherwise all you do here is run around and shoot anything that moves. And there are plenty of things moving around... 50 minutes, 3 secrets. 09/20" - Treeble (04-Oct-2020) |
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| "Were it not for the somewhat excessive
crawling through ducts and hordes of
guards around every corner, this would
have been a nifty little infiltration
level. Taken as it is now, it's certainly
well put together with some neat texture
and lighting usage but the gameplay gets
wearying rather quickly as it essentially
involves little more than that. No real
puzzles to solve and quite a bit of
annoying backtracking to perform (although
the switches are mostly well guided with
camera hints) means that it never develops
into something truly exciting. Still, the
fights become gradually easier as you
locate the additional weaponry and the
differently coloured Canopic Jar souvenirs
were a nice touches and it's nonetheless a
neat little level for those in the mood
for a bit of a shoot-em-up. But it didn't
quite work for me." - Ryan (03-Feb-2019) |
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| "This level carries a fairly simple breaking-and-entering narrative. Lara invades some heavily-guarded offices (the CIA or NATO?) to steal six jars. Simplistic as the story may be, the setting is aptly crafted with a decent utilization of textures and lighting. Gameplay is mostly shooting, with some basic platforming at a couple of points. Honestly the biggest challenge is figuring out what to do, as passages are hidden and clues are sparse. Still, nothing too difficult, and fairly fun most of the time. But be prepared for quite a bit of crawling. Air ducts appear to be Lara's friends in these sorts of situations." - Xela (05-Feb-2015) |
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| "This was not a fun level for me to play. Too many ducts, too many grate-covered openings, too few clues. I found myself stuck about halfway through until manarch2 pointed out that I'd failed to shoot a box that was blocking a corridor. I continued playing from there, and I got stuck again shortly thereafter when I pulled down a jumpswitch and a cut scene showed another grate lifting in front of another duct (which I assumed would be fairly close by). However, the opening was nowhere to be found, so in exasperation I enabled the flycheat to get past the laser-guarded opening (playing in god mode eliminates all further danger) so I could access the final playing area and finish the level. I was understandably grumpy at having to resort to such measures, so I finished in a foul mood. The game would have been more entertaining if the way through had been paved a little more clearly. Unfortunately, the walkthrough was of little help." - Phil (02-Apr-2012) |
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| "This 35-minute long VCI level is a plain shooter as most of
the time you will be exploring the setting killing lots of
SAS and other enemies.from TR 5. The lots of ventilation
shafts make this level feel quite a bit maze-like and some
doors didn't have a camera hint so it is possible to run
around without knowing what to do, especially when the laser
door disappear after picking up a certain item. I didn't
like the gameplay style in general but there were a few nice
ideas like the playing with the sentryguns one first has to
avoid best as possible, then shoot with a few tricks; also
remarkable was the blowing up of the chopper and the
soldiers near the end. There also were two banana jumps to
do but they were marked well and their difficulty was rather
medium as I saw much harder ones. The slightly blueish
ambience was the best thing about this level created by lots
of custom objects and good overall texturing but there were
several wrongly rotated or streched ones which got more and
more towards the end. I liked the side quest for the six
jars and there also found three rewarding secrets of which
at least the first was nicely hidden (it's important to get
it unless you're a total pro and are able to avoid all
sentryguns without a lasersight)." - manarch2 (31-Mar-2012) |
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| "Here we have a base level with lots and lots of ductwork crawling and also lots of back and forth between rooms. While nice looking, the whole layout seemed very confusing to me and I had to read the walkthrough a couple of times. The ductwork was spiced up with some laser traps and every time Lara dropped into a room she was welcomed by guards and dogs and also two nasty sentry guns on top of a fish tank did a lot of damage. Overall the game play was not very challenging but a bit on the tedious side and a little repetitive. There were a few camera hints but for the most part it was left to the player to figure out what happened when a button was pressed. I found two secrets and one was in an area where I had to come through anyway. The texturing seemed well done, but most of the areas where rather dark and dimly lit. A bit brighter lighting would have helped a lot. This level was not really my cup of tea, but I'd still recommend it to those who are into base style levels and don't mind crawling through dark ductwork for a bit. (57 min, 2 secrets found)" - Blue43 (07-May-2011) |
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| "This level has a good design; the appearance is very good with nice textures but a bit dark for my taste; also there are a lot of defects with the triangular textured tiles and some paper walls could be avoided (not in the ducts, but in the ceilings. The building is really a building, all rooms are well interconnected like a real construction giving a good sensation. I liked the musics too, but I missed cameras in certain places when triggering something. Gameplay was bored and tedious, 'cause is based only about trigger something here and there and retrace the steps a lot of times through the nasty ducts; no really puzzles except blast the machine guns. Finally, near the end when you have wasted a lot of time running around and around through the same places, the only thing in your mind is to find the exit as soon as possible and when you're very tired perhaps you're forced to read the walkthrough to end and forget it." - Jose (19-Jan-2011) |
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| "I didn't mind all the crawling I accepted it as part of the deal - some intrusion into some obscure high security building in New York. But I liked it somewhat less than Pouco's previous level (for which I as I'm sure many others am still waiting for the sequence after the sub scene). Still I have nothing to complain about... All the textures seem well applied there's enough searching to do and I've found all six canopic jars - the last of which by the helicopter without even having the slightest idea of what I was really doing. That was surprising! As for the soldiers I don't know but I must have killed at least a hundred only in the last part after the lasers go down. That's enemies a-go-go as never before experienced! Fortunately there's enough ammo and medipacks supplied throughout the game. And there remained two entrances with the lasers on... Will there be a continuation? Anyway should you be interested in my opinion this is a good game with no visible flaws. Download it now for a well conceived adventure and a whole lot of shoot'em up. (June 10 2004)" - Jorge22 (11-Jun-2004) |
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| "Played all levels apart from Rommel 5 (still having trouble installing it) and although they are not on my favorite list they still worth while though. Even this level that gave me a headache as it is too gloomy for my taste and even if I ran around like a headless chicken I must admit if you like this sort of levels you are in for a treat. I wasn't that charmed by this one though also because Lara left with 5 Canopic jars and that felt like a let down. The level is sort of a base level and there is a bit too much crawling as you have to go back and fro a lot. The slaughter of the guards at the end was a bit over the top although they were smartly dressed . What was nice is finding ways to enable the sentry guns. Very funny was the sign: 'Jump' and jump I did although that took some reloading. Found some invisible doors and 3 secrets. 04-03-2004" - Gerty (28-Mar-2004) |
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| "A very very dark level even on my great monitor. It's a very realistic well built textured and furnished warehouse/base level with beautiful offices. There's a NATO room and American flags in the large central room. A lot of guards an awful lot of vent crawling finding 6 differently coloured canopic jars a great armoury and a lot of machine guns to deal with. Finally outside and I've never seen so many guards in one place before that'll keep you busy for a while. Getting up on the side of the building and those awkward jumps was a challenge. And my favourite challenge of all was the helicopter area. Yeah great action great looking level but all that crawling was very tiresome and totally overdone. At the end I just ran to the water past two more machine guns and was left wondering what it was all about." - CC (12-Jun-2003) |
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| "This isn't quite what I've come to expect from a level by Lionel but it is a great base level with a well designed and realistic atmosphere. It was fun to search for the necessary colored canopic jars and with the weapons available even the great shootout was enjoyable. There are some new shootable boxes to keep an eye out for plus trash cans to shoot and crates that you can open and search. There's also quite a bit of exploring to do as you search for cards disks and buttons. Overall a very fun level although not quite as large and complex as most of Lionel's work." - RaiderGirl (12-Feb-2003) |
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| "This level begins in a little city area and ends at a base. Graphically it was very well designed and what I hated most were the enemies. They were not well placed and Lara only had her pistols at the start. Quite a bit of work there. I found three secrets and 6 canopic jars. There was not a lot of sounds and cameras and the ending was rather annoying because of the sentry guns." - Navi (11-Feb-2003) |
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| "A real shoot out level but I found it fun since it involves gameplay too! Lara crawls in ventilation ducts to get to various rooms in an office building. The goal is to find 6 canopic jars and escape with them. Be sure you get the lasersight right at the beginning of the level and don't forget to go back to the armory to pick up some heavy weapons - you're gonna need them! You have to move boxes open boxes shoot boxes and find buttons to open grills to get out of the ducts. There are a lot of guards and some dogs in this building and you have to shoot them all. Finally you have to destroy a helicopter. It took me 1 hour and 15 min and I found 3 secrets." - G.Croft (10-Feb-2003) |
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| "Lionel really does have a keen eye for detail and this level which starts out in kind of a backyard and takes you into offices and air ducts and near the end into an open courtyard creates a great feeling of realism with excellent textures and lighting (though maybe a little on the dark side). Many many objects have been remodeled and the texture choices are often spot on. Lara looks great in her AOD style outfit too. Throughout the 75 minutes I spent here there were 6 canopic jars to find (kind of optional I think) and three secrets thrown in as well (lasersight is one ammo for the very useful HK Gun in the other two). Now gameplay I guess is a matter of taste and I think Lionel has previously done much better than in this one. It is basically about finding a few switches shooting or pushing a few boxes finding an access card and a disc and killing some 40+ soldiers and a bunch of dogs and avoiding a few sentry guns. The crawlspaces can easily get a little tedious if you do not find the right path and have to come back a few times and the laser barriers could be jumped as only the floor tiles behind them are deadly. Still I had a good time in a stunningly realistic environment. And every once in a while a good shoot out isn't too bad for your well-being. Oh and I had a good laugh at the two 'Jump' floor tiles - great hint! LOL" - Michael (09-Feb-2003) |
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| "This was a fairly entertaining shoot 'em up sadly that was really all it was though. Your goal in this nice tightly designed base level is to collect 6 canopic jars strewn throughout there are also 3 secrets to find this in the end is a fairly easy scenario and only becomes a little tricky if you don't realise like myself that you could pick up the weapons off the weapon racks and then go outside unarmed with nothing but your pistols to then take on an endless supply of black clad enemies. If you do though get the weapons this becomes quite another easy prospect as well. For the hour this took to play I was involved in the gameplay but it really lacked that something that I usually find and love in Lionel's levels." - Sash (07-Feb-2003) |
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| "It's not a bad level but I got bored crawling through vents searching for canopic jars. Somehow I had something else in mind when I read the title. More like VCI and it was like that up to some point but not that technical only a few lasers badly placed as I could go through all of them and not get burnt by not touching the floor in one room not stepping on the first row on the floor in another room and I didn't shut down the ones before you enter the garden until much later. I jumped from inside outside without touching the floor. It has some weird jumps on the side and one over some iron bars to reach a canopic jar. Watch out for cards that guards will drop and be sure to shoot the boxes as they hide jars or buttons. Many guards and not enough medi packs given but enough ammo. Be persistent at the room with the poles and guns. If I remember correctly all of them have something except one. The NATO CIA rooms were a nice touch. If it didn't have all that crawling it would have been better." - Kristina (07-Feb-2003) |
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| "Back to the roots I thought at first as this level kicks off with Lara under fire just as in Rommel's Treasure part one. Despite this being a base level with numerous crawls and even more battles I was enjoying myself immensely until I reached the end and realized that the whole thing seemed somewhat pointless and unfinished. Where to begin?! Apparently there are 6 canopic jars to be found but you don't need them to finish the level (I found five 2-6); the lasersight is a secret which seems pretty essential as you need to destroy the sentry guns to get to one of the canopic jars (frankly when you realise that you need the lasersight you still think that the canopic jars are vital for making progress); the code disk opens a room where you only find a bit of ammo but that comes with very dramatic music; and the shoot out at the end is just a tad over the top. If you want to get all the items there is an awful lot of backtracking and I spent ages looking for that lasersight. On the upside you get a really spooky base environment (yes it's rather dark) with a gripping atmosphere a nice fish tank and a very real feel to it. Gameplaywise it is what you would expect from a traditional lab experience but there are a few new touches like the shootable trashcans and the blue tinted windows. Plus Lara looks distinctively like the Angel of Darkness in this one. A must for fans of the Base genre and Pouco completists but maybe somewhat of a disappointment when you expect another Necropolis of Seth" - Dimpfelmoser (07-Feb-2003) |
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| "This is a very good level. I got stuck in two places: first I didn't find the opening of the armoury so I had to combat with pistols until I got the canopic jar. So it was very hard and the enemies are strong. This is a bit complicated level you have to attend to the grates in the air shaft. I struggled a bit with the box hiding the canopic jar #6 next to the helicopter as long as I managed to target its right edge from below. I found 3 secrets. All in all this is a great level the textureing is spectacular and various. There are no puzzles but it's even not easy to find everything. Although there are some things that I don't understand in the end of the level. I mean there are two closed laser gates: one in the storey and the other at the machine-guns. Will the author continue it? Or have I missed something? :-)" - Obig (07-Feb-2003) |
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| "A new small level by our friend Pouco2 to make for you wait by waiting for TR6. Based on personalized wads this level of style 'Base' is once again very good even excellent and with an specific atmosphere that reminds well of TR2 or some other levels by this author. Many tough enemies that are very hard to kill if you have not already visited the room where the weapons are stored and of numerous switches to discover to advance in the level please be an observer and so acute to discover the passages you should find 6 quest items included as Canopic jars and 3 secrets to end the level. An excellent level which should make you spend a big hour with Lara!" - Luc (05-Feb-2003) |
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| "This is one of those levels that would work perfectly if only it didn't (for me at any rate) suffer from the 'stop the game. I have to find an obscure solution!' syndrome. In this case it was a pushable block that actually had to be shot instead. Heaven only knows how long I ran around looking for a way to proceed only to discover the solution by chance when I started shooting everything out of Level Rage. Up to that point it was basically 'back-track City'; well made but spoilt somewhat by the air-ducts one had to crawl through in order to backtrack. After this it turned into a high-tech VCI-type adventure; enjoyable for all that if you're fond of these sorts of levels. Finally it resolves itself into a furious 'Shootathon' involving every foe and the kitchen sink. Coupled with this a brace of extremely challenging 'jumping around corners' maneuvers; a force field that didn't need to be shut down just physically avoided; and the question of exactly what were canopic jars doing in a hi-tec environment?; and I was left more relieved than satisfied at the completion of this adventure(after 2 hours). That said there were many things that pleased me (including the Bikinied Lara poster). And the adventure will certainly absorb you throughout." - Orbit Dream (04-Feb-2003) |
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