| Reviewer's comments |
"Lara is back to Scottland!
Her aim is to find and obtain a magical stone hidden in the castle ruins. To get to its hiding spot, however, she faces a number of challenges constituted by traps, hidden levers and passages, keys hidden in plain sight, as well as a fair number of enemies.
Our adventurer scares up some spiders and bats while exploring the mossy castle ruins. Apart from some armed baddies who also aim to get to the Infada stone, Miss Croft also needs to get rid of some undead that must have risen from their graves due to the stone's magical power. The objects in this game follow a very traditional design in that they are all well-selected orignals.
The Edinburgh Castles with their mossy corners, misty courts, and dusty libraries, all set in autumn, seem terribly romantic! Apart from some camera hints, there are also some cameras with a purely decorative function, showing off the splendour of the place. Classic TR music accompanies Lara on her trip to Scottland. Whith some bagpipe tunes mixed in with the ambience, this game would have been even better!
The lighting is delightful! Dark corridors meet with cold-blue caves and gritstone bathed in golden autumn sunlight. I have always liked the Scottland texture set and it is really being made a feature of in this level. Especially so in the usage of the edgy corner textures to form collapsed ceilings, as is very expertly done here! With some custom textures, it would have been a full 10/10.
This adventure kept me busy a for bit short of two hours. I needed to take a peek into the walkthrough here and there because of taking breaks in between playing sessions, but if you play it in one go, I suppose it would appear less challenging." - Sponge (25-Dec-2023) |
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| "Mixed feelings as I wrap this adventure. On the one hand, yes, this is a beautiful homage to the Scotland levels in The Lost Artifact, however there were a few things that hindered my experience here. For one, the walkthrough walls. Ok, there's only two of them, but only one is (slightly) obvious, the other one is a crawlspace in a room with that same curtain texture used about four times. Funny thing is that I thought running into each would suffice, of course I was wrong. Another minor problem is that all keys blend into the environment so well that it's very hard to spot them, although this may not be intentional. And lastly, using TR3 Lara with her anims also felt off, from pushing blocks (which seemed to get permanently stuck after one move), to the slow pickup animation and, surely enough my favorite, climbing around walls made Lara do a templar knight grunt and anim in midair that I couldn't help but laugh. Atmosphere is pretty good and there are nice touches here, such as the statues coming to life, and generally speaking this was still an enjoyable raid, but not without its flaws. 50 minutes, 3 secrets. 09/20" - Treeble (06-Sep-2020) |
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| "A very enjoyable level inspired by one of my
all-time favourite TR games: The Lost Artifact.
The environments are beautifully made and
really evoked that nostalgic feeling that I
love. The gameplay contains a brief but
challenging timed run, an elevator raising
sequences, a couple of block puzzles and keys
to find. I felt that the SAS didn't really fit
the environments, but that may be the only
gripe I have with this otherwise excellent
level. Highly recommended for everyone." - Ryan (19-Mar-2017) |
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| "This is a solid,dependable and thoroughly enjoyable Castle romp.Lighting and texturing is very accomplished (especially when considering its age);objects are used imaginatively;while enemy placement is entertaining throughout,engendering a good atmosphere of suspense wherever you go,as anything could be lurking around a corner ready to pounce out at you (and the dog statues turning into life are highly effective 'fright' moments!)The only thing that lets this adventure down is the use of walkthrough walls/crawlspaces - which is not just cheaty,but downright unfair.You do everything right;you solve the puzzles;you succeed in the challenges;and yet still you can remain stuck because you didn't realise that the wall,in the corner of a distant room somewhere, contained an invisible pull-up crawlspace concealing an all-important key. Yah-Boo! With the Walkthrough to hand this wouldn't,of course,pose a problem;so it's probably best to depend upon it from the outset and instead allow yourself to enjoy the imaginative locations and interesting progression to the full." - Orbit Dream (04-Dec-2013) |
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| ""Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." I'm glad that I didn't
give up hope so early on, because this level is fantastic.
Music, cameras, atmosphere, baddies, all included in this
hour-long piece. Granted, much like the first installment in
the series, the level is comprised of a lot of backtracking to
find and pull levers. This time, it seems that the author has
at least been kind enough to spice up this trek with some
variety. Cameras are utilized to help keep the player moving
along, and one is unlikely to ever get sufficiently stuck
(though one gate was difficult to find at first). If you
enjoyed the Lost Artefact, then have a go at this level -- and
resist the urge to abandon your hope!" - Xela (18-Aug-2013) |
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| "There are some small defects in this level, like wrong animations when pushing buttons or missed sounds when pulling switches, but the level is well playable (except for the hidden passage behind the vines). Gameplay is not very good 'cause the backtracking forcing you to re-visit the same places often, but cameras help a lot in this sense. I'm still figuring out where the shotgun and the uzis were, 'cause I couldn't find any weapon but only ammo, and play all the level only with the pistols was not very funny for me. I liked the design with rooms not very huge, the textures and TR3 musics. Secrets are not difficult to find. A good work from a good builder in any case." - Jose (09-Mar-2012) |
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| "This is excellent level and not to be missed. I played it with help from walkthrough. Game-play is quite linear but level is too dark and gloomy and I didn't notice the obvious though it was right in front of my eyes. Textures are mostly from Highland Fling and also objects (Willard's grave, dog statues, pushable block, fence ...). I loved that levels. I had so much fun exploring this castle. You find the keys, switches in beautiful environment, nothing repeats itself, and all rooms are different, beautiful architecture - old castle covered with myst, a lot of hidden passages, dark pits with cob-webs and also bright gardens. You'll have to fight some guards who has military base there, dogs, bats and spiders and avoid the dead knights and spikes. Level has also one timed-run, I thought I won't make it but I did - and I wasn't sorry, because it's worth to see and play the rest of the game." - Oxy (22-Mar-2009) |
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| "For me this was a very nice level containing a lot of well designed castle
areas to explore and good tasks to accomplish. The big castle area in
coast looked looked especially good like all the other areas. There are
also plenty of hidden switches and passages in this level and I think that
they are hidden very well and searching them was really fun. Wolf statues
that transform into real wolves when you go near them is very nice
addition and I haven't seen things like that before. Overally this level
offered a lot of fun for an hour." - Samu (13-Apr-2007) |
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| "A charming adventure in a remote castle set in the Scottish Highlands, and actually I found it to be one of the best if not the best I've played in this 'genre' so far. The unmarked walkthroughable tiles were a tad unfair, and author has used them quite a few times, but other than that I found this to be a a delight to play - never frustrated, besides the aforementioned tiles, never confused and the goals are pretty clear. The great effects with the dog statues comming to life made me jump at times and then don't underestimate the nasty SAS guards either! (Well, maybe the ammo from the previous level helped here a little in this case, he he) The music, the cameras and the settings all are combined well and make this level quite appealing for the eye and ear - a great atmosphere overall! Boot this up when in mood for something fun to keep you occupied for a while." - eTux (05-Feb-2005) |
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| "This is one of the most visually appealing levels I've played in a long long time. It brings back memories of the opening level of my all-time favorite commercial release TR3 Lost Artifact along with the Ynys Witrin series. The lighting is almost perfect and there's never a dull moment as Lara navigates her way through a picturesque Scottish ruin landscape. Someone has donated a walkthrough anonymously and I wish the author would step forward and take credit because it's extremely helpful. I would give this one a perfect score if I hadn't done the same thing in my previous review. For all who have not yet (6/04) played this one you owe it to yourselves to download it and give it a try. Recommended without reservation." - Phil (18-Jun-2004) |
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| "Here's skinny ol' Lara back in action again! The settings are based on TR3 Gold and look a little awkward these days but that's alright. Still there was a bug or whatever that was even though totally harmless for the gameplay that followed me through the entire game: every time Lara picked up some goodie (and there are plenty of them in a time when fashion dictates there shouldn't be almost any) there it was right inside her backpack before she could even pick it up. That was a first! One thing I liked less was the use of SAS men from the Last Revelation in the game. One thing I thought was well achieved was the transformation of dog statues into real red-eyed dogs. Apart from that you'll have to do a lot of searching (and I bet there will be a couple of times when you'll take a little longer to find out where the gate you just opened is) face not very terrible traps small spiders a loud grumbling knight bats and use levers switches and keys in order to find your way around the mazy castle. The end is one of those endings... You pick up some artefact (the reason why you worked hard during the entire level) and get back to the desktop. Well..... All in all I thought this was a good piece of nostalgic good clean fun. Do play it to revive TR3 Gold as a different adventure." - Jorge22 (24-May-2004) |
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| "A good Castle level with lots of atmosphere created by good use of shading and textures. The gameplay is reasonably straight forward but you do have to keep your wits about you to follow what goes on. With one or two quite well hidden 'openings' and a timed run which works as you run through the door as it closes you get plenty to do which is variable in approach. Puzzles tend to be 'Sort out your next move' type rather than anything overtly to be solved as a puzzle Enemies are dog statues which come to life bats SAS and nasty little jumping spiders. As I have already said the scenarios are well created with Castle graphics but the sound is rather average. Definitely well worth playing." - Whistle (13-May-2004) |
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| "What a nice Scottish level. I haven't played yet the Infada's Quest 1 but I'll play it for sure. I loved the Highland Fling levels in TR3Gold and this one is almost as good as the original. I've enjoyed the perfect rooms and the lighting. The atmosphere is wonderful; the textures make difficult to find some objects but that's only a minor fault; and it's a part of the game. There are many enemies and well placed and the dogs that come to life suddenly are the best. I found only two secrets and keep my last savegame waiting for the sequel. Maxime is a promising level builder. Congratulations." - Loupar (23-Oct-2003) |
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| "It's pretty much explained in all the other reviews what this 50 minute level entails but I just want to reiterate that this is a great looking castle I enjoyed finally finding the two hidden entrances the enemies were pretty much all well placed especially the dog statues that came to life and if there are 4 secrets then they are well placed because I only found two. A definite play for a not too complicated raid!" - Sash (05-Aug-2003) |
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| "Fabulous Castle atmosphere supported by impeccable texturing lighting and added music very solid camera work and wonderful use of cobwebs and fog throughout. Your quest in this hour long adventure is to find and use four keys to get to an artifact at the end. I counted almost 50 enemies (SAS spiders bats two knights and very cool dogs with red glowing eyes) but it does not come across as a shooting level. The three secrets are maybe a little easy to spot and the TR3 animations don't always seem to work correctly but gameplay overall is entertaining with many switches and buttons boxes to move around two 'elevators' and a short timed door among other things. The biggest gripe for me where the two walkthrough walls (ivy and curtain) even though they did fit the setting this is always a bit unfair but that aside this is a level not to be missed." - Michael (26-Jul-2003) |
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| "The story of this level takes place in a ruined castle and its surroundings. The enemies are dogs soldiers spiders and indestructible knights. You have to find 4 Rusty Keys and in the end get what you came for. There are well hidden passages in two places: the plants and behind the blue curtain. Many times the moveable boxes hide the keyholes. There's also a not particularly difficult timed run. The texture is beautiful and the selection of the added sounds is generous. I found 3 secrets. The level is playable only by loading the savegame from the zip file. There are enough weapons and medipacks so you shouldn't have to be sparing with your energy and ammo. I love this level very much and recommend it to everybody." - Obig (19-Jul-2003) |
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| "I like a lot this level it's one of the best I have played in 2003. Better and longer than the first Infada quest little Escape in Cambodia. This Scottish level where you are again playing with a TR3 Lara is the only one around that could be worthy of the atmosphere and gameplay of a Scottish level made by Eidos. This one does not fall short with a very good atmosphere an entertaining gameplay many care put in the design of the well connected areas and rare enough in a custom level some enemies that scared me (the dogs that come to life and the jumping spiders).The expectations are high for the sequel of this series. I do not give full marks only because of funny minor faults (in some animations or sounds)." - eRIC (17-Jul-2003) |
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| "This young French author (15 years old) created a long and relatively complex level containing numerous control levers keys and secret passages decorations are very well textured with effects of fog well made a success as in its previous level the action takes place this time in a castle in England which is very realistic and very well built you will have to be an observer to discover the dozens control levers keys and passages which will allow you to advance. Very good atmosphere of the game with some tough enemies who will wait for you in some ways... There are 4 secrets to discover what is not evident and you will need approximately 1:30 hours to end it." - Luc (14-Jul-2003) |
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| "Well this was darn tricky so thank you forum as usual. BUT I loved it! The atmosphere of the castle was first rate with the cobwebs spiders and bats. Thank goodness - no crocs! Very well thought out with sound construction. One nasty timed run but even I (Queen of barging into walls) made it. First rate game. Keep them coming." - Sherry (14-Jul-2003) |
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| "This is one of the best looking Scotland based levels I've seen in quite some time it's obvious how much time and effort went into the designing and building of this sequel. The gameplay area itself isn't really huge but it can seem that way at times with all the back tracking hard to see keys and crawlspaces pushable blocks creepy hallways and routes that occasionally change so that the path is never quite what you expect. It's a great atmosphere to explore in though with just the right sprinkling of enemies well done camera work music and textures and some great traps to avoid. If you enjoyed the Highland Fling from The Lost Artifact you'll like this one and don't forget to play Little Escape in Cambodia - it's just as good. Secrets found: 2" - RaiderGirl (27-Jun-2003) |
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| "A great level. Much better that the first one in my opinion. A castle-Scottish atmosphere my favourite with dog statues that suddenly come to life. Keys are to be found in various places well hidden and the back and forth although a bit tiring is rewarding. Spike walls a waterfall well hidden secrets and a library room with climbable shelves. Really an enjoyable level if you like levels that resemble TR2 and TR3 personally I played those two official games recently and I can appreciate more these kind of custom levels. Definitely a must play level." - Kristina (26-Jun-2003) |
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| "A nice Castle Level. Lara's task was to find two artifacts by solving several puzzles first pulling switches and finding keys. The design is very diverse (diving traps jumps). Enemies were SAS dogs and small spiders which were well placed. Sound and cameras were suitably added. Graphics were very diverse too especially the many nooks and crannies so keep your eyes open for hard to see openings. I found one secret. A nice level for in between - not too hard. Recommended.:)" - Navi (20-Jun-2003) |
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| "What a refreshing change of scenery. Though I don't know if any new textures were introduced I enjoyed running around in the grassy and foggy land. Though this level appears innocent enough as it unfolds and the connected rooms begin to frustrate I found myself turning to the help forum on several occasions. The author of this level utilizes unmarked tunnels and climbable walls that 'make sense' but are frustrating nonetheless. Also more detailed fly-bys would have been appreciated. I had a great time exploring this level. Usually when I get stuck as frequently as I did with Castles of Edinburgh I give up and go play something else. This level had the atmosphere and rewards to keep me playing till the end." - Wendee (10-Jun-2003) |
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| "What a great looking level. Obviously Scottish castle with heather mist Willard's tombstone dead knights dog statues that come to life couple of soldiers cobwebs and ... spiders. Textures are great and lighting is perfect. A very hard to see first Shivalinga key and a clever way to get it actually all the keys are very hard to see so look carefully they blend in very well with the textures. Very interesting gameplay. There are very well hidden places for climbing pushing crates so check everything that might be moved or it looks like something might be behind it. The area with the waterfall bridge moving searchlights and a crashed plane on the roof is beautifully done with a great view out to sea. There is a lot of backwards and forwards running but I never got bored with this most of it was my own fault as I just couldn't see those keys. Loved all the camera angles and there were enough camera shots to show what to do. You'd swear this was easy the way I'm talking. There were a few 'odd' things happening in my game i.e. Lara got the pickups before she picked them up! One time I climbed a bookshelf on the wrong side and when Lara got to the top an 'invisible' knight slashed her with a sword weird. And when she finally got what she was looking for the game crashed. It's a Highland castle level that is different from other ones I've seen so you'll be pleasantly surprised. What was the savegame for I didn't need it even though I play on a Mac!" - CC (09-Jun-2003) |
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| "As the title obviously suggests this is a Scottish castle setting but it isn't a bright sunny day and the whole tone of the level is quite gloomy. The gameplay is very well done and you should expect to get stuck more than once because it's easy to miss things (think walkthrough walls or more pertinently crawlspaces). Enemies are guards bats those horrible jumping spiders and dog statues that suddenly turn into the Hound of the Baskervilles with glowing red demonic eyes. Lovely. There is only one timed run and it is quite tight but not impossibly so which is just as well since you'll have to do it twice if you miss something just beforehand (yes I did). I took just over an hour and found three secrets. 09.06.2003" - Jay (09-Jun-2003) |
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| "Luckily this download came with a savegame as I had no intention to replay Maxime's first Infada Quest due to a crash it gave me on the Mac. I had to play this one on the PC. All in all this wasn't as fiendish as the first one I am glad to report. Still it will have you put your thinking cap on quite a few times. Enemy wise there are spiders the occasional bat some guards and the stone dogs coming to life which by the way scared the beejeez out of me. There are also two knights. The main goal is getting that blue artifact and in the meantime you are looking for keys levers and buttons. The secrets are nicely hidden and I found 3. There is a nice jump sequence and do look everywhere. There is also a sneaky spiked wall and a bloody tight timed run I had to do twice as I forgot to look behind a curtain. Great level. 08-06-2003" - Gerty (08-Jun-2003) |
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