Levels listed...
TR5 - 31
TR4 - 3141
TR3 - 177
TR2 - 133
TR1 - 61
72368 reviews (20.4/level)
3532 (99.7%) walkthroughs
445 Hall of Fame levels
1221 levels rated >= 8
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release date: |
15-Aug-2003 |
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# of downloads: |
169 |
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average rating: |
9.09 |
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review count: |
25 |
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review this level |
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file size: |
89.20 MB |
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file type: |
TR4 |
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class: |
South America |
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| Reviewer's comments |
"I remember when Idealist burst onto the scene, so to speak: another noob builder who
seemed too good to be true (like trix). I never got around to playing his actual levelset,
but after a few recent and gushing reviews, I thought I would finally check it out. It did
indeed turn out to be a great and memorable experience. For a first-time builder this is
exceptionally good but the noobie-errors are legion and they do undercut the experience to
a significant extent. It is a shame that Loren did not stick around to produce more levels
- once he'd ironed out the kinks and learnt a few extra things he'd have been immense.
The first two levels were fairly plain and workmanlike, but with some strange and rather
nasty timed runs added to the mix: they're nasty because fixed cameras (that you can't
break or avoid on a second go) take up a significant fraction of the time available. I was
forced to perform Lara's moves without actually seeing them and hoping that the full-
twist, 90-degree spin-to-the-right and swim up were performed correctly. I can't believe
this was deliberately planned, just that Loren hadn't really got a handle on how the
various cameras worked and what options were available. These two intro levels also
suffered from very bad texture clipping on some of the long views. Some players might
dismiss this as "unavoidable" or "that's early trle for you" but they would be wrong -
Loren had failed to add the necessary upper rooms which would have provided extra 'sky'
for a clear line-of-sight - and zero clipping. It had nothing to do with volfx being on or
off.
The third level: Here Be Dragons was a Tour de Force, to use that old hackneyed
term. It was based on The Lost Valley level of TR1 but was a massive expansion of the
original. The search for five gems was addictive and took me three days to complete.
Likewise, the last main level, Temple Of The Feathered Serpent, was a giant
expansion of TR1's fourth level: Tomb of Qualopec. Long, complex and sometimes confusing,
but addictive throughout.
Secrets were too-well hidden and there was no real chance of playing the bonus levels
without the walkthrough, which, incidentally, was in novel-format and rather annoying.
Enemies were thrown at you relentlessly and in awkward positions and I did fear for my
health a few times as it was always in short supply. Picked up loads of uzi ammo but never
saw the actual uzi, not that the uzi would have helped much with all those zombies. Where
was the explosive ammo?
Overall: a remarkably intense levelset. Recommended for experienced players with stamina." - Dick (12-Dec-2022) |
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| "Considering how biased I've always been towards Peru levels, I have to admit it's weird I've avoided playing this one for so long, and now that I have just wrapped it up over the span of a week, I fear there might indeed be such as thing as "too much of a good thing". The levels in this set are massive and very nice, with intricate and elaborate designs (the mountain rage for instance, which just keeps getting bigger at every turn, or the intricate cavernous systems all around). As it's a 2003 level, it's strictly TR1 Peru but it's amazing all the same, the atmosphere is pitch perfect and the way the author has repurposed a lot of familiar areas is also quite ingenious. However, given the scope and scale of the project, it's probably in your best interest to play by the walkthrough, as getting lost is rather easy. The author wrote it himself with a flavor of fanfic, so you get a more complete experience (with added thoughts and dialogues which are obviously not present in game) that way as well. Most of the timed runs will have you doing a lot of platforming, climbing and rope swinging, so they're not necessarily terribly tight but you do have to work for them as you memorize the shortest route. This really feels like an ultimate tribute to TR1 Peru, with a few minor hiccups. Towards the end there was one level (aptly named Here Be Dragons) with a lot of exploration to be done with a couple of that dreadful Cairo dragon spitting out locusts non-stop — that was a massive bummer for me. Some of the caves are indeed very dark but there's more than enough supplies to get by, even ammo drops seemed a bit too frequent but that might be because I (like many, I guess) stick to pistols regardless of what I have at hand. Some of the areas were too mazey-like (one crawling sequence and an underwater one were particularly annoying to navigate), but overall this was good. Confusing, but good. The ending was also rather abrupt considering you spend so much time here, but the author adds all the missing context in the walkthrough. Time to play a dozen or so short levels now! 6h25min, 26 secrets. 11/22" - Treeble (13-Nov-2022) |
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| "Dam this was long and good..wanted to mention all the negatives that i experienced through the levels but i forgot them cause i finished in a 2 weeks time..I member only that in my case many levers gave a milisecond glimpse of what door is open instead of the normal time and some others doors and gates like for the secret ones never opened..on the other hand it deserves for sure the hall of fame title with classic tomb raiding and and excellent gameplay..good peru vibes and good hunting secrets (12 found alone)..the dinosaur level was my favourite" - Petaludas (17-Oct-2022) |
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| "This is a hugely ambitious project, very
much in the good old TR1 style we're
probably all familiar with by now. It's
impossible not to admire the time and
effort that must have been poured into
this six-level game (four normal plus two
bonus levels), but I felt that parts of
the gameplay were a bit too dragged out
for their own good. The architecture and
texturing is undoubtedly first class, and
the way that the various areas
interconnect and allow you to view new
areas and ones that you have previously
visited is something worthy of praise. In
terms of gameplay, the puzzles and timed
runs will certainly have you thinking (in
a good way, although a few of the latter
were too tight for my liking), but one
button puzzle near the beginning was
rather obscure and the effects didn't
happen until much later in that first
level, and the crawlspaces were rather too
many and too long. I also encountered a
couple of crashes due to a couple of
enemies being left alive, which set me
back quite a bit seeing as I didn't have a
clean save to go back to. The underwater
mazes that had to be traversed back and
forth were also not favourites of mine.
Secrets and enemies were nicely placed
though. As a whole, portions of the
gameplay undoubtedly overstay their
welcome, but this game does have its
positive points and is well worth a go." - Ryan (23-Feb-2019) |
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| "I still need to play the 2nd bonus but my rating for secrets
is already maxed and won't drop, that's why I allowed myself
to review a bit earlier. This game is a rollercoaster of
feelings and needs time to enjoy, e.g. if you don't have time
to read this review don't even attempt the game. Now the
longer version: a casual player will love this because the
main gameplay is great. If you hunt for secrets tho, you will
get punished every time you make a wrong choice, so prepare
for that or suffer. The rest - isolation, immersion,
exploration, infiltration and search for the final reward, in
short the entirety of raiding essence, is here - in the best
of raw, crude forms possible. Graphics could be better, music
could be less frequent because especially the latter is
counter-immersive. In any case, this thing is a must-play,
only bear in mind you need a correct moment." - DJ Full (17-Oct-2018) |
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| "A very ambicious adventure with a TR1 taste. First of all I have to say that I never found all secrets, so I "missed" the secret levels, but I was able to play it by renaming the TR4 files and using the trle level editor. The first thing that caught my attention was the excellent architecture; really impressive, extraordinary, I think the best architecture I've ever seen in custom levels; I take my hat in that sense. The texturization is very very good too, giving very realistic and proffesional touches to all areas, but I can't give a 10 in that field 'cause the many dark-black rooms I found; always with flare in hand, I couldn't see anything, and the packs of flares I found were not enough to light all the black rooms; but, of course, you'll notice that the lighting is well worked. About the cameras, I found many "flashing" cameras in the first level (you can't see anything in the camera shots), but I think the author solved that problem in the following levels. The musics were very appropriate and placed in the logic places; a very good work in this sense. There are several new well-made enemies, but sometimes I found excessive enemies in certain places and no enemies in another areas; I also missed more ammo for the extra guns. The gameplay is often confusing, with serious backtracking sometimes; there are some interesting puzzles with moveable blocks, but too many switches to pull and some timed runs are very tight like the timed underwater swim in the first level or the timed run in the TR1-caves area in the bonus level; evenmore, there are a lot of areas not necessary to advance through the game, like the very nasty crawlspaces near the beginning of the bonus-andes level, where I wasted more than half an hour crawling only to get some goodies. Talking about the crawlspaces, I think they were excessive in all the whole adventure. All in all, I've enjoyed a lot this huge levels, and I can recommend this adventure to all TR1 fans if they like pure exploreration; for them, this will be an amazing game." - Jose (07-Oct-2016) |
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| "Finally I finished this very ambitious adventure and I have to admit that I threw it in the bin a couple of times. First time around was when I got crashes due to an enemy (in my case a bat) I forgot to shoot and then couldn't go back for. Then another time when I only had one Gem and couldn't find the way back to the first Gem (I am sure there is no way back, but hey... who is counting). The walkthrough is more a novel one could read and I personally found it rather cumbersome to follow. Glad I could use the TRsgEditor as I needed much more flares than I could find. All in all this level set is enormous and very, very confusing. Many mazes to get through, as well as a nasty underwater maze even if there are breathing holes, they are far and between. All in all it was way too confusing for me to enjoy this level set. Also there are way too many ways one can go and instead of making it easier, it made it for me more difficult. But don not let this deter you; you might enjoy it and if you have loads of free time do give it a go." - Gerty (20-Aug-2013) |
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"This is a Peru adventure very heavily inspired by the
original Peru levels, to the point it feels like a pseudo-
remake at times, with revisits to familiar locations from
the original games (although placed it's such a way it's as
if they've been displaced in space and time, which actually
kind of fits the storyline...). The vast majority of it is
new though, and the levels here are immense and extremely
ambitious in design. Texturing and lighting is strong,
although certain monkey swing textures in particular stuck
out as obviously misaligned. There's also good object use to
build on the original Peru design, although the Raptors in
Here Be Dragons being obviously based off Ahmets was odd
(especially as they're fine in other levels) and led to some
pretty funny endlessly twitching death animations combined
with disco-flames.
The levels here are colossal and pretty difficult. It seemed
a bit vague at times, and, at the least, some camera hints
or flybys when returning to areas would be nice (although
the pack does tend to give a trail of new enemies as a
clue), plus multi-layered tasks seem a bit cheaply used a
times, so you can do a task and think you accomplished
something but you missed a crawlspace or ladder and can't
make progress anyway. There's also too many mazes, with at
least four or five in the course of the pack. The levels can
also crash if you don't kill everything and leave too many
enemies active, and I had to redo about ten minutes of the
pack as a result of that (although I was careful after that
and had no problems). Those issues don't take away from the
sheer ambition of these levels though, and there are
impressive areas and complex tasks all over the place, along
with some interesting secrets (although some are a bit
heavily based on backtracking and block pushing). The bonus
levels are more vague than the main levels, but that can be
forgiven as they are secrets, and the first one has the
interesting concept of basically being entirely optional,
with how much you find being based on how much you get into
it and explore. The second bonus is also interesting as it
takes an earlier level and changes it a lot. Despite it's
age this has some of the biggest-scale levels around, and
it's still one of the best too." - Mman (09-Jun-2013) |
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| "Amazing adventure !!! I downloaded this adventure hoping
find again the atmosphere of the first tomb raider and I
have not been disappointed! Each level reminds well all
peru's levels from the original Tomb Raider (entrance of the
cavern, city of vilcabamba, the bridge and the lost temple
in the lost valley or a part (copy/paste) of the qualopec's
tomb) even if the gameplay is completely different.
Many round trips between the levels with many Trigger
Triggered.
lvl 1 RETURN TO PERU - Lara tries to find her way in snowy
mountains. Pleasant level, not very difficult.
lvl 2 RUIN OF QUINARA - Not my favorite level because of the
submarine labyrinth with an army of crocodiles ...
At a time, I was stuck with a timed door after a ladder and
a falling floor. It's impossible for me to accomplished the
time run after the collapsing of the falling floor...
lvl 3 HERE BE DRAGONS. This is my favorite level inspired by
the lost valley in TR1. You have to find 5 green emeraulds
in very very huge caverns. I found some bugs like the fatal
shot for the T Rex with the shotgun.. this is the only way
to kill the T Rex (I have found this problem in others
customs but we can solved this problem in wadmerger program)
or some bugs camera with pulley. Concerning the dragons with
locusts, I could have done without it...
lvl 4 TEMPLE OF THE FEATHERED SERPENT - A mix of the
qualopec's tomb and atlantis environments in TR1. I really
liked the water room with the big statue where you have to
reduce level of the water. But on the other hand, I least
liked the pushable statue in qualopec's tomb... no help?
or the 3 pushable blocks to acheive a timed door (room with
3 flame emitters 1). If you go down in the pool, you can be
stuck by a pushable block?! And at the end... the hidden
cracks in the Ankhs's room
Conclusion : It's really hard to finish this adventure
without the walkthrough, mostly with lot of doors and hidden
cracks... Anyway, this is a very good job! It's always a
pleasure to play it in 2013! 4 secrets found - 9/10/10/9" - m.julien (13-May-2013) |
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| "This kind of levels are to my taste. Surroundings are designed with care and I liked especially the snowy mountains in beginning of the game. Author hasn't neglected gameplay either despite it's slightly tedious in first level because you complete mainly similar kind of jumps and look for some levers. However, the gameplay get's better and more puzzling the more you play the game. The underwater mazes weren't either to my taste but all in all this game is very enjoyable worth playing." - Samu (25-Nov-2007) |
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| "Return to Peru (7/9/8/8): I didn't like the very start of this one because there was a very difficult bit where you had to swim at just the right angle to get onto a rock. Frustrating. A few steps later and you have to grab an unmarked ledge. Whilst I'm on the bad points let me just say that it's possible to get stuck here and there. Aside from those faults this level is good fun quite pretty (if a bit dark but there are a lot of flares). There's a lot of good combat to be had as well even a 'boss' fight at the end. This level reminded me in parts of Indiana Jones (and that's no bad thing); even more than the level actually *called* Indiana Jones that was released recently! I completed the first part in 40 minutes and found 1 secret. Ruins of Quinara (8/9/8/8): This is a level where it really does pay to watch your health because I guarantee that there's an awful lot of crocs dogs and skeletons who'll watch it for you. Try to lure the skellies to a drop the shoot them off with your shotgun. I say this because there doesn't seem to be any explosive ammo around. This is a tough cookie to crack anyway mainly due to a very difficult and very annoying maze-swim in croc infested waters and tight confusing tunnels to boot. Not a map for beginners. It took me an hour and 15 minutes and I found 3 secrets. Here be dragons (8/7/8/8): This level is very difficult especially the rather bugged encounters with the TRexs (which take 10 000 rounds of ammo to kill and died standing up) and the always horrible completely invulnerable locust-spitting dragon. These babies (and others) will sap your health to breaking point so make sure you search for every medikit you can lay your hands on and never waste hit-points unnecessarily. Exploring this area is still good fun what with collapsing bridges raptors that make you jump and a rather good torch puzzle. It was all so damn tough though more so when you consider you'll be running around in very dark areas quite a few times. This episode took me about over 2 hours and I found 3 secrets. Temple of the Feathered Serpent (9/8/8/9): Much more forgiving than the previous levels and I was very thankful for it. In fact the only thing here that could be regarded as a bit unfair are one or two push-blocks that are very difficult to spot. Fights here are against harpies and are pretty good but I couldn't find any explosives for the mummies. This level features the largest statue I have ever come across in any TR level including Eidos ones; it was darn impressive! On the whole most of this level was too; loads of fun. This one took me about 1 hour 45 minutes but I didn't have a single secret to my name :( All in all this set of levels took me about 6 hours and I found 7 secrets." - gfd (01-Sep-2004) |
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| "Tomb Raider Peru is like the next level after the Peru levels in TR1. Even in some aspects is better than the original game (i.e. the settings). In this game Lara explores a vast area in the Andes mountains; finds an airplane crashed and some hidden temples full of dinos. Lots of exploration enemies and traps. The main problem is that there are a lot of secrets places to find some puzzles are not easy to resolve and there are also some tedious parts. But after all it has a superb atmosphere and the caves more realistic that I've ever seen. Great!" - Loupar (11-Jun-2004) |
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| "As you can see by my number scores where these levels shine the most is in the looks and atmosphere departments. While the gameplay itself is generally good I had a couple of gripes about it that kept my scores in that area a bit low. Allow me to explain. This is one of the most ambitious custom level projects I've ever played perhaps second only to The Last Crusade by Rene Brooymans. One the one hand it impresses and thrills deeply but on the other hand the grand scale of the game's ambition actually hurts the gameplay and general enjoyability of the game. There are multiple routes to take and different orders in which you can do things but if you don't do everything just so you will miss out on important secrets or items which necessitates going back to different savegames or restarting the game. There is one point in the level with the velociraptors (I don't know its name because my script files were screwed up and my gamesaves didn't show the correct names) where if you don't have a certain key when you cross a certain collapsible floor you can't continue with the game. You can get out of that area and perhaps find the key but you can't get back to the area where you need to use the key because the floor is collapsed. This kind of level design is just ridiculous. Authors of many custom levels need to be much more careful about not designing game-ending scenarios into their levels. Another annoyance that I found which plagues MANY custom levels is the inclusion of multiple skeleton warriors without giving the player any way to destroy them. A crossbow I did find but no explosive ammo. No grenade gun. Just my shotgun which we all know only knocks them down for a second. When facing only one or two skeletons this is no big deal but when you've got four or five on your tail it's just makes me frustrated and angry. One reason I gave a relatively low score in the enemies area is that the raptors in the game are dumb as a rock and do not attack you. All they do is look at you menacingly and walk slowly toward you. The T-Rexes have to be shot when standing in certain places or they won't die. Scorpions were way overused and used cheaply I might add the author putting them in tightly cramped spaces where Lara can't aim or move and the camera is completely handicapped. I'm not talking about normal crawlspaces--Lara can aim and move fine in places like that--but there is one winding tunnel she has to crawl through that is so cramped and has so many triangular surfaces that hinder her movement that shooting the scorpions is just an exercise in frustration. Given all these gripes I have to admit that these levels probably contain the best tomb raiding atmospheres I've ever seen. There were certain points in the game when I just stared in awe at the screen and thought 'Now THIS is tomb raiding!' It is a beautiful set of levels with some very clever puzzles. But in my final estimation it's a bit too complicated for its own good and more thought should have been put into the level design to avoid that horrible situation of 'Damn I can't continue'. Would I recommend it to someone? Yes with a warning that they may not be able to finish it." - Ludwig (01-Feb-2004) |
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| "This ambitious series is difficult to rate for several reasons. On the one hand it has few rivals where sheer complexity is concerned and the skill level required to navigate all the way through is at the top rung. I devoted the better part of two weeks to this series and even with the printed walkthrough in hand and even using the flycheat to boost my way along I found myself challenged at every turn. Perhaps the term 'challenged' is the best one to summarize my feelings. As I stated in an earlier review my test of a 'four ten' level is whether I'd pay for it. A secondary test is whether I'd play it again. So many times while negotiating a timed maneuver or making my way through that water maze ad nauseum I was so happy just to get to where I was supposed to be that I saved immediately with the sole motivation of moving forward and with no motivation whatsoever of undergoing this ordeal a second time. My favorite levels are the ones where I'm constantly saying to myself in childlike wonder: 'Gee this sure is fun' and 'Boy I'm having a wonderful time'. Those moments were rare while I was playing Tomb Raider Peru (although they did occur). There were too many of my pet peeves (timed runs/swims dark tunnels cramped spaces) and not enough of what I enjoy most about Tomb Raider (wide-open spaces plenty of light visually pleasing textures). Still in view of the obvious time and mental energy that the author invested in this project I'd be something of an ingrate if I didn't give his work high marks which I've done. Since he's now working on a series set in Greece the potential is high for him to use his considerable talents to produce a work that duplicates the positive features of the Peru levels while being sensitive to the criticism that permeates the dozen reviews so far (11/2/03) posted: in short a genuine classic." - Phil (03-Nov-2003) |
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| "Not really sure about this one. I started off enjoying it although if I am honest I am not too keen on snowy vistas and caves but it was certainly interesting enough. Nasty timed run in the first level which I had a lot of trouble with and nearly gave up. I mean if it's THAT difficult in the first level what on earth is coming later? Sure enough I was not wrong. The water maze in Quinara was an absolute killer and very frustrating but the author made up for this in Here be Dragons. Best one of the lot with the lovely jungle settings and T Rex's and raptors although I have to admit I did get a bit fed up with keep revisiting it. Knees got a bit skinned in Crash in the Andes as there is a lot of crawling around to do and I couldn't wait to get into Feathered Serpent for a change. Another nasty timed run involving a rope and I nearly gave up again. However on to the last Vilcabamba Valley. More tight timed runs but nice to see the Demigods again. The downside for me was having to crawl around so much it just seems to slow everything down. And all the timed runs really got me tearing my hair out as you could not get rid of the cut scene and you really needed every second you could manage. They were all so tight to do and seemed to follow on one from the other all the time. Having had a little moan on behalf of all the digitally impaired raiders out there they are a very good set of levels that I am glad I did not miss. Thanks for the walkie Idealist I couldn't begin to have done it without." - Tortoise3 (09-Oct-2003) |
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| "The installation is a bit of work but it is worth every bit. Begin by enjoying the long title flyby which takes you back to the TR1 caves and then dive into this great adventure.
Return to Peru (9/10/10/10, 75 min., 5 secrets): What a fantastic setting in the icy and snowy mountains where Lara needs to find here way with a few sneaky jumps around small ledges, exploring around waterfalls and amazing caves. Very good use of camera angles here and there. After while she finds the entrance doors to the caves of TR1 but on her return here a lot has changed. Not sure if I liked the button sequence which seemed to offer no clues and effects seemed to happen only much later in the level. Enemies are suitbale bats, wolves, crocodiles and towards the end a few bears. Special mention to the secrets (golden skulls), which are not easy to find and you need the first four to get the crucial fifth one (crossbow and serpent stone). Also great is a series of short but quite challenging timed swims and runs that spice up the gameplay. Darts, boulders, spikes, swinging blades and collapsible tiles on your way to find and use a Gold Idol and a Skeleton Key before you move on to part 2.
The Ruins of Quinara (8/9/10/9, 60 min., 5 secrets): It has a touch of Vilcabamba but it is really only a slight reminiscence and the two buildings in which (and around which) you explore aren't all that ruinous, rather two multi-storeyed towers with many rooms, doors and levers. The long intro flyby is great, the music suits the atmosphere and it could have been a wonderful level if not for two water mazes in which Lara drowns way too many times before she knows where to go and for some places which are really annoyingly pitch black. Again 5 secrets of which the fifth holds the crucial serpent stone and can only be found if you found the early ones, too. Teeth doors make an appearance but are fairly harmless. Enemies do keep you quite busy with crocodiles, greatly remodeled skeletons, wolves and rats coming in high numbers.
Here Be Dragons (9/10/10/9, 60+15 min., 5 secrets): Leaving the icy outside cold, this level has you explore caves and caverns and waterfalls with a lot of greenery and it is brilliantly set in scene and you almost feel the dampness of the place. Your quest are five emerald keys, which you get be doing some serious exploring and a bit of decent action, including some longer (but not too tightly) timed sequences, a torch puzzle and plenty of enemies (a dozen raptors, scorpions, crocodiles, skeltons and no less than five T-Rexes and two dragons). If you managed to find all the relevant secrets, you can then enter the next Bonus level before returning here for another bit of gameplay moving a few blocks and mastering a small raptor infested maze to find a Gold Idol and then another quick visit to the Ruins of Quinara before you enter the Temple.
Crash in the Andes - Bonus Level (8/9/10/9, 60 min., 3 secrets): Similar setting to level 1 of the series but even more impressive snowy mountains here, introduced by a fabulous flyby at the start. Again a lot of exploring to do, mainly to spice up your inventory as there are many pickups to be found. The secrets are nice little adventures of their own, too. Enemies are wolves, bats, scorpions and then a bear and remodeled tinmen, one on a horse. Two keys help your progression and there are also a couple of not too hard timed sequences. The downside here is that Lara needs to crawl and monkey swing quite a bit which becomes rather tedious, but the overall setting all makes up for it.
Temple of the Feathered Serpent (10/9/9/9, 75 min., 5 secrets): Held in 'Qualopec style' with a bit of Atlantis thrown in near the end, this is very involving in terms of gameplay. Built around three switches which need to be pressed in the right sequence to help you progress several times you explore many, many paths, flip many switches and open many doors, always trying to keep your bearings and orientation while battling more than a dozen feathered serpents (aka harpies) and about the same amount of mummies. The huge Incan statue in water was great and again there are a few involving and entertaining timed runs, special mention going to the very long one for the last secret, which took me many, many tries to get it right. Two Pyramid Keys and a skeleton key are needed, as well as an Emerald Key which you collect via a quick nip back into 'Here Be Dragons'. Fond memories come up when you reach a very familiar area before you eventually collect a vraeus and the Ankh (nice puzzle there). The blades gauntlet to secret 4 was a challenge and did cost me a lot of health. With the Ankh in hand, you make your way back out to Quinara and if you found all the secrets you are treated to yet another bonus level.
Invasion of the Vilcabamba Valley - Bonus Level (60 min., 7/8/9/9, 3 secrets): I guess I felt that this was a bit too much and I might have been better off without this extra bonus level after all. 16 SAS in snow gear, 14 mosquitoes and a few raptors and rats turn this final hour into quite a massacre and spoil the overall vibes of the series a bit. It is a revisit of the towers of Quinara with a few things changed and also a revisit of the good old Vilcabamba areas we all know and love. Secrets are very tough to find here (needed the walkthrough) and speaking of the walkthrough, I certainly did not have the 'custscenes' scripted there in my game. The three timed runs are fun though and the end with the Atlantean demigods and the helicopter is well done, but why oh why did Lara have to make her way through this water maze again.
All in all, this is a highly entertaining and very involving raid that likely will keep you busy for weeks to get through it (and then get through it again using the walkthrough), but the settings are so professionally set in scene that it would be a shame if you missed it. Great stuff! Can't wait for the next part of the adventure in Northern Greece. " - Michael (04-Oct-2003) |
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| "I played the levels twice. First time I didn't get all secrets in 'Return to Peru'. My game froze when Lara wanted to enter the door with the 4 wolves behind it. I had to use a savegame from a Mac- friend and he hadn't any secrets at all. Tip: just kill everything that moves. Don't be nice and don't overlook something (like a bat). Anyway I made it through the levels (without the bonus level 1). So there was the second try and this time with the help of the walkthroughs by Loren. Don't think it is much easier to play the levels with the walkthrough. You might not go astray so often but the difficult parts are still there for you to do. I would say if you are not an expert player or have the patience to try at certain areas for a long time you will get frustrated in this game and might give up. There are timed sequences that are really hard to manage and there are complicated jumps (bonus level 1) where I almost broke my fingers to get them done. I was impressed with the surrounding in the different levels. The enemies were mostly in such quantity that Lara could cope with them. I mean what are 4 wolves or 2 T-Rex or raptors from all side for Lara. Only the annoying locusts in level 3 'Here be Dragons' did bother her because she lost a lot of health. Then I thought it was sneaky to have to collect all 4 secrets in each level. Partly they are well hidden or difficult to get. If you have 4 then you can collect the 5th. Hm! Only if you have all secrets from level 1-3 you can play the bonus level 1 'Crashed in the Andes'. This is another full level but I found it a very hard one to play. If you collect all 5 secrets in level 4 you can play the bonus level 2 'Valley in Vilcabamba'. In level 4 it is the 5th secret after a timed sequence which was pretty hard to get. Loren didn't just put in timed sequence where Lara had to run. Oh no run around corners and run and swim and climb out and run till you see an open door. The game had many exciting parts but sometimes Lara had to crawl endlessly or so. On the whole it is a wonderful game and I' m pretty sure I will play it again." - Monika (16-Sep-2003) |
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| "This is a total non-brainer in the scoring department it's pure straight tens all the way. I am by no means a lover of TR1 especially the early levels in that game but Loren has brought us back to some of those locations and others with the same feel this instance though I have utterly fallen in love with the place and up against the old style of TR1 this one is eons ahead of it in every possible way. This is however a set of levels with high difficulty at times that will drive some players crazy the hunt alone for all the secrets that allow access to the two superb bonus levels will have players more than likely replaying most of the non bonus levels right after having completed them with the help of the forum or walkthrough to actually collect those secrets as they are so craftily placed. You will find about every kind of puzzle move and fantastic adventurous thing you can think of so there is no use going into them all but I will give you a brief description of the settings enemies secrets and time spent in all 6 levels. Return To Peru: Beautiful and vast snowy mountain range with rivers and caves to explore. Wolves crocs and bears as enemies. 60 minutes and five secrets. The Ruins of Quinara: Simply but effectively set area with two tall Incan buildings linked by a wooden bridge and partially built over a water maze. Wolves crocs skeletons and rats as enemies. 50 minutes and five secrets. Here Be Dragons: The first level that really has you underground inside a wonderful green jungly cavernous setting with waterfalls and temple like areas that allows for plenty of exploration. Raptors skeletons crocs T-Rexes and giant serpents as enemies. 90 minutes and five secrets. Bonus - Crash in the Andes: Back outside into a different area of the snowy mountain range where you need to find an amazingly created crashed plane. There's a great mix of caving and outdoor action to be found. Wolves bear horseman tinmen as enemies. 60 minutes and three secrets. Temple of the Feathered Serpent: Totally spent inside an Incan temple where a lot of your access to places is found in a series of different combinations with three resettable buttons you will also find one if not the tallest statues ever to be found in a custom level but you unfortunately never get to take it all in very well with the way it is set into a room almost totally submerged in water. Harpies mummies raptors and balaclava clad men as enemies. 80 minutes and five secrets. Bonus - Invasion in Vilcabamba Valley: Back to Quinara where the buildings are a little demolished and also a trip into a replicated section of Vilcabamba. Balaclava clad men raptors giant mosquitoes and two Atlantean demigods at the end as enemies. 45 minutes and three secrets." - Sash (12-Sep-2003) |
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| "This set of levels was in the running for a while to become part of my top five list but when an author's ambition is too high one can fall deep... Return to Peru (9/5/8/10): Chills is what I got playing this first level absolutely a flash back way back to 1996 my first encounter of TR on the Playstation. I actually had goose pimples watching the little flyby starting way below with the butler strolling around the tent camera going upwards. Absolutely beautiful mix of Loren's own settings and the ones from TR1. Gameplay wise there's a lot of timed runs swims shimmies jumping but in a progressive way without backtracking just basic what it's supposed to be fun raiding. But the author puts so much talk on the secrets the secret finding itself becomes part of the gameplay and that's where it all goes terribly wrong. I played the first version as many did and while secret finding SHOULD be difficult in the first version it was near impossible and of course I'm referring to the four-button thing that is a DEFINITE no-go hence the very harsh 5 rating. In fact I did find the serpent stone which one isn't supposed to collect with only three skulls in possession but I did. Cameras would have gotten a 10 rating if they weren't so annoying slow on giving you your view back. Timed runs are difficult enough already without such annoyances. Remarkable camera work in other places like the one where you had to work your way up with a bird-perspective camera from high above (brilliant). Ruins of Quinara (9/10/10/10): Near perfect level in which the author fools around with you by giving you a wall switch that you are tempted to switch but...you should get annoyed yourself so I won't give you a clue. There's also a sneaky underwater lever that gives you the way to another secret (wonderfully done how the author pushes you to 'think' yourself your way to the solution). All in all a switch-'n-go level with some crocodiles and raptors thrown in. There be dragons (8/10/10/10): The most beautiful level of this set of levels. Beautiful dark green 'out in the woods' setting. A real dark paradise where you at one point meet two T-Rex and have to light 4 torches which once lit give a wonderful atmosphere to this level. Very good camera settings. One very good secret underwater a good raider should find (but I didn't). Gameplay wise a bit too much running around for its own good. Temple of the feathered serpent (6/8/8/8): Definitely not the best level pretty straightforward three-button code gameplay with which you have to open several doors. Crash in the Andes (8/7/8/10): Too complicated for it's own good again with just too many options and ways to go though still a looker of it's own certainly with the nice stranded airplane setting that brought a bit of Spielberg wise excitement to the level. One very fun but difficult jump-a-thon 'Japanese' style to get the machine gun. Invasion of the Vilcabamba valley (6/7/8/9): Except for the ending a rather obsolete level with an unnecessary recap of the very tedious underwater swims from the Quinara level. All in all an overrated level series because at some points unplayable or too complicated and ambitious for its own good hence the very long help-threads but on the other hand certainly one to give a try if only for level 2 and 3 being near perfect." - bERT (09-Sep-2003) |
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| "This really is a top level worth resting upon a pedestal together with the original games and some other custom levels. So you'll wonder why don't I give it four tens in my ratings? Anybody who's played it will understand: there's a very important puzzle for which hints aren't given whatsoever - I know the author has released a new version where he gave some thought to that after realizing the problem - fake hints given (such as Lara staring at a group of rocks where there's absolutely nothing to do as she passes by them) and too much importance has been placed on finding the (often too tough to find) secrets. If one doesn't find all the secrets - and one needs to find the first four in each regular level to be able to find the fifth - one simply doesn't get to play the really great bonus levels two of them with a regular level in the middle. That's a bit too sneaky or is it not? What is for example a certain lever in The Ruins of Quinara doing apart from preventing the player from finding all of the secrets? That isn't just sneaky that's double sneaky... and not very logical when you think players are interested in having a little fun... not work. That having been said and precisely because of the secrets I among many others had to go back to previous savegames and replay large or less large parts of the game. Triple sneaky...Apart from that the game has loads of different enemies very clever puzzles very many timed runs of the kind that simply seem impossible at first glance a very good variety of ambiances from the snowy mountains of Peru to the ruins of an ancient city the jungle caves you name it...In the first bonus level Crash in the Andes I never made it to the crash site (I just took several glances at it from a distance but there were no survivors anyway so...). I made it to the end just the same even after finding the grenade gun secret but giving it up because I just wasn't making my way out of it - maybe easy once you know how but frankly that was not my case. And in the second bonus level (the last very good where you not only get to revisit the Ruins of Quinara after a lot of snow has fallen but also a little bit of the jungle and most of all a rebuilt part of TR1 which was a fabulous idea from my point of view. I must admit I didn't find any of the three secrets in this last level... Shame on me! That means I left a couple of doors and trapdoors unopened but what are you going to do? I was in a rush to make it to the helicopter and make my escape from such a dangerous country! In the middle of all this (and forgive me if I'm not really telling about every puzzle and enemy you will find in these truly beautiful and huge levels but I wouldn't like to spoil the surprise) I more than loved the whole game. But I must say it desperately needs a walkthrough... I doubt anybody will make it without help due to its great complexity at times. Fortunately there was a great deal of help from the forums for which I must be grateful. Namely from the author himself... He was present at all times and that is something not necessarily very usual for which I really must congratulate him. Finally expect Tomb Raider Peru to drive you out of your mind several times. But don't even think of missing it especially if you're a somewhat experienced Tomb Raider player... It's hard work but also great fun and a great experience. Really looking forward to more games by the same author..." - Jorge22 (07-Sep-2003) |
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| "This large and complex level is divided into several parts with bonus levels if you manage to find all the secrets. Unfortunately I didn't so I can only review the first four levels but here goes: Return to Peru: What a nostalgia trip - all those lovely TR1 textures and audio files. This part begins with a wonderful flyby of Lara's butler waiting at the base of the cliffs but how to get down to him? Much searching through bat infested caves ensues hampered by crocodiles wolves and bears. There is a very tight timed swim in this section and a lot of climbing. The Ruins of Quinara: At least you get to come inside out of the cold in this part. Levers to pull rooms to flood (I did enjoy the flooded room with the skeleton - Lara was swimming over his head and he was still trying to swipe at her with his dirty great sword). The good news - I found the crossbow in this part. The bad news - I didn't find any explosive ammo to go with it. Here Be Dragons: I had a spectacular camera shot at one point of Lara being swept over a waterfall into the waiting jaws of several crocodiles. This beautiful area is heavily infested with dinos - dragons indeed. Mazes torch puzzle far too many skeletons (and still no explosives) and T rexes that suddenly freeze into imobility at least temporarily. It's a huge area to explore and the timed run with the torch is another tight one. You need to find five emerald keys here to gain access to a gold idol and getting the fifth one involves a run in with a real dragon and its attendant locusts and yet another timed run. Phew. A brief return to the previous level to place the gold idol and open the door to: Temple of the Feathered Serpent: Open some pictogram coded doors shoot a couple of harpies avoid a load of mummies (STILL no explosives damn must have missed them) and notice a door that needs an emerald key. OK back to the previous level for a brief time to collect another one. Ever been trapped in a crawl space by scorpions? You will be here if you're not careful. Gem in hand you can return to the Temple to be greeted by more harpies. Of course the good thing about all this level hopping is that you get nice freebie health top ups. Plenty of timed runs swimming and raising/lowering of water levels all accompanied by those wonderful spooky sounds from The Cistern. In summary this set of levels can be played the easier way i.e. just the first four levels or the hard version i.e. going for all the secrets to access the bonus levels. If you opt for the easier route this is still the most marvelous experience. Who knows if and when a walkthrough comes out I might just have another go at the full version and just think how much I could whitter on about it then. 03.09.2003" - Jay (04-Sep-2003) |
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| "A great adventure more than 10 hours of net gaming time for me because of the backtracking. The author has recreated the Peruvian world of TR1 with caves lost city lost valley and temples plus a long journey in snowy mountains. This game is completely different (except for a couple of rooms in Temple of the Feathered Serpent that look the same than in Tomb of Qualopec) and five times more difficult than the levels from Core Design (they were too easy anyway). Many puzzles to solve objects to find timed tasks and a lot of exploration. There are two or three things that I do not like (the scorpions in crawlspaces one secret looks more like a bad joke than a true puzzle and the game crashed at some point because I forgot to kill all the enemies I've seen) I was a bit upset but not for long because this is exactly the kind of game that I am fond of. And they are the best levels I have ever played for the sound/music/atmosphere. A lot of time and IMAGINATION have been put in them. It's a game worthy to be played at least twice once to discover those beautiful different places and another try to find all the secrets and access the bonus levels: this way players won't be under stress because of the fear to miss secrets and can enjoy fully this good game which will become a great classic. Congratulations and big thanks to the author. Return to Peru (9 8 10 10) Wolves bats bears crocs. Exploration in windy mountains and caves before reaching a temple where many timed swims are required (great). Ruins of Quinara (9 9 10 9) Wolves crocs rats skeletons. Many puzzles to solve outside inside and beneath Inca towers. Here be dragons (9 10 10 10) Crocs many raptors T-rex skeletons little scorpions dragons. A completely non straightforward great level of exploration in a lost valley with waterfalls to find 5 emerald keys a terrific underground atmosphere. Bonus level 1 : Crash in the Andes (9 8 10 10) Wolves little scorpions bats one bear one horseman tinmen. You have to find your way in an impressive icy outside area where a planned is crashed. Not easy. Acrobatic moves are required. Temple of the feathered serpent (10 9 10 10) Harpies mummies baddies. My favourite level of the game because of the reset-able puzzles based upon symbols the movable blocks the high room that must be half drained the deadly traps the Atlantean rooms and a last and great timed door for the fifth secret. Some doors left unopened though. Bonus level 2 : Invasion in Vilcabamba valley (8 9 10 9) Gunmen raptors giant mosquitos Atlantean demigods. A remake of both Ruins of Quirana and City of Vilcabamba mixed together with many twists." - eRIC (01-Sep-2003) |
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| "These levels have fascinated me very much. They got me really. Breathtaking sceneries hard tasks matching sound - a true Tombraider-classic. The degree of demand is very high especially if you go for all the secrets so that you can play also the two bonus levels (very much recommended). The puzzles were most of the time very well made and interesting except some where definitely some hints in the game had been missing for instance this button-puzzle in the first level where you had to push one button before another to get the fifth secret without any hint for it. Otherwise there was a very nice button-puzzle in the fourth level where the hints were nicely made and this puzzle was very cleverly used to open the door to a secret. You must also be willing to replay some levels if you had missed secrets but because the levels are really fun there was no problem with it. One of the specialties of these levels are the numerous sometimes very tight timed tasks. I had a lot of fun with it. The atmosphere of these levels is simply wonderful. The mountain scenes in the Andes where brilliant the best outdoor areas I've seen so far. Texture and lighting are very good integrated with the atmosphere. It was sometimes a bit dark in the caves but this was perfectly ok. You could also feel that there was a lot of attention to the sound by the author which was very well integrated with the other elements of the game. The same I can say about the cameras. The title flyby was also nice (rebuilt from a TR1-Level) and if you want you can choose to play this level. The enemies are matching to the spirit of these levels: wolves bears raptors T-Rex crocs and bats and in one of the bonus levels some conquistadors and the other some SAS. I enjoyed the levels very much including also some frustrating moments which you'll have in every good game. They are definitely one of my favourites. You have to play them." - Raymond (26-Aug-2003) |
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| "I have to say that these are extraordinary levels. Actually I wasn't really sure how to rate this game. From one hand we have wonderful places icy caves mountains and a jungle; every thing is covered here with two bonus levels. From the other hand there is enough frustrations merely for the secrets. At least one of them in each level isn't accessible at all times so if the player doesn't get it you have to restart that level. I had to play two levels because of this not that the game doesn't deserve it but with all the timed runs and many tight ones I wasn't happy about it. Lara needs to find five secrets in each of the regular levels to access the bonus areas which are; visiting the Andes and then going back to Quinara for a better ending than just a night setting with the helicopter. I loved the snowy maintains and Quinara also the jungle was superb. Golden idols emerald gems red gems are items you will be searching throughout the levels. As for enemies well they are many and vary; from wolves to raptors T-Rex then bats bears you name it it's here. Come to think of it the T-Rex in my game froze if Lara went to a particular spot before killing them but that wasn't a bad thing. I enjoyed every single minute playing this even the dragons level with the annoying locusts and a difficult timed run that made me spent a whole night trying to catch a door open. I don't want to say too much and spoil this so definitely play this game. It's one of the best levels out there and became my favourite. Don't miss it." - Kristina (23-Aug-2003) |
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| "Great cool and excellent six levels you need to find the all secrets to play the two bonus levels I enjoy very much to play." - Yoav (23-Aug-2003) |
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