Level reviews

"I started playing this level many years ago, but for some reason, I never finished it. I am not sure why, since having just completed it, I can say that it is amazing without any dull moments. In my opinion, puzzles and platforming sections are even more inventive and engaging than the ones in the first part of the series. I especially liked the area where you have to manoeuvre the strange vehicle that is modified from the jeep. The humorous cut scenes involving those little demons were also super fun to watch. In terms of visuals, the level looks good, even though it consists of somewhat blocky rooms and hallways, many of which are highly similar in appearance and lack the immersion present in UB3 and UB4. All in all, this one of those classic custom levels that I can easily recommend to all players." - Samu

"Listed as a masterpiece (on TRcustoms.org) and has 9.83 average on TRLE.net (at the time of writing) and rightfully so! This level, especially for early 2000s, is a mindblowing and amazing piece of work which shows that you don't need scripts or anything to build an engaging gameplay, but only the creativity and basic usage of vanilla TR4 engine. This level should inspire anyone who is stuck on making gameplay parts of their level and should be referenced everywhere - full of creative puzzles and platforming that literally is a testament of what an engaging gameplay should be. Absolutely recommended." - Kubsy

"Another masterpiece by this brilliant author. The scenarios and objects used show great originality, without comparison with other games in terms of story involvement. Some scenes (better say, details) are hilarious. Some sequences are difficult but fair. There are several new objects and they are all quite creative. I found 6 secrets and it took me almost 3 hours!! This game is not to be missed!! Thanks Richard!! (39/40)" - CalrOsario

"I know that the UK folks are not very happy with their rail system since it was privatised but I'm sure it is not as difficult to be able to board a train as in Richard's level. Boy, what a custom player has to do just to make a train ride! It's becoming boring but this is yet again a level builder course by a builder who gives you everything. Brilliant puzzles (what a diversity in boulder puzzles, special mention for the one with the shootable thingies), manageable timed runs when you put your mind to it, humour (the giddy 'meatballs with party pricks' are here again), boss fight (big skull), well styled big and small rooms, secret unlocking that deserve the title 'secret' and...and..and... Either Richard's parents gave him a fenomenal mix of super genes or he is an alien because any human with such an imagination must be from another planet. Can't add anything more than that all the others have said. Another 4 tens without hesitation!" - bERT

"Continuing my quest to remember why I loved TRLE's so much, I've come back to a tried and true level series to replay in sequence the UUB series. Next on the list is UUB2. What I liked about the level: 1) As with UUB1, there was no lagging, no bugs, no crashing. Everything works perfectly on my lesser CPU Win10 PC. 2) There's something so appealing about boulders and trap doors creating pathways to trigger tiles. 3) The exhilaration of entering a room filled with sloped blocks only to be topped by yet another sloped block room ahead. Such fun! 4) Oh, those poor sacrificial "lambs" clearing the minefield for Lara (I have to watch it again, haha!). 5) I am not usually fond of enemies in levels, but these ones are an absolute delight. 6) Even though the timed run with the vehicle was tough, I still had such fun taking those hairpin turns like a "bat outta hell"! Conclusion: Did my replay once again remind me of why I loved TRLE's so much?... the answer is YES. I laughed so much while playing… just what I needed right now. Does the level hold up after all these years?…it sure does! On to the next challenge!" - Lizard Queen

"Another brilliant masterpiece from this author. While I felt the hallways were a bit samey in comparison to the previous entry in this series, this is still unique all around and filled with an impressive amount of small details that had me foolishly smiling now and then, such as the Xian warrior undertaking anger management advice from an imp you end up summoning yourself later on to calm down another enemy, but you also get to summon other imp allies throughout your journey for different tasks. The ghost train itself is also a marvel to look at. Gameplay is quite diverse, although I felt the timed run with the vehicle was a tad frustrating (not because of the timed door itself, but rather the jump seemed impossible; ultimately what worked for me was driving to the side of the opposite slope instead). There are several new objects and all of them are pretty inventive, such as the pushblock statue with an attached gem or the colored shapes towards the end. 75 minutes, 8 secrets. 06/21" - Treeble

"Another great level! It keeps up the awesome and funny storyline and cutscenes, and also the moderate difficulty. This time I took away a little point for the occasional wallpapered texturing. Otherwise it is pretty much perfection, if you raid for fun and not only thrills. I definitely recommend this to everyone who hasn't played. Another major achievement, Richard. It's almost getting boring ;) Thank you so much!" - MigMarado

"Actually started and finished it on one seat, this game is my favourite in the tetralogy, while it seems to be the least liked in the series (I consider the mark that is has now compared to the other games) I genuinely found this to be the best among the four, probably it was thanks to the excellent usage of the "Team Anubis" that always brought be great laughs and it was most likely thanks also to the huge map that really was immersive and I would consider impressive still this day.
The gameplay is my favorite, most likely thanks to the adding of the "Team Anubis" that was able to bring a lot of amazing moments, but what I consider very impressive is the fact that each one of these character had a certain cutscene and, again for the time, it must have been the most impressive thing around the TRLE world. Some may say that the huge map was confusing and could lead to huge backtracking, that is very, very true but I cannot deny that the maps offered did made exploring much easier.
If the last game was very customized, this game is even more and beyond, I would not say the level of custom is as impressive as the later on chapters, but still it did had a load of custom object and for that time that was a heck of a lot impressive.
The atmosphere is still very immersive, especially thanks to those interludes with the "Team Anubis", and to the overall keep of the same kind of appearance throughout the four levels.
Lighting and texturing is still pretty good, I am impressed that with such limited resources this game looks more inspired than one of those atmospheric only TRLE games of nowadays (not that I wish to imply I do not like them).
This game is just as important as the previous chapter and I really do recommend picking it up because you will not regret that! Wolfy Regards.
BONUS: Each and every time I talk about the Team Anubis drink a shot of something :3 I keep talking about them quite a lot in this review." - Wolf7

"Awesome level like the previous entries in this series. Just like before, the puzzles and platforming is very creative and there are a lot of good game design elements present here such as first presenting you with an idea of a puzzle but it's a simple example of it and then showing you subsequent puzzles based on the same concept but it's harder or it has a twist to it. I especially liked the small demons that assist you throughout this TRLE. They add some nice bit of humour to this adventure. I really like how each part of this series that starts first with the "The Lizard King" TRLE fit very well as a story and how what you do in these TRLE's (ofcourse including this one) is for the specific plot reason of the story. Like for instance in this level you have to activate 2 generators in order to summon the ghost train in order to go to Lower Hell and since the location is one that you've raided once before, since you raided Castle Orr in the Lizard king before, you have the full team Anubis on your side this time (meaning Demon Smalls and his buddies together with what looks like Anubis guard...robots? I'm not sure what they are really but they are essentially like the TR4 Cairo soldiers) that will assist you throughout the journey and it all fits well with the narrative that has been established in these past TRLE's in the series. The Castle has a quite logical construction to it I'd say (that is, logical enough for an afterlife world) although the texture variety is average however the textures that the level uses does so very well. The only thing that I can criticise about this TRLE is the Giant Skull section. Now this set piece is nice, cool looking and funny (cause the Skull apparantly has a personality) however the fact that the Skull is actually just a dragon in disguise is annoying because I found it's AI to be quite random. You never knew when he's going to just stay and wail, throw locusts or (the worst) shoot fireballs at you right when you are pulling the required levers. The randomness of this encounter made it quite frustrating for me but then again perhaps I'm just bad and actually the AI is predictable. Anyway, I would only deduct like 0.5 from the gameplay score for this section but since the score has to be rounded, a 10 will be the final score and it's also what I give to all the other categories because this is just a really good TRLE from all points and it is another must play in this series." - Cruzader

"I am impressed by this level so much that I will not rant about the skull and how fire- breathing dragons should never be used in any custom level. I only played UB-1 from this author before, and he designed an actually better level than that. Kudos, what can I say. The amazing textures, the ultimate creativity, superb blend of humor and suspense (crowned by the 'whatever' in the end), wonderful sound effects. There is so much innovation in gameplay in one level it is ridiculous. I especially loved how the author gave me a lot of stuff to figure out for myself, with just the right amount of hints. Figuring out that the weirdo creatures must be killed before they reach the tile for example, an awesome idea hinted by just Lara looking at the said tile, or solving which trapdoors need to be closed by following where the boulders will slide down to. It is a difficult level in my opinion, but it is not unfair, so yeah kudos again. Definitely recommended." - Nomad

"My second adventure with Demon Smalls & Anubis - I just loved this adventure !!! What a great imagination Richard has !!! Everything is perfect, & pretty linear - I don't like backtracking..." - Juno Jim

"As the name suggests this is set inside a castle (that you technically visited in the Lizard King, although there's only new areas here). The visuals are fine but I'm not sure the setting plays to Lawther's strengths; his best looking maps tend to have grander concepts that the Castle theme doesn't support as well, but the visuals are still decent, and the lighting and object use remains mostly great. Like the previous sets the combination of elements gives the whole setting a slightly oppressive atmosphere (despite the humour) that feels too consistent to be incidental. The gameplay continues to provide a constant stream of original ideas and fun challenges. Beyond one tricky rope jump there's nothing especially difficult, but it always manages to slightly twist standard concepts in a way that works better if you already know how everything is "supposed" to work. It also makes you do tasks multiple times with increasing complexity in a way that doesn't get repetitive. The times where you summon Team Anubis also lead to some great humorous moments, along with some other subtle storytelling (like a room visually introducing the villains of UUB). The first time I played this set ages ago I recall coming away slightly disappointed for some reason, but this time I found it just as good as everything else so far, and maybe even better in terms of the overall gameplay flow." - Mman

"The series continues and it is as good as ever. Lara and Demon Smalls have arrived at Castle Orr, the land of demonic challenges. Many puzzles and tricky manoeuvres await our Lara, including a ride in a vehicle powered by bees and a puzzle with an angry skull. The final cut scene is one to be treasured as they head to the Plain of Jars..." - Ryan

"And so i got to the second part of this series. I didn't get bored at all when playing this level even though it lasts for a few hours. Richard has made a real masterpiece and it's even better than UB1 in my opinion with lots of hilarious cutscenes, jumping sequences, timed runs. The only thing that i struggled a lot with was the last rolling boulder puzzle where you had to be very quick to not get caught on fire. This time the texturing wasn't as good as in the first installment with pretty bland grey textures covering the walls while being applied well though. I absolutely love platforming and i got a lot of that in this level, the room with the long jump sequence combined with the two rolling boulders is pure fun. The cutscenes you get when placing the scrolls are hilarious and in one of them a demon helps you shatter the glass by screaming loudly to get to the next section. You also get to drive a funny vehicle which you can then use after acquiring the bees from the Skull. While the textures may be a bit grey i must say that it's a minor gripe and you don't play this level for great texturing but great gameplay. Highly Recommended !!!!" - totizedger

"WOW!!! Once again this is a very successful great level by great Richard Lawther. Spontaneously, I can't say anything else, because I'm so impressed of this level... It just includes many cool puzzles, some funny custom enemies and also charakters from "team anubis", who will help Lara during playing the game. A masterpiece!!!!!!!" - Nuri

"Another enjoyable raid from amazing Richard Lawther... (I must say that I didn`t like his Lizard King as much as other players but these Underworld series are superb!!! I played UB4, UB3 and now UB2 so far so there is still one left for me to play - UB1 and I believe that it will not dissapoint me). In this adventure are many funny moments which will make you laugh and smile oh man so funny and so good. The summoning scrolls is excellent idea and those are really the most funny moments. In terms of gameplay there are clever puzzles waiting for you to solve, also some medium challanging jumps, slopes and time sequences, next I must say that I don`t prefer very much car ride in TR but in here it was really funny! Atmosphere is beautiful and sounds are always fitting it perfectly, textures and lighting are excellently applied, there are just a few enemies but better to spare medipacks because it`s not just enemy which will make damage to Lara (better to find some secrets for medipacks which by the way are nicely hidden). Well I am not giving perfect 10 for this game because there are some areas where I was just running and running through corridors and paths and also some puzzles were too simple but never mind this were the only things I didn`t like here, this is an amazing game for everybody and I am definitely recommending it!!! Thank you Richard for this adventure and also thank you for all your breathtaking games!!! 9/10/10/10" - OverRaider

"My slow replay of the Underworld UB series continues, albeit very slowly. This was the level where I originally fell in love with the series, and I am happy to say that I loved it even more the second time around. There are some amazing new ideas, like the adorable demon team who assist Lara in her quest (the sight of Jim Rummage's legs sticking out of a jar is priceless) and the great sense of humour (Dr. Psychobabble teaching the 'awkward' skull anger management is by far the funniest moment in all the custom levels I have played). I love all the cutscenes featuring Team Anubis helping Lara, as well as the final cutscenes of the Ghost Train materializing from thin air, and Lara and Demon Smalls riding off in it.
The gameplay seems like it's tailor-made to my idea of perfect gameplay. I love the intelligent puzzles: the four rolling-ball challenge, the four shape-shooting challenges near the end, as well as some excellent pushable puzzles. There are some tough traps and platforming challenges: the main one being the huge room with multiple slopes and traps sequences, but also the spikes and rising tiles one at the beginning. The icing on the cake is the tricky yet fun ride on the custom-made vehicle (which runs on angry bees!). Enemies are used very creatively. The only enemies are the aforementioned skull, and giggling black spiky balls, who can set Lara on fire if she doesn't kill them before they reach a trigger (or she can ask Team Anubis to kill them).
The only part of this level I can reasonably criticize is the looks: while Castle Orr is indeed impressively grand, and has some great architecture, it is also textured almost completely in the same grey stone textures everywhere. The only pretty room is the one with the walkways over water where you ride the vehicle. Distance fog is used nicely to convey a sense of the majestic scale of the castle. Unfortunately, at times, the place gets too majestic - i.e. there are far too many huge rooms and unnecessarily long corridors to traverse. The lack of any outdoor areas - though understandable enough in this setting - makes this level feel like a step down after the superb outdoor area in Part 1 of the series.
Overall: A truly amazing level, with a great blend of challenging (but never frustrating) gameplay, cool cutscenes, and a huge dollop of humour." - Mytly

"In this second installment of the Underworld series Lara teams up with Smalls and a few friends to get access to the ghost train, which will bring her to the next game of the series. The game play here is very intuitive and puzzle based and not overly hard except for one sequence where Lara has to push buttons and pick up items while engulfed in a swarm of locusts and also being set of fire by a disgruntled giant skull. There are also a couple of nice lava jumps, rope swings and a series of timed boulder runs that I found incredibly well designed. As usual there were plenty of stunning objects in use and the highlight was probably the ride in the"angry bee" vehicle, which had to be used to access areas and break through walls etc. I really enjoyed those nicely made cut scenes with Smalls and his helpers after Lara uses the summoning scrolls to call for. The famous spiky pests were also present and quite funny and dangerous at the same time. The atmosphere was as good as expected, the rooms where all a little on the big and plain side without much decoration, but perfectly textured and lighted. All in all this was a worthy part of the UUB series and I am looking forward to part three. Highly recommended - and make sure to play the whole series in the correct sequence because of the ongoing story line. (1h 30min, 8 secrets found)" - Blue43

"Another amazing level by an amazing builder. This is the second part of the UUB series and there are once again so many great things about it. You are inside castle orr which was n the lizard king but this castlelooks different and it is so much better!There are a lot of places to explore and the castle is huge. Your main goal is to make the ghost train but first you need a lot of power. The castle has a lot in store for you and you will not be dissapointed. Some of the things I loved was some custom objects like teleporters, vehicles and moveable objects. The vehicle looked really nice but before you can have a go at it you need some bees to make the vehicle work. To get the bees you need to get it off of a skull. Whe you first meet the skull it acts 'awkward' and by awkward I mean really angry! It was so hard to get past it! Very fun and everyone should try it." - afzalmiah

"Another level played by me in times when I wasn't even thinking about becoming a reviewer. Now I need to remind myself about it, and all I can remember is:
- a vehicle called Hornet
- some Manna from Heaven
- "I'm in" phrase
- living spikeballs setting Lara on fire
- Demon Smalls
- a demon in a jar
- another demon "defusing" a minefield
- a demon psychiatrist trying to cure a skull suffering from rapid mood changes
- a TR2 jade warrior, also being cured by the psychiatrist
- Team Anubis (don't shoot them!)
- a castle so monumental and complex there were maps on the wall provided for not to get lost
- a water room with metal bridges and sparks above it
- turning the power on to summon a ghost train
- a midair railway
- Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata"
- gravity trimmer (working)
- some nice pushable to close an electricity circuit
- teleports through transparent floor.
SUMMARY: As You can see, I remember nearly everything from this game - at about 3 years after playing it! The last thing I remember is the most important one - that I surely forgot about some features equally ridiculous to these mentioned above. Ergo: one day I will need to replay the level in a purpose of getting shocked again. So my rating seems rather obvious now." - DJ Full

"Another part of this highly acclaimed series, and I think Richard has even done better to construct a concise and well-puzzled level, with many rooms where you first think "How on earth I can ever get through it" and afterwards, you are proud of yourself. This time some places were even funnier, like Dr. Psychobubble which appears twice in this level: one time talking to his patient, the other time trying to calm down the big skull - very hilarious, I think. The summoning scrolls on the whole were really worth placing; mostly you get a funny little cutscene afterwards, with one little demon helping Lara out. All the traps were of course completely new to the player, as usual. On the car ride, you had to collect bees for it that hummed in the motor, I tried thousand times to turn on the water tiles, before realising the back-drive method... never had to use it before. The puzzles in the two power rooms and the trapdoor-boulder puzzle was for sure very original tasks, highly clever and enjoying. I only renember the horseman's gem to be placed on a funny way into the receptacle, using the pushable. Eight secrets, hidden in a crafty way throughout the whole level, one with a horrible rope swing however, completed the adventure. As usual, sound and atmosphere were really good, supported by camera hints which effected the game never be too hard. But, unluckily, and unluckily as usual, Richard has used not very different texturing here, and this time there was not a brilliantly looking inside area like in UUB1. Lightning was good, but not that it helped the last category to get to a 9 like in the previous level. But this levels, as I keep saying, are not less good because of textures, I think, as the huge part is gameplay, which was top notch, as I expected. After a bit less than one and a half hours, Demon Smalls finally managed to summon the Ghost Train, and after a little conversation, both ride off to the next adventure..." - manarch2

"And once again one can admire the typical humor of Richard Lawther. A Chinese warrior on the psychiatrist's couch and running balls of wool which blow oneselves up at bomb disposal. There were of course still a lot of other amusing situations. For example, yells a colleague of Demon Smalls so loud which breaks a windowpane. Indeed, he is quite hoarse afterwards. Or the fire and bees spitting death's-head which is persuaded by another colleague of Demon Smalls to be a little bit more co-operative. To this come many first-class riddles. One or other camera journey would have been even nicer with some music and I don't like basically opponents who spit constantly fire and moths (in this case were it bees). There one needs either many Medipacks, or must save and reload constantly. However, these were already the only smaller problems in an otherwise jutting out level. And now I am curious about UUB 3." - Scottie

"I really enjoyed this level. The atmosphere is once again perfect, like the previous levels in this story, and the storyline continues to be interesting with amusing dialogue and a touch of comedy in all the right places. Summoning the different members of Team Anubis in order to solve puzzles was a very creative and brilliant addition to the game." - Ward Dragon

"This is wonderful, truly amazing. Everything is orginal and I really enjoyed it alot. This is, what I think, a masterpiece, but I still yet have to play the 4th one and I will just as soon as I can. This is a must play for the players." - dantheraider

"There is no doubt about Richard Lawther : No one ever has yet surpassed his skills in creating TRLE levels of such athmosphere and quality ! As every single part of Richards Underworld series is a unique and marvellous adventure of its own , the complete UB 1-4 is more than that : it is both a great pleasure and great fun to play but also an experience that no TRLE player should miss . Richard is one of the very few builders who have succeeded in steering TRLE away from the image of Lara just beeing a dull switch-pulling , block-pushing , gems-finding and enemies-busting hero as in too many other TRLE issues. This is TRLE at its very best ! This is Richard The Magician !" - Ruben

"Well, it's taken me a while to getting around to playing this level but it sure has been worth the wait. What to say that hasn't been said already? Well, this level certainly has everything I've come to expect in Richard's levels - small, cute, dough-boy characters, odd attacking spiky balls, and fascinating puzzles. I sometimes miss the outright wackiness of the Astrodelica levels but there is still enough surrealism here to keep me happy :-). I was wondering if, perhaps, I should have played part 1 of this adventure first but, then again, it seems a perfectly rounded, stand-alone, adventure. And Richard's levels do tend to get me pulling my hair out at times. Especially the Hornet ride/timed run on narrow platforms and the awkward skull spitting fire at me continuously. But no matter. I got there in the end. Yet again, a truly inspired and imaginative level. Well done." - Staticon

"This second installment of the Underworld series is even better than the first! Aided by some of Demon Smalls' friends (who I hope will make more appearances in later installments), Lara and Smalls must turn on two generators in order for the Ghost Train to materialize. Be prepared to be pushed to your limits (and your sanity!) with some of the puzzles, such as the Skull who is feeling awkward that day or learning how to drive the Hornet on perilously thin walkways. The timed run with the Hornet is one of my favorite parts of this level because it requires great skill to get it just right. The cutscenes with Smalls' friends are very enjoyable, as is the entire level for that matter. This series just continues to get better and better with each installment!" - Celli

"And so yet another chapter of the Underworld saga has come to a conclusion for my part...although I do know for sure that I'll play this level again!!!! Lara and Demon Smalls have now reached Castle Orr together with their helpful friends from Team Anubis. Demon Smalls starts working towards summoning the mentioned ghost train to take them to the Plain of Jars, but somehow his powers seem to be lacking. Of course this is where Lara takes over the challenge. And what a challenge it is!!!! This level is by far harder than its prequel(Recruiting Demon Smalls), but also far more action-packed. Here you'll find traps and trials around every corner; lava pools, boulders, flame emitters, pistons......you name it!!!! And of course also enemies, although there are very few of them: mainly some spiked balls(as they were called in the walkthrough, I really loved these creatures) and a fire-spitting, bee breeding skull that drove me up the walls and caused me to spend no less than four medipacks. One thing I really loved with this level was seeing how Lara's friends helped her out with various tasks....these parts really had me laughing out loud, they were absolutely hilarious and a fantastic addition to an already fantastic adventure. The objects Lara could retrieve in this level were as imaginative as always and could be used in brilliant ways(a Jar of Angry Bees used for starting a vehicle to name one example). The atmosphere felt so real that I couldn't pull away from it until the level ended(and with all these challenges it took me over two hours to accomplish the mission). Of the use of cameras, lighting, sound and textures only one thing can be said: flawless in every aspect. The only thing that drew this otherwise magnificent adventure down for my part was that I found myself struggling through gritting teeth to complete task after task.....this is in other words NOT a level for those who can't handle a real expert's challenge. So not exactly the first level I'd recommend an aspiring raider. Nonetheless I can't give it anything but full 10's all the way. This was one heck of a perfect experience and I can't wait to go on with the continuation!!!!!" - Selene

"Lara starts her adventure at Castle Orr. This castle seems a bit surrealistic, made of glass and plastics. On her adventure she has a lot of friends clearing the way for her. That's nice! But Lara has also some nasty enemies like the spike balls. No chance with her pistols, only uzis may help her. But the spike balls are a game for kids compared to the awkward flying skull that comes straight from the hell. Her adventure leads Lara over burning lava stones, smashing steel hammers, rolling stones, rotating spikes, rising platforms and anti-gravitation lifts. The secrets are often hidden very well and seem sometimes unreachable. Lara has to notice also nearly invisible platforms to find each secret. Lara is faced with puzzles that look very similar but the solution is very different. She must make her way through a big lava room with difficult jump combinations while the world is burning around her, that pushes her to the limit of her performance. Driving with the mobile that runs only with angry bees is a kind of relax in this adventure. But last but not least she will survive this interesting but sometimes horrible adventure. Richard Lawther has done a very good work. As I get stuck, he taught me the Super Swing I've not known before. This inspires me to a web page where I start to explain all moves of Lara, and off course it contains the Super Swing. http://free.pages.at/mannix/tombraider/moves/moves.html " - Mannix

"I really enjoyed this game altho' I found the fire, piston and hammer room very stressful! Every time I thought I'd achieved something or got somewhere safe something else would kill me. I was very relieved to finally reach safety. I loved all of the puzzles. They were all so original. The pushing and pulling of objects to finally place gems was very clever. I just loved demon smalls and his friends who helped out along the way and was also fascinated to watch the Anubis team help out. A fantastic game which is full of surprises and laughs, congrats to Richard Lawther." - Moonliteshadow

"What can I say that has not already been said about this level? A masterpiece! A true piece of art! I have no idea how Rickard comes up with all this stuff. Hard to find secrets. Amazing atmosphere, sound and flybys. Puzzles that are errm so strange and sometimes so hard you really have to think a lot to solve them. I'm amazed! All tens from me cause the author really deserves it. I'm on my way to see how the combination Dick and Titak can be in UUB3 right away :) 2005-05-29" - QRS

"Not having played any custom levels for a long time, I picked Ghost Train. The download of the 42 Mb zip file was no problem, thanks to broadband, and the setup was straightforward. For a start, it was refreshing not to be in the usual Egyptian tomb setting. Nice to be in modern times. The pace of the game is good. No neurotic insistance on being at exactly the right spot and doing the exact thing, to proceed with the game. Maps are provided, which is a novelty. I printed these, but found that they were not particularly useful or necessary. The way forward was usually obvious. I detest being presented with several options for proceeding, all but one of which take up fruitless and frustrating time and effort, to end nowhere. Several Demons appear, all of which are friendly and helpful, with very amusing voiceover. The humour is something I much enjoyed. This includes the sporadic spikeball 'enemies' with their voices, and easily dispatched. The only real enemy is the fire breathing Skull with his allies, the pesky bees/wasps. There are puzzles aplenty, with fresh variations in collecting and using artefacts, such as crystals. The nice thing is that the solution can be worked out by logical deduction of the clues, and not arbitrary. I liked the rolling ball puzzle, the sloped jumps, the minefield and the piston room. The elevators and beam me up Scotty, are an innovation. I tried many times, but could not get to the alcove to collect the goods from the rope at the lava field. The two pushable statues foxed me for a time, until I realised that the two rooms are mirror images. The timed runs were not impossible. I had lots of fun with the bee-powered buggy. This level gives lots of enjoyment. It has good pace, innovation, and clever puzzles. But mostly, it was constructed with good humour and a sense of fun, which I for one, much appreciated. Thanks Richard Lawther, I'll look out for more of your levels!" - Leo

"These set of levels consist of Lara trying to find the 2 power rooms to power up the ghost train. There are also some other levels that you have to complete to get to the power rooms. The levels are really we designed and Richard made use of the fog effect brilliantly. While I was playing this I was so excited and thrilled, and some of the things you encounter are really well thought of. I've never seen anything like this before, there were little demons helping Lara find the power rooms. A couple of cut scenes show a demon looking into a vase to find a key, a demon with laser vision to destroy walls and a demon with a loud mouth ;). I was like; How do you do that!? I think the gameplay stands out here, there is always something to do, and puzzles to do. The last ending puzzle was absolutely fantastic. I will not tell you anything about it but it was the best puzzle I have ever seen. I have been out of level building and playing for awhile and decided I needed a good set of levels to get me in the mood again, and this sure did!" - TombRaiderFan

"I've said this numerous times before, but I really mean it this time - I just did not want this to end. I could happily have played on and on. It took a long time for me to get through it, but it was worth every minute. This is the sequel to Recruiting Demon Smalls. The little guy himself is here with his buddys doing their best to smooth Lara's path, allowing you to get to each area by: breaking a rock that's blocking a door, falling head first into an urn to get you a key, and Smalls using his skills to summon the magnificent Ghost Train out of thin air, nothing short of brilliant. Your Team Anubis comrades show up to give a hand with one of those giggling thingies before it reaches a trigger to set fire to the floor. Other times you need to kill these yourself before they reach the trigger. There are so many unique tasks to perform here I don't think I could itemise all of them, so I'll just mention a few: A huge challenging room with lava floor, lots of platforms to jump on, some with twists and turns, ending up on a ledge with fire emitters and pistons, Phew!. A large skull that is a retextured dragon where you have to push four switches while it shoots firebolts at you and swarms you with locusts. It was one of the many funny incidents throughout the level that once you've pressed these switches Dr. Psychobabble, lol, has a man-to-man talk with the skull and convinces it to become cooperative; but even though it allows you to re-enter it's room it follows your every move in the most sinister way. We get to ride a wonderful vehicle called the Hornet, a retextured jeep, and I loved what we have to do with it and the sound it makes. There's a room with certain levers to drop boulders, another where we have to outrun falling boulders, clever object pushing puzzles, some onto unusual lifts, others to be positioned in a slightly different way than we're used to seeing, rope swings, climbing, jumping, swimming, deactivating dangerous floors, and a four way trapdoor route to stop boulders rolling down ramps to a lava pit and set the floor on fire. All through the level we hear the ghostly sound of the train. Keep a sharp lookout for hidden openings in walls and waterways, and search all nooks and crannies for weapons and most importantly medpacks. Richard's wonderful imagination and humour is seen through all his levels and adds greatly to the storyline and playing experience, and especially here in the cut scenes. I can't praise this enough, I loved every minute. A highly recommended level that can be tough in places, but always enjoyable." - CC

"Who wants to go to Hell? Probably nobody but when you start meeting folks like Demon Smalls and his cronies along the way you can't help but want to delve deeper. 'Heaven for Climate - Hell For Company' J.M. Barrie once said. (I've been using that quote for a long time.) It's that wonderful whimsical genius only Mr. Lawther can do. I'm giving this same review to Rrecruiting Demon Smalls and eagerly awaiting a next installment. There will be a next installment won't there? Do I have to have a talk with Smalls and have him come over there personally to make sure it happens? There'd better be a train ride involved. I really love train rides. Wahoo!" - Deekman

"What should one still say in addition? A perfect series of levels linked with each other. Again a humorous insert of Richard and it is unbelievable what he thrashes out the editor. Brilliant objects and a fantastic atmosphere do the player a real pleasure. However it is not always easy. There are really strong opponents to deal with and great jump combinations until finally Lara has released the train. I am already looking forward to the next work of Richard." - Xxenofex

"The sequel to Recruiting Demon Smalls and I have to say it is just as good as the original. After the destroying the lizard king other dark souls are causing chaos including Madam Orr who is hiding in lower hell. You are now underneath Castle Orr where the only safe way of getting into Lower hell is by the ghost train. The train is located here noone is sure whether it still exists if it does the only one who can summon it is Demon Smalls. The only way of activating it is by the power grids that's your job. I really enjoyed these levels and laugh out loud humour. You have a team in this now so you use the help of others mostly the little demons which you summon in certain areas with scrolls and you can get some Anubis guards to come into certain areas and take care of enemies. There sounds are great a few tunes but there are original bg music for each level and of course recordings of the little demons talking lol. Some of the puzzles were quite tricky but it didn't really take too many goes. Some parts were tough I didn't get one single secret lol so when facing a dragon retuxured into a skull that was tough. It was clever though as you had to get him to calm down so you could get an item. You get to ride a jeep retuxured it is a hornet car instead of keys you have angry hornets as the fuel! lol The levels looked great and weren't really dark. I highly recommend these to everyone don't just sit there download it now!" - Aims

"We've moved now from the gallery in UB1 to a castle where Lara has to activate two generators to bring a ghost train to life and take it along with Demon Smalls to there next adventure. The absolutely glorious part about this instalment of the series is not the puzzles of which you find some great ones it's not the objects and items again of which they are at times just inspired but the mind blowingly superb demon cutscenes where once summoned with the help of five scrolls you get to see these demons do all sorts of things to aid your progress such as giving a giant floating skull a psychological talking to another dons an explosion safety metal helmet and runs through a mine to like a rabid chicken to clear a path for you another again diving head first into a vase to retrieve a key for you and a few other such helpful scenarios. I just couldn't believe the brilliance of it all and had it not been for the slightly plain texturing of the castle though the uniformity of it all somehow worked and made for well hidden secrets of which there are 8 I would have rated this 2 hour level across the board 10's because take it from me this is one level you are definitely going to want to play. You end this adventure in amazing style upon the train which magically appears subtly out of thin air like an apparition with Mr. Smalls as the train chugs off on a railroad floating in the ether. I wait with bated breath for the third instalment!" - Sash

"It's been a while since I played let alone reviewed a level but I felt obliged to finish this one as I had started it a while back and it didn't feel right to leave it unfinished. And it was no disappointment indeed. Though Orr wasn't exactly my favourite environment in the Lizard King the textures here are layed out well and the lighting is very pleasing to the eye. It maybe lacked the charms of 'Recruiting Demon Smalls' the compactness and coziness as in the original Orr maybe but worked well anyway. Gameplay and puzzles are up to Richard's usual standards of creativity and though varied pretty well somehow I felt that it relied too much on buttons and levers this time the movable statues and devices slowed down the pace and made me feel that the puzzles lack some depth and left me wanting for more when Lara and Smalls took off with the masterfully created Ghost train. Speaking of the flybys - they're well done and comical as usually. Overall I have to say I liked the previous part of the Underworld saga better but this still is a great effort from the author and not to be missed!" - eTux

"Another episode in the Odd Underworld of Orr. For my money this author is the most consistently original developer we have. Also one of the best with objects and textures - large rooms have a minimal amount of stuff and texturing so the unique items stand out as if in a frame. I am also grateful that this one isn't as hard as some of the others. A delightful funny and dangerous romp it includes a wonderful train for those who love old machines. Absolutely a must play for Raiders." - Duncan

"Oh my goodness what an absolute delight this level was. I am still reeling about it. Firstly Richards's sense of humour must be like mine I mean those little guys and what they say is just hilarious and they are so cute. In the castle the ghost train has to be summoned and that's what Lara is here to do help get the power for to make it appear and when it does arrive it is breath taking to say the least. The whole adventure was from one wonderful place to another and I would be here all day if I had to tell all but my favourite bits were in the room with four hatches where a beautiful glitter filled pillar gave out the most amazing effect this room led to the rolling ball rooms where you have to shoot objects before the ball reaches the lava pits and then there was the spooky skull room where he followed your every move but most exciting was the sloped jumps over the lava pool absolutely brilliant fun and what Tomb Raiding for me is all about. Lots of things to do and see and sometimes confusing to know what to do next but the walkthrough for this is superb so I suggest you keep it close at hand but what ever you do don't miss this adventure its top class stuff. Thank you Richard." - Moonpooka

"Even though I had to board the train, I never wanted to leave Castle Orr...the atmosphere is sublime and elegant, the edge of the abyss, forbiddingly eerie...the lighting and textures envelope us in a dimension of wonder. We have entered an event horizon of mystery that we cannot resist. Listen carefully, that train whistle in the distance...take your time here, it's very rare you'll ever experience such beauty in time and space. The author leads us deeper and deeper into the revealing maze of our own uncertain identity, and just when we think we've outsmarted him, BAM! Crushed. Survive this, and you get a ride to Lower Hell awaiting you. Never fear though, Team Anubis is hanging with us. There's psychoanalysis available, and we can summon our eager companions as they devise uproariously bizarre ways to communicate their assistance. But the enemies are fierce, maniacally intent on even more sinister ways to drive us mad before attempting to impale and fry us dead. 'Yoohoo......Yoohoo.........HahahahahaH' And who do you suppose is that demonic, pained visage on the wall, perhaps the same one transformed into the resilient reptilian scales of hidden, and quiet strength on the other walls? But look over there, 'the ghosts of electricity howl through the bones of her face' as 'someone's' Botticelli beauty smiles the enigmatic promise of......The entire experience has a profound effect on Mr. Smalls who is now reluctant to embrace the horror, and so we remain concerned for our companion. Lara, of course, has the final word." - Mezcal

"This is the first level by this author that I've played since CPU Crash. I started Dream Factory once and then Astrodelica 1 later but gave up fairly early in both cases because I was put off by the alien settings and the fact that I kept getting stuck (with little help from the walkthroughs). Of course I couldn't help but notice the phenomenal ratings that Dick's more recent creations have earned but it took a budding friendship with Lizard Queen to bring me back once again. She has provided a marvelous walkthrough that's complete and crystal-clear and I was delighted to find a more 'traditional' environment when I fired up UB2 and became immediately hooked by the gameplay. Moreover the colors and retextured artifacts are most pleasing to the eye and there are some snazzy touches such as the translucent elevator columns. We even get a tantalizing shimmery glimpse of the ghost train about halfway through. The difficulty level is about medium but there are some cerebral tasks to master and some pretty tough physical moves along the way. (The maze trek on the bee-cycle nearly gave me fits.) This one's a classic no doubt. Now I've got to go back and play all those other levels I've missed out on." - Phil

"Quirky funny and innovative Dick lets us continue on our journey with not only Demon Smalls (and his laptop) but with a host of helpers: Dr. Psychobabble who helps settle down an angry uncooperative Skull Jim Rummage who 'rummages' around to find a key hidden in a vase. A self sacrificing demon dude who clears a minefield and another who 'shouts' us on. There's a good mix of difficult and not too easy challenges and puzzles - the one that comes to mind is the jumps/pistons/flame room. Definitely a challenge. Take a peek at the walkthrough if you need health as I did after meeting the Skull. There's a fourth button to push that took me awhile to find. Do look at the maps as they provide needed hints. The glass floors are helpful and just plain fun and there's a Hornet vehicle with a wonderful sound. Ah yes and one of those super rope jumps to find a secret. Unlike Demon Smalls we need not fear that 'God is not in the machine' with Dick as the builder. A must download that will put a smile on your face when not running from angry bees or trying to escape the flames after the jump sequence. A rare ten." - Bene

"Lara starts in a Ghost Castle and has many puzzles to solve. Don't want to give it all away so I will keep this brief. Puzzles: Lara needs to solve several pushable object puzzles and manage a few complicated jumps. You will find several music scrolls which you have to place. The Demons from part one play an important role and often show Lara the way. Sound: Like in the first part it adds to a spooky atmosphere is never annoying and suits the game perfectly. Enemies: There were new ones like the huge skull. Ingenious. All in all: Congratulations to Richard for all the new objects again. The textures are cleanly applied and lighting is well done. Lots of new ideas and the little trip with the Ghost Train is a brilliant ending. The level is not too hard so really recommended for everybody. Another masterpiece by Richard." - Engelchen Lara

"Again a brilliant level from Dick done with a great sense of humour (loved the demon's run over the mined area!). Dick's enemies friends objects and vehicle are as usual done with a lot of excellent imagination. Tricky jumping timed sequences puzzling an evil giant skull and helpful little demons. As usual you have to see it to believe it!" - G.Croft

"It's becoming a habit to see certain builders getting better and better. This is true with Richard Lawther and his latest creation. I was playing the game in awe and thinking how this is so absolutely original and simultaneously mature. There are no games out there that resemble this... At least I've never played them. It's a whole different universe and my only sorrow was to see it end in the train ride. I loved the puzzles namely the four rooms where Lara has to shoot the breakable floating signs in a raising difficulty degree. I loved the angry bee vehicle ride. I loved the way the funny little demons helped Lara along the way most of all the part with the skull and the shrink demon. And maybe I'm still and always a beginner after all but I find it highly unfair to state the game is too easy. Just think of the lava room with the multiple jumps and the crushers and the fires - it took me quite a while to master that part. But many other parts were also very creative and not at all obvious. I really have to give four tens to this game without the shade of a doubt. I don't care if someone's going to say I rate the games too high... Frankly isn't this far more creative and entertaining than most 'official' games out there? Looking forward to the continuation very much... (September 15 2004)" - Jorge22

"'Will Richard ever cease to amaze me?' I thought upon completion of this large and magnificent level. This is the continuation of UB1 where Lara has to find two power rooms and power them so Demon Smalls can summon the ghost train. The huge level is complete with tricky tasks interesting puzzles and some amusing cutscenes. The castle is just huge and it does give you a feeling of a lot of things to do around here and there are. Most tasks here involve a good sense of orientation and you need to keep your eyes open to see where you're going. Personally the part of the level I enjoyed the most was a brilliant yet frustrating gauntlet that had Lara sliding on platforms Avoiding boulders and mashers and making tricky jumps. The level is filled with many puzzles for everyone of varied difficulty that I shan't spoil them in this review. There are new objects such as the vehicle powered by angry bees some boars re-textured to look like spike balls and the dragon retextured as a large skull. There is also a clever cut scene at the end making it more worthwhile to see this level. If you're still here I suggest to download this level now before I start to get snippy with you heh heh heh." - Relic Hunter

"Once upon a time there was a levelbuilder who began to experiment with things in a different way than others did and over time he developed this to a perfection that never ceased to amaze the people who chose to dive into the worlds and stories he is so masterfully creating.....and so the story of Lara and her 'Team Anubis' continues at Castle Orr. One fun puzzle after the next mixed with the occasional jumping challenge. For about two hours you will never be bored. The Hornet is yet another cool vehicle and the scenes when you summon your little helpers with the scrolls are utterly hilarious. I have to admit that the Skull was brilliant - but also very frustrating to master. I only found half the secrets but will happily go back searching for the rest. I thought at times the empty corridors of the castle that connected the areas where a little long and bare but it did suit the atmosphere and is anyway only a really minor gripe. And yes - just as part one this is also 'big on endings' and the ghost train simply has to be seen to be believed. Kind of made me wonder when we will be having the first Harry Potter themed custom level ;-). Anyway...I guess somewhere the 'happily ever after' needs to come in but hopefully it will still be a while before we actually come to that as we all want to have many more of those fascinating adventures to play." - Michael

"I loved this; I absolutely enjoyed it and had the best laugh ever. What an excellent game and congratulations are in order for such a satisfying adventure. No Richard didn't pay me to write this lol. After his first level that started this new series I thought it can't get any better but I love it when someone proves me wrong. The objects that are included here the puzzles the warriors with the gem in their spear are brilliant. I won't describe what I saw except a few things to trigger your imagination since this is a level with many surprises that have to be found in game rather than to be told. Again the rooms are decorated with nice paintings some we have seen before like the one of a devil and one I like very much with a sketch for a girl and some new ones. No difficult timed runs this time I didn't say there aren't any but really fun puzzles and a beautiful ghost train. The dialogues of the demon smalls with themselves while performing tasks to help Lara had me crying from laughter my favourite is the one at the area with the mines. There are few enemies that are again so funny and kind of stupid if you ask me to laugh while they were dying. Everything in this game is brilliantly made and I have to thank the author for the wonderful time I had playing this. I can't wait to play his next one but until then this is highly recommended." - Kristina

"Just as original and just as weird as Richard's previous levels and just like the ones that came before it made me laugh out loud! It's also rather nice to play a level where you don't have to constantly refer to the forums because I only needed them once (quite an achievement for me). This means that even relative beginners should be alright here (although they're certainly recommended to try out Richard's previous offerings to help them get used to his 'off the wall' style). It must be said though that there may be one or two moments of frustration when it comes to a particular jump-sequence or timed run (but far less than most other levels). Yet another excellent level then. I completed it in 2 hours and found 3 secrets." - gfd

"Another gem from Richard of course. Do these levels ever go wrong? Not as difficult as UB1 it still gives you a great adventure and you get to stay in a comfort zone and not pull your hair out over anything. Instead there are handfuls of new concepts I've never seen in any TR level before even simple changes with slopes and I think 'Where does he get these ideas?!' We also get to road test a new vehicle powered by a jar of angry bees and that was a lot of fun. I only found 2 or 3 secrets I'm not sure; but I wasn't ever short on health. And yes the maps DID GIVE HINTS :D but I got stuck on silly things from time to time. Clever puzzles and silly ideas wonderfully portrayed in a sort of 'filling' way. Playing UB2 is like eating a big piece of chocolate cake very satisfying. Unfortunately I think I ate too fast. But I think we're all still hungry." - Capt. Abbey

"This is a sequel to Unfinished Business and you'll meet the small little helpers again. I have to admit that I love Richard's sense of humor. Matthias and I were having laughing fits behind our computers. The gameplay is rather smoothly and the hard parts are finding the secrets. Finding all kind of scrolls you can summon the little helpers is a great idea. The place is huge no doubt about it but even if the textures are rather bland I never felt bored one bit. Finding the fuel that makes the little cute bike (Hornet Vehicle) ready to drive was very funny but the timed run that came later I had to give to Matthias as I couldn't make it. The meatballs with chopsticks are in here as well and better save before you encounter them as there is something going on when they appear. The moody skull made my day as I laughed so hard but not while battling him as he is a hard enemy you can't slay. The maps Richard provides are very handy in my opinion as they give you an idea what is next. The puzzles are again very well executed. I have to say that Matthias wasn't that much impressed with the fog effect as that won't show on a Mac I still love that effect 28-08-2004" - Gerty

"What a treat another outing with Demon Smalls and his buddies. This time Lara has the assistance of Team Anubis and can summon help from various demons via scrolls which leads to some of the most inventive and hilarious cut scenes I've ever witnessed. There is a lot of humour running through the level as usual and the various demons are an inspired idea. The puzzles are excellent and I'm just glad that all these years of doing the Times crossword has taught me to think laterally. There are some nice challenging manoeuvres to accomplish as well in particular some driving that I found quite tricky. On the plus side my driving has probably improved no end after all that practise. The challenges come thick and fast and for sheer entertainment value this is hard to beat. I don't know how Richard comes up with such clever ideas but I sincerely hope this series is set to continue for a long time. Oh and the ending as Lara and Demon Smalls depart in the beautiful train is one to cherish. Don't miss it." - Jay

"Am I getting better at this level testing business or what? Someone sends me a level I play it tell him/her it's perfect ready to be played by the ever so critical TR community level gets released. And hey I even found one of the 8 secrets. Well actually I sort of complained that the gameplay could have been a bit more challenging but in retrospect I have to admit that Richard is absolutely right by creating levels that are not too frustrating for the average player and to leave the tricky bits for the secrets. But folks don't get me wrong this adventure is still very challenging as it is it's just that after the plethora of really tight timed runs we had to work our way through recently one is actually rather surprised if you manage one on the second try. What can I say it's exactly my kind of gameplay with tons of jump-sequences and quite a few timed things. Richard's inventiveness is legendary by now and his very unique sense of humor made me laugh out loud more than once during the 2 hours this took me to finish. By Richard's standard the setting is rather conventional (i.e. not that weird) and though there is not much variation in this castlesque environment everything is textured and illuminated with much care and the atmosphere fits the storyline perfectly. Above all that you simply have to love this level for all the endearing and humorous touches. The jolly spike balls (not to be confused with the ordinary spiked boulders) that attack you The skull that you have to get into a cooperative mood the Hornet vehicle that runs on angry bees the different kinds of demons that get the obstacles out of the way and finally the ghost train itself that Lara boards to get her out of there. If you get down to it all the tasks are rather traditional like you get a moving object puzzle a multi-lever/dropping boulder puzzle etc and yet the author manages to make all this seem really new and exciting as he puts all those things into a slightly different context. Right after the slightly underrated St. Trevelyan's Folly who would have thought that Richard Lawther would turn into such a reliable and prolific provider of professional TR adventures. Well whatever you thought I was one of them." - Dimpfelmoser