Level reviews

"Crude but good. Made of unrelated assets but in a way that fits. Gripping enough to keep me engaged for almost 2 hours... which I clocked instead of 40 min after I missed the icon. Still waiting for builders to stop placing crucial items in open map, oof... Then the level cut off after the crowbar, the waterskin and the bull all unused, wheck? Hoping for fixes in the reloaded version. Recommended." - DJ Full

"I suspect the starting point (objects and textures, and possibly some of the audio tracks) of this level was a level from Oxy, as there were some of her unique traits in here, like the giant bees and the hippopotamus. Anyway, I digress. While the author went for a grandiose design here, what with the river and the mountain cliff, I think it fell short as texturing doesn't quite feel right, and perhaps some things were just too big for their own good (like that swimming pool in the bathroom). There was a bit of backtracking (thank you Yoav for the guided experience) but towards the end I thought it was rather clever how a side path took you right where you were meant to go. There was one flyby which was set up to loop forever as well, when you get to that point, hold down the Look button and roll/grab the ledge ahead of you to break away. Bottomline, this level lept me entertained while it lasted, but it's not without flaws. 30 minutes. 10/21" - Treeble

"When i finished the level , i saw there was another version Brazilia Reloaded and that i had already reviewed it and enjoyed it but i don't remember. Now this former version lasts 30 minutes with some exploration and easy platforming to retrieve a few key objects. There is some custom audios , retextured objects and big bees , fortunately i counted only 4 of them. The path is not always clear , for example you can't really know what was is the consequence of pulling those two switches. The environments were okay for a first try , no work done for the lighting though." - eRIC

"Playing this one after the revised version that was released a couple of years later seems a little weird, seeing as the latter is more polished overall. Still, this earlier one holds some charm due to the overall bright and cheerful setting (if a bit roughly textured in places) and the sweet custom objects scattered around (the hippopotamus, bull and the killer bees which I haven't seen since Oxy's levels). Progression is pretty fast paced and mainly involves collecting objects and using switches, but there were a couple of long climbs and a shimmy that slowed things down slightly. One of the flybys was also a bit oddly set up as it kept looping unless Lara stepped off the tile. But overall, pretty good for a first try." - Ryan

"When I think of Brazil, one of the first mental pictures that comes to my mind is a rainforest (the other obvious 'picture' would be half-naked exotic dancers in a carneval in Rio... but let's not go there) so this level, feeding from my stereotypical views, sort of meets my expectations. Well, yes, it isn't exactly the most believable jungle out there, but from the overall more or less decently made setting you can understand what the author had in mind when building this. The textures are applied sloppily (rushed, not thought through?), but surprisingly don't look as bad as you would expect it to - maybe the lighting saves it somehow? The areas are huge and empty, what you would expect from a beginner, thus the view down the cliff doesn't work quite as effectively as I believe it was planned due to clearly seeing where this imaginary world ends. Finding the objects was somewhat obscure, but at least the 'hrosik' on top of the church area was cute. The enemies mostly were the extremelly rare brazilian giant killer bees people have rarely heard of, let alone faced. Once you find the hippo you are also surrounded by a swarm of angry fire spirits, and a bull awaits you in the final room. What stood out in the level was the nice use of music, though I do think the very first one was a bit over-dramatic. On the whole this is an enjoyable, though confusing experience - if this review intrigued you, why not try?" - eTux

"I was intrigued by this level. At first it seems like it was going to be a walk in the park . . . or should I say jungle! The lovely jungle house and veranda, view of the sea and mountains, looked very nice and colourful. I was stuck for ages, needing a gem, and then, finally, found the opening in the water. Sheesh! It was there all the time, and I just didn't see it, thinking that this wasn't the place to be, especially with that invisible block against the underwater door. Although some places did not appeal to me, it did have it's charms, and I loved the little church, and the beautiful plants and trees, the cool red revolver, the dagger, and the cute little hippo. Enemies are giant bees, a knight in the church, and a protective bull. At least in my game he was. I had to try and place the artifact on the golden hand hoping all the time I could do it before his lordship charged at me. But no, the bull hits Lara as the final flyby starts, and it was so weird sitting here watching her being gored as the camera rises above the scene. The underwater maze was very well done. What was the waterskin for? A really nice first level. The author shows great potential and possesses a good sense of humour." - CC

"Not sure about a couple of things in this 35 minute level such as a waterskin, a sword, and a couple of jumpswitches in the final room that don't seem to serve any purpose but on the whole this level set around some jungly canyons was a nice little game. Lara on leaving her Brazilian holiday home goes on the hunt for a small hippo artifact secreted in a hidden away church, it isn't a tough journey for her but it could be if the sleeping bull wakes when she needs to place the hippo down in it's rightful place. Apart from that bull you'll find a handful of sprites, a tinman, and a scattered swarm of giant bumblebees, what you won't find are any secrets, though some revolver ammo and a medipack in one area felt like a secret, and on the subject of revolver ammo, I didn't find a revolver, was there even one? Hmmm, another thing for me to ponder. Anyway check it out for a nice half hour diversion." - Sash

"A level full of good ideas but with some defects. Gameplay is not very good, 'cause you can take many time going to a place and when you arrive you could not have the appropiate item to continue the game. There are few switches in all level, this is a good idea (I've say it so many times...), no difficult tasks, only explore and advance through the scenes finding items. Very few enemies (I've only find some bees, the bull and some wraiths) and correct objects. I've collect the sword (crowbar?) and the waterskin but I couldn't use them anywhere (sure I've lost some secret). I haven't found secrets. Some good melodies and few cameras, one of the cameras repeats itself again and again till you take Lara off the tile with the trigger. Textures are well but bad applied (very elongated in many places). Isn't a bad level, but there are many features to get better." - Jose

"Congratulations for the first level of the author, it turned out well. We start in a building from where, after finding the key, we can get outside. Here we have to find to golden objects, another key and a Hrosik in order to complete the level. The latter look rather like a windable hippopothamus. :) Moreover we can find a knife and a waterskin, but we can use them anywhere. So these two pickups don't need to be find for completing the level. The enemies are giant wasps, firy wraiths, a tin-soldier and an invulnerable bull. Though the bull can't be killed, if you don't get too close to it, it will stay put. There are no secrets on the level, although the place where I found the revolver was quite well hidden. In my opinion, there's only one difficult part on the level: when we are searching for a way out of the underwater labyrinth and the second golden object of course. The textures are good, mostly inside the building, and the added sounds suit the level well. Keep on with the good work, Pablo; I'm eager to play your next level! :) You can find a Hungarian walkthrough (as we don't have English version), savegames and pictures here: http://treditor.hu/15/brazilia.htm" - Obig

"This isn't bad for a first time level actually. It's pretty linear (well unless you're as bad at navigating underwater mazes as I am, in which case prepare to swim around for quite a while) and there's nothing difficult to achieve, but it looks pleasant and certainly shows promise. There are some well done flybys (or at least they seemed so to me) and lovely use of music and at the end you get one of Oxy's cute little hippos. I don't know if there's a sequel planned, but I ended up with a water skin for which I never found a use." - Jay

"For a first try you can see that this builder does have a sense of humor, at least I thought so anyway. In hunt of the hippo to place it on the hand you have to find different artifacts. Look in every nook and cranny (specially in that underwater maze) and you find more than you need to as I am still puzzled by that waterskin. There is some nice jumping to do and in some placed you can see 'the end of the world'. Found a small piece of texture missing and also some paperthin walls. 12-05-2005" - Gerty

"It's a nice level with cute objects like a small toy hippo which is the desired artifact. The setting is jungle like and I really can't tell if it's Brazil or not. There is a nice bridge above water and passages to find thought the rocks and blocks outside. The underwater maze isn't hard but you still have to watch Lara's breathing bar underwater. There are golden stones to find, keys and big bees, wraiths as enemies. The outside areas though are a bit carelessly made because you encounter the 'end of the world' bug, much blackness and some textures are stretched. I found a waterskin that I didn't use so I wonder what it was for! Also the bull in one area isn't really needed and I didn't bother provoking him. It's a nice effort." - Kristina

"A promising debut level that offers 30 minutes of fun in generally a jungle type of setting that starts out inside a house though. I really liked the choice of audio, some decent flybys and good use of objects throughout. It was fun to see Oxy's killer bees and hippo again, but the tinman and also the bull (that I did not even wake up) seemed oddly out of place. You can reach the end of the world in places, there is an occasional thin wall, one flyby is missing the one-shot trigger and some of the textures are rather stretched, but it is still a pleasing setting in which you search for golden balls, a cartouche and generally progression is smooth although sometimes a bit tedious with the many crawls and climbs. Never found a use for the waterskin, but maybe I missed a secret there?" - MichaelP

"Welcome Pablo! It is such fun to see so many new builders joining our ranks! I enjoyed your first adventure and look forward to playing many more of your games. Pablo's adventure sends our Lara off in search of the much loved Hippo that we were introduced to by Sophia. Her enemies are gigantic bees, but they are easy to dispatch. Along the way, Lara must find a few keys, two golden orbs, a dagger, the prized Hippo, and navigate an underwater maze. The gameplay is straightforward and easy! I never found a use for my waterskin, nor a revolver for my shells. I hope these will be put to good use in Pablo's next edition. Nicely done!" - Mugs

"This is one of the strangest levels I've played, but that's not necessarily a criticism. This first-time designer has a quirky sense of humour and has filled this level with many charming and rather sweet moments; from a chintzy house at the start; to a lonely Bull; a lovely little church; and the bizarrest ending I've ever seen. I'm not even sure if it is the end, but it would seem quite impossible to have Lara survive the final fly-by. It strikes me that this level wasn't beta-tested, as there are other problems elsewhere (especially with an earlier fly-by which is missing a 'one shot' application). However, there are moments of great pleasure here: the environs of the church; the use of music (monastic voices at one point, and a wonderful use of Bach's Tocatta to enrich the atmosphere and invigorate the Gameplay) and I enjoyed it very much. I just have a nagging doubt that there was more to come. Unless, of course, Lara's death was an intentionally comic and subversive denouement. In which case, I want another level from this new Builder!" - Orbit Dream