Level reviews

"I've played the Fixed version and as such my mileage varies slightly to the walkthrough (bless Harry). I didn't get any cutscenes, apparently there should have been a dialogue between Lara and the Wolf and a closing cutscene. At any rate, gameplay is what matters as usual and this does look rather rough and dated, should also be noted it was the author's first foray with the editor. It's got quite a fair share of platforming and as a result you get the most unusual train design ever (aptly tited Crazy Train, and not by chance I suppose). There are new moves and new animations, some look ok but for the most part I wasn't too keen. The grindrail animation is neat because it's so much faster and less boring than the official tightrope animation, but you can grind beyond the end of the rails and visually it looks like there's no effort at all, almost as if the character was simply being dragged around instead of sliding on her own. I have no idea how this is even achieved in the first place so kudos for even trying. Towards the end I have to say I felt it went on for too long and outstayed its welcome, the whole quadbike circuit wasn't particularly fun - although it also had the novelty of shifting dry/wet rooms you had to speed through to have enough momentum to cross the chasms, which is the unfun bit of it in my opinion - and a few bits felt like padding by having you go back and forth for no good reason. That crate room also went on for longer than I'd have liked. 90 minutes, 8 secrets. 09/23" - Treeble

"I ended up playing the latter parts of the Wolf series before starting this first part, but I don't think my overall experience was harmed too much as the story is nicely carried through anyway. This one isn't as advanced as Jesse's later efforts, but it nonetheless displays creativity and imagination, plus the usage of the new moves is something I always applaud (although I may be in the minority there). The texturing is rather functional and bland and the atmosphere is a little lacking as a result, but I found the use of music to be a nice touch although a matter of taste. You play as Lara in the first two levels and then as Luke the wolf in the final level. This kind of game will not be to everyone's taste, but I definitely had my share of fun with it." - Ryan

"I didn't play Jesse's levels but that was then, this is now. Simply put, I don't remember anything with greater gameplay/visual quality ratio than here - all smooth, all basic, with neat ideas following each other as much as ugly places. There's no boring moment and not a single decent room. The speed never drops but the loco granting it I only recognized after few minutes inside, and hell I have no idea how it can run. Sound quality is so good that few times when falling to my death I waited with reload so I could enjoy the new ground hit. Same praise for new animations, all done in order to make things easier. SUMMARY: What a dose of care! A pity the looks are draft, but this is absolutely recommended." - DJ Full

"The Challenge (8-8-7-6) A very hard level right at the beginning of the series. Many difficult jumping parts to do, some requiring perfection, and there were lots of "new animations" that keep the player studying the readme a long time. The long jump and the sliding while on a tightrope are really ingenious, and the execution was good, as I really had fun getting the right moves to go on. Maybe there could've been more puzzles in this level, and the texturing is hit and miss, but I think this level still is very engaging, had an okayish atmosphere and is never too hard if you have read the readme; quite linear, by the way. The train scene at the end was quite interesting with the voiceover, and it supported the storyline well.
Crazy Train (7-9-6-6) I found the atmosphere a bit less good than in the first level, maybe I am not so used to train levels (I think this is the second custom train level I play, if we forget Leandro's pseudo train), and the setting didn't fully convice me. However, the tasks stay good in this level, the sliding anims are used even better and the level was quite fun, just like the first. On the other hand, I think there could be more puzzles than just solving hard traps, I mean this as general for the whole part 1.
Leigh's Installment (8-9-8-7) was the best part of the level, as one can find here at least some more puzzles (even if not many), long timed runs and a new character of course, whose looks and sounds were well applied. Texturing was sometimes okay, sometimes uniform and wallpapered in too big rooms which destroyed the atmosphere, but I found the futuristic looks overall quite convincing. You can also find big trap areas like in every level, this time even some TR 2 enemies which fitted to the scenery.
Summary:It's a very interesting game which can be appreciated because of the new animations and the tricky jumps, but lookwise it's fairly debut-like and could have been much better." - manarch2

"This is quite a change of pace from the usual raid. The builder uses the standard tomb4.exe to give us a mumber of new moves and looks. The first level introduces us to an extra long jump and a tightrope move that you do going sideways. (And it's much easier than the standard tightrope walk, too, as you tend not to lose your balance.) There's a short but enjoyable train sequence in the middle, and the final level has you playing as a swishy-tailed wolf. I played this in preparation for writing a walkthrough for the sequel, and I was very much impressed by the innovations and the challenging gameplay. If you haven't already played it, give it a try for something off the beaten track. Recommended." - Phil

"Without a doubt, this level's strength lies where all its innovations are. The new, or re-introduced moves, of which my favourites were the somersault out of the crawlspace (ala Tomb Raider Chronicles) and the sprinting jump, are used as much as possible in the gameplay, and I had to remind myself numerous times when stuck while playing that Lara (or Luke accordingly) could do more than in most other levels. Some of the other more common animations have been altered as well - namely sprinting and the tightrope among others - and while it looks silly at times, it works mostly if only for the comic relief. The gameplay is mainly based on action sequences and some tasks are fairly clever, with special mention going to the train level, which probably is the most unusual one I've played to date. But the main problem for me with this level was that if you look past the neat animations and objects, what remains is a pretty sub-par effort, at least in my eyes. That doesn't mean I diminish the effort put into the more unusual aspects of this level, but over the years of playing and reviewing levels, I've learnt to look past the extras and try to see what the level is without them and respectively - if they aid an already good level or try to save itself by distracting the players from its other shortcomings. The latter is not so bad if it works, but I'm afraid it didn't for me here. Though the animations could've been smoother to be completely believable, they are not the worst problem of the level. The architecture and the looks are beginnerish - full of stretched, unimpressively used textures (sometimes 1 texture was used to texture whole rooms - especially in the last level, the rooms were unnecessarily big, there were paper-thin walls and so on), if you do not follow the author's directions you can get stuck after either of the one-shot-only timed runs or be stuck at the tightrope you slide on if you've used it before to name some examples. And the first 2 levels starring Lara, had her making some deeply disturbing sounds at times. That would be the long and short of it - the levels has some qualities but it's quite chaotic and disorganized and it seems that the author wanted to weigh out its shortcomings with them, which works - but on the whole picture doesn't help much if the basics aren't there. This is definitely a love it or hate it level and it's difficult to say on which side you'll be without playing it yourself. It's a hefty download - but if you're interested, I suggest you download it, play it and see for yourself." - eTux

"A very ambitious debut which combines at times rather challenging gameplay with a variety of new animations for Lara and her alter ego - Luke, the Wolf. Innovation is not always an easy thing though as the scores to date show - some like it and some don't. Personally, I think this is very, very accomplished and if just a little extra time had been spent on the basics this would rank even higher in my book. The Challenge (8/9/7/7, 45 min., 3 secrets): The title says it all. Indeed there are quiet a few challenges here to master. Often to do with actions while sliding, which need good timing. The jump room was great fun, the cmaeras and the audio work well, the scorpions on steroids are funny. On the downside the texturing is classic and rather poorly executed, it is rather dark with only few flares and there are a few unnecessarily tedious passages (like long climbs). Two hands and two cartouche pieces bring you face to face with Luke as he nicely explains to Lara at the end about what's going on here. Crazy Train (8/8/8/8, 15 min., 2 secrets): A train level, but definitely one of the better ones out there, as you have to do quite an amount of clever acrobatics to get through. Added to that is Luke acting as a guide to Lara and deactivating two traps or so. Nice music at the start. Lee's Installment (9/8/8/8, 50 min., 4 secrets): This is a Base level and clearly the most mature of the set. You play as Luke now and once you get over the little shock of the crawlspace maze at the start, the level flows rather nicely. It is essentially a hunt for half a dozen keys, battling a few thugs and harpies, avoiding lasers and pushing plenty of buttons. But it is nicely connected - you need to keep your orientation - and there are two challenging timed runs, a fun quad bike ride and a nice puzzle with a push block. Again the textturing is a bit basic and the rooms someties very bare. At the end it gets rounded up with a nice credit cut scene and apparently there will be a sequel. I am certainly looking forward to it." - MichaelP

"Here there is a level with a lot of work behind, but this doesn't mean that it's good for everybody. You'll get many new features, new sounds, new enemies, new movements, a new Lara-wolf starring, ... But there are some things I don't like, as the simply architecture, bad applied textures, wafer thin walls, extrange movements,... In first level you can lose one of the cartouche pieces and arrive to the room with the receptacles for the stars and the cartouche without it, in this case you'd have to take a very long way again through many areas of the level to get it, and then return to the room losing so much time. The train level was the best for me, but the last level was very very tedious, all the time going from place to place pressing buttons and opening doors with keys with no interesting puzzles and crawling too much. Many sounds seems like eructs, and can be appropriate to the wolf, but no for Lara. New movements are well implemented, but I don't see the necessity for them; sometimes you can get stucked if you don't know all the things Lara can do. Resuming, a level with good features but the gameplay wasn't good for me." - Jos

"A three part level, each with distinct differences. Start with the challenge which I found rather frustrating as you got over say a series of long complex jumps only to be faced with another. Constant dying in my versio also meant constant reruns of TR4, as (depending it seems on how she died) the auto reload function did nt work , unless I was quick enough to hit F6. The second section ?The Crazy Train I enjoyed a little more but you could easily finish this section very early, without having to search much of the train. The last section I found frustrating with the constant reloading stopping the flow of the section. There are novel features-the new moves, which I feel could have done with a little more refining. The graphics etc had thin walls and the lighting at times only allowed for night time playing in a darkened room. Some of the textures were garish and a bit over facing and tended to produce a cold atmosphere. All in all a reasonably good attempt at innovation, but I hope the next section/level is an improvement." - Whistle

"I can't say I am thrilled about this game, far from it actually. The new moves aren't to my liking and I'd rather have the 'old' ones back. Also I got dizzy seeing Lara moving from left to right like a boat at sea while she was supposed to stand still. The wolf character is nice though but it could have been made better so that it actually looks like a wolf and doesn't have that silly stand position. Apart from the new moves that are introduced, this game has no new or interesting puzzles to offer. I guess the builder concentrated so much in the moves that he forgot to make good puzzles to have a good enough gameplay and texture the rooms properly. The first level is Egyptian and I never thought I'd say this but I liked it more the others that are more VCI which I am not very fond of. There are many doors and buttons to push plus some guards and a few harpies to fight. The two timed runs gave some challenge to the game but still nothing so good to have a 'wow' moment. I found four secrets and I couldn't care less about them actually in the two hours it took me to complete it. I hope the continuation will have more puzzles and less of these new moves which I didn't like very much anyway." - Kristina

"Well, here's something different, Lara's got new moves and a very fancy twirl as she draws and holsters her pistols. It may take a bit of practise to get used to the way she moves, but it's all rather clever and oh how I've longed for someone to reinvent that wonderful flipping out of crawl spaces move she had in TR5. As for her new tightrope walking (or should I say sliding) abilities, they may look incredibly bizarre but what an improvement on the usual tedious method. The only somewhat distracting aspect of the new moves for me is the way she jiggles about when standing still - it looks so much as though she wants to go to the loo that you may need frequent breaks to go for her. The first part (Egyptian setting) is pretty much a tutorial so you can get used to the new moves without other distractions and it's good fun too. The second part is a highly enjoyable train sequence. There was I saying I'd not played a train level for ages and this is my second on the run (just like buses - you wait ages and then two come at once). Oh, and you get a wolf man in a toxic green jumpsuit as an ally (no really). Even stranger, you get to play wolf man in the third section. He goes into a sort of martial arts pose when he's not moving, but at least it didn't make me want the loo. It's more of a VCI type setting than anything else, with lots of guards (and harpies?) around and plenty of crawling through ducts. Overall, I liked the change this game provided and, love it or hate it, you'll have to applaud it for the sheer innovative brilliance on display. Go on, give it a go." - Jay

"Just of lately it seems that the levels being produced are moving beyond what we are used to and I'm starting to feel a little alienated by it all, I've never been good with change. In this 3 levelled game this could be no more evident. The author has added all these new moves that take a little getting used to but I am grateful to say that it didn't take me too long to acclimatise, some of the moves include being able to cross longer distances with jumps, flipping forwards out of crawlspaces, and sliding as though surfing along horizontal poles. Even standing still Lara has this jittery movement that was a bit disconcerting at first and the way she just leaps of the top of ladders and such really would take me by surprise but again I soon got used to it. The game itself is all about using those moves as well as some really great jumps sequences and I enjoyed that aspect very much. The three levels are all quite distinct but follow a very good theme that binds them well, the first in an Egyptian setting where you end when you find a train carriage, the next level on the train, and I have to say the best train level I have ever played as the architecture of the carriages where all so intriguing and aided the use of the great moves, and the last level set in a base that the train pulls into literally. The last level is without doubt the most unique as you get to play this one as a cartoonish wolf, frankly had it not been for the name of this game I still maybe wondering what animal it was supposed to be but there is a resemblance, I guess, sadly this poor wolf must have been riding too many horses prior to this level as he has a terribly uncomfortable looking stance with legs akimbo if left to stand, so I never did let him stand still too often. It never really felt like I was going after a certain goal in these levels and they end suddenly when you get to a certain point in the base but as there will be more levels to come this is an understandable thing. I do think that the author has really found great uses for the newly provided moves as they are at once a challenge but also such a thrill and I very much look forward to the continuation. I guess I can get used to change! I found 7 of the 9 secrets and finished in 2 hours." - Sash

"Sorry to say so but I didn't enjoyed this as much as I probably should. It doesn't have anything to do with the new moves of Lara although I have been playing Lara in"new mode" before (last year in Lage). In this level her new moves aren't as smooth. So Jesse better concentrate on that, because for now I rather have the"old" Lara. The sounds provided made Lara grunt at times and in the third level I figured out that it was the same sound the Wolf figure made. Apart from invisible blocks, un-textured bits, paper-thin walls and the wrong animation while dying in the spikes, I found it also hard to let Lara jump. Jumps she easily could have made in"normal mode". I also found the level a tad too dark, especially in the first level. Frustration ran pretty high as it is a trap galore and I got a bit fed up reloading and finding yet another way to proceed. The crawl maze is the pits though. The story of this level is a strange one, but don't let that deter you. Playing the wolf is not my cup of tea although in this story it was important. 25-03-2006" - Gerty

"Hello There - Just finished this Level Series :) Its pretty awesome! Level1: The Challenge Im sorry but i didnt understand the purpose of this Level. It was fun but i kept on dying at the start :p It was nicely lighted but i felt that the Textures were Stretched and not properly rotated. But this level is just as good as the following :) Level2: Crazy Train This level was actually the Best i thought. The Use of Waferthin walls isnt of my likeing but the level was pretty fun. I seemed to have gotten stuck in a Room with Luke but he couldnt go on. But i managed to complete the levels. I also noticed that lara sounded very manly in this level :p The Textures and Lightings were nice and the Use of PoleRopes and Sliding Ropes were pretty inventive. Level3: Lee's Installment By far this level was Pretty hard. I was running around for 2h: 43m like a mad chicken trying to find my way around. It was fun. But my eyes were nearly falling out of my head. I liked the Ambient Lighting and the use of VCI Textures etc.. gave it an excellent feel. Conclusion. The Whole level series was very fun! I really enjoyed it. No Doubt! I have kept my saves for the Next Installment ^^ Cant Wait Also, the Credits were pretty cool too :) Good Job Jesse! Review by Zac" - Kookee_1223