Level reviews

"Simply perform a few jumps and climbs and pull a few switches under Von Croy's patronising guidance and end the level in less than five minutes. Probably for absolute (and I mean ABSOLUTE) novices, but otherwise it's a bit superfluous." - Ryan

"I assume The Ancient Knowledge must have been either a copy of TRLE manual or a readme for this level, as this is the first time when I find such tutorial more valuable than the attached game. When I launched the playable project I was quite surprised by its rating, since Von Croy cooperation in audiovisually decent setting accompanied with dialogue cannot feel bad... and then I tried to save, and the final bit of Knowledge was revealed. But even caught by unmarked spikes near the end, I view this trap course as no crime compared for instance to singularities like Back to Sophia's Office or Darkness Castle, and the whole thing was done under 20 minutes. I hope the tutorial will serve for much longer..." - DJ Full

"While Jack has recently become more well-known in the TRLE community for being able to incorporate online multiplayer into the near twenty-year old Core Design engine, its still interesting to go back and see him having worked on an actual level, prior to his incredible achievement. And despite it not really pushing any boundaries or taking any real risks in any of the respective categories, it serves its overall purpose enough as a decent introduction to new players unfamiliar with Tomb Raider, and as an interesting case study for those builders who are curious to see how the Von Croy slot works. But for veteran raiders on the other hand, this will ultimately mean very little. So, if you're not a fan of having the capability of saving your current position disabled or have instructions for basic actions that you've already been accustomed to jammed down your throats once again, then avoid this one and try out something else more worth your valuable time." - Ceamonks890

"A quite uninteresting level which even gets more tedious if dying because you cannot save here what is not good. You can get stuck in this level when running through a door and don't let VC through, so you have to restart again. This level, although quite short, is very repetetive because you just have to push the floor levers to get on, again and again. Not worth to try." - manarch2

"From what I understand, this is an updated version of Vivi Ornitier's tutorial released way back when the Angkor Wat wad was released. It's not much of an actual level though, it's exactly as the title says. The audio is reused from the Cambodian levels of TR4, so it doesn't really match this Egyptian setting perfectly, but it gives the learning builder a good idea. You are not allowed to save, so be careful of two possible situations: one is a gate after the monkey swing, don't get close to it before Von Croy runs in or he'll be forever trapped outside and you can't go any further, and in the room with the 'big fall', watch the exact spot where Von Croy climbs down or you'll face death in the unmarked spike tiles. 5 minutes. 05/09" - Treeble

"A simple and straightforward level, where the author's main ability seems to be in successfully setting up Von Croy. The visuals are basic yet functional, and while audio conversations are placed around the level, some of them don't even match up that well with what is on-screen at the time (what vines?). This is probably a good download if you want to build a level yourself and use Von Croy, but not so much if you're looking for a decent custom level to play...and one with the ability to save your game in, at least." - Spike

"This could be a good level for those which are starting to play Tomb Raider, but not for normal players. You'll have to follow Von Croy and hear his instructions to do simple tasks. The worst is that you can't save the game so, if you die you'll have to play again from the very beginning. :(" - Jose

"If you are a player, you may want to play something else instead. It is not that this Tutorial with young Lara and VonCroy is bad, but it brings nothing new from a player perspective. Besides, despite the fact it is not very long , the impossibility to save your game is quite annoying. On the other hand if you are a builder wanting to know many things about the use of VonCroy, you may find this download quite interesting. I don't think that this tutorial should be rated." - eRIC

"Very interesting as a tutorial for builders to learn about controlling Von Croy - but is it suited as a level release? I would've rather seen the builder use his skills incorporated into a more sophisticated setup and this released separately for what it is, as there's not much of a playable level hidden here. You get some jumps, levers and monkey swings and the ambiguously disturbing exchanges between Lara and Von Croy, so if that's what you're looking for, go for it. The no save system is a bit of a bummer though - as short as the raid is - if you mess up one time (or several, as it tends to be in my case) you have to start over. More suited for builders who want to incorporate Von Croy into their levels - the rest can skip it." - eTux

"Good grief,that was as pointless as it was quick! Follow Von Croy and perform some simplistic jumps under his learned guidance;monkeyswing around a corner (Vines? What vines??);pull a few levers;drop down to the floor;end. Even watching a football match is more entertaining than this." - Orbit Dream

"Well, this is more a tutorial for the basic movement jumps monkeyswing and pull some levers and is for players which never played Tomb Raider games to learn the movements through a very short and boring level. I can recommend it only to players which never played TR games, which I don't think exist here I mean from players who download and play games from this site ....... VERY BORING GAME ...." - Jack&

"A short level, without the cutscenes it could have last about 5 mins. The cutscenes were well done but I did notice a few bugs along the way. The invisible wall when the trapdoor opens and if you pull one of the levers and enter the door before Von Croy you are stuck and can't get back. Gameplay, although poor, was made better with the constant cutscenes between each jump and lever pull. The texturing was okay, nothing bad, nothing spectacular. A very easy level made for beginners." - Cory

"Don't get fooled by the picture of this young man as it is deceiving, he is 15 years old now, judging by his date of birth so I feel not so bad to say that a game, even a tutorial game, is without saves, a big NO NO in my book. Although he proves that he can use the editor and trep, that doesn't mean that I was so looking forward to a tutorial, like I don't know what to do after more than 1600 levels under my belt. There is also a timed lever that you cannot reset so you have to start all over again, boooooring. Also there is a bug in the game as you use the binoculars, Lara only can look straight and freezes after using them. But hey, it can only go up and onwards from here. So now use your skills and make a real level. And put in SAVE slots." - Gerty

"I really don't get the point of this short level - just exactly who in the custom level world is in need of such a simple tutorial? And why is there no ability to save the game? And why has the builder submitted a picture of himself that was obviously taken some years ago? And why am I still writing this review?" - Jay

"Indeed not easy to rate as a level, as it is more of a tutorial package, if you wanted to engage into setting up Von Croy in your own level as a builder. As such it is well done, shows the various possibilities and explains them at length in the readme. As a level it offers a mere 5 minutes of simplistic guided play with the Von Croy cutscenes in between." - MichaelP