Level reviews

"30 minutes or 45 if you decide to go through the endgame fighting, and won't be much shorter even if you find the two secrets the walkthrough didn't mention. The pillar section definitely kills the pace, it should be shortened. Otherwise this is a very straightforward and fun level, even though the looks are the opposite to beauty. Can try, it won't hurt you... too much..." - DJ Full

"I was somewhat surprised when the level loaded and it was actually set in Egypt, instead of Atlantis. And I was equally surprised later on when it went full ice age. This is the sole offering from this author and shows a few issues. For the first half it was pretty predictable so it was no big deal, you somewhat knew where the unmarked climbable walls and monkey swings were (even swinging straight into a fake wall felt "obvious" enough). The second half, not so much. There was a very tricky jumping sequence over slopes which required some pixel precision, all the while surrounded by unmarked climbable walls. I enjoyed the enemies, some worked surprisingly well, it's just a pity so many sound effects were missing. The "incubator" aspect of the place is shown later on with dozens of atlantean soldiers waiting to come alive, but that never happens before we assume Lara shuts down the place entirely. 25 minutes, 1 secret. 02/22" - Treeble

"This level has some good points and unfortunately, some bad. Textures could use a bit of work, some sounds were missing and others inappropriate to the actions they were linked to, such as underwater sounds for gunfire. No puzzles to speak of and many of the enemies simply would not animate. The only taxing part was the lava room with the tall columns where you need quick fingers to negotiate the sloped pillars. Once you arrive at the T Rex lair simply run and avoid any and all enemies from then on as I found you simply did not have sufficient ammo to cope with them all." - Torry

"A debut level and in a way that is apparent (the textures are a bit bland and there are a couple of unmarked climbing textures around), but also isn't without its certain something. The juxtaposition of Egypt and Arctic scenery is a bit odd, but the gameplay section offers a few challenging trap sequences, fights with Atlantean mutants (including a couple of T-Rexes and a boss battle with the big guy), and a jump/climb sequence in a lava room that took me a fair few attempts to conquer successfully. Not badly done at all." - Ryan

"Not such a fan of miss Natla I gave this a wide birth when it was new. It isn't as nasty as I thought. It is rather straightforward with some traps thrown in for good measure. Strange was to see an icy room (ice and snow in Egypt?) and the two T-rex(es?) you do encounter were also not realistic. Nice were the corridors filled with mutants. Found enough ammo and guns to shoot my way through although there are not that many enemies. There are rather dark corners and corridors and the rest was brightly lit." - Gerty

"I think this level is a decent try. I found stretched textures on the walls, fortunately not much. The gameplay is suprisingly, very well variated. The begining is very slow, but a bit hard-to-kill mutants(it's a bit hard if you don't have revolver or uzis) and some rollingballs make some challenge to this level. Also, there is a nice jumping sequence in the lava room. Secrets are also nicely placed. All in all, that's a very nice debut level. Hope s/he'll keep up the building, I'm sure s/he will be able to do better and better levels." - rtrger

"I would like to say that this is good for people who are nostalgic for TR1, but...The rooms here are often bright and boxy like beginner unofficial custom levels. I did like the design elements with the sarcophagus either under or behind ice, even if cold rooms are jarring in an otherwise Egypt setting. I didn't care for the unmarked climbing surfaces for the column jumps, or the unmarked monkeyswing, but then it dawned on me that Lara can't climb or monkeyswing in TR1, so naturally there are no textures for them. (This doesn't entirely make sense, but let's move on.) The end of the level has the same problem with creature AI as the beginning. TR4 centaurs and winged Atlantean mutants can't stand up against their real TR1 counterparts. The first mutant T-rex went down with two revolver shots to the belly, the second fell from one shot. After battling T-rexes in unofficial levels, this hardly seems sporting. At the finish, two Torso Monsters from TR1 ignore Lara while she fires pistols. None of this is really the fault of the author. Enemy AI, vehicles, and other features, are hardwired into the Tomb Raider engine, and importing them into TR4 is still a work in progress. This goes quickly, so I found it an interesting exercise." - dmdibl

"The levels prolonged existence on the wishlist made me fear that the wide berth given by other reviewers had some justified reasons. True, it's got a long way to be considered a top notch raiding experience, but it wasn't as dreary as I had expected it to be. The level is fairly linear and fast paced, and so - while the room with the jumps and pillars dragged a bit - I was actually seldom bored here through the 20 minutes it took me to reach the end. The looks aren't very inspired, but it's not consistent throughout the adventure - some can actually be pretty decent looking and interesting, while others are the same old huge unlit rooms that any other beginner's effort has presented before. Also my fears about it being a shooter were never fulfilled - as while you do meet more baddies than in the average level - you get enough supplies to handle everything thrown your way early on. The skinned T-Rex was an interesting addition to the regular Atlantis mutants, but the inanimate collisionless statues did not convince me entirely. I was half expecting some to jump at Lara, but that never happened. Overall it's a somewhat odd beginner's level, yet not absolutely nonredeemable by any means. Recommended for a quick, fast-paced raid." - eTux

"It's a playable level but the word is: simple. Simple architecture, simple textures, simple puzzles... A raid through the rooms of a kind of temple shooting all kind of hard atlantean enemies: flying mummies, TRex, two Torsos at the end... There are some missed sounds and cameras don't exist. Many rooms lightened the same bright way and big surfaces with the same texture tile; unmarked climbable walls and unmarked monkeyswings. Not difficult to play although I had some problems in the lava room with the slopes. Enough ammo and medipacks although you must keep some ammo to the final bosses. Not a great level but a level anyway." - Jose

"The poor texturing and rushed lighting betray the fact that this is a first level and do a lot to damage the enjoyment factor; but the fast-paced gameplay never lets up and the challenging climbing/sliding room,multitude of rolling-ball traps and nasty snappy doors combine with a wide assortment of Atlantean enemies to ensure that there is rarely a dull moment in this short adventure. Be prepared to climb and monkeyswing without any texturing hints,but also confidently expect to be entertained by the adventure as a whole." - Orbit Dream

"It has been quite a long time since we last had a level from China, so happy to see one coming through. This is new builder and it does show, but at the same time what you get here is a fairly linear 30 minutes run with many pickups, a few sneakily hidden things, plenty of mutants in all shape and form to battle and a bit of a weird progression from Egypt sand to Arctic Caves, then a lava room (with a surprisingly tricky but fun jump/climb sequence) and back to Egyptian sand - oh well, why not... Found one secret." - MichaelP

"Egypt, Natla, mutants, debut level. Be afraid, be very afraid. Actually, it's the TR1 Egypt textures, which I like so much, and the level isn't at all bad for a first time build so don't run away screaming just yet. Initially, the gameplay is simple and straightforward, but later on there are some nice jumps to achieve and at the end the enemies really gang up on you. Luckily, these Atlaneans can often be persuaded to fire over your head if you get into the right position so it's not as ferocious as it first appears. I strongly suspect that mutants aren't the only things Natla has been experimenting on, since at one point there was an area that appeared to be snow and ice. Now, admittedly I've never been to Egypt, but I'm fairly sure those would be very usual weather conditions. This is quite a decent debut level. It has a few beginner's faults, but the builder has obviously spent more than five minutes with the LE manual and has also given a passing thought to gameplay. More flares next time though, please." - Jay

"It is a pity that the lighting has not been worked on and is too bright (with a few very dark areas), as the atmosphere could have been good , despite a few missing sounds. A few traps to master, a good jump room , and various Atlantean mutants , flying ones , centaurs, and even some T-Tex, they don't take too long to overcome, which is a good thing. There was not enough room to fight them in the last battle though. A simple raid in old Egypt (with the addition of an icy area) which is generally fun to play, and the 2 secrets found were good. 35 minutes." - eRIC

"Textures from TR1 repetitively applied and often stretched, missing climbing and monkey swing textures, invisible walk through walls, missing sounds and apart from many pitchblack places no room illumination. Gameplay is very tame at the beginning with pulling switches, collecting items and a pushable block that can be jumped behind (and to tell the truth I did not find any other way to get into the passage behind). You also have to do some jumping in a lava room. Many doors in this level stay closed. The more you get further the more traps and enemies you encounter. Near the end you have to fight (or better escape) dozens of mutants. I am sorry to say this level was not of my taste, not even considering it being a blatantly obvious first try." - Jerry