Level reviews

"I'm currently on my paid time off and trying to find things to play as I move along my 2009 raidlist as well as trying to keep up with the pace of fellow reviwers (even playing twice as much as I often do, I still don't even come close). At any rate, this came up while skimming through the list after wrapping up the previous mammoth release and I'm glad it did. It's a more simple and straightforward offering, with four different challenge areas you complete in turn before moving on to the next levels. There's nothing particularly taxing or aggravating except a few tricky flame emitters towards the end of the last level but otherwise G&D's guidance will get you through without sweat, the walkthrough is especially welcome for the underwater to and from when you're operating a handful of levers. 55 minutes, 4 secrets. 10/24" - Treeble

"Gameplay feels varied enough but misses the "blow me away" moment, probably the most creative part was the fire swing which I didn't yet see such variant of. The weakest on other hand is free choice of paths in the first level, while in fact it's optimal to do them in a certain order. Some parts look very good, some feel like if the builder forgot about them. Combat is like if not totally decided what way to approach it, but you can still have fun blasting some yetis. Probably the hardest are intense wolf packs, but all is possible no meds. Somehow I think I'll forget about this game despite of the basics being done very decently. What I won't forget is the third level, that one was amazing, and I dare you to pause and read the title while you can..." - DJ Full

"This is an entertaining little trio of levels which managed to entertain me for the duration of 90 minutes, despite offering no tricky tasks. You're on the search for four keys in the first level within a hub room to open the door to the Sanctum of Oberon and once you grab the Lance Head, you can make your escape by using the torch and doing battle with yetis and dragons. Recommended." - Ryan

"This is a fine multi-level set,which rarely offers too much in the way of challenge (you'll almost never be hanging around,wondering what to do) but nonetheless has a very smooth flow throughout.Every element of the adventure is solid and accomplished;from enemies to textures,lighting to cameras.Perhaps the escape from the dragons at the Finale was a little abrupt;but the puzzle/challenge difficulty was well measured all the way through;the construction was solid and often showed great visual flair;and the 75 minute duration positively flew by.A great little adventure;thoroughly recommended." - Orbit Dream

"Having beta-testing this epic I was glad that I decided to wait a while before playing it again and review it at a later date. As with some levels I beta-test, I play it more than once and then the novelty wears thin. Again I was quite surprised in how much fun I had without scratching my head too often. Just a great raid through some complexes to get Keys and an artefact. The enemies are well places as I did jump in my chair every now and then, always a good sign." - Gerty

"I really enjoyed this level reminiscent of TR3 Antarctica. The first sub-levels last longer than the last ones and the puzzles aren't difficult, but the gameplay is solid and atmosphere lovely. Definitely a worthwhile raiding experience." - Shandroid

"This is a nice three-part effort that took me nearly an hour and a half to complete. The levels become progressively shorter, such that you'll spend close to an hour in the Arctic Catacombs. There's a hub motif here where you search for four Icen Keys in as many corridors so you can gain entrance to the Sanctum of Oberon. Here's where you find the Lance Head that brings you to the concluding segment where you make your Escape. Nothing particularly memorable here, but it's a consistently fun raid. Recommended." - Phil

"This is a very solid and fun debut level-set from a young builder, which will keep you busy for 75-90 minutes and has a nice flow to it, with the occasional challenge added for good measure.
Arctic Catacombs (50 min, 2 of 3 secrets): Rather many dogs/wolves will welcome you in this Arctic/Tinnos setting. Gameplay is a classic four-way street inside, each of which will yield a key to open a final door. Gameplay revolves around some timed swimming and clever jumping and ledge hopping with an occasional boulder trap thrown in. Some of the ladders are a bit too long maybe and the swinging chains at the top never triggered for me, which looked a bit odd. Also, you do not really need the separate way back in the collapsible tile lava room if you jump smartly across them (and back).
Sanctuary of Oberon (15 min, 0 of 1 secrets): More swimming to do here a few clever jumps down into a deep pit. Enemies are a bunch of yetis. The setting looks a bit more refined than in the first part, but the rope swing through the rock is a bit unfortunate in its design.
Escape (10 min): The challenge is nicely up a notch here with some jumps past burners with a torch in hand. The boss scene with two dragons is dramatic but quite easy to master and the choice with the block that you drop through to reach the end is a bit strange, but still you leave the adventure with a good sense of accomplishment. Recommended." - MichaelP

"ok i finished this one too ... what i can say about this one- is that i like this one more than previous game wich i played ..(TombRaider Olkaira 1 - The Stone of Death) at this one u need to colect 4 Main keys + some more others for progressing u get those from 4 different locations .. gameplay is fluent - at last stages was a bit difficult with Burner blocks and monkey swinging and avoiding to be cooked by burners ..i hate burners in TR games at moust . i must admit ....... cos once u get on fire is game over ..iff some water pool is not close ... enemyes are dogs ...too much off them. cos come 4/5 at once and u need to deal with -with simple pistols ... some Yeti's ,,and at the ending a Boss finale wich was much more easy like i was wait ...... all in all a solid game recomanded ....." - Jack&

"This is a three parter, the ultimate goal of the first part being to obtain four keys, which involves achieving a variety of tasks in four areas off a central hub area. This is a format I really like, possibly because even I can't get too hopelessly lost, plus it usually means a good variety of gameplay. Enemies are wolves and tinmen and they have been quite effectively used to cause maximum damage/surprise factor. The subsequent two sections are quite short, but far from uneventful, comprising, among other things, some effectively claustrophobic swimming, some really bad tempered yetis and a rather unusual and interesting boss ending. Overall, this is an enjoyable, solid game, playable by raiders of all abilities and yet another very fine debut level. I look forward to more work from this builder." - Jay

"There one should state once more, the level construction scene is dead and there is no more younger generation. The dead person is very lively and as fit as a fiddle. During the last weeks and months it gave so a lot of new level builder with so many great debutlevels which one could make with joy a headstand. This time has kicked sometimes TombMaker in the footlights and has also delivered immediately a strong debut. However, in this connection I must also draw the attention to the beta testers. Who has such beta testers, is real in the very best hands. - level construction, sound, textures: The level is built really well. There was, actually, no place which I have not liked. A successful example is the big room with both ice-cold water basins on the left and on the right in the level Sanctum of Oberon. Both snakes left and right to the door look really good there. And the room is very nice textured. All together I have found only at few places smaller texture mistakes. they are not so really remarkable, but, nevertheless, one can see them. I have not liked the sound completely so well. He was sometimes a little bit monotonous. There the change was absent a little bit. Moreover, there were a few situations where the sound was completely absent, as for example with a few doors. It was very pleasant which one was often warned about the oncoming danger. The sound of the wolves and the yeti was very good. -Gameplay, opponents: There were, actually, no difficult situations. The level was to be played liquidly and one knew any time what one had to make as the next. A little bit annoyingly I found the many wolves. Very interesting looked whereas the new textured Horsemen. With the yeti has liked me which they have not fought constantly on the breast and have taken thus no more damage if one had shoot on them. Such a thing has disturbed me already in TR 2 and there is also some Custom-Level where the yeti makes the same one. I find such a thing very unnecessary. There this level is a wholesome exception. Summary: Strong debut with a few small weaknesses. All together the Gameplay was sometimes a little bit too easy. It lasts quite a lot if TombMaker raised the degree of difficulty with his next level a little bit. Nevertheless, one or other scanty time run, a few difficult jumps and a few crisp riddles would fit quite well. Anyway I am very much curious on his next level." - Scottie

"The first level of this level set is exploring 4 areas on the search for keys which offers nothing really new, but fluent and easy gameplay. But you can easily overlook the later on needed crossbow, so make sure you take it with you from the room where the lasersight can be found too, or else you have to go back and run around to look were to find it. Enemy-wise there were only a couple of wolves and knights to fight here.
Level #2 starts in a very edgy underwater area, and all those edges make it quite hard to handle Lara, so I could make it only by using a medipack to prevent her from drowning, that was not so much fun. Compared to level #1 there are some more skills required here, it's burners in the first place, with e.g. a torch to bring up over pillars and some yetis attacking. The lack of shotgun ammo is the only thing to moan about, and that can become a real problem, as the yetis are dangerous to deal with (they can grab Lara and kill her in no time). In the end you have to face 2 dragons. I don't know if they are shootable, but at least they are rather lazy, it takes some time until they start spitting fire, so it is not too hard to escape them.
Altogether I liked this level set for its nice look and the fluent gameplay. The background sound was a bit monotonous though. But in the end it was a good debut work." - Jerry

"The first level has a well known and solid concept: a central room, 4 directions leading from there to find 4 keys needed to open the door to the next level. Gameplay is fluent, the tasks not really hard to do, the next steps almost obvious. And so it's a bit boring; nothing unexpected, no surprises. A timed floor lever, a few dogs too much, standard, nothing really new. As I give rates between 7 and 8 I consider, that gameplay becomes more interesting in the next two levels which are unfortunately a bit short. All in all: An enjoyable game!" - Christian

"Another very good debut. Three well builded levels with some interesting tasks and well textured. I only found two secrets in first level. No many enemies, good architecture, nice to play with no impossible tasks... The game crashed only one time in this case. Enjoyable. I'll wait for the next creation from this author. Good job!" - Jose

"Here are levels that keep Lara constantly in motion with various tasks. As long as the player keeps alert and remembers the landscape and door positions the beginning can be accomplished at a brisk pace, though occasionally a twist is thrown in. It is true that the order in which Lara tackles the initial four areas, and when she acquires weapons, may influence some tasks. The first level is really pretty good, very playable, with a little bit of everything thrown in, though maybe that also makes it less cohesive. And Lara does go around wiping out an entire wolf pack. I appreciated finding the Uzi secret immediately, but thirty shots sure don't last long with the Uzis against five wolves, no seven wolves, no eight, ten, whatever. By the second and third levels this comes together into a darker and more demanding adventure, with the ending far too brief. I liked the yetis and the delayed dragons, but sometimes the texturing repeats in a wallpaper pattern, which lessens the impact of an area. And I do wish that places had been better lit: in one dark room most of the action takes place overhead, and Lara had to run around with binoculars, studying the ceiling to figure out what was going on. In the dark swims of the second level Lara was constantly having to light flares or be in complete dark. A good debut, and I look forward to the continuation." - dmdibl

"Let's speak fluent gameplay here , in this little adventure , which I thought would last longer as the first level lasted 50+ minutes, but all was said and done in 1 hour 20 of net gaming time. ARCTIC CATACOMBS [52 minutes] After reading the simple but good storyline, Lara is in icy caves where she is attacked by hordes of wolves , but soon arrived in a temple decorated mainly with Tinnos textures and Library objects. Some more enemies here as you are exploring 4 branches of this temple complex , white tinmen and more wolves. The various tasks are at hand are not too complicated but make perfect sense and guarantee a non stop gaming experience , that is what I needed after having played recently levels with some obscure logic. The map is very well thought out and does not require from the player much backtracking , it all flows very well. Well maybe I chose the quests in the best order , for example when I came to one place where crossbow and laser_sight were needed I got them already. A good secret shotgun found in this part. SANCTUM OF OBERON [18 minutes] Decorated with darker"Peruvian" textures , this level where Lara will find the Arterfact is much shorter and does not appeal much to the eyes , but is quite fluent too , with some decent swimming , some traps to overcome and yetis to battle, a puzzle with switches. I like the use of sinks and the secret in the cold water. THE ESCAPE [7 minutes] Even shorter but with some challenge , there is a few interesting jumps to perform some with the torch in hand before dealing with two giant greenish lizards spitting bowls of fire. Overall, a recommanded adventure that does not fail to entertain, despite looks which are not too impressive yet correct, suitable to all profiles of raiders as there is nothing too challenging , the enemies are well used , the flybys and audio well executed. Good work !" - eRIC