Level reviews

"This is the debut level of a builder who's since gone on to become part of the top of the crop, but it definitely shows signs of an early release from a 14 year old kid eager to release something. Walkthrough walls are probably the worst offender as even with Andzia's walkthrough you might still find yourself at loss now and then. The first level is a mazification of Croft Manor, lots (lots) of paths to explore and lots (lots) of remote levers to find and operate under lots (lots) of fixed cameras. I usually don't mind fixed cameras, but in this particular level they were overdone and annoying. There are new animations in place as well, the new "pulling up to a ledge" animation is of the broken type meaning Lara will be unable to grab again unless you stand still for half a second, which isn't possible when climbing up to a slope for instance (such scenario only happens once though, from what I remember). I have no idea whatever was going on with so many girls (Laras, and a couple of Anayas) and the dialogue was too low. I gave the first bonus a go but 25 minutes in there was a banana jump without enough space for a run up and after dozens of tries — I'm not even convinced it's possible to do one from a standing jump position — I gave up. Mind you, it's quite possible there was an intended way around but at that point I was long beyond the point desiring to move on to a different level. 100 minutes. 10/24" - Treeble

"Storytelling and tension handling is what some builders learn for years but Shabab got this as a teenager, so his debut is where this natural cinematic talent clashes with skills yet to be acquired. Especially in the manor you may need walkthrough hints, but take them in exchange for a different kind of experience, which sometimes may feel random but in fact contains a hidden meaning. Recommended." - DJ Full

"This is an incredibly ambitious game for a first effort, and while there certainly are annoyances that hinder the gameplay somewhat, I found it to be a worthwhile download for the 2 and a quarter hours it took me to get through everything included (with the exception of the bonus level that didn't seem to have a finish trigger, nor was there much to do). The biggest down point is probably the damned fixed cameras. Perhaps they can be useful if they are used in the correct way, but otherwise I'm sure that they are there just to annoy the player and make the gameplay artificially harder. They're here in spades, but with much perseverance I was able to make it through, although I still could well have done without them. I also didn't like the anti-gravity jumps, as they seemed a bit buggy and often led to frustration. However, you do get quite a lot to do during your time here, and I quite liked the variety of settings too so my overall impression is positive." - Ryan

"This is a remarkably complex debut set of levels that took me nearly three hours to complete, even with the indispensable assistance of Andzia9's complete and generally clear walkthrough. It's fraught with a number of my pet peeves, but the positives far outweigh the negatives, hence my scores. The only real function served by fixed cameras is to annoy the players, and since this phenomenon has been almost universally noted by earlier reviewers I won't dwell on it here. In the first level that damned Winston caused me to get stuck in his collision several times, forcing me to reload, and I wish that one of those invisible buttons could have been used a second time so I could have locked him in a bathroom. The weapons, once you get them, seem to have much more killing force than usual, and you're provided more than enough ammunition. One blast from a shotgun was normally sufficient to down even the most formidable of enemies. The bonus level was an extra treat that would have taken my vote as the best of the bunch had it not been for a near-impossible jump and grab near the end (I finally used the flycheat to get where I needed to be, having discovered much too late that it's not disabled here) and the oppressive darkness that requires almost constant use of flares. This builder has reaped much higher scores with his subsequent efforts, but his debut offering certainly deserves to be played and not forgotten." - Phil

"I felt torn about this level series. On the one hand, this level series clearly had some advanced techniques such as using a Lara Croft with different controls from the usual, menu script modification, the placement of various Laras and Anayas, the use of secondary Laras to defeat enemies, a few objects from TR3, the trains, and the torches resembling magic lamps. The textures looked solid, albeit a bit bland, but lighting did improve the appearance of the level a bit. However, the fixed cameras were more of a problem than an enhancement, especially when Lara's servant Winston would get too close to Lara and prevent her from getting a pickup item in a crawlspace. Some of the Laras would even prevent Lara from jumping back up to a ledge. The gameplay was interesting at a few moments (the library with spikes, the series of jumps...), but the game crashing to the desktop when Lara would die or when the player would exit the game made the jump sequence more challenging, and required the player to have more patience. Fortunately in the second level, if Lara dies or the player exits the game, the program does not crash. I do nonetheless warn people not to save their game after the train flyby, because if upon reloading the savegame, Lara would glide to a strange death. It's better to save in the icy slope afterwards. It's also interesting to see how the difference between life and death in a pool would involve only a couple of squares in the pool. It is also hard to tell if a switch is going to be a help or a hindrance. I highly recommend that people read the readme provided by the author, it would save people quite a bit of grief regarding some of the technical problems, and the use of unusual controls in order to jump from ladder to ladder safely. I finished this level series with 6 secrets." - Sakusha

"“Aaah and oooh look what I found, NOW I know how to use fixed cameras", comes to mind. Not funny, overall I think the beta testing was non-exciting as I found numerous bugs throughout. Let alone (although the read-me warns us), the crashing to desktop as Lara dies. Textures were badly stretched or squashed, no other"normal" camera work to speak off, walkthrough walls. No hints for solution how to solve a puzzle. A pity tough, as it is an ambitious project that didn't pan out. There are some nice ideas here but do work on your project a bit more careful as some of the new and old moves are not perfect (Lara hanging on a ladder at least 10 cm away from the ladder). I will stop here with my grumbling." - Gerty

"I've got various feelings about this levelpack. On one side it's quite good but on the other side I think it's a bit rushed. As everyone said, the fixed camera positions aren't so good in this kind of game. I didn't like the new moves too. Gameplay is flat at some points. To say something about the nice things in this levelset, there are great parts in this game, like the bonus level is fun, loved the jumping around with low gravity. Visuals are great, the texturing is nicely done and the lighting is well-used. Promising one, hopefully the builder will manage to create levels with better gameplay. Waiting for the next release." - rtrger

"The first level is a home remodeled by an unscrupulous contractor. It is hard to explore, as players are plagued by irritating fixed camera angles--maybe so they can't look too closely at the house. Young women, sometimes TR3 Laras, are engaged in various activities. One suggests looking under the pool; later, others help fight guards. Soon, you think nothing could be worse than those constant fixed cameras, but then there are invisible buttons for Lara to push. At least there is jumping and climbing near the level end. The second level is a base with good potential, since it has fewer fixed cameras. There are good ideas and play here. Again, it seems to get better at the end. But there are several crates and a pedestal, and three different tiles. Only by trial-and-error can Lara find the right placement, and hear gates raise up. Lara finds a climb-through texture, which is sneaky, but the crawl-through texture is definitely unfair. It seems a solid wall, and Lara can only penetrate it by pressing Ctrl to enter backwards, or by doing a forward jump from the crawlspace. These baffling game play aspects keep one from ever getting truly involved. Next, a bonus level has Lara in reduced gravity, which would only make sense if this were a moon base, or a spaceship, instead of a cave. Low gravity proves more frustrating than helpful. Lara had to jump up a small slope, and I found this impossible to do with the "fun" exe, as Lara hit her head on a slanted ceiling. I switched to the regular tomb4.exe for an easy jump. Lara battles Atlantean mutants, and a few sound exactly like soldiers. This is a debut level, so I hope the author has worked out these notions, and begins to regard level building as an unspoken partnership with players." - dmdibl

"A Visit with Stacy (6/8/6/7, 50 min, 6 secrets): From a nice dramatic intro, this starts as a rather decent Home level with a difference. I liked some of the audio choices, the overall layout and the 'other characters' placed throughout the house. The idea of placing the secret items to then open up the bonus level was a good one too and they are fun to go look for. What lets this part down (a lot!) is the massive overuse of rather annoying fixed cams and the gameplay as a whole which fully relies on sneaky crawlspaces hidden in dark corners, easy to miss book switches (and many of them) and button to press that you cannot even see on the walls.
The Base (6/8/8/8, 40 min, 5 secrets): Thankfully almost no fixed cams here and the setting looks good too. Gameplay suffers here from often being rather slow (climbing, crawling, pushing boxes) and from another big time No No in custom levels: walkthrough walls. The train wreck flyby was nicely done though.
Flashback (6/7/8/7, 25 min): This is another level that you can play by opening the bonus zip and it is not so bad at all. Using some of the Peru items and textures, it does have decent looks with some strong colours and you get a few nice battles with the TR1 mutant and his friends.
All in all, this is not a bad series at all, maybe a little overambitious and with unnecessary flaws that could have been avoided with a few experienced beta testers giving feedback prior to the release." - MichaelP

"This first work has some good ideas. But what do use good ideas if the conversion is half a disaster? However, begin we at the beginning:
The house level: The level builder has completely reshaped the house of Lara. Though one can still see which was it sometimes the old 08/15 house, indeed, it was strongly changed. It looks quite nice, however, but it is full of nooks and crannies and at the same time bewildering to play. The absolutely failed camera work was worst. The level builder has quite obviously a predilection for Fixcams. One or two Fixcams are OK, but here these were so many which has only irritated it sometime. Thereto come the wall switches which one could not recognise and too many book levers. And there were not enough camera hints for the switches and levers. And stretched textures were also to be seen. And the sound was sometimes absent. A few rooms were quite interesting, but because of the camera work the play fun kept in narrow borders.
The second level: This level was a little better than the house level, indeed, here there were also a few things which have disturbed me very much. For example, there were several hidden passageways which one could not see because of the wall textures. Also in this level there were again these Fixcams, indeed, less than in the first level. In a room one could push three boxes and a pedestal, but there were only three marked places. If one pushed the right object on the right place, one of three grids go upwards. However, there was no hint where one had to push what. But anyway the duties were more interesting in the second level and the rooms were better built.
Result: It could have become a really good level. But by the many Fixcams and other inconsistencies it has not given a lot of pleasure." - Scottie

"A very strange set of levels. The first one was the most "normal" level, exploring the house and doing many (obscure) tasks to advance with invisible switches, but for me was bored, 'cause I'm very tired about Lara's home levels and the hundreds of fixed cameras made it very annoying. The second level was not good too 'cause some bad details like the invisible opening you can trespass or no hints to know where to place the moveables, etc. The no-gravity can produces some contradictory situations, like the lever in the very beginning I've pulled and later raise a block to pull the same lever. Could be different names to the title level and the others, 'cause if you replace the script files you can enter in the title room to do nothing. In the third bonus level there are very hard enemies from the very beginning, and also that annoying gravity. The last level was absurd, only to explore another part of the mansion and get some pickups. There are some nice animations and a lot of "Laras" around but even so, not for my taste. Sorry." - Jose

"To be honest I don't really know what to make of this. It starts off really well with Lara exploring a variety of the mansion in the first level and finding herself in a base somewhere in a snowy location in the second level. You'll meet plenty of young women around and they can be quite helpful, something which I found to be an excellent idea. There are some unique touches that really pull this adventure up to a higher level, but unfortunately there are also some dragging it down under. My biggest complaint is the fixed camera that follows you like a dog throughout most of the first level(and indeed parts of the second and third as well). For the next attempt, please get rid of it. Used in moderate amounts it can add a lot to the atmosphere, but in this case we're talking overkill. Besides, it makes it unnecessarily difficult to spot crawlspaces, vital pickups and so on. While the levels were pretty enjoyable in themselves I never fully got the feeling that they were connected. The third level was supposed to be a bonus level, but the generous amounts of enemies were rather hard to kill, most of them cost Lara a severe amount of health loss and the new, fanciful moves were more stressful than anything else. Those Matrix-style jumps did my head in at the end, but at least I have lived to see Lara do a standing(flying) jump from bottom to top of a three-story structure. The final part was all about running around at leisure gathering a few items here and there. The textures were nicely applied and I like the choice of soundtrack. Certain areas were way too dark and the application of lights otherwise seemed a bit flat at times, something which contributed in ruining what could otherwise have been a pretty decent atmosphere. All in all I found it to be an indefinable experience and perhaps not quite my cup of tea, but the original and ambitious concept of it and the moderate level of difficulty still makes it worth a shot." - Selene

"Right, as i would first like to say, please do not include the fixed camera's so much in the next game you make. I thought this was a well thought out game and it is obvious you tried hard on it. Sorry i failed to be a BETA tester seeing as though I had a month holiday. I thought the lighing and textures were generally good but i thought that the textures in the house didn't seem to fit even though they were what they should be. Lighting was great, i had no problems with it. I thought some of the geometry was quite....strange, some of the jumps and runs in the house, i din't know if i was supposed to be able to do them or not. Gameplay was mainly good, as were the puzzles and i thought they enemies fit in well with the level genre. I especially loved the costumes you picked :). Grade = A-" - herothing

"This is an ambitious project for a debut level, which begins in a mansion and I must say if any architect designed such a house for me, I'd have him taken out and shot. Of far more concern than the weird and inconvenient architecture however is the over use of immensely irritating fixed camera angles. I don't really know why some builders insist on using so many. Perhaps they think it looks 'arty' and certainly it probably takes some skill to achieve, but as far as I'm concerned too much of it can make a game almost unplayable. There are some quite nice quirky objects and people dotted around the house and at times the gameplay is great fun, but the whole thing seems to lack cohesion The action moves on to a base and the good news is - not so many fixed camera angles. The bad news - totally unmarked walk through (or climb through) walls. There are quite a few enemies to shoot and some interesting ideas, but again the whole thing seems rather disjointed. You can access some bonus stuff too, if you find all the secrets - a very strange level where Lara leaps great heights and distances effortlessly, as though in low gravity and an 'out-take' from the mansion level. I honestly don't quite know what to make of it all in some respects. The builder is obviously very imaginative, has clearly spent some time honing his level editor skills and certainly there are some very enjoyable moments, but the whole thing just fails to pull together somehow. I hope that any future levels will have a more fluid quality, with (please, please) a minimum use of fixed camera angles." - Jay

"Strange design and odd, but innovative ideas let expect interesting levels for the future. It's a first promising result. After a very first negative impression I started to have fun searching booklevers in a manor with odd staircases, followed by a quite penetrant butler. A few things you have to find randomly without any hint; one example may be enough: In the second level you have to climb through an unmarked wall - standing in front of every tile and pressing jmp &ctrl has nothing to do with intelligent puzzle-solving or sense-full gameplay. The fixed cameras are quite annoying, the flybys mostly not very helpful. Sometimes I felt just like in a dream, but not a good one at all, so, for example, when I meet (sometimes shootable) Laras; To create a surrealistic, dreamlike atmosphere seems to be intended - and it succeeded. There are many good ideas and new creative elements appearing here and there, but they still don't fit together just yet. I liked this little adventure, and I'm sure we will see interesting games from this author in the future." - Christian