Level reviews

"I thought it's the graphics which didn't appeal to people but I see they gave very low scores to gameplay, which surprises me. Here are nice ideas, different textures, a ton of ammo just so you don't run out, and unique world building in the story which made me wanna see more of this universe. Only the skips and passes through the temple could be fewer as for a level this short. Underrated? I think so." - DJ Full

"It will be hard for me to find something positive on this level. I will try to consider the date of release in 2003, as there was only a simple editor for building. Gameplay and puzzles: Puzzles are repetitive, with switches, sometimes push boxes and a few obvious traps. Why use two switches within 4 tiles to open 1 doorway when only 1 would be sufficient? Why need 4 gemstones for the final doors when only 1 or 2 could do the same thing? The backtracking is enormous here in the same boring areas. 3/10 Enemies, Objects, and secrets Secrets are none in this short level, not even one. Objects are located stupidly. When I talked about two switches in gameplay, what is worse than that? Putting UZI + 10 packs of ammo to the tile between those two. Why does the soldier drop 4 packs of uzi as a bonus? Plus, in my taste way too many medpacks here. The amount of UZI ammo is worthless as well as Player can quickly kill the enemies in the level with pistols, and single UZI ammo is not needed. 2/10 Atmosphere, sound, cameras As we are in TR2, there are only static cameras; if there is something that needs to be shown, it is done, so that is positive. The atmosphere of level is at the cold, freezing zero. Everything is so wallpapered, the same, without any geometry, just flat corridors and rooms without a bit of taste of inspiration. One room was a flip map after shooting two bells; while in that room, the flip was apparent, WHY!!! Sometimes the wall misses a ladder, one after the flip room (left-right wall) + one in the pit of spikes, which is easily solved by the trick of corner spikes. 2/10 Lighting and textures As mentioned, textures are wallpapered most of the time; lightning is most of the time flat, with no attempts to try to use shades of black and white. 2/10 Considering this was released in 2003, I will, in the end, give + 1 point to each section. So overall, it is 4/3/3/3" - DroneQuadcopter

"A short adventure through a snowy temple. The author succeeds in making a unique environment by editing the Egypt textures and putting a coat of white on them. Generally a pretty straightforward and linear adventure with a focus on traps and traversal; which was quite fun. I did not appreciate the random disguised death pits and the long backtrack for the crystals. The room could have been placed a lot closer to the big door. The trap at the end is quite unfair as well since it's mostly down to luck if you survive or not. An inclusion of a guaranteed safe area would have been really nice there. There are also a few texture issues, but nothing gamebreaking. Slightly above average adventure overall. Would recommend to a casual raider." - LuxQSD

"Gameplay & Puzzles - Things in this level are actually pretty simple. I enjoyed most was it's smoothness. The backtracking at the end I wish wasn't there but the map really does provide a non-taxing smooth raid. Just watch out for those rooms that leads to you falling to your death. There's a nice amount of variety in this section to really enjoy. Enemies, Objects & Secrets - Enemies were appropriate, objects were pretty decent as well. I didn't find any secrets. Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras - Atmosphere is actually good here. I really got submerged with the bell/flipmap puzzle. Room are pretty basic architecture wise. Boxy rooms are evident. Lighting & Textures - I enjoyed this the most. I thought the way you colored TR1 Egypt textures and used them for the theme here was brilliant and they matched well. I wouldn't have mind more lighting though in this one. Even some lighting effects. But everything is pretty bright. 24 mins no secrets." - StudBuddha

"This small TR2 level is really basic and really enjoyable however are not alot of enemies and the puzzles were not much of a challenge and has no secrets" - JoeTheCrazyGamer

"This is a relatively short TR2 level but it took me ages to get off the starting point as I uselessly and pathetically tried to find a way down into the pit on the left of the starting area. This was covered by what appeared solid ice but it was simply a death trap and a waste of time. Now that is ok IF you can see that it is a hopeless pit BUT the author covered this with an ice texture and you had no clue which square was solid and which a fall through so not good design in my opinion (unless your aim is to simply piss off the player). Once I gave up on that useless endeavor the game moved along quite nicely but with a bit too much back tracking for my liking. The puzzles for the fires over the four gems were rather simplistic and will not give the seasoned raider much pause." - Torry

"This has a rather different appearance compared to most other TR2 levels out there in that it uses the original TR1 Egyptian textures, but gives them an icy makeover to suit the chilly setting. I found this to be a quite enjoyable little jaunt through a familiar yet unfamiliar location. Texturing isn't too bad, but the overall blueish appearance of the lighting did get a bit wearying. Enemies consist of a few tigers and eagles, and there are a few nifty challenges to complete before getting your hands on four crystals and subsequently the final artefact which is guarded by a force field that will require some patience. Nicely done." - Ryan

"After my poor experience with the author's previous level, the first thing I did here was trying to save my game: fortunately, no similar issues were present. We abandon the Khamoon setting for a very frozen Khamoon setting, which was quite a step up IMO. Not exactly Nordic, but still a fun and frosty atmosphere all the same. Gameplay is very simple, clearly padded with lots of running to and fro, but still enjoyable as you quest for levers to put out blue fires that prevent you from collecting crystals. There were at least two areas with fall through floors (which even I failed to mention in the walkthrough I wrote, what were you thinking, my 12 years younger self?) but all in all if you save often enough as you're probably used to, it shouldn't be a problem. I also like how I oversold the final area, when in reality it's just a very random death trap using the 'boom' effect of Bartoli's transition into dragon form. Sure it's cool, but not that cool - sorry. 20 minutes. 05/17" - Treeble

"Great TR2-level from year 2003. I liked puzzles and textures. Enemies are quite good, maybe some more types of enemies could be better. This is one of best TR2-levels of here." - vienna

"Solid level with a good design, symmetrical rooms, good texturization but not so good lighting. Few enemies to shoot, enough ammo for the uzis, some traps/holes covered with snow and few objects to ornate the rooms. Not very good the gameplay with all the backtracking up and down several times to pull all those switches; the puzzles are easy to solve, but entertaining. The best I liked was the shield protection for the artifact with the force field and the spikes all around. I liked the cameras too, but I couldn't hear soundtracks. All in all a good level worth to play for me." - Jose

"This isn't bad for a TR2 level. I haven't played many of those in an Arctic setting, but you get a decent raid here of 30 minutes or so. There's a bit of necessary backtracking, particularly near the end, but in general things keep moving along at a good clip. The most noteworthy touch was that force field that kept throwing you away from the final pickup onto a bed of spikes. The two walkthroughs (Treeble's is the more concise and easier to follow) describe the way past that and other obstacles. Something to pass a little time in between the more demanding levels." - Phil

"This level looks so great with it's blue and white colours. It has some puzzles, enemies, traps and an artifact at the end, which is difficult to reach..." - Nuri

"A rather brief but still fun level to go through, where we attempt some easy to pull off challenges, in order to turn off the flames around the sacred crystals we need and be capable of accessing the room containing the artifact of the week that Lara desires in her personal collection back home. And I'll admit, having a protective forcefield come up out of nowhere when attempting to approach the artifact for the first time did take me by surprise, after the amount of custom levels that I've played over the years where something like that has never occurred. Alongside that, we also have a simplistic yet unique art style demonstrated here as far as Tomb Raider goes(in a sort of frozen Egyptian temple), which is brought to life decently enough by some well-chosen enemies, good lighting and cleverly-done re-coloured textures on both the walls and flame effects. Overall, while I do agree with some reviewers that having to backtrack a lot can get quite tiresome and that being capable of seeing the end of the world at the start does shatter immersion quite a bit, this is still another one of those releases that I can easily recommend towards anyone looking for something different to play, even if it does conclude a little too soon for its own good." - Ceamonks890

"You've heard of black and white levels, well this is a blue and white level. Imagine an Egyptian level but then in the Arctic. Apart from lots of back and fro and climbing long ladders, this is a rather neat adventure. Your goal is to get four Gems so you can get (of course) the big prize in the end. That sounds easier as it is, as an energy field guards that prize and it will take some doing to bypass that. Have fun." - Gerty

"Good clean and unpretentious fun level. Lasts just over 20 minutes, very linear and with maybe a bit too much (obvious) back and forth between the rooms. But the tasks are nice to go through, enemies spice things up a little bit and the flip effect in the bells room and the final effect with the 'shockwave' is unusual and interesting. The setting is simplistic but convincing enough, so it is certainly worth a quick look." - MichaelP

"A solid TR2 level with some "new" features like the explodes near the end. Can be quite annoying to always climb up and down at the start area, so I used a corner bug to accelerate. But the level's gameplay is very good. You have to find four levers to turn four flames off and then getting the artefacts under them to open a door. I like this kind of gameplay, so the level was great for me, but hopefully for other reviewers, too. The atmosphere was good and lightning was used very well, same to the whole level. Good work!" - manarch2

"This is a very nice level with great atmosphere and solid game play. Puzzles are not hard and very logical. I enjoyed the surroundings and use of objects. There are not too many enemies. 2 bells need to be shot in order to change the layout of a room - I thought that was well made. Also a good climb/back flip jump into a deep pit. Took me a few tries. There is a also some back tracking, but I found that actually a good thing because of the layout. The builder has done a good job in creating this. Definitely one of the top TR2 levels I have played so far. As another reviewer said, this could have been part of the original TR2. It would have fit in perfectly." - Blue43

"I've always liked the Egyptian blue design of this level, and the way the bronze bells stand out against the surroundings. Look up and note the icy fringe hanging from the beams, and the blue flames. The white tigers fit well with the environment. Lara almost immediately picks up the Uzis and eleven clips--fortunately, this is back in the days when Lara could pick up multiple objects at the same time. She shoots mercenaries and gets four more clips, for a total of 1,200 Uzi ammo rounds. The play has an elegant simplicity involving shooting bells and flipping rooms, with some back and forth to acquire and place four crystals. The lighting is uniformly bright, which seems to fit this blue world. The whole thing is done in half an hour. The end has a clever and original idea: Lara approaches a magic artifact and a protective energy field throws her back into a spike field, unless she has positioned herself properly so her back hits a pillar. Lara gets thrown back repeatedly, then for some reason that I've never figured out she is able to climb up to the artifact and the level ends. This seems so random. It would be nice if Lara got to pick up the artifact and carry it forward, instead of the abrupt ending as soon as Lara touches the platform. A bit more would have given players a feeling of accomplishment." - dmdibl

"It's a shame the 2 releases we have are the only ones from the author to date, as his (her?) style was really starting to grow on me. The lighting maybe was lacking, resulting in a somewhat monotonous look, but as far as looks go - this was intriguing enough to make the approximately 20 minutes spent here quite pleasing. Details such as the well chosen object and effects (blue flames) added much to the level's unique feel. The author's trademark clever use of flipmaps resurfaces and you have to shoot bells to flip a specific room configuration in and out of existence (though this was not carried out to the puzzle's full potential), you get neat jump sequences and 4 neat tasks to acquire the needed 4 crystals. On the other hand, I didn't care much for the frequent, long climbing sequences, the amount of backtracking involved and some of the less fair elements - like a hidden spike-pit with no indication of its existence and the unexpected explosion near the end throw Lara into the spikes and other surrounding hazards a couple of times before I figured out a relatively safe angle to approach it from. On the whole - while not without its faults, this offers a handful of interesting ideas which for this level should definitely get a chance." - eTux

"This is a strikingly original little adventure,both in appearance and gameplay.The puzzles are interesting and creative,although a few shock moments (especially the blast-wave protecting the Artefact),while undeniably effective,are somewhat cheaty.The location is interesting although scenically limited (the end-of-the-world can also be easily reached at the start),but the frozen atmosphere is cleverly maintained through the use of blue flames,white tigers and icy water.Somewhat more dynamic lighting would probably have aided the appearance further,but the combination of frozen rooms and sometimes devious puzzles make this a memorable excursion and one which(from a creative standpoint) would not disgrace a Core Design original." - Orbit Dream