Level reviews

"Astonishing. Throughout the entire level I found it hard to believe this was built using our TRLE, I mean surely the blocky grid is still quite prevalent but this is such a lush setting that it's easy to get enthralled by the looks of every single room. Gameplay is filled with challenging bits, a couple of pixel precise jumps and deadly trap gauntlets. It relies quite a bit on exploration and I have to admit the design made that a bit more challenging (and that was following the walkthrough!) as the rocky pathways along the cave walls are often narrow and slippery. It's a bit on the dark side but by playing on a dark room I only lit up a handful of flares, and despite the limited ammo I found that pickups were more than enough (but, granted, I didn't miss any of them thanks to the walkthrough). On that note, props also for the final enemy encounter which was presented in a very creative way. There were a few lingering issues with camera hints not properly showing up but that was such a minor setback when you look at the grand picture. 95 minutes, 6 secrets. 09/22" - Treeble

"Teme9 is one of the authors who really knows how to create captivating environments to explore. A lot of attention is put into creating details, and all the custom textures and objects give a unique visual style to the level. I thoroughly enjoyed the gameplay as well, which involves plenty of non-linear action, platforming combined with nice use of traps, and few puzzles (pushable wooden pillar puzzle was especially nice). In the credits it is mentioned: "To be continued". I don't know if teme9 is still working on the sequel to this level, but I am sure everybody would be delighted to see it being released one day." - Samu

"Another Teme9 master-class in level design that is innately superior the my nine-average score, but there are significant flaws most areas. The level suffers from an extreme darkness (and an insufficiency of flares) that makes exploration extremely difficult: I failed to find at least 3 jump switches that were hidden in dark nooks. Also some complex sections had to be repeated many, many times, and it didn't help that I arrived at the receptacle for the old dagger, before finding said dagger.
Anyway… not to worry, these issues did get fixed in Teme9's next release, The Reflection of Eternity, which is bigger, better - and brighter …than this." - Dick

"Wow, that was certainly an experience and definitely a challenging 96 minute level. It begins with a cut scene showing Lara's plane crash landing in the dense jungle and things take a spooky turn. The atmosphere was really well caught through the sounds of the wolves and the rain falling through the canopies. It is quite hard at times, so newbies may find it slightly overwhelming, but experienced raiders will no doubt lap this up. The limited ammo feature shouldn't prove a problem as lots is provided. Absolutely brilliant and it looks like a continuation may be in the works, judging by the end." - Ryan

"Now just because it has limited ammo don't be put off by it, I hate limited ammo but I enjoyed this level so much as you do get enough ammo to finish the level. I had quite a lot at the end still. Now this whole level was amazing, the atmosphere, the puzzles and the texture quality is totally amazing. If you're a fan of Mystery/Horror levels then you'll enjoy this, you'll get a few TR5 Ireland vibes from this level because of the ambience track. Level is quite dark in some places but you do get a lot of Flares to help guide your path. Now onto the only negative, the flyby cameras for certain switches didn't work and because of this stopped it from being a higher score, because half of the time I did not know what did what as the flyby only lasted a brief moment and since they're loads of doors too in this level it was hard to know what opened however the soundtrack is beautiful, even if you're not a fan of horror I think you'll enjoy this level as it has a fair amount of difficult traps and the puzzles are well thought out too." - Sackboy123

"I always prefer adventures containing more levels rather than one single level but if it is the latter then it should be surely a long one lasting at least one hour of net playing time and this level offered half that longer playtime for me and that`s perfect, especially if I enjoyed every step I made in these terrifically atmospheric woodlands of island somewhere in Japan. Someone might complain that the overall lighting is rather dark and I agree but it really wasn`t a problem for me as I played in a darker room then, and, by the way, never run out of flares! Perhaps there could have been more variety of enemies and secrets could have been also better hidden as those are rather on the light side of the placements but even though I somehow liked their placements and finding them all gave me satisfaction. Overall this is a little masterpiece which shouldn`t be missed out by anyone but prepare yourself as this is definitely not an easy raid. When I hit the finish trigger the credits scene promised "To be continued" so I am really in hopes that one day the sequel will see the light of day... My statistics: playtime 1:35, secrets 6/6, medipacks used 0. 9/9/10/10" - OverRaider

"This level could be perfect but there a few things that keep me from finding it perfect. I am amazed at the number of cameras buggy showing nothing. The sound of knives becomes very annoying because we hear very often. But especially the passage of the teeth spikes in the hallway is difficult (not to get excited lol), and I had to try several times . That said, it's a beautiful level , lot of vegetation, an almost perfect lighting (pity about too many dark areas), the gameplay is very good. Excellent." - Drakan

"The bugfix note says that some ammo and flares were added in the latest version. But the problem was never the item amount. It was their wrong location, and unfortunately it still is. While there are many ammo packs disturbing the action in unnecessary moments throughout the game, lots of flares are thrown just in the beginning, giving a false thought their frequency won't drop and prompting to dispose of them too quickly - while in fact I haven't found any flare since I've collected the first stone. As a result, I finished the game with a full byte of pistol rounds while sentenced to explore half of the level in total darkness. Even finding all 6 secrets didn't help, because they're unfortunately just some pretty snakes without any additional goodies that should support them. Thankfully, all the above have been already corrected in The Reflection of Eternity, but I analyzed the problem just in case if Teemu comes back to the limited ammo idea - because the concept isn't that bad as it might seem, only it requires a lot of testing every possible path order, especially of a game having as complicated structure as this one does.
Just like I predicted, a bunch of old-school flames and waterfalls makes me feel better than a cascade of NG sparkles, so I could sink in this game more easily than into its follower. I enjoyed a rain-soaked rocky landscape with thunders and natural ambience filled with animal sounds surrounding it. I explored a cave system Bojrkraider would be proud of, and presence of a windmill wheel completes the recall of Under the Moonlight memories, however Teemu's game focuses rather on platforming and observation in more classic way, as in without crazy bridge fixing and/or Dwarven stuff included. We got snake themes instead, what makes the level sometimes feel like India outside India, and numerous wooden man-made structures add a para- pirate climate to the whole mixture, so the product must oscillate exactly between Galleon and Eternity not only in the author's release timeline, but also in levelbuilding style. Nice to see the progress. Now I must finish experiencing it all myself, because I haven't visited the Galleon yet and I have no choice than to download it immed... wait no, the download is already finished.
Sometimes the lighting could be done better, some locations seem to be created with more devotion than other ones what breaks continuity a bit, and the number of texture misrotations surprised me. I would also add some solution music, because even the most crucial pickups remain unfollowed with any sound commentary, what is even more hurting due to the constant crow/wolf ambience heard even in underwater caves and crying for a relieving pattern breaker on its own. The overall atmosphere gets some damage due to slight yet numerous flaws, but it fortunately manages to remain immersive all the time due to the author's perfect shaping and object-furnishing skills which are always a pleasure to watch. And the final boss - much darker and scarier than any I've seen so far - rewards the effort to reach it well.
SUMMARY: Not sure if I could recognize the builder of TRoE in this level if I didn't know it's the one, but that proves he's capable of managing diversity between various projects, an ability always demanded. I recommend this production to everyone who are after something mysterious, and m really curious how the next... or in my case the previous level, because I'm playing them in backwards order, is like." - DJ Full

"Another very amazing game by Teme9. After the crash of her helicopter in a forest, lara is alone without weapons. Of course, some guys want to kill her and we do use our imagination to kill these baddys. The gameplay is absolutely perfect, like a real survivor game (found weapons, kill enemies ...). There a few new amazing challenges and of course some originals raids like jumping, climbing, running, timed sequences ... Like an origial tr game. I really enjoying the news objetcs (plants, enemies, statics and animatings) very adapted for the atmosphere of the game. Even the news musics are great, sometimes scary and sometimes pacefull. The desing is perfect, I just imagine the days and months to create textures, objects, to build this impressive forest. A pure jewel of the editor. Thanks a lot Teme9 for this and I wait the sequel with forward. Absolutely recommended." - BigFoot

"After getting really excited for this builder's new levels I really wanted to play this game. I was kind of doubting to play this because I don't like mystery games and it looks really scary but actually this game isn't all that scary. I loved this level so so much! It was absolutely magnificent! I never knew I could love a mystery game this much! Teme9 definitely can make beautiful and scary atmosphere. The jungle looked so beautiful even though it is night and it's raining heavily. The level was longer than I expected it was because in the walkthrough it looked small. A lot of the gameplay was non linear so you can do whatever you want in any order you want which I thought was a good idea but I did get confused as to where to go. I wasn't stuck for too long thanks to the helpful walkthrough and I still finished it. I can't put to words how beautiful this level looked! So realistic and gloomy, dark and scary! I will definitely play this absolute masterpiece again and I am even more excited for this builder's new projects! Highly recommeded." - afzalmiah

"Gameplay: The action in this level is varied and packed with a lot of puzzles. The best thing about gameplay is that there is a clever mix of everything, such as clever jumps in the big cave and in the dark cave near the beginning and exploration throughout the whole level, with no place where you get totally stuck because there are always so many things to do you simply cannot miss, even if the map of the level is as complex as it can be. At points however, this level felt a bit slow though, as gameplay only seemed to move on and on, without any substantial achievement, and I found it hard to find a start at the beginning before looking at the walkthrough. The end was much better though, with a great trap-filled escape route and a nice Total 8/10.
Puzzles: This level is filled with puzzles. My favourite one were the high pushables you afterwards had to jump onto and thus create a path, and the changing lights with death tiles in a very atmospheric room, which took some tries before getting it right. There also were some smaller pushable exercises that weren't really hard to solve but quite fun to do. Total 9/10.
Enemies: Played a minor role in this level. The way to kill the first two soldiers was brilliant; else, after finding the pistols, they were well placed, as in bigger areas when you first enter them or when you just think nothing will danger you anymore. Even if there weren't that much enemies, there was quite an amount of different ones: There were fishes, soldiers, bats, wolves and at the end a strange demon that fitted to the story but somehow not to the setting, and I wasn't able to kill it, which left me with an unfinished feeling after finishing. Total 8/10.
Objects: In my opinion, one of the best aspects of the level. They were the part that mostly created the wonderful atmosphere of this level, as the greenery and all the natural objects in the outside areas and the caves were a pleasure for the eyes. They mostly were custom made, at the start there could have been a little less as the game lacked quite a bit, but the heli and the truck were well fitting to the story and scenery, thus this is forgivable. Not only there were many objects used to set the scene, but also there were a lot of technical things to admire in this level, as the elevator (combined with a timed jump), the high pushables, the poles you now can jump to forward and a nice usage of raising blocks in many different rooms, as in the multi-spike room for example, any many more. Total 10/10.
Secrets: (there could be spoilers here, so jump to the next paragraph if you don't want to know the locations) There were six secrets in this level, with the help of the walkthrough I found them all; but I didn't have any problems finding at least four of them. The best secret, in my opinion, was the first in the dark cave; it was visible from the start but the trick is to find the correct jump to get to that ledge, which was actually a quite Japanese jump if you know what I mean. I would call the other secrets rather "ordinary" in comparison to this one; there was one behind a only sligthly transparent wall, which I found really nice. The other secrets were rather easy to find. Some of the routes rather felt like normal gameplay, as with a clearly visible lever that raises a nearby block - that really leads you inevitably to the secret. Total 8,5/10.
Atmosphere: Right from the cinematic introductory flyby with the heli, the setting of this level was absolutely convincing and even more of that; every single room of this level had its own charm and it was a pleasure to raid through the level - I played this level in more or less one sitting because I couldn't resist exploring on and on and on. There is only one little mistake here - at the start you get to see the well known "end-of-world factor" when you jump up to the trees, but since the builder warned about that in the readme, I cannot complain that I was too curious. Nonetheless, all areas were absolutely non-squaric and at some part I absolutely forgot that this is a TR level as the scenery felt completely authentic and real. Total 10/10.
Sound: Was one of the main factors to produce this great atmopshere. The sound choice is well decided and fits to each situation, the most brilliant area, the big pool, had very well fitting sound that was exactly as overloaded as the whole area (as it should be). Also, there were some nice gimmicks like the new secret and move sounds that showed a great sense of detail. Total 10/10.
Cameras: As said before, the starting cutscene was one of the best ones I have ever seen, and not only this one, but also the creepy FMV you get to see when you start this level and many little cutscenes were work of a esteemed professional. All the flybys helped to get a first glimpse of the next, mostly big area, there are enough camera hints to guide the player through the complex map; at some points maybe, when there are simile looking areas, I got a little confused where to go because there were many doors that could have been opened by that certain switch. Another little cutscene as wisely done for the one for the underwater trapdoor would have helped. Total 9,5/10.
Lighting: While at some parts a little bit too dark (as in the small mazes and the caves near the end), I cannot complain too much as spotlights marked the real important parts and they helped not to explore everything. Lighting also was the instrument to create one of the innovative puzzles in this level (see the puzzles paragraph for it), and it served to create a spooky but also realistic atmosphere. Special effects are guaranteed in this level - e.g. the wraiths in the fire room and some color lights in the distance. Total 10/10.
Textures: At nearly all areas the fully custom made textures were placed highly competently, some minor cracks were visible in the caves but as this is nearly unevitable for the builder without creating a squaric architecture, this is fully forgivable. The textures always were fitting to the respective area, and they almost never clashed wrongly, which must have been a very thorough and time- consuming job. And the texture set was so varied that the builder was able to produce a single level that had a nice variety in the locations (i.e. jungle, caves and temple) and still worked perfectly. Total 9,5/10.
Summary: Well done! This level is a perfect example for a thoroughly fun level (OK, some parts are not fully my taste, but as you can see in the general rating for the gameplay/puzzles category, it was the taste of many others) with great visuals and lots of innovative ideas. Highly recommended and I hope this gets into the Hall of Fame the next months!" - manarch2

"This one gets all tens from me. Easily one of the most visually stunning and enjoyable raids I've played in a very long time. The chosen preview screenshots do not do the level justice, though they do hint at the variety of locations you'll experience in this game. After a wonderful opening FMV, Lara crash-lands in a dense forest in Japan. It quickly becomes clear that this crash was planned and that Lara is not alone here. I enjoyed the rollingball trap to kill off the guards. This forest is one of the best I've seen. Builders know how difficult it is to create this kind of atmosphere within the editor. However teme9 has somehow managed to cram more objects into this level than I thought was possible. It was wonderful, moving from one lush and beautiful area to the next, all covered in vibrant greens and surrounded by trees. Each area was realistic, and offered a variety of traps, puzzles, agility tests and other fun gameplay. I cannot believe all this was done in a single level. I have seem some of the recent work from this author which looks even more incredible. I look forward to the sequel and other levels the author is working on. The lighting, fog, special effects, steam rising from the lava, all were very impressive. The custom objects, pickups, puzzle objects, plants and inventory items were all excellent. I loved the shiny secret statues. Textures are wonderful and very well-applied. I enjoyed the variety of atmosphere, traveling from forest to lake to cave to temple. Sound is used very well here, from the very appropriate background loops to the occasional music accompanying a flyby. My only complaint about this level was to do with the cameras. Some of the flybys felt a bit rushed and choppy, and some of the fixed cameras suffered from the dreaded rollingball bug. This was disappointing, first of all because it was tough to see what a given switch had done, and second because this bug is usually easy enough to fix, certainly for a builder this experienced. Perhaps there were other complications. Anyway that's a small matter. I thought the difficulty level here was just right, even if that spike hallway had me a bit frustrated for a while. For the most part, the level is relatively non-linear, but there are always new areas opening up and it's never too hard to find where to go next. The ending area is spectacular, a worthy finale to this very well-built level. I was curious though, why we never found the Serpent Stone. Perhaps that will be left for the sequel. Anyway, a very enjoyable raid, one of my favorites, and one I'll certainly revisit again some day. I found all six secrets during this raid and completed it in just under two hours." - nite_traveler

"Pretty much every single element of this is one word...exceptional. The first thing that strikes you about Tomb Raider: The Mystery is it's packaging. This feels from the outset like something you would have picked up from a games-shop, brought home, installed & played. There's a high-quality FMV introduction & credits, bespoke well chosen music and just a general feel to the fit and finish of the game that you don't normally get from fan-produced levels. The next thing that will amaze you is the number and variety of locations on offer in this game. For saying it's based out of one .tr4 file the scale and complexity of the rooms is simply jaw-dropping. From starting off feeling like your lost in a vast forest, to plunging into a valley to the dark creepy under-ground tombs that you'll have to work through, every single part feels exceptionally presented. The camera is set slightly further back from Lara than normal (like the first TR1 game), and the environments feel all the more expansive for it. The author has also made clever use of dark fog bulbs in some of the larger caverns to add to the spooky ambience. There's far more to this release than pretty visuals however. While I'd say that the level of gameplay difficult is high, I never found myself excessively stuck, and always wanted to press on. Getting past one particular spike trap sequence took allot of patience, but felt enormously rewarding once I'd cracked it! One of the other things that is rare is for one release to be filled with so many memorable spaces. The 'flame chamber' as I'll call it, is a great example of this. The second those doors slide open and you see the amazing ambience, sound and structure you feel like your playing a professional game released from a game-studio. I think that's the highest possible compliment I could give. With TRLE being around for 10 years now, I think this level really shows everyone how far the engine and author's creativity has become. It sets a new standard for visuals, sets the bar high for gameplay and crucially the author seems keen on a sequel (which I can't wait for!!!). It took me around 2 hours 35 minutes to complete Tomb Raider: The Mystery. An exceptional release in pretty much every respect and absolutely 1000% recommended! Stiggy." - TheStig

"Very good - realistic environment - good background audio, imaginative scenery & locations, puzzles & traps, nice pole to pole moves - all in all, an excellent & fun game !!! Congrats teme9 !!!" - Juno Jim

"Lara has to enter a Japanese tomb on an island. Every aspect of the visuals is insane; from the vegetation to the smoke and fog to the excellent lighting and texturing pretty much every aspect of the visuals is on a whole other level to most releases. It's so great there's not too much to say about it; it's one amazing visual showcase after another. Despite the heavy mesh use the performance was decent everywhere that it mattered.
Gameplay does a good job living up to the visuals. After a starting journey through a forest you enter a lake that serves as the hub for the rest. After finding some initial items the gameplay is quite non-linear with quite a variety of tasks to complete and a pretty high difficultly level. There's also some original ideas like the pushable ledges and modified pole climbing (which is a lot more fun and intuitive than the normal version). One or two things seemed a little random (like a door to a gem that seemed to open at an arbitrary time), but there's a bug that can strike with camera views not working properly, so that might have been the issue. Essential, and perhaps a peek into the future of TR mapping." - Mman

"If a level has ever been worthy of receiving a perfect score for atmosphere, then "The Mystery" certainly is that level. A spooky forest setting has been interpreted a couple of times before (including by yours truly) so this can't compete for novelty, but the execution makes everything that came before pale in comparison. The attention to detail and sheer quality of the objects mix in one of the most authentic (as in - believable) settings I've seen so far in a custom TR level. The start of the game intimidated me a bit, because I got the impression that Lara would have to go on unarmed for quite a while, and the whole environment, as beautiful and detailed as it was - would induce some lag time throughout the whole experience just as in the start area, but those concerns soon proved to be unfounded, with Lara getting her hands on the pistols after the first kill and the game being more bearable as you enter less overwhelming areas. Gameplay doesn't generally fall far behind - as there are some rather tricky sequences with spikes and poles and you have to be mindful about your ammunition (though ultimately I got to finish with more than enough ammo to spare) among other things. There aren't that many mind-blowingly original elements you won't have seen elsewhere, but what is there is pretty clever (I especially loved the section with the 2 tall movable columns) and suits the level well. My biggest obstacle was the relative non-linearity involved, as I often was not sure how all the separate parts fit together, but to my surprise it wasn't so confusing that I had to turn to the walkthrough all the time. Technically there's very little to nag about in relation to the 1.5 hour duration of the game, and I didn't have the heart to downrate for the occasional squished texture or the one illegal slope I found. There are however more serious offences that I could not overlook. Not only were the disappearing surroundings in the 2 tall movable column area unsightly (and relatively easy to fix, making it more of a puzzle why this wasn't addressed), but at times it also stood in the way of making progress. Closer to the end somewhere around the time I collected the Earth stone the nano-second camera bug kicked in, making it almost impossible to guess what a switch or action did for the last 20 to 30 minutes of gameplay. As great as the atmosphere was - the tension in the middle and end parts wasn't quite at the same level as in the first minutes of gameplay. In my humble opinion, this was due to the actual game disconnecting from its storyline - while a first it was kind of intriguing why the human enemies were after Lara and what makes the island so special, I felt this wasn't addressed at any point later on in the game. As it is, bad weather and hostile inhabitants hardly separate this from any other setting Lara has been forced into, by untrustworthy helicopters (the Croft vehicle curse strikes again!) or otherwise. But even with those unpleasant moments, this still is an admirable effort from the author and an overall fantastic level to play. Found all 6 secrets." - eTux

"one of the best levels of mystery I've ever played and a total mystery and a half that level in early comfuso best congratulations creative animations are very interesting textures are great and you a great developer of levels!" - Jessica Croft

"The scenery is quite stunning although my computer went into overdrive due to the many plant objects Teemu used. While playing this I was wondering about the"why" I do like Tomb Raider. Not because she is a girl per se, I couldn't care less. I like it because there is exploring, puzzles and even some shooting. Also that you can safe your game whenever you want. So all those boxes are ticked. This time there were binoculars but the lights were not there, that was not helping much as the game is pretty dark. Although I did make it through this level with the limited ammo, I am not at all in favor for it. You can keep all the other hard ware (apart when one needs it for a special occasion) just give me unlimited ammo for Lara's trusted guns. The new move with the poles, sorry Teemu, saw it already by a friend of mine, but that doesn't mean that great minds can't think alike. The run through the popping up spikes I just couldn't do it. So that was a bummer but for the rest you have a good time. I ditched the first download and played the revised version. Now we wait for the next one we saw a short preview off." - Gerty

"Although this is an immersive, an innovative and quite a challenging raid, I can't quite bring myself to jump on Michael's bandwagon. The main reason for this is because I kept having this helpless feeling of groping in the dark from beginning to end. Look, I know it's nighttime, I know it's raining outside, and I know we're engaged in trying to solve a dark and foreboding mystery here, but is it asking too much for me -- the player, your consumer -- to be able to see clearly what's going on around me while I'm playing your level -- and, in the process, to be able to appreciate better the scenic environment that took you untold hours to craft? I'm aware that darkness is a matter of taste, and I'm painfully aware that most builders these days seem to be afflicted with a darkness fetish, but for an example of a level that takes place outdoors at night in the rain, but which affords ample ambient light without instilling in the player an urge to toss a flare after every other step, see Fortress of Fear in the recent Complex Simplicity competition. But complaints of inadequate lighting aside, the gameplay you find here is undeniably ingenious. You get a new move with pole jumping that you're obliged to use at length in an extended puzzle that I found quite exhilerating. There's a much shorter but no less intense trip through a passage with cascading spike traps. I finally made it through, but with sweat pouring down my brow. rtrger & Dutchy's walkthrough provided assistance I could not have done without, but even with its help I logged nearly three hours here. Not bad for a stand-alone level. Although your only weapons are your pistols, and although you don't have the unlimited ammo that you've become used to, sufficient replacement rounds are provided at suitable intervals, and the enemies seemed rather easier to kill than one would expect (only one shot for bats and four or so for the many wolves you'll encounter along the way -- and speaking of wolves, that incessant baying got on my nerves after a while, but maybe that was the idea). The end screen gives the welcome announcement that a continuation is in the works, but I hope that the builder will seriously consider providing additional lighting in his sequel. Highly recommended." - Phil

"Passing through an a bit annoying dark starting area is absolutely worth: A lake is starting point for a stunning adventure. It's a classical concept. There a three stones in several areas to be found to finally get out. You'll find quite innovative gameplay, very good ideas, and extraordinary tasks. Arranging movable platforms in different order to reach different places was a cleverly made combining task, jumping from column to column to finally get the stone of fire was well elaborate, fluent gameplay part, jumping between appearing/disappearing tiles was fun. Two times runs were moderate, one to reach a js, another to get through a temporarily opened door. Two nasty jumps and a challenging"walk" through a spice-trapped corridor are spicing gameplay up. Ammo is limited there, what you may like or dislike. Anyway, it is the more realistic version. There was enough ammo provided, I ran a few enemies out and had left more than 100 bullets in the end. The author could have provided a few more flares.... I don't mind plants. But here greenery handicaps the view of the camera at many places what can be quite annoying. Less could have been more here. Some more camera-hints could have been helpful. Some of the view provided didn't work properly, what could have been sorted out by testing. The atmosphere was quite realistic and convinced me, but I couldn't hear the howling of the wolves anymore. The absolute great atmosphere in some well-lit halls and areas is contrast to some too dark places. The end of the game offers a preview. I'm looking forward to what will be offered by this absolute talented and creative builder. Absolutely recommended. But not for beginners." - Christian

"Extraordinary design from this amazing game. Fantastic architecture with thousands of plants an objects whinch involve you in real natural ambience. I don't know how many rooms have been created for this level, but I think touching the limits of the editor (>200?) so even when my PC is not too old, sometimes the game was a bit slow when moving Lara. Objects are very well made and atmosphere is excelent. Even with limited ammo, the bullets were enough for me (why not another weapons?). Many rooms are very dark and between the darkness and the thick vegetation is difficult sometimes to explore adequately. There are good puzzles but sometimes tasks are really hard and you'll need many tries. High resolution textures, cool musics, light effects and animating surfaces were really impressive, the best of the game. Really a lot of work from a clever builder. Recommended, but not for beginners." - Jose

"So finally, this one has arrived to trle.net, and I think the waiting was worthy. This excellent adventure features a superbly built level with eye-candy visuals, freely flowing gameplay with some non-linearity, so the hardcore raiders can definitely enjoy the various tasks, like jumping above flame emitters while hanging on a pole, which requires precise positioning anyway, or getting through a room where you can jump only to the platforms which have been lit, otherwise Lara dies, and the lights are changing. A noteworthy puzzle where fine designing of the room extends the puzzle. Praiseful that this task is about push and pull platforms, but you don't have to mess with them for hours, although it shows a lot of creativity. Great thing that from the begining to the end, the mysterious feeling surrounds the game, thanks to the thrilling atmosphere of it and the additional musics and ambients just fortifies it. Another good point to the author that those nasty bugs have been removed with an update, fixing the game's flaws. This one was a real delightment to play, and I really look forward to teme9's next work." - rtrger

"Absolutely splendid level. Pity I could never do that one run through the spike passage, otherwise the level would have been even better for me. Some more hard spots in it, but after a bit of practice those were tackled too. I adored the scenery, it wasn't too dark for me on my PC, just enough light so not to ruin the atmosphere. Pity some of the camera's refused to work (see the Bug fix read-me) where the problem is explained, sometimes the editor simply refuses to play along. Other small problem was the light of the binoc's not working. I was happy I could help rtrger with completing the walk, you go so much deeper into a level when doing a walkthrough. Loved the new pole jump too. Not much to improve... Hope to see your next product when your army time is over." - Dutchy

"What an enjoyable level! The added frisson of limited ammo really made you take care although I never came near to running out. However the author had kindly introduced alternative methods of getting rid of your foes. I enjoyed killing some wolves off with a boulder so much I went round and did it again! Warning! Do not skip the opening sequence or the into, you'll regret it if you do, they're really good! The game-play is excellent throughout but I especially liked the run through the moving spiked walls and the pause-dash, pause-dash through the spiked floor. None of it too difficult, once you have the method there's plenty of time. Good lighting throughout and the use of textures gave a good solid feel to the level. Definitely a 'must play' level!" - Diz

"After the really superb intro to this level, I was expecting something good and I wasn't disappointed. This really is splendidly well built. Everything looks very 'real' and I also liked the more believable scenario of Lara picking healing herbs rather than the usual finding of convenient medipacks in completely unlikely places. Provisions are in short supply (including pistol ammo, when you do find your pistols) so other methods of dealing with enemies should be explored. Sometimes boulders are our friends. The gameplay really is quite brilliant - innovative and varied - but definitely not for the beginner. Some of the agility tests are on the challenging side, but all extremely well devised and great fun. Don't skip the end credits either; there's a small trailer for this talented builder's next project and it looks wonderful. I can't wait." - Jay

"This beautifully designed and worked out game should not have been released in an obvious beta state ,for this it what it is ! I almost abandoned a fantasic raid when the end of the world bug (or what you may call it) kicked in at some stage and spoiled all the fun of leading Lara through a steaming hot djungle full of challenges and excitement! It is clear to me I had to show my dissapointment as to rating this otherwise excellent game in one of the slots provided here , although my 7 stands and could be transferred into one or the other as you like. Sorry but when Lara turns round to see nothing but black emptiness it becomes hard to sympathise with a perfect score for this adventure." - Ruben

"It was late April of the year 2003 when I last gave a perfect score for a level and here we are more than 7 years later and it happens for a second time in more than 2200 reviews that I have posted. I simply loved this adventure from the absolutely stunning FMV intro to the traps course at the very end...which for me happened after about 2:45 hours of net gaming and I still did not want it to be over. You get to explore a luscious rainy jungle that is the best I have seen in a custom level in terms of authenticity. You get a myriad of engaging puzzles, like the fire room with the poles, the spooky alternating platform room, pushable objects puzzles with a twist and much more. It is quite non-linear and daunting and at one point I was really at a loss where to go next, when in fact I had simply overlooked a very obvious opening. The author claims this to be medium to hard and he is not kidding. Some of the tasks are tricky and will take a few attempts to master, but none is really unfair to the player. The six secrets are a nice addition and actually comparably easy to collect if you keep your eyes open. When I read that ammo is limited I was inclined to not like this feature, but I ended with a 150 shots left at the end (playing the revised version), so it really was not a problem to deal with the few dogs, a water snake, the occasional bat and two fish nibbling at Lara. Some people complained about darkness, but I ended up using only a handful of flares throughout and found the lighting and texturing impeccable and the atmosphere created stunningly dense. For me, this is a perfect adventure and one of a kind and if the intro FMV does not get you curious to play this one, then I do not know what else would. An absolute must-play for any seasoned raider out there! I only hope that I do not have to wait another 5 years for teme9's upcoming Nauticus adventure..." - MichaelP

"Absolutely first rate. What players get is an advanced level that bridges the gap between older TR4 and and newer commercial releases of Tomb Raider. It begins with an excellent cut scene that immediately increases the suspense of what is to follow. There are naturalistic settings of forest with ferns and conifers, or lake and temple. Of course this means that Lara's path through the forest is as confusing as if she were wandering in a real forest. Throughout the game there are areas that have excessive vegetation, but the author points out that there are no secrets in the forest, so no need for Lara to go stumbling around in dense undergrowth. This courtesy usually holds true later. The version I played had no light function for the binoculars, so Lara lit flares and threw them down into dark ravines, but this never revealed any essential switches or secrets. In fact, secrets are phosphorescent serpents that glow in the dark, so it is quite easy to spot them in a distant dark niche. Play is moderately challenging. Lara needs keen eyes to spot routes, there are jumps to flickering tiles that may take effort, or a spike run that at first seems impossible (somehow Lara does get through it). There are fresh additions, such as Lara jumping where she is looking from a pole. There is a new (to me) fast-moving shadow that attacks Lara near the end of the level. Possibly it can be shot, but Lara has limited ammo for her pistols, so it's best to flee from the spirit. I have been reluctant to review and criticize this level because it contained bugs that detracted from its professionalism; however, today the author has issued a bug fix version. The area with tall movable platforms had textures flickering in and out of existence--a very bad distraction. Release notes indicate that this has been fixed. When Lara threw a lever a static camera shot of an opening door lasted only a millisecond. This has been reportedly fixed. In addition the author responded to player comments and added extra flares and made some jumps easier. The author is soon to enter military service, and this accounts for the early release of this level, but he was able to find time to make corrections. This should now be the topnotch level that it deserves to be. Highly recommended." - dmdibl

"well what can i say about this one ........... this game basicaly is builded well and contain some very tough parts .... moustly alot off difficult spike trapps and spike corridors + spike walls to pass particulary the popping spike corridor was very frustrating part . its seams the builder like very much spike trapps ...... also is some graphics fault . like clipping image ... end off world at a particulary place ........ the negative part off this game is with not enough flares + ammo for gun cos the pistol is not with unlimited ammo holder . and alot off dark places moustly over all the game and not enuff flares provided ....also the lush vegetation is a big backthrow cos moustly u cannot see a crack in front off it or a JS from it ... also camera clues not much so after a lever pull u need to find out what was the action result ....... all in all not bad game . but from my opinion dont worth more than 8.5 overall cos this anoing parts + dark setting ...... and i forget one more thing . the binoculars are not much help cos dont light the view like it should ...... u can try it - is not bad game . but personaly i was not very delighted with ...... cheers ." - Jack&

"What an extraordinary game ! From the minute the prologue begins you will be sucked into a feeling that this game is going to be different and you can't wait for it to start. I have such mixed emotions now that I have played it (and yes, completed it - surprisingly so). Let's begin with the story-line - the prologue tells you that there are some mysteries that have to be destroyed. This doesn't necessarily parlay into the actual game - you are in search of 3 stones that ultimately lead to the "To be Continued" message. I couldn't destroy anything because there's no flipping ammo. That created a nice sense of accomplishment to be able to dodge all the various enemies (dogs, bats, snakes, etc.), but it required an endless amount of re-loading. The same is said for flares. To traverse through a game that's practically pitch-black without the use of binoculars or flares was so damned tedious. This also required endless amounts of re-loading. This game is filled with precision jumps and manuevers and most initial attempts have to be done blind in order to try and get a feel for where you're going. There is also a room in this game that is so badly textured that it should never have been allowed in the finished product. I'm confident the beta-testers and builder were aware of the problem and maybe they were just being lazy by that point. So, lighting/textures get a 6 from me and that's being generous. The builder uses the spike trap excessively in this game so be prepared - this involves some of the most difficult gameplay I've ever struggled through. I have never been one to shy away from a challenge, but some of the required moves were "way over the top" in terms of difficulty. Cameras: three-fourths of the cameras are split-second releases and so show you absolutely nothing. Why bother, I have to wonder? If the builder didn't intend this why didn't the beta-testers call it to his/her attention so it could be corrected? I think the atmosphere was probably brilliant with all that lush folliage, etc., but who could see it to appreciate it? And please don't tell me to brighten my monitor - the builder created this game with no lighting so it's fair to expect people to object and score it accordingly. So, where are we in this review? This game is definitely not for everyone - it's hardcore difficulty. I think this is an extremely talented builder with so much to offer in terms of inventive gameplay. My advice is don't get so saddled with the idea that you have to make a game so difficult for it to be respected. So many people will miss what you have to offer for fear of being unable to succeed. Next up: I believe it's called Nautilus - looks exciting, but I'll have some reservations......" - Mugs

"This level is amazing. The gameplay is well designed and sometimes it's quite hard...Some traps made me crazy in the good way of course. There are just a few enemies like wolves and bats but you have to be carefull when shooting on these because you've got limited ammo in your pistols.:) The secrets are well hidden. I managed to find 3 out of 6 and i saw 1 but i couldn't manage to get it. The lighting and texturing is very well made it really enhanced the overall atmosphere. There's a bug with the cameras when you pull a switch and you can see the opening door for split second it was a bit annoying sometimes but i don't really mind it afterall :) This game is absolutely recommended ;) Can't wait to see more from the author..." - wdavid

"Actually, one could already distribute after the opening sequence the points. I have never seen such a brilliantly good cut sequence. And I have played damn many levels. But if I made this actual, the responsible ladies and gentlemen would hit to me the Review around the ears. So it is better if I further play. But before one properly dives into this level, one should choose first a brighter setting, because it can be sometimes somewhat dark and Flares are distributed very economically. Then, however, with a brighter setting the level is well playable. A disagreeable problem are, however, two bugs. Sometime in the play one sees camera hints only for the fraction of one second. And in a space there disappear constantly the textures. Then one sees only the sky and the objects. A few camera hints more would have quite felt well, because there are many levers in this level. And the level builder could still have given one or two Flarepackages more. But apart from this smaller inadequacy this was a very good level with fantastic cut sequences, a first-class sound, very good textures, great riddles and very well formed rooms. Furthermore I have liked a new Move very much. If Lara hangs on a pole, she can jump forward to the next pole. This is a big relief, because up to now one had the pole always in the back and never knew exactly whether one was in the right jump position. The restricted ammunition was no problem, because one found enough for the pistols and one had not necessarily to shoot at any opponent. All together an excellent level which one should miss by no means." - Scottie