Level reviews

"At one point or another, it seems like every builder has a go at making their own version of Lara's home. While the outside area of this home felt familiar, the indoors were all-new. Gameplay however doesn't stray far from the usual remote doors, with an insane amount of padding that makes this last twice as long as it does (and all because levers in the attic opens doors in the basement and you open the bathroom from the backyard etc. You know, standard tombraider logic.). Several SFX are missing, lighting is flat for the most part, and the worst offender of all: Yoav kindly describes them as "very hidden switches", but in reality they're just outright invisible. How could anyone think that's a good idea? 25 minutes, 1 secret. 10/25" - Treeble

"Home levels be like: familiar map, therefore 100% gameplay. This one suggests a difference: new location -> new map. That's how, of the usual manor resources, we get a twist in exploration. It would be fine if it stored more than just keys, doors and switches (some of which are invisible until you pull them lol). We get some secret and non-secret weapons but never have to use them. One route design problem is that we may reach the final door of the assault course only to realize the switch to open it was hidden in the very beginning of the map. Otherwise the targets are rather close to their activators so I didn't run for more than 40 minutes even if I got lost, which is hard to do as the map is small, cute and could be one of the most pleasant manors if it only was lit properly. Optional." - DJ Full

"Unfortunately we have here another boring house level with 90% of the gameplay is just literally finding, keys, switches and unfair invisible levers, to open doors to find more keys, switches and levers and so on but at least theres a camera for each time you trigger a door so thats something i guess. textures and lighting are done alright here, i mean theres nothing original but it looks good enough but what i did like was the odd and peculiar layout of the mansion both inside and out and i did like the assault course and cool platforming tasks in it to open that front door, apart from that it was pretty boring and tedious really with no puzzles, traps or interesting tasks" - John

"A fairly predictable and underwhelming 30 minutes or so in a Mansion environment. This third level by the builder is a slight improvement, although nowhere near a fully decent level. The environments and textures are actually quite well put together, but the gameplay remains as tedious as it ever was in this setting (for me, anyhow) and revolves around collecting keys or pulling switches and finding the respective open door. I also found the invisible switches a bit of an unfair choice." - Ryan

"Sorry, but this is one of the most boring levels I played. The mansion is designed okay but the gameplay is bad enough to make this experience quite a chore. Nothing to do but pull levers, some invisible and can not be seen even with flares. No reason to find the secret or any pickup since there is no enemy. On top of these, the music didn't fit with the level making exploring the mansion weird. Can't recommend it." - Nomad

"Well it's certainly a visual evolution compared to Potter's previous level. Textures and rooms are generally much better constructed though there's still a few avoidable mistakes here and there. Lighting is generally non-existent with the exception of a few rooms (which are very dark). The thing which I think most will (quite rightly) criticise this level for is the 'invisible levers. Any completion time I could offer on this level is meaningless really as it wasn't until I dropped in on the walkthrough that I realised what was going on! Be this by accident or design it's a pretty fatal flaw which makes the level almost completely inaccessible without that foreknowledge. There were also missing sounds and the ambient track didn't really suit the otherwise well crafted Mansion. To summarise visuals getting better, but gameplay needs work. Stiggy" - TheStig

"I kinda enjoyed it, but those invisible levers destroyed everything. Well, there's not much to destroy because the gameplay is all about finding four keys and use tons of switches. The mansion was different from the original which is good - it shows some creativity but it was textured and lightened badly. No enemies but we got tons of weapons and ammo. The maze part was pretty easy, I thought that it would be hard. The sound is not goot for a home level. At least there were cameras showing what the switches did. I have found one secret by using the yellow key. I can't recommend this one because of the invisible switches and the lack of puzzles." - misho98

"A rather cheerful and pleasant remodeling of Lara's mansion, although of course the main feature players will note is the use of invisible wall levers. In fairness to the author, these do become visible after Lara has pulled the wall lever. There is a good deal of running to and fro as in many house levels: the electrician has wired the kitchen's inside freezer switch to open the attic door, and similar play follows. Thanks to Yoav for the walkthrough, which helpfully points out placement of four invisible wall levers. It's sort of hard to know what the author was thinking. Why do we have a generous supply of flares, since flares are of no use when wall levers are invisible? With the walkthrough this goes quickly, and the surroundings are quite different from most standard mansion levels." - dmdibl

"At least Yoav's walkthrough was already published, or sure that this level went directly to the recycle bin. And I'm not talking about the bored gameplay with no enemies, traps, puzzles, etc., only pulling switches to open doors and run here and there with no sense and nothing more (and I'm very generous giving a "1" in the gameplay); I refer to the invisible switches you can't see untill they're pulled, so you can run around and aroung eternally looking for somenthing you can't see. Very bad that idea. At least it notices an effort with the textures comparing previous levels from this author. Sorry but I can't recommend this level in any way." - Jose

"Does Lara have a standardised blueprint for her houses then, because the German one looks eerily like the English one, at least from the outside, although admittedly the inside is not the usual layout. It's not badly made for the main part, but, as with this builder's previous levels, there's really not much to do apart from taking a brisk jog around the place, using a succession of switches (some of them invisible!). Pickups are really not needed as there are no enemies to deal with and frankly I would even have welcomed the presence of Winston (can't believe I just wrote that) to liven things up a bit. If you're a fan of mansion levels a. don't feel too ashamed, there are far worse addictions and b. I regret to say that there are more enjoyable examples of the genre than this. On the plus side, I really do think I detect a glimmer of improvement in this builder's work. Let's hope for that trend to continue." - Jay

"The builder unfortunately sticks with his two trademarks - another rather uninspired level that again uses a "trick" that is massively unfair on the player. I am not even sure whether the concept of the invisible wall switch that only shows up when you actually pull it was intentional, but either way it kills the gameplay completely and makes this level essentially only playable with the help of Yoav's much appreciated walkthru. Aside from that you get the usual 30 minutes spent in a mansion level. Tedious back and forth from switch to switch and room to room in order to in the end finally reach a great goal - leave the premises via the main gate... Yawn!" - MichaelP

"Rather a peculiar way to open the front door, but hey.. this house is built a bit strange anyway. I did like some of the rooms and this builder is overly fond of running back and fro. No sounds while shooting the vases and the mystery of the invisible levers will stay a mystery. No enemies and loads of weaponry, makes you want to take everything you found to another level." - Gerty

"It appears this builder is making a habit of creating a relatively promising map, and then filling it with no (or very little) gameplay whatsoever. However, the biggest shame is that I was actually going to give a 1 (or even a 2) for gameplay, but all of those points were negated with the creation and use of the invisible wall lever. Some would call this builder a trailblazer, because he is making new gameplay ideas that no-one has thought of. However, there is a very good reason that no-one has thought of these gameplay ideas; they're ridiculous, unfair and will get you a score for 0 in the gameplay category. In fact, you can miss about 20 minutes of the level just by doing a relatively simple jump. Other than gameplay, the level is actually ok. It is clear that in the builder's mind, there are only two types of lighting; unlit and dark. This isn't going to get a big score, but texturing is ok. There are few stretched and compressed textures, and the walls appear to have been partitioned correctly. Atmosphere isn't helped by the lack of lighting, and a few of the sounds are missing (with incorrect animations just for good measure), but cameras were fine. The builder seems to have improved in that there is no longer a camera for every single door that opens. There was a secret, however, weapons were completely meaningless, as there were no enemies in this level, while object use was ok, if a bit too much in some of that smaller rooms. In short, this would be a decent house level if it wasn't so terrible. 29 mins the long way, 9 mins the short way, 1 secret. Not recommended, even if you do only want to up your review count." - Cory

"As much as I want, I again cannot really find any sense in the builder's work. OK, this time he actually cared for fitting objects and decent texturing within the scenario but is this enough? None of the doors could be identified as such as when running against them Lara behaves like she was running against normal wall (pretty confusing); some sounds like the one when shooting were missing and some of the interior objects were unnecessarily shatterable. In this level I found only one secret (doubt that there are more) that requires a pretty long backtrack but the weapons you find are not helpful as there is no single enemy in the whole level. But the worst aspect is - yet again - gameplay. One of the biggest "no"s in my book was that there are four wall switches that are invisible to the player unless they are pulled causing players to run up and down the whole map without finding anything; I don't even complain about the boring and repetitive setup of the level. At least liked that the gameplay did not fully consisted on finding levers as there are a few (in fact rather pedestrian) jumps, a small maze and a few keys to use. Finished in 30 minutes." - manarch2

"This third level by Potter took me an hour to complete.There are two reasons for this. 1) The element of backtracking,which was very much evident in the previous two levels,is taken to the heights of obsession here.You're directed from Assault Course to Attic;from Attic to Basement;from Basement to Maze;from Maze to Attic;from Attic to Assault Course;from Assault Course to Attic;and so on,and so on. 2) Taking the concept of 'invisible enemies' (from his debut level) one step further,the builder has hit upon the idea of 'invisible wall levers',which cannot be seen UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE.It's no good lighting a Torch to see them;that'll do you no good here,Mate. Just stand in front of any and every wall segment and press CTRL,on the off- chance that something will happen (although,to be fair,the builder does direct you to specific rooms - so that narrows the amount of possible wall segments down a bit). There are also switches which have the incorrect animation;and a veritable armoury of weapons which you will never ever need,as the level contains not even one solitary enemy. On the flip side,the Mansion has been competently built from scratch (no ripped prj here);and textured well enough (although lighting is absent).There are plenty of camera clues to help you on your backtracking way,so you're never at a loss as to what a particular activation did;and appropriate objects have been used. It's a step up from the previous two levels;but a Beta tester is urgently required in order to prevent the builder from inevitably doing something extremely silly to scupper their next level." - Orbit Dream

"If this level is supposed to take place in Germany, why does it give the 'somewhere in Egypt 2000' message? This isn't a bad attempt at a house level but as mentioned in the readme, the sound is missing (or wrong as I found). The builder should have corrected the issue rather than just making a note of it! This house is different to her Abingdon estate in that the assault course is built around the side of the house, and you can't really proceed without completing it, which is original. Texturing is fairly good but a few here and there are misaligned. The switch animation is wrong. Gameplay is again not that exciting, just a few buttons and switches to open a door, and more of the same, a little bit of running and jumping. Up to the attic, then swimming pool, then cellar, use the key outside, back in, up down, in out, up down etc etc, then a maze, back to the cellar, then a bunch of keys to open a gate followed by the most exciting feature of this game - a finish trigger!. I could mark Lara's movements in this game on a graph and a familiar wave pattern would emerge.... An annoying 'feature' of this level is invisible switches - this was mentioned on the forum but otherwise I'd of not known about it and got stuck. The layout inside is different which is good, not just the regular copy of the house level. There's just one grand staircase this time, with smaller ones leading off to the attic. Plenty of objects too, to liven the level up a bit, although some objects used are not really found in the right place, there's a room full of tables outside for example. A tomb raider game always needs a storyline and a plot, sadly this has lost the plot. Net gameplay 1 hour. Crash at the end." - sonnyd83