Level reviews

"I don't know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't literal trash. That alone makes this quite an unique setting, and it gets even more unique as the author has inserted many of his humorous traits and perks. It's got quite a few techy bits which make it feel somewhat like a test level (the author communicating through text strings, the bug easter eggs, the fog getting thicker and then dissipating...), but it's quite an elaborate adventure on its own and worth checking out. 45 minutes, 5 secrets. 02/26" - Treeble

"Your enjoyment from this level may entirely depend on whether you like this particular gameplay (unique is probably the operative word here) or not. In a sense, I do sort of agree with Torry's comments. I'm not inclined to score it as low as he did, but I also think that the gameplay managed to be creative, unique and obscure all at the same time. While I enjoyed the various climbing exercises, the "Lara as a human torch" sequence, the little Easter eggs dotted around and the ending barrel battle, I did find that a few parts were a bit unfair, particularly the skull tile puzzles and the part where you had to jump on three burning barrel tiles in a particular order (this latter part seemed to have no hint at all that I could find). As a result, my gaming experience was somewhat soured and it probably helps to get into the mind of the builder first to truly enjoy it. On the plus side, the music choices were lovely, the locations atmospheric and humorous at the same time and the text hints were funny." - Ryan

"Quirky, obscure, unfair, innovative and frustrating. All good adjectives for this level. Some aspects I did not like at all but others were quite clever. The premise involved here is to dispense with all logic and try anything to find your way forward. I was stuck quite a few times in this one and the walk through was just as obscure as the level itself so it certainly took some thinking to progress. Using Lara as a living torch to light the four hanging lanterns was mean as were the unmarked climbables. I spent quite some time looking for a torch until I gave up and referred to the walk through and thought you have got to be kidding. Is this a good level? Depends on your interpretation of good. It certainly is not traditional and whilst some may find this pleasing I did not. Sorry." - Torry

"20 MB of Trash is not a conventional level at all, so I'm not sure if a conventional rating system can do it justice. It is one of the strangest, most unique levels I have ever played, and the author's personality and sense of humor really shine through. The level is quite fun overall, and although the objects, lighting, textures, sound, etc. may not be superb in a traditional sense, they are used extremely well to achieve a certain "trashy" effect. My only big issue is that the gameplay progression can be frustrating and extremely sneaky at times, with some almost too obscure hints. However, there are some really cool and innovative gameplay ideas mixed in as well. Try it, if only for the sheer quirkiness within. 7/10/9/9." - okuhtfesq

"I had already started this level at its output before leaving , it was too buggy . I started thinking that these bugs have been fixed ! Fortunately yes . The gameplay boils down to a series of shots on skulls or boxes , often in awkward positions (small room , jumping of a ladder ... ) . I also found a little incongruous the idea to turn Lara in flame for ignite flames. I of course fell on the bug in the grid. Fog or sun bulb was sometimes too much , for example I saw just the hydra trash. I did not find any clue to the place poussable , so that I put different possible locations , while the closer was correct. What a mystery , just ignite the can to be able to hang from the ceiling . The reverse would have been more realistic. It might be also necessary to reduce the size of the object in the inventory. Fortunately the end is the best part of the level, with some music. In short, if you really find anything else to do." - Drakan

"I'm wondering why those games have so few reviews... Gameplay & Puzzles: There are very good tasks in this level and I enjoyed myself here with the funny ideas. Loved the fire run and the runs through the spikes. But there are too many tasks that are impossible to solve without a walkthrough. Enemies, Objects & Secrets: Very creative objects here and all those variations on barrels are nice, I loved the secrets and the enemies are tough to battle. Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras: Good work here too, I liked sounds and cameras but the architecture is a bit too peculiar, end of the map is visible too. Lighting & Textures: Textures are nicely chosen with few mistakes, but I didn't like the lighting much, not very realistic. Total: 7,75/10, a creative game that could be more coherent." - Rambo

"The theme here is entirely unique; the first half is like if someone built a garbage dumb over an ossuary, and later there's some green elements added. Between that and the general chant-like soundtrack there's an unnerving atmosphere to a lot of the map even despite the comedic trappings it has, and it's consistent enough to feel like a coherent location despite defying description. The soundtrack is also subtly dynamic in a way I've seen few levels do. It's also full of new objects and interactions.
Gameplay is generally enjoyable, but it feels a bit obscure at times even with the readme's mention that there are always clues, there are also a couple of parts where the gameplay seemed to amount to running to random tiles until you can go further, which felt like filler. The boss is an interesting idea, but a clue to the timed aspect would have been nice. Worth playing for it's complete originality, and it's mostly enjoyable, but you'll probably need the walkthrough at times." - Mman

"Well, well, well ... I think this builder got away real easy on this one with the few reviews so far in terms of the gameplay score. This roughly hour long adventure is about as unique as you would expect from him - and then some... I loved the original, innovative ideas, the whole twisted storyline concept that got transferred so well into this setting. The perfect choices of audio tracks supporting the atmosphere as you progress and the wonderful camera work - especially of course the flybys around the barrel of doom. And for all of the above, this is a "must see"-level. It is however, in my humble opinion, not at all a "must play"-level. Even though the readme states that there is no guessing needed and a hint for everything, these hints are very sneaky at best and highly obscure most other times. They may even take you a while to figure out AFTER reading the walkthrough that explains them. Consequently, if you stick with this to the end, you may get some interesting insights into how the mind of this builder works (and it is a very clever and creative mind indeed), but in all likelihood you will not have a whole lot of fun actually playing the game. Now - in a way, this was probably conceived that way on purpose, but frankly, most players may be much better served and entertained by simply watching and enjoying the video walkthrough on youtube and then go off playing a level where it is enough to apply some common sense to progress swiftly to the finish trigger." - MichaelP

"First of all, congrats to Maciej for seeing this one through to completion. I've seen snippets of too many unfulfilled projects along the way. I guess this level is somewhat a reflection of the way things work in the world of DJFull. On one hand - a creative mind, prepared to experiment with inventive new ideas and on the other hand - eccentricity that lacks direction and discipline. And so whilst I'm really impressed by the creativeness of the Save beam, the Lara "I'm on Fire" timed run, and the wonderful and crazy Barrel of Doom and its various incarnations - the lack of direction and focus in other ways frankly, frustrates the heck out of me. I spent most of the level running back and forth between game and walk-through, so there goes any player immersion in the gameplay. To be fair, my first play-through left me thoroughly frustrated. So I felt I had to give it a second play-through, and then everything ran much smoother. But the point is that on first play-through, it didn't make much sense. Couple that with a number of suspect setups and triggers that only seem to work intermittently, it feels a bit like the author just gave up on really fixing certain things.....if a setup doesn't work properly, then bin it (sic pun!) rather than release a half baked idea for players to get caught out on - a guaranteed source of frustration. The skull pads triggers in the last green place on earth do work correctly if you follow all the clues that are given, however if you misunderstand the clues, you might run around and get the impression that the order of the sequence is somewhat random. I had some occasions where a camera shot was not seen when I triggered an event, only to discover on reload that there was a camera clue. I noticed this when standing on the same tile as a skull Shatter and shooting the skull. I like the comedic elements of the level and I liked some of the gameplay ideas but I'm not a fan of the way some of the flip map event changes were implemented - just too subtle. It didn't make sense to me that the visible monkey swing non-climbable bones had miraculously suddenly become climbable once the spikey block had been lowered. I think this is complicated by the texturing of the map. I constantly got the feeling of walking through a patchwork sea of textures - with not a lot of care put into it. Prime example is the boxy and not very earthy-looking last green place on earth with its token vine texturing. Yet it is a room that is lacking any natural light source and is full of fires - not very logical IMO. And when I stumbled on a deliberate mistake (grilled fence climb) that the author explains away as a congratulation for finding it, it still doesn't make me feel any better about the fact that it's an excuse for leaving something in there that should have been fixed or removed. Maybe, I just don't get this kind of self-referential humour. The lighting in some areas is lacking atmosphere, with perhaps the exception being the hall of the Barrel of doom - the best area in the level and it features a really good dramatic flyby sequence as the Barrel of Doom chokes on its own evilness. The final cruel joke is the ever-encroaching distance fog in this arena. The trap for players being that by the time you realize what is happening, the fog has become so thick that it is unplayable and death is inevitable. If you've been blissfully saving during this section, you find yourself painted into a corner that is inescapable. Then it's back to an earlier save to run this section again with more care and timing - that's simply not good gameplay even though I understand the intent of the design. I found it rather strange to hear the odd mixed selection of soundtracks that's on offer in this level despite most of them apparently being excerpts from the one Mike Oldfield album. Unlike my fellow esteemed reviewers the music tracks did not inspire me or seem particularly suited to the environments. Musical opinion is very subjective, but I just did not bond with this set of music. The music in the last green place on earth conjured up visions of sitting in a Japanese Tea House sipping the last green tea on earth rather than the serenity of the sacred garden. If this review sounds a tad harsh in parts - it's because that's the impression I formed on first playthough. On replay, I kind of 'got' the level and appreciated it more. DJ has some really good ideas and I'd love to see him deliver something really memorable but I don't think he fulfils his potential with this effort. It's entertaining but it's not polished. I'd recommend this for experienced players who like some pretty tight albeit unconventional timed sequences." - EssGee

"A question no one else seems to have asked: What about the other 60 MB? In all seriousness, despite its quirkiness this is really a fun level to play, provided you don't suffer from claustrophobia. The "trashthrough" is less than a model of clarity, but it guides the player in the right direction and provides additional insight as to what is going on in the level (which at times is rarely obvious). The puzzle clued by the green lights from up above didn't work as represented, so I ran across the skull tiles randomly until the platform was raised. There's a very tight timed run near the end through the barrel of doom, and I made it through only by starting off with the sprint key and concluding with a running jump just before the last spikes were triggered. The use of musical effects throughout was pleasing to the ear, and the lighting was appropriate to the setting. This builder has made miles of progress since his initial release, and he's to be commended for this latest effort." - Phil

"Unfortunately I couldn't finish the level 'cause the "yellow" room where I couldn't see anything, but I liked what I played. Very original and innovative with some fresh ideas, this is not a classic TR level. I didn't like the idea about burn Lara, but I had enough medipacks though. The new objects are cool, and secrets are easy to find. Perhaps the environment is not very nice, but the textures are well applied. I hope that kind of problems will not appear the next time, 'cause I think here is a talented builder." - Jose

"If you're looking for something a bit different, this is it and it's great fun! It's quirky, innovative, humorous and certain to ensure that you never look at barrels in quite the same way again. It's not for new players, but anyone with a reasonable amount of experience should be fine, other than having to work out just what to do from time to time. I certainly had to dip into the stuck threads more than once. The sequence where Lara has to use herself as a human torch is particularly inventive and, if accomplished quickly enough, not harmful to her health, so no unnecessary Lara abuse going on there. Really well done and a must-play. Great choice of music too." - Jay

"This level is indeed pure trash but it's awesome pure trash, I actually have no idea what to write about it but I'll try. I also think that normal ratings don't really describe the imagination put into this level, it should deserve at least a 10 in any category, so I'll just apologize for not doing that. The fire puzzle - definately one of the greatest puzzles I've ever seen. Unique tasks throughout the whole level. Object usage rarely being so utterly inventive than in this level. Humorous bugs and secrets. It spoils too much if I go into detail, so I'll just stop here. What I didn't like so much: The object design is not always clean with some objects sticking through walls, some rooms could have had more object design, I didn't like so much that the gameplay consists of finding a bit of oddly marked trigger tiles (that reminded me too much on the obscure puzzles in ve2lyr's levels), the atmosphere is rather basic at parts and a bit functional, while still being complicated and intriguing, the end of the world in the outside area maybe could have been avoided more, the lighting is quite improvable and not used to its potential. Okay, more than enough gripes. DJ Full is certainly one of the builders which have understood that the most important thing in levels is creativity and not a repetition of tasks seen before thousands of time, even if the ideas won't appeal to each player in the world. Playability and bug-free raiding is one thing, but I certainly prefer levels with a certain charm, which this level has in abundance. So, despite no single 10 in this level... err... STOP. I'll simply dedicate it to the second category, because I think that this boundless creativity should finally be rewarded with something more than just applauding words. So here is my little gift to you ;) - if you are still interested, I needed 45 minutes for this level. And found all secrets - not necessarily in the right order if you know what I mean." - manarch2