Level reviews

"One of those levels where you don't know where to go with the review. It's short, there's things to do but without much imagination and there's no finish trigger apparently though I thought the end room with the numbers and electricity panel seemed to hint at some wall code that may trigger an end trigger. Let's keep it at that this was some kind of try out thing for the builder. Everything seemed to work and it was fun that the little girl at the end massacred all the enemies, lol. I just let Lara hang from the climbing wall before the last room and let the girl do the job while I was watching. It's horrific as it sounds but let's face it, it's only a game so we can go to sleep safely after finishing it." - bERT

"Well, not much of a level is it? It's a nice small setting but ultimately all you do is get a key, dodge a couple of lasers and fight a bunch of enemies in the last room. I also enjoyed the new sound effects and Lara's outfit. 5 minutes. 11/23" - Treeble

"This level posits that archaeologist-turned-physicist Lara Croft has succeeded in constructing a Stargate in her private laboratory, a feat which is all the more admirable in view of the fact that this lab is rather inconveniently furnished, to the point that it should be rather difficult to get any work done there at all. After some rather dull preliminaries (which include a spectacularly ineffective laser trap), all you have to do as a player is press the big button that activates the Stargate and then dispose of the half-dozen or so of enemies that inevitably come pouring in from the Great Beyond.
Because I sometimes search a given area for other stuff to do before using an obvious switch, I was one of those players who found the weapons before the battle began; but the unidentified woman in the von Croy slot (I was thinking librarian rather than scientist, but close enough) who hangs around the place does most of the work for you anyway. In fact, she does all of the work for you provided you're patient enough to wait for her to finish the job. (It may take only a single swipe of her machete for her to fell any foe, but they often pass each other by without anything happening between them.)
Over the past few years, MBog has been carving out a niche for himself as a producer of pithy little levels that sometimes have a funny bent. This debut of his is more of a curiosity, its character that of a test level which plays out in a map far too large for what little gameplay it contains, and which doesn't come together as a whole due to the mishmash of textures and objects (made by other people - no readme, no credits). Sounds are missing, and animations have been tampered with." - Mulf

"Another ultra short level from this builder with a decent fight scene at the end which is confusing as there is no finish trigger so you wander about wondering what to do next." - Torry

"This Level is too short and due to the fact, it does not have an end trigger. However, it is a good start but I think it needs a lot more gameplay." - JoeTheCrazyGamer

"Still a very short level with just a few actions. 1switch, a pushable, 1 key and some enemies to eliminate without trigger finish." - Drakan

"It's okayish for a debut level, but it could have been better. There are some new animations and sounds, although the sounds when Lara runs are missing. Lara is in some sort of house, so to speak. When you arrive to the laboratory there are some things to get rid of, and a girl that will help you with the battles. I didn't find a finish line. I tried to run through the portal but nothing happened. I had to quit there. And why did the girl sound like Von Croy? O_o" - alan

"In the end almost nothing has been accomplished in this very short adventure, and the placement of the weapons after you meet the enemies is evidently akward. Custom objects are here , i quite like this Lara's model, and also the textures used , but that's all." - eRIC

"Not the worst debut I have seen, but it's too short to earn a high score. You get some custom animations, a tiny block puzzle, a couple of fights with the help of a girl guide and that's it. Really to pass the time." - Ryan

"A very short game with quite well used colors yet a bit stretched textures and lack of variation in lighting. Audio is very poor: no local tracks are used and even the footstep sounds are missing (oddly not while sprinting though). After some exploration and laser trap, the core of the game is a lab room with a scientist and a supposed mutant fight, so it feels like a proper division into prologue, build-up and climax. Shotgun+uzis are provided for quicker assault, however it's very unlikely to find these firearms before the fight is already over. SUMMARY: A quick non-demanding break. Too short to get immersed, too short to get bored. Still waiting for something serious from this builder..." - DJ Full

"The gameplay is simple, you just need to move a cube, activate a lever and kill some enemies. The textures are not too bad with some dark corners. It's still a short game 5 minutes without secrets." - Quentin

"This level is obviously the author's first attempt at actual level building, but this is a pretty good start. The few rooms that there are have diversity, and look alright for the most part. The clear downside is just how short this level is, not even clocking in at 5 minutes from start to finish. Which is a real shame. As a huge Resident Evil nut, Mansion-to-Laboratory settings are among my favorite to explore and wonder about what is going on. With a little more experience behind the builder, and a drastic extension of level length, this could have been a fun run." - Xela

"A very small beginners level and as a first it isn't a bad one. There are beginners mistakes but hey what do you expect. Personally I didn't like the way miss Lara moved and also there was no finishing trigger. If you want short level to play.. this is the one." - Gerty

"A level or only a project of a level? Too short to be a level, I think move a block, use a key and shoot some enemies is a poor gameplay. Stretched textures, wrong animations, no finish trigger... Still a lot to learn and release a good level but don't be discouraged." - Jose

"Not much to do in this level and frankly not many areas to roam in, so I guess the little adventure is pretty straight forward. Had to find a key to the lab, push a block and duck some lasers(jump over or walk under them),at the end you get some help in killing a bunch of zombie invaders which arrived through a portal. I didn't know the level 'ended', I was kinda surprised to read the reviews for this level to find out that there was no finish trigger. All in all a nice attempt for a debut, maybe we'll get to play another level from this author in the future." - young Lara Croft

"It's really hard to score the gameplay of a level when it only lasts for a few minutes - shorter in fact than the average demo. As such, it's practically non-existent and merely consists of finding a key and entering a room with a few enemies (and one ally) you can either kill or not, since there is no finishing trigger and thus no real incentive to continue. It has the usual hallmarks of a debut looks-wise, with thin walls and 'unfurnished' areas, but I've certainly seen worse. I shall reserve my judgement somewhat until we see a longer example of this builder's potential. At present, it's just impossible to enthuse too much." - Jay

"The most remarkable fact about this debut is probably that this is actually the first level in the listing by a builder from Romania. Welcome! And one can probably assume it is a fairly young builder too, trying the first steps with the editor. The raid here is over within about 5 minutes (unless you keep searching for hours on end for a finish trigger that does not exist). And after a rather quick find of the key to the laboratory, you get an interesting room where a lady with a knife helps you out and does all the necessary killing for you, while you can collect weaponry at the top of the room and then contemplate why you even came here. Shows some ideas and a certain promise, but the builders needs to learn to invest more time into a coherent adventure next time." - MichaelP

"Having the distinctive honor of being my first custom level review of 2014, this debut release serves as more of a demonstration of the builder's understanding of how the editor works than anything else. Nevertheless, we start up the game with Lara standing out over a balcony, our main goal flashing out on the screen telling us that we need to retrieve a simple key, in order to access Lara's laboratory(who knew that she was secretly a scientist behind our backs, ey?). Joking aside, the level design is simply not all that great to look at in the long run, with some of the rooms being far too big and bland, with textures being wallpapered constantly. The few objects used are mostly just there for decoration and nothing else, with two laser beams serving as the sole traps you need to avoid and even then, it's simply far too easy to bypass. Once we get past the lasers, we climb up a ladder and have a (reprogrammed?) robot coming out of nowhere and attacking our heroine. Once it's been quickly disposed of by a few bullets to the chest, we are suddenly greeted by a random woman with a knife(in the Von Croy slot I would guess, since she still has his voice files lazily left in), who is in the lab for no discernible reason other than to partly help defeat the crazed human-like demons(based off the rotting corpse from TR5 Ireland) who come out from an interdimensional portal that you willingly activate. Once you've eradicated them, you've seemingly beaten the level. I say 'seemingly' because it looks like the builder forgot to put a finish trigger in the level after succeeding in your goals. I ran around the entire level aimlessly, thinking that I may have missed something. But no, after killing all the demons, that's essentially all there is in the end. Overall, an incredibly short and uneventful level with no real story or challenge to help distinct itself from all the other custom levels out there. While there is some decent lighting used in a couple of rooms and some nice custom animations used for simple things like jogging, jumping and swan diving, everything else about this level comes across as dull and poorly-thought out. Sound and music are incredibly lacking(there aren't even any sound effects for Lara when she does a simple jog!), there's an animation glitch that can happen if you attempt to sprint after doing a ground roll(with the STILL enabled fly cheat or reloading a previous save being the only ways to fix it) and the gameplay itself is incredibly simplistic. In the end, I hope that the builder listens to feedback from reviews for this release, as I'd very much like to see what he can do once he's learned to master the editor a lot more." - Ceamonks890

"This one's so short it'll be over almost before you start;but it must be pointed out that it's not entirely devoid of entertainment.There's a tiny pushblock puzzle;a laser trap that is,through conventional means of progression,probably impossible to actually get hurt by;and an entertaining appearance from a powerful looking girl who does all the neccesary killing for you.Indeed,this is a genuinely interesting character;as not only does she never display even the vaguest scrap of resentment from being pumped full of bullets from Lara,but continues to obediently follow her around wherever she goes.Actually,she doesn't go anywhere further anyway,as the level lacks a Finish Trigger.The texturing is adequate,as is the lighting;but there's absolutely not enough here to be able to rate it any higher." - Orbit Dream

"A very short level which takes only 4 minutes to finish and doesn't offer much gameplay either, basically finding one key and triggering two doors are the only relevant actions in here. The texturing efforts are rather okay, while lighting is rather flat and absent in the final part and the atmosphere lacks because of missing sounds and there were several end-of-the-world moments with missing textures (though they seem quite intentionally placed). I'm not sure if the new animations were that much needed, but they do look interesting, as well as I liked the enemies at the end, though I doubt if anyone has found the weapons before killing that bunch of zombies. Nothing remarkable but not horrible either, just too short and rushed." - manarch2

"I can understand the wish to get some feedback to the first efforts. But sometimes it is better to keep first finger exercises on the hard disk. Obviously the author forgot a finish trigger, so I ran several times through this level searching for something I could have missed. Of course, it's a small level, but the areas are waste and unused... We start on a balcony, surround a large, monotone yard to find key and to push a box around. I couldn't find out what effect this pushing should have.... Once in Laras labratory - she doesn't even have to duck to avoid the laser traps on her way there - she finds herself attacked by several strange enemies coming out of a kind of stargate she activated. Lara gets help by a little girl that obviously has some exercise in killing zombies.... We find in this debut-level, as we often find in a beginner's work, paper-thin walls and huge unused areas. The laboratory itself looks a bit more elaborated and shows a touch of first creative ideas. The sound files don't work correctly, Laras steps can't be heard in several parts, lightning can be improved: Everything looks two-dimensional, dark areas simply are black. I wanted to start 2014 with a ten-in-a-row-review - sorry, that didn't work. Bu the author shows talent and I'm sure we'll get it next year!" - Christian