Level reviews

"I wish I could say I enjoyed this level more than I actually did, but for the most part it failed to keep me engaged. It felt unnecessarily dark for the most part, and even by following the walkthrough I was still wandering off at times. The puzzle with the plant was quite cryptic (fortunately D&G have provided an image for guidance), the chosen font type was hard to read. I did like the art galleries in the museum though, and the village in itself was small and cozy. Ah, yes, the background chant was beautiful at first. On constant loop for an hour, not so much. 50 minutes, 7 secrets. 04/25" - Treeble

"I have mixed feelings about this level : I found it really engaging - loved the animals, the cries of the wolves, the deers and boar that you can catch sight of, the fact that you don't try to kill each other and that the interaction with some of them is even part of the (side) story. And I loved the setting - forest, etruscan temple, church, museum, even a small library (I love these !) wow ! All of this in a quite small map, and with a really good atmopshere, I really enjoyed it. But yes, the gameplay is really weird. Object appearing where there was initially none, some very unprecise and unintuitive moves - the swings especially are absolutely confusing... I'm not going to list them all as the other reviewers have already pointed them out, but it was frustrating to have to go back and forth between the walkthrough and the game - especially as the beautiful setting deserves a better immersion I think. I didn't like the "film music" sounding soundtrack - it's a matter of taste, I guess a lot of people will like it. I muted it and listened to the animal calls instead... The final secret in the museum produced a strange glitch when, after finding the secret egg the first time by following the clues, I wanted to explore the other doors and the egg kept showing up over and over again, in the same room that also kept showing up over and over again. Actually, I liked it. It was kind of "Dali- esque" and fitting the sequence. I felt lost like in a dream maze ;) Nice Easter level with pretty eggs !" - OrFractal

"One of games good at main gameplay but almost infuriating with secrets, and that randomly appearing talisman was just a NOPE after you find the temple statue and think that's it - not to mention I don't understand why this goal artifact described in the main plot is included as a secret only. Also while the Etruscan twist works fine, the museum leveljump feels just forced - it's just like if this story was a mix of random fragments. Okay let's condense it: very inconsistent but still enjoyable if you skip the secrets. Recommended." - DJ Full

"This Easter level takes you on an extensive journey for seven Easter Eggs. This is completely optional however, as you can skip most of the puzzles associated with retrieving them. However, I used the walkthrough to ensure I experienced everything that this involving level has to offer. The Greek Cross puzzle seemed a bit trial and error, but I enjoyed the Eagle Egg sequences, as well as exploring the houses in the quaint village and the torch puzzle in the Lost Etruscan Temple. I very much enjoyed it, but could have done without the looping music through the level." - Ryan

"Don't you hate it when you climb up a long ladder with a flare, flare goes out and at the end you have to let go of the ladder and grab again so Lara can get into a crawlspace but instead she drops dead way down below? And the stupidity of it all it only happened at one ladder as all the others I encountered Lara had the right animation. Aside from that but I am sorry to say but this level had the most buggy swing action I have ever seen in a level. As for looks this level looks very pretty (and again there is a but) but not so much for gameplay. Too much crawling and climbing at times and some backtracking as well. The museum did look very convincing and I loved to stroll through there. To get all the secrets is not as easy as you might think. Also a bit thinking outside the box is required. But all in all a nice Eastern Time level." - Gerty

"You have a bit of a choice in this level, as you can get through it relatively quickly, or you can really enjoy it with all its details and the quest for the seven secret Easter eggs. I would certainly recommend the latter, as it took me about an hour this way and that is with the occasional help of the walkthrough, as some are really quite cleverly hidden. The combination of settings here, the forest, the village, the temple, the museum are really rather convincing, but I did also think the gameplay dragged on a bit at times with repeated crawl and climb sequences and quite a bit of backtracking. But overall this is a great seasonal offering that is worth a look." - MichaelP

"This is a very good creation of a forest setting, a quaint little village and it's hidden catacombs. Textures are used well, but there is room for improvement in some of the rocky landscapes, and flattish tree backdrops. A lot of thought has been put into the gameplay with some clever puzzles to solve. I'm not sure whether the balance of bonus gameplay versus standard gameplay is quite right. The quest is very much about acquiring seven beautifully crafted easter eggs, yet you can finish the game not having found very many of the eggs. Several of the eggs are associated with finding a previously unseen areas of the map and so the player can miss out on quite a few key areas to explore, coupled with good puzzles or exploratory gameplay to complete. My feeling is that the search for the seven eggs should have been bound to the core gameplay, so that one cannot finish without accomplishing this task. I guess you can argue that allowing the player to finish without finding all eggs gives good replay value to the levels, but I felt short-changed, as I read in Stuck forums of basilisks, eagles nests, and Greek cross flower puzzles that I had not even encountered on my initial journey through the game. For me, the basilisk and eagles nest area provided very good enigmas. The Greek Flower puzzle I am yet to find at the time of writing this review. So if I were to write a review based solely on my first run-through/ impression, I would rate gameplay lower because I didn't encounter these otherwise good puzzles on that initial play-through. Overall though, as an Easter level offering, it is a nice pack, with enemies that you must not kill (loved the warning about protected animals after trying to shoot the wolves), good environments and lighting and some interesting music choices. It's definitely not a quick raid and is ideal if you are in the mood for some pondering of some challenging enigmas." - EssGee

"Worth to play this small set of levels. I've enjoyed the gameplay, but I didn't get all the secrets, of course; if you want to get all them, then the gameplay will turn more obscure and difficult. Also in the normal gameplay you can easily miss the Krypt Key (you've already got an statuette) and get stucked in the main level. No enemies to shoot, I've missed some camera hints in certain places. The best for me was the effort with the textures giving a nice touch to the environment and also some entertaining and not hard to solve puzzles in the normal gameplay. Recommended." - Jose

"This is one of the best easter levels i've played.almost everything is great the waterfall the village the tr4 poseidon-style temple the museum under the church.the only downside are the wolves in the pit and the location of the talisman. the rest is great Reccomended" - janachorider

"Of all available levels, one would expect an Easter level to be bright and colorful. Not this one. The first segment, where you grope around in the woods looking for the next place to go, was so dark that I almost binned the whole thing so I could find something a bit more player friendly. I stuck with it, however, and I'm glad I did. The second major segment was much more fun to play, consisting mainly of a hub area with four side rooms to explore. The gameplay here is much more engaging. In all I spent an hour and twenty minutes here, and when it was over I felt that I had enjoyed an excellent raid. By the way, don't shoot those wolves down in the pit. They became a pain in the ass for me, but when I finally shot them and they died, so did I. Dutchy has provided a walkthrough that documents all the Easter egg secrets, and I couldn't have felt my way through the first segment without it. By the way, I experienced the Blue Screen of Death a couple of times when I tried to go to standby mode on my XP machine after having played a portion of this level. I don't have enough evidence to make a direct accusation, but from the way the game consistently acted upon startup (blank screen for an extended period of time before the load screen appeared) I believe it's a prime suspect." - Phil

"This game is beautiful and has a lot of qualities, being the best part that eagle's sequence, of course. The task of finding an eagle's egg and then giving it back to the bird, is one of the cutest things I've seen in a game. Other very good things were already described by other reviewers. But despite its' many qualities, this game has several annoying drawbacks: (1) the wolves can be killed after the pistols become operational, but then the game ends, because there should be no savage animal killings in Easter time; I agree with that, but it was also a cruelty to put wolves in a dark and forbidding cave, only in order to annoy Lara; (2) if a game has some very dark places, enough and good flares are an essential item; those blue light ones are no good; (3) why is it so difficult to do such simple things as grabbing a leafy wall and using a swinging pole? (4) non-stop music, even when it is beautiful, is never a good idea; (5) there are unfair and obscure puzzles, as the Basilisk one, unfathomable puzzles, as the Museum one, and annoyingly difficult puzzles, as the Greek Cross one. If a very well hidden and elusive Talisman has to be found before arriving at the Basilisk area, this should be more clearly indicated. In the case of the Greek Cross, the bushes that Lara has to touch were placed very near one from the other, adding an unwelcoming difficulty to a difficult task. And at the Museum, I found very easily the fake egg; but after picking it up, I could find no hint of the right path to find the real Easter egg - no reasoning worked. In the end, my Lara decided to open ALL the gallery's doors, and finally found the elusive egg in the same place where the fake one was. The conclusion seems to be that she HAD to pick up the fake egg in order to get the real one, and this is certainly unfathomable, I think. Nevertheless, and despite all that I said, I certainly recommend this game, because it is such a good work." - Josey

"An Easter level is always a treat and this is particularly tasty. As befits the genre, there are no enemies to kill although Lara will be required to shoot one or two inanimate objects in her search for seven (beautifully painted) Easter eggs. There are some marvellously inventive puzzles to solve and fabulous encounters with the likes of a giant eagle and a basilisk during the egg quest. The surroundings are nicely varied, encompassing caves, a small but most picturesque village, a temple and a museum, with some lovely music accompanying each area. A charming, peaceful, absorbing level, suitable for all players." - Jay

"A fun adventure set in a charming non-violent world. Our protagonist has to find 7 Easter eggs (secrets) and a little statue. Everything sounds simple and so does the synopsis of this level but on a deeper scale things can be overlooked so a thorough search would be recommended. I missed some items and had to go back a lot of times to search again till I found the missing pieces. Some puzzles are not that clear, so I had to search the web for the basilisk one to understand what the riddle meant. A big plus this level set has is the wonderful surroundings,from the deer in the woods and wolves in the dark caves all the way to the eagle next perched up top. The atmosphere is key to enjoying a level and this made the experience ten times better. I highly recommend this level." - young Lara Croft

"It feels like I can't give the builder's levels the credit they deserve, for this is yet another showcase of the unique puzzle and design skills that make his levels quite a treat. Nonetheless, the enjoyment I have with his levels can't be quite scored with regular review scores, so you really should treat them secondary here. I for myself loved the flowerbed puzzle, and even the maze in the museum, which took me several days and help from others to solve. The underground temple also has a good bunch of gameplay, with the flooding puzzle reminicent of the Poseidon Temple from TR 4 and some good tasks in the side areas, like the poleswings (which are more challenging than you'd imagine) and a nice picture-block puzzle. Admittedly, the main gameplay is quite restricted and if you don't go for the secrets you'll miss out on the best parts of the level. Some of the eggs are quite fiendishly hidden - there are some extremely well hidden crawlspaces and/or ledges to jump to, so you need to be very observant to make your way through. In particular, the talisman which appears in a previously empty passage after picking up an item is rather unfairly hidden. The atmosphere is quite well done, and (apart of one section in the village) the end of the world is better disguised than in the builder's previous level. The sound choice is really nicely done and there are some particularly haunting tracks which fit the scenery well, although there's a bit of too much looping in it, while ambient tracks are missing. The sheer variety of texturing and objects is astounding and adds a lot to the atmosphere - especially all those enemies you can't or must not kill -, and lighting is quite well done except for some too dark parts at the start. Sometimes the textures felt a little bit wallpapered (e.g. in the area with the eagle) and the wall segments are not properly divided so that the textures are a bit misplaced. Overall, this is a very peaceful level, maybe not the most Easter themed one I could imagine, and also not the most polished level - but if you like the builder's very own style, you'll be rather pleased about this little offering, especially if you take the challenge to find each and every of the seven secret eggs. 50 minutes." - manarch2

"Very nice and peaceful level. Recommended." - Andzia9