Level reviews

"First of all I love the initial setting by the seashore, on the beach, underwater and in coves and on rocks etc it certainly makes a great environment to explore in before we enter the temple and underground areas. Gameplay is heavy on platforming and climbing etc with a tight but fun timed run, a confusing (at least for me) fire switch sequence puzzle and a couple of movable objects tasks. I especially enjoyed navigating through the floating island style rocks, avoiding the spike trap sequences and the general exploration through lots of different areas. If combat is your thing then your in luck because sharks, birds, lions, armoured soldiers, centaurs and other monsters all want to take you down before you can admire the marvellous structures and varied use of textures that much. Another few things to mention was the great use of plants and flowers, the varied choice in music, the very handy use of teleportation to avoid backtracking and of course those adorable pussycats! Too cute! Overall a really fun level with some great choices made in its construction and aesthetics" - John

"Adventure with quite varied sections and various gameplay elements. I particularly enjoyed the very high plaforming area. Enemies appear often in packs and secrets aren't too hard to find. Some musics are of the noisy kind and things happen out of the blue at times , this said I mostly had a very good time playing this level." - eRIC

"Another good level from this BtB. Starts in a big outside area where you can get totally lost; in the area with the floating rocks I got disoriented too; and later in the inner areas I didn't like the way to hide a very small key you can't see in between the water plants. Near the end and after the fight with the centaurs I got out of ammo and medipacks so the fight against the last enemies was hard. Even when there are not great puzzles, the game is entertaining with no very tricky tasks, I liked the good architecture, the lighting and the atmosphere created with the musics. Enjoyable." - Jose

"This wasn't so bad actually. The starting area looked pretty unconvincing/unatmospheric with some graphical bugs in the distance which was not a promising start. There was a nice surprise after picking up an item in the ocean that startled me a bit. The gameplay gets better as you get to the indoor areas with a few nice moments such as the spike room which is the highlight for me, nice jumping sequences etc. This is all fast paced and linear but not without it's moments, you will meet a lot of enemies on your way of different sorts. I really liked the moment with the room full of cats followed by a warning sound which i found funny. Camera work is nicely done to give the player some knowledge about what may happen next. The boss fight at the end felt a bit out of place after having battled several enemies just earlier in the hall. To sum things up it's a fast paced enjoyable level that you won't have to think where you have to go next. Recommended!!!" - totizedger

"The start is kind of awkward as you begin right on the edge of the world, but, while the general design is relatively simple, it's all decently designed and doesn't have any glaring problems beyond the edge of the world issue. The later parts move underground, which gets away from the edge issues, and there's some nicely creative texture use. The lighting is probably the weakest point as it's frequently quite flat, but that is interspersed with segments that have pretty decent lighting. There's also some quite creative flyby sequences (though it's a shame the things in them have no impact on what happens in-game).
The design is made up for by well-done gameplay, which provides a good mix of challenges and maintains a good flow. It's mostly pretty easy but there are one or two odd spikes, like a random firing squad of centaurs that managed to almost entirely deplete my supplies. In general ammo seems a little low for the amount of combat later. The ending also seems a bit anti-climatic, as, on top of relatively short, it just sort of ends after you grab an artefact with certain things just ignored (not least how Lara is supposed to get out). While not one of the best, a good map beyond certain visual issues and the somewhat abrupt end." - Mman

"This was relaxing and fun to play. I had to raise a smile at the room full of cats and the music too. Good gameplay and atmosphere." - Ryan

"An example of a level which may not look that good, sometimes textured with a single tile over a large unlit space, but gets atmospheric anyway with help of modelling, flybys and music. After we perform tasks for the lyres, following items almost lie down on our way, requiring a minor effort to be grabbed, but I still liked the cleverly timed spike room. The game also has some special touches I had a laugh at, so I won't spoil them here. Could be more concluded." - DJ Full

"This level tells the story of Eurybia, who had had a temple and/or island built in her honor, only for Poseidon to sink it into the depths of the ocean out of pure jealousy. Eventually Eurybia decides that there ain't nobody got time for that and raises it up again. Enter Lara Croft. The author ominously asks the question: will the island sink into the ocean again? But we'll get to that. At 35 minutes, this is the shortest Back to Basics level I've played this year so far, but only by a small margin. However, it felt *a lot* shorter than most other levels for one simple reason: I never got stuck. And, of course, I love not getting stuck, but unfortunately, it was mostly because the gameplay was so simple. For better or for worse, there's really no complexity here at all. The outside area is empty and underutilized and the temple just feels like a linear series of rooms strung together. It's never challenging, although I thought throwing four centaurs at the player at once was a bit ridiculous. Once you head underground, the island sinks, and then nothing is done with that. There's no returning to areas that are now underwater or anything like that. If the final flyby hadn't shown that the island was above water again, I would have thought that the author had just forgotten about the whole thing. The level looks pretty patchy and the ground is really uneven. Cracks are everywhere. The outside area at the beginning looks really rough, but things do improve a bit once you get inside. I hate to be an Indian giver, but... eh. Maybe some things are better off left at the bottom of the ocean." - Magnus

"Here we have beautiful places (I loved in special the shallow water area with cascades) and cavernous, forbidding places. Illumination is good. There is a tight timed run, very tough enemies (I missed ammunition) and a fantastic room full of spikes, to gladden the heart of the Raiders that love challenges and fights. There is also a good levers' puzzle and an area for athletic jumps, with or without rope. I liked the transporters of this area. There is even an enemy that shows up and disappears, and an enigmatic dark place where Lara is forbidden to enter... but enters anyway, of course. An interesting touch, that. The part of the watery caverns is a little confusing, though. Anyway, it was good to see that the author loves cats, and the game is very good." - Josey

"I wasn't familiar with Eurybia from Greek mythology, so I Googled her and learned she was a minor sea goddess who hung out with the Titans and gave birth along the way to three little Titans. A good part of this 52-minute level takes place in the sunny outdoors, which always appeals to me, and there is considerable variety both in the environs and in the required tasks. There's a fiendish timed run about halfway through the level, and I enjoyed navigating that room near the end with the spear-trapped floor. Many of the enemies drop important objects, so it's important to engage and dispose of all that you encounter. Another solid entry in the BtB competition. Recommended." - Phil

"Not a bad little level. Apart from the end of the world issues at the start I didn't mind the initial pleasant area. I also enjoyed the high jumps, but I did find an invisible block you could land on...that the author left in for no apparent reason. The secrets were well placed." - Adrian

"I liked this level, many relatively easy tasks whose passage the room with the spikes before reaching the final battle. Excellent." - Drakan

"Another solid entry to the competition, which I thought had not the best start, as you get to search in a fairly wide space for a small item and the open space looks on the beach are not very well designed. But once you get going the game flows quite well and has its moments, like the timed run, the spike room that looks intimidating, but is rather fun and not so challenging to navigate and some floating island type jumps. The highlight for me were several rather creatively set in scene 'animal moments', meaning a well done camera scene to give the player a moment of surprise. Towards the end the gameplay gets maybe a bit too obvious and simple and the boss battle is not a major challenge either, but that does not take away from this being a decent adventure that is worth a look. [40 min, 3 secrets]" - MichaelP

"Not a beauty by any means, but it is the way how several sceneries are presented in this level that make it still quite original and worth to play. The atmosphere, especially at the start, is not very nice and there are very few areas where both texturing and lighting are halfway decent (most of the time, there are many mistakes due to the almost random geometry and rather flat lighting, and generally the looks not on a very high standard); cameras and music are solidly used though. But even with the amateurish looks, the builder manages to convince with several humorous and creepy touches, like the cats' area, the appearance of Poseidon or the beast's lair that add a lot to the overall feeling and thankfully the gameplay also has its moments with a lever puzzle to light several fires, a timed run, some mildly challenging platforming in a floating islands area and a lot of traps (especially liked the reiterating spike hall). There are perhaps a few too many enemies in this game and not enough ammo for it, the centaur fight was really over the top, but it's possible to finish it with no medipacks used. Not quite a perfect level but with a couple of highlights that took me 25 minutes to finish, with the three very easy secrets found." - manarch2

"Done in the spirit of the BtB as to duration - not too long and filled with both easy and hard tasks. Just as I was getting a bit tired of the cave atmosphere the last one caught my attention as it was uniquely beautiful with a vine ladder and a small pool bringing the player a needed object but also back to a spot the player doesn't need. The dark, empty room reminds players that to ignore an ancient scroll may lead to Lara's peril and speaking of peril, the four Centaurs easily and immediately(!) killed off my Laura because health was not topped off...another thing to not ignore in this level. Recommended for all." - Bene

"The very initial areas make it very clear you are playing a game in fact - very blocky areas and the end of the world just within reach. The effect in the beach was worse by the fact there were some areas that went further offshore than the others and it just looked... wrong. All in all, I have to say, this level doesn't really impress you with gorgeous vistas and the like, but it does provide you unique ideas and nice traps and puzzles. Summoning Poseidon to flood the island was done in a very creative way within the restraints of the BtB rules. Maybe I may have missed them along the way, but this is the only level I barely made it to the finish line, having had all my medipacks drained in the battle with the four centaurs. 50 minutes, 2 secrets. 11/15" - Treeble

"I laughed my socks off at the dramatic music accompanying the room full of kitties. Well yes, I suppose they were all nagging for food, but Lara's made of stern stuff and not easily distracted. The opening section of this game really reminded me of my trips to Greece - I really loved the atmosphere. It's one of the shorter entries in the competition and the gameplay is logical and straightforward, but engaging and enjoyable, with some genuinely creepy moments." - Jay

"A good level.although the architecture was blocky and the final fight anticlimatic." - janachorider

"This is a good solid 70 minute adventure,which suffers early on from having a too expansive (and generally unlit)opening area,which causes graphical issues;and incorporates a rather thankless 'search everywhere underwater for a small object' sequence.Once past this,however,things really pick up.An impressive floating-island cavern;lots of atmospheric waterlogged caves;spiked gauntlets;pushable puzzles;formidable foes...they all follow each other in rapid succession,and lead forever onward in linear fashion toward the reasonably convincing 'emerging from the water' Finale.Aside from the seemingly unlit initial areas,the lighting and texturing is convincing;while music and cameras are incorporated thoroughly.There's a nice false ending,and just enough medi-packs to allow a degree of suspense to escalate.Indeed,I completed the level with an entirely empty health bar. A very worthwhile adventure." - Orbit Dream

"The opening area of this level did not make a very favourable impression on me at first: the lighting is flat and overly bright (probably at default level) with no sunbulbs, the geometry blocky, and the end of the world extremely obvious (tip for the builder: in open-ended underwater areas, make sure Lara can't reach the edges by using sinks). Fortunately, the gameplay was not too bad, and once I started playing, I started growing fond of the level. The quest for one of two lyres involves a very nice switch puzzle, and the lyre itself is found in a room filled with kittens (kittens! kittens! kittens! - to quote DJ Full's BtB 2015 trailer), which put a goofy grin on my face. The quest for the other lyre involves a nice timed run, and then some climbing over floating rocks (the floating part is rather odd, but the jumps involved are fun). And once Lara opens up the temple and goes underground, the lighting also improves considerably. There are one or two nice tasks in the underground area as well, such as making your way across a room with moving spikes. There's a very creepy moment in which Lara finds a scroll that promises her a 'painless death', and then enters a supposedly empty room, only to die immediately. Some of the enemies are poorly used: towards the end, you have to confront four centaurs at once, and they are introduced in such a way that they drain about half of your health before you can even react, and trying to fight them all at once seems almost impossible - until you realize that if you run off to the end of the room, the centaurs remain frozen in place without shooting, in which case you can pick them off at leisure with pistols. Earlier, in the temple where you have to fight two lions and two gladiators, the enemies disappear if you return towards the entrance, which is a game-stopping moment, as you cannot get the puzzle pieces dropped by the gladiators. About two-thirds of the way, there is a cutscene showing the island sinking beneath the waves and a god (Poseidon, presumably) emerging from it, so I assumed that the end would involve a confrontation with him. However, the level ends with Lara merely grabbing an artefact which apparently causes the island to emerge from the waters again, and there's no confrontation, which feels anticlimactic. Overall: Despite the overall amateurish look and feel of this level, it turned out to be considerably more fun than I expected based on first impressions. If this is a debut level, I hope the builder builds on his/her strengths to create something better in the future." - Mytly

"A good-short map with multiple tasks. I like the timed - run and spike room. The combat against centaurs was hard. 35 minutes. Difficulty: Easy/Medium" - requiemsoul