Level reviews

"A neat castle level with a bit of a twist as the story unfolds through on-screen text prompts. The chess puzzle was a bit weird (it could have been themed after anything else, really), but the hunt for the knots was fun. Along the way you also find a number of items which help develop the mystery behind the ghosts in the area. 40 minutes, 1 secret. 08/26" - Treeble

"So laras's friend's scottish castle is haunted by ghosts and lara has been invited to investigate this supernatural disturbance. its a good story here with cut-scenes and text to describe whats going on. Now as always i like to try and make my way through levels as far as i can without walkthroughs or guides but i do recommend having one nearby as this can get irritating or confusing fast as theres some areas or tasks you wouldnt know even existed like for example where the chess book is, or that some switches are connected to secrets and not needed for progression. so if you dont find that that chess book first you find yourself very stuck later on, also theres a timed sequence that i had no idea was timed so got stuck there as well. once i eventually succumbed to a guide i found myself having a thoroughly good time! i loved the puzzle in the stable with the horse, the shooting puzzles with the timed raised block very good as well as the timed sequence flip jump platforming. theres also some swimming, a game of chess and death defying leaps onto invisible platforms with fire! the atmosphere is very well done and very spooky with some nice music tracks to add to it, it goes very well with the story and speaking of the story i love it at the end when you think its all been solved and concluded until you get that final twist haha!" - John

"A level with a ghostly story, right up my alley so to speak. I have to admit that I was hopelessly lost at times and had to peek in the walkthrough as I was missing one Celtic Knot and found out it never occurred to me to push a book case. Oh well… sometimes using flares even if you don't need them will do the trick. Wise lesson learned LOL. My least favourite object were those spiral stairs, they made me quite dizzy. I had fun exploring this castle that is for sure." - Gerty

"A neat castle level featuring great storyline, NPC usage, camera work and a really challenging combo secret. Lighting and tinting could be better and I got totally stuck in a 7- switch puzzle which seemed to be finished but wasn't, but the sniper challenge was marvellous instead. Good work." - DJ Full

"This castle hides some dark secrets, waiting to be unearthed by...Lara, who else. So Lara begins a journey full of twists and turns to ultimately unravel the mystery of this dwelling. There's some target shooting to be done, a tight timed run, plenty of dizzying spiral staircases and a boss battle against a horseman. Good fun in a dark, spooky setting." - Ryan

"A good and enjoyable level with atmosphere to match and puzzles to complete. Not very long but the story in rather interesting which reminds me of an episode of Scooby Doo :)" - young Lara Croft

"A good history for a good level from this prolific author. You can get stucked often in the first part of the game 'cause the shootable wall panels (use flares), but later the gameplay is more fluid and very entertaining, with variety of tasks. It notices the experience building levels, the expert features and the solid design. Even so, I couldn't undertand the chess puxxle (the horse should be moved two rows ahead and one tile left or right, according to the rules of chess). I liked the on-screen texts to consolidate the history, the flybys, the nice and aproppriate musics, the camera hints and the no very hard tasks. Even so I've pressed three buttons (I think for a secret) but I think I've missed more buttons to lower a block in the library. The ambience is dark (of course, it's by night) but the author provided enough packs of flares. The seven switches puzzle was very laborious for me, but at last I was able to cross the pit. I also liked the well worked lights in all areas. Definitely, an interesting level you can't miss. Good work!" - Jose

"I haven't played many custom levels from the modern era nor have I played any easter levels before, so I am not sure I am really qualified to objectively rate this game, but in all honesty I can say that I enjoyed it a lot. The style of exploration and storytelling was a welcome change from the typical raiding levels for me (not to say those kinds are bad of course). The castle's design is very realistic even the underground segments don't feel surreal (perhaps monotonous at parts though), similarly the gameplay is focused on logical tasks to the end. As a result I didn't feel like the level got out of its rhythm at any point and that is rare. Scenario and the progression like appearings of ghosts, discovery of the projection rooms, etc. were handled perfectly in my opinion, from the start I got curious and the ending didn't seem sudden or unsatisfactory. I couldn't find the secret though, I found and shot one lantern in one of the other celtic knot paths, I assume it was tied to that but couldn't find if it did trigger something. Anyway, highly recommended." - Nomad

"The beginning of the adventure was incredible atmospheric with interesting gameplay. I really enjoyed it because the level managed do drag me into playing it. It starts with a great intro showing us the mystery behind the castle. Maybe not suitable for a holiday Easter level as it starts with murder, suicide and ghosts. After using the key in the attic the game just drops heavily. The beginner-ish vibe consumes the level and the magic of the first part gets erased easily. Through the level many objects had totally wrong light applied. The overall scenery had a bit rough environment light and design. Later the inner part feel very careless. This level was obviously rushed since the author is participating in this years BtB competition and that was his priority ( I assume ). The gameplay was very interesting, sometimes cryptic, but the atmosphere was only kept partly through the level. Unfortunately, the graphical achievement was not very satisfying in all parts of the game. Recommended for the overall great idea and for mystery lovers !" - Gorty

"This is a rather quirky level that is not terribly intuitive, forcing my repeated visits to the stuck thread to garner hints for progression. I didn't count the spiral staircases, but there were too many of them. For some reason many flare pickups are provided, although the lighting is so good that I had few occasions to use them. I never did learn the significance of that timed underwater lever, and although I found all four Celtic Knots I never visited that area with a timed block where you have to shoot lanterns (presumably because in my impatience to move along in the level I swam against the current in the water room courtesy of the flycheat in order to get quickly back to the main house). Needless to say, I didn't find the lone secret either. Perhaps some later walkthrough writer will document everything that's here to be found. However, I did enjoy the gaming experience, which for me lasted about an hour." - Phil

"It was almost sad to see this level ending so quickly and a bit abruptly as I was enjoying it quite a bit. The story line is great and so is the implementation in the game, the concept how Lara discovers all mysteries is quite interesting. There are some neat puzzles like the one-dimensional chess and the 7 levers, a great extensive hunt for the sole secret (that really took me a lot of time to finally discover) and also, as usual for this builder, very nice object usages. The atmosphere is quite strong here, especially the exterior areas are convincing in their nighttime ambience, but there are quite a few cracks in texturing and lighting and overall a bit more care on some occasions would've made this level feel more clean. Although I think that the task density could be a bit higher, overall the 35 minutes are quite fun, inventive and certainly memorable. Strongly recommended to play at any time of the year." - manarch2

"A rather enjoyable Easter-released/mystery/detective level with a storyline and several nice touches, namely the "chess" game, plus some interesting architecture. The Return to Castle Wolfenstein-inspired spiral staircases may be a bit too much though. Good fun." - Jorge22

"This was the third (played by me) fun Easter game we had in Aspide's Easter basket. I have so enjoyed all our gifts. Thank you! This game is a cool "who done it?". Lara has been asked to spend a bit of time in a haunted Scottish castle to see if she can solve some of the mysteries. Will the ghosts help or hinder? Therein lies your risk of meeting up with some enemies. You'll need to solve some puzzles and find keys to further your exploration. Watch out for the preponderance of spiral staircases...they become quite dizzying. You will enjoy this one!" - mugs

"Another fun Easter level and this one has a most interesting storyline. The atmosphere is excellent and there are plenty of nooks and crannies to explore in this haunted castle, although I confess I could have done with rather fewer spiral staircases as they do tend to be a dizzying experience at the best of times. There is one enemy early on and at the end you get to battle a knight on horseback, but otherwise it's peaceful. There are some good puzzles (really rather liked the chess game) and the game provided me with just over an hour of enjoyable raiding." - Jay

"Very nice and atmospheric level, particularly when you're standing outside looking into the night sky. The puzzles are quite distinct from TRLE's I've previously played which is fantastic and a lot had me like "Where the Hell do I go?!" for about half an hour. My only gripes would be the unexpected ending when I felt there was a lot more to be explored and done, and the frame rate dropped rapidly during the final boss fight (And I have a high end gaming PC). Overall though, fantastic level to play over your boring Easter holiday! Definitely check this one out!" - MrXenomorph123