Level reviews

"Took me 7 hours and 48 minutes to get through this set, but it was a very well spent 7 hours and 48 minutes. This is up there with the best TRLEs I have played so far - classic gameplay with a perfect level of challenge. I would be lying if I said I didn't need to check the walkthroughs once or twice, but for the most part I found my way after a little thought. Each level has its own unique flavour but all of them are intricately designed and built to a very professional standard. The level of polish here is really admirable, lighting and texturing being pretty much faultless throughout. For me, Tomb of Menel and Vicennial Pyramid were levels that stood out as being high points, but in truth all of them were excellent. Props to all the builders involved. If I was forced at gunpoint to make one slight criticism, it would perhaps be that there could have been a few more combat encounters/types of enemies encountered just to freshen things up a little, but it's an extremely minor complaint. Amazing project overall, highly highly recommended." - Passalaqua

"An amazing homage to the TRLE engine. All collaborators worked together seemlessly to create something truly special, on vanilla TR4 no less, I can only imagine how tough it was to do, but the rewards of completing this masterpiece was brilliant. If there is ever a TRLE 25 Years project, I'd love to throw my hat into the ring to build something with a team of fellow TR lovers, a truly wonderful experience. Great job guys, loved everything about it!" - JimmyBeon

"Among other things, this is quite a throwback to the year 2000, as if a group of raiders looked at the provided files back then and said "let's make an epic adventure tying all this content together". The result is quite good, but I'll get my (relatively minor) complaints out of the way first. The first is a poorly placed flyby trigger which allows Lara to run off the edge and die during the cutscene. The second is that some of the secrets appeared to be shootable jars with no reward, which isn't a big deal but going after some of them meant more backtracking. Speaking of which, backtracking is present throughout the adventure, with some doors not serving a purpose other than to conceal a switch for a door in a previous area. What I enjoyed was all of the traps thrown at Lara, the timed runs, and the puzzling rooms to keep the player engaged. It is a good level of challenge and it felt like a large majority of the rooms had an interesting task at hand. One moment that stands out is the elaborate "target practice" chamber where Lara must find the right targets to shoot at. The environments are quite elaborate and will appeal to raiders that like to search each nook and cranny to be rewarded with extra items. They are also visually pleasing with great lighting. The cutscenes wrap up the package nicely and I particularly liked the sentiment shared in the ending. 5 hours 26 minutes." - JesseG

"Playing this game felt like a trip down memory lane to early days of level editing. It's a fairly long game, which took me 5 hours and 12 minutes to complete, and it offers a nice balance between puzzle solving, platforming and exploration, with emphasis on the exploration part especially later in the game. Authors have also used certain objects in interesting ways, e.g. in "Tomb of Menel" level where you have to use a rope to jump through a spinning blade trap from guardian wad (I don't recall that I would have seen anybody else use the trap in a same way). Although I found some levels visually more interesting than others, overall, the environments are beautifully designed. My personal favorites were probably the last two interconnected levels, "Sanctuary of the Goddess" and "Trial of Tefnut", which not only looked great, but also offered a nice orientation challenge with the non-linear level design. Overall, it's a great teamwork, which will give you lots of nostalgic feelings and fun challenges to complete." - Samu

"One of the most authentic feeling TRLEs I've ever played. This just feels like a TR4 expansion and I love it! Besides some sections feeling a bit ... "overdone" shall I say.. it's honestly a masterpiece!" - Nickelony

"This was a longer, more challenging series of levels showcasing some excellent puzzles, beautiful (and true to the classic TR4) atmosphere, and very well-done lighting and textures. I think two of the best things this game did that stood out the most were the unique and challenging puzzles, and the layout of rooms and maps interconnecting (the final section did this especially well). I enjoyed the easter eggs. I thought the voice acting complimented the game very well and wish Lara had more lines throughout (maybe when Lara discovers the pyramid after the first section). My suggestions for making this a more complete game are minor. Generally, I'm a stickler for clear cameras showing what door a lever or switch opens. I think generally the game did this pretty well, but there were a few sections, like the room with the tree, that were a little confusing in this regard. Also, enemy spawns were a bit off at times, with some enemies like the bull and the scorpions spawning in mid-air. Overall, I applaud the developers for a remarkable custom game!" - dragooncroft

"Great levelset with amazing TR4 feel. This one really gave me much nostalgia from original TR4 and now I want play it again. Gameplay was very good, with mostly really interesting tasks and puzzles. However in some parts of some levels, gameplay was pretty basic and without puzzles. Design of every level was flawless. Everything looked so excellent and atmospheric. I liked idea of vases as secrets in Vicennial Pyramid level. But some secrets were too easy hidden, especially in last two levels. Overally, authors did great job on this levelset and it's probably one of best levels with only usage of TR4 assets. I definetly recommend it!" - BlackWolfTR

"7 hours of net gaming time for these 5 levels. 3 are more classic and 2 more unorthodox somehow. All are well built with generally a strong gameplay and display technical skills. Special mentions to Zreen and Niveus' levels who have by this team effort released their first levels and they are great with impressive flybys flipmaps or use of sinks. Congratulations and thank you all for these hours of excellent raiding." - eRIC

"Do you miss egypt levels?do u miss tr4 exploration?do u want many secrets?do u want quality and solid levels?this trle is a must play, not fancy ,not new gen trle, just old classic raiding! Without walkthrough,19 secrets and 7.30h gameplay..i would score more but didnt found more creative or unique puzzles" - Petaludas

"I think this has too be one of my favourite trle that i have played in ages.The levels were very nicely done the gameplay was very well done but i think it had a bit of an abrupt ending other than that everything was great. I think my favourite level of this had too be the catacombs level aka The Poseidon Apparatus as for me the level was very engaging lots areas too explore too find the stars too flood the room then you had too find 2 pharos knot too open some double doors. Overall this was a great too celebrate the 20th anniversary of TRLE and i personally enjoyed this project more than the original TR4." - lokky99101

"Finally finished this afternoon, clocking in at just under 8 hours net gameplay time and many days after release. This is a real humdinger of a levelset and I'm so very, very pleased to see some new builders contributing to such a high caliber project. Very nicely done, all around. This project plays like a highly condensed version of The Last Revelation, and like The Last Revelation, there is a lot to see and do. I felt that the cohesiveness and flow was very strong throughout all these levels. The dramatic exit from the very Roman-influenced catacombs of Sabatu's level to the Ptolemaic dynasty and earlier design of the Sanctuary of the Goddess was excellent. I enjoyed all the varied tasks and sights, and while some sections involved a crazy amount of backtracking I felt like it was all worth it. Texturing, lighting, enemy placement, puzzles, overall atmosphere and immersion... knocked out of the park with all of these. You all made me feel nostalgic and completely engrossed in exploring (to the point of neglecting housework and several meals). Other reviewers have already pretty much said everything that I'm thinking and then some, so I will leave it at that in terms of technical critique. I'll be the first to admit that I can't build my way out of a paper bag, so my perspective is 100% that of player and partaker. I don't think I would have changed anything, except maybe to add more levels, because I didn't want the fun to end. I have to say, there was a very bittersweet feeling at the conclusion. 20 years... Here's to another 20 years, and to the new faces and the new places they will build. Thank you." - Chel

"This is the best trle I've played so far, it's just so beautiful. I love the design of the levels, so professional. the puzzles were so great and fun to solve too, The music just adds to the mood of the game. there is something special with every level which makes this trle very unique and enjoyable, sometimes I forget my self just looking at the asthecis of the level forgetting about the acutal game. I give it 9.5/10 Highly recommend playing it" - p1kaa

"Tomb of Hathor/Night at the Desert: I really enjoyed the gameplay in this one; it has an engaging balance of exploration, timed runs, traps, puzzles, and combat. The "follow the spikes" puzzle room was freakin' awesome, and I never felt lost regarding my objective, or felt bored. The builder does provide adequate flares however I did still feel like the darkness was a bit too much at times. In terms of lighting, I would have preferred it if the builder leaned a little less away from underground-tomb-realism and leaned more towards player-friendliness and visibility (especially in the lake area).
Tomb of Menel: This level is very heavily exploration-based. The architecture, snake concept and the way that the builder intertwined all of the rooms was brilliant. A subtle design detail that I really enjoyed was the builder's superb use of color, with warm pops of red to balance out all of the dark blue floor tiles. I would have liked to have seen more gameplay variety (e.g. tricky platforming/traps/timed runs), and I felt that the previous level was more "rounded" in that regard.
Vicennial Pyramid: I've got lots of thoughts regarding this one, as I feel so passionate about it. The positives for me were the innovative gameplay, puzzles and architectural design; my favorite areas were the vase shooting gallery in the water challenge area, and all of the earth challenge area. I think that the builder nailed the earth challenge area as its concept is very interesting, it's a nice break in the beautiful sunny outdoors, and there's an engaging mix of many different types of gameplay elements (puzzling/traps/platforming), without any element being too lengthy. The negatives of this level were the repetitiveness, or the dragging on and on, at times. Examples of unnecessary and unfun repetition were a) The beautiful underwater tomb; sure, it is a marvel architecturally but it wasn't fun for me to be checking 20+ cubby holes for a possible path or vital pickup; and b) the extremely lengthy platforming sequence in the air challenge area. I didn't like doing that kind of platforming over and over for 30 minutes, with no other gameplay elements to mix things up. Despite the negatives I wrote, I still did love this level as a whole very much, and I tip my hat to the builder for producing such a creative, beautiful and memorable level as his debut.
The Poseidon Apparatus: I don't think the BTB2005 Catacombs texture set looks good, generally; I think it's because there are so many textures that are of the same color scheme. However, this level looks very attractive from start to finish, and the builder did a superb job of lighting and room design to bring normally bland textures to life. As with level 2, this level again is heavily-exploration based. The game flow is excellent, as is the camera guidance, and I never felt lost, despite the initial large aqueduct area appearing to have too many choices. My favorite part was being trapped with the skeletons and having to shoot the vases to escape. The exploration was indeed very enjoyable but I do feel that the level is lacking in some puzzles/thrilling situations, especially having come from Vicennial Pyramid.
Sanctuary of the Goddess/Trial of Tefnut: Another challenging level in terms of exploration, this is an objectively very high-quality adventure in terms of map design and texturing. It was very beautiful... when it was bright enough for me to see it properly. This level wasn't a really good fit for me, largely because dark levels are my kryptonite (and to a lesser extent, many fixed cameras during situations where I need my bearings). As I worked to progress through the level, I was just hoping to return to the brightness of the 2 previous levels and my heart just wasn't in it anymore. Areas that weren't overly dark, such as the fountain area where I needed to explore to grab the scarab key, were decent fun for me. I want to stress that it is indeed a very high-quality level (brilliant for a debut) and I think it would be a great fit for players who don't mind dark levels.
Closing thoughts: 9/10/10/9. This is a very high-quality group project that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys exploration-based gameplay. My favorite was Vicennial Pyramid; sure, it drags at times (even to the point of being exhausting), but the innovation, charm and puzzle selection is truly admirable." - nerdfury

"Really a good tribute to our favorite game, I spent several days to finish it 'cause it's not very easy to play, specially the last two levels, very complex with a lot of backtracking. The level what I liked the most was Sabatu's level, but the remaining ones are very entertaining too and it notices a professional work in all them, taking much care with the lighting and texturization, with a great architecture and good use of objects to ornate the rooms. Thank you very much, team for this small jewel that leads us to the past with all those levels we enjoyed a lot. Recommended." - Jose

"This was a surprisingly long set of levels! I spent most of my Christmas holidays playing this. My final time was just under 7 hours but I had lots of fun with it. It is pretty much TR4 reprised but in a shorter form. I am not a fan of the levels after the train sequence in the original, but this set of levels kept me entertained all throughout. I was happy that enemies were scarce and placed well. There were lots of original ideas (shooting the correct pots) and throwbacks (the vertical room at the end reminded me of TR1) with some backtracking but even the catacombs and Cleopatra´s palace inspired levels at the end were extremely well done and I never felt tired of it or lost. The level flow was done well and I could always figure out the next objective. Thank you all!" - Raina Audron

"A fantastic contribution to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Tomb Raider Level Editor. The levels will be rated seperately, cause every one of these is worth to be spoken about. Tomb of Hathor/Night At The Desert: 9/10/10/10 An excellent starter for this long adventure! It sets the tone of atmosphere and what might come later quite well - Even at the beginning of this game there are a lot of deathful traps and mechanisms, that will try to kill you. Tomb of Menel: 9/10/10/10 This level has a lot of unique and innovative ideas to use the classic assets and pushes the standards to the limits. There are a lot of mechanisms going on in the tomb that might only be noticeable by someone who is really paying attention, which is a good thing, cause it gives a bonus for those who care like the builder cared for his well-crafted level. Vicennial Pyramid: 8/9/9/8 This one was probably the longest one. It was a debut level and even if there was a high standard already set with the other levels the builder did manage to create something pretty decent, which fits very well into the rest of the adventure. Some parts were a little bit tedious, cause it felt like some areas were unnecessarily big (the underwater "maze" with all the holes for example), just for the sake of it, but the whole main experience in general was good. So please keep up that work - the builder is surely capable of even more! The Poseidon Apparatus: 10/10/10/10 Just as good as the other levels from this author. Well-crafted, atmosphere on point and excellent lighting and texture work. Nothing more to say. Trial Of Tefnut/Sanctuary Of The Goddess: 9/10/10/10 Another debut level, but it's noticeable very quickly that this author knew what he was doing - it was an excellent piece of work for a debut, so congratulations! Beautiful crafted rooms with intriguing lighting and atmosphere, as well as innovative puzzle ideas. There were some points, where it was a little bit difficult to find the right way, cause some areas were pretty big, but in the end this would be only nitpicking. As a conclusion there has to be said, that it's so wonderful to see that the community is still active and sometimes even growing after 20 years. By using only classic vanilla assets (original assets from the first release of the Level Editor) the builders definitely showed, that it's possible to craft such an amazing piece of adventure, cause even if the assets are limited the creativity isn't. It sometimes depends on what to do with the assets and how to use them and not which assets are available at all. Took me about 6 hours to finish. Thank you for this game and hopefully onto the next 20 years! <3" - MarlenaCrystal

"This classic trek back to familiar TR4 stomping grounds is quite the tour de force. The amount of builders involved in this project inevitably leads to a bit of differentiation in styles between the levels but the overall product is incredibly coherent. The gameplay is extremely complex, but also engaging and involving and there's a huge amount of ground to cover throughout, requiring you and Lara to be observant when scoping out your next manoeuvre. The surroundings look absolutely gorgeous throughout, while the flybys help to accentuate the settings that little bit more. Aside from a little too much backtracking between levels at times, this is pretty much a near perfect raiding experience. It's hard for me to do a detailed review of a project of such massive depth and scope, so I'll just go ahead and end here with my highest recommendations. Many thanks, team." - Ryan

"This descent into nostalgia is a remarkable achievement, one that provided me hours upon hours of nonstop entertainment. Each of the five distinct segments could have been released as a stand-alone level, and if I were reviewing them that way I doubt that I would award 10s across the board to them all. However, in this case I believe the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, hence my numbers here. I normally review group projects as a unit, but these levels are so complex and so different that they deserve individual remarks. TOMB OF HATHOR: This was a good choice to kick off the celebration. Standard Egyptian fare in a setting that was darker than I like, with all the action taking place indoors, but it has some nice touches, including a nifty timed run with a rope swing at the end. And you'll miss out on the last secret if you're too quick in grabbing a required pickup. TOMB OF MENEL: As I pointed out in the forum, this is the best-looking level I've played in a long time, with the lighting honed to perfection and the surrounding textures a sheer joy to behold. The gameplay isn't bad either, and DJ has provided his own walkthrough that I scratched my head over a few times but found valuable in getting my way through. The snake motif with the floor tiles was a clever touch as well. VICENNIAL PYRAMID: This one left a bittersweet taste in my mouth. Easily the most complex level of the bunch, I spent nearly an entire week with the builder's patient prodding trying to sort everything out so I could put it down in coherent fashion in the walkthrough. It may have been a bit too ambitious in the final analysis, but I'm still glad that I stuck it out until the end. In my game the gate to the final blue vase secret remained closed although I'd done everything necessary to open it, so the builder provided a savegame so I could document the extra gameplay and move on. THE POSEIDON APPARATUS: This one would have done quite well in the very first BtB Catacombs competition. Good-looking and well lighted, it provides a most enjoyable raid in the grand tradition. There's a little bit of everything, from pushpiece exercises to shimmying, swimming, and jumping all over the place, and even a puzzle that requires the player to shoot assorted bones lying on the ground. Great fun. SANCTUARY OF THE GODDESS/TRIAL OF TEFNUT: Another complicated (a Tefnut to crack, as one might say) but highly satisfying raid. The builder should have followed Vreen's example by avoiding separate names for the two parts, as they flow together seamlessly with no indication of which level you might be in at any given time. There's a lot of backtracking in this one, but the surroundings are so pleasing to the eye that this never became a source of irritation for me. In sum, this is a fitting tribute to the phenomenon known as Tomb Raider that has become such an integral part of our lives over the past twenty years. Well done, group." - Phil

"In my experience most games (commercial or mods) tend to be either too easy or too hard. Legend of Hathor is one of those rare beasts that sustains gameplay that is - just right. In fact it never falls off that tightrope over the course of five or six complex levels. It totters a few times, but it never falls off. This achievement is all the more remarkable when you consider that the builder crew are of many different nationalities and levels of experience. I couldn't tell which levels were built by noobs from playing this – only the readme reveals it. Overall, It was an intense experience for me, because each level is complex and long – and you need to concentrate to remember the layout. However I managed it all without recourse to the walkthrough because at the time of my playing it had still not been published. That's probably a good thing because I came close a few times. Visually, while good throughout, it never quite matched the sheen of, say, Egypt and Beyond (tfa), and there were a few examples of twisted, compressed or stretched textures. Before I sign off I just want to clarify one thing – this is not a celebration of twenty years of trle. It is a celebration of trle as it was twenty years ago. Not as subtle a difference as you might at first think. To say it is a celebration of twenty years of trle is like saying Love Me Do and She loves You is a celebration of the complete Beatles catalogue. Personally I will always prefer a bit of Get Back, and so, likewise, I think this would have been a better and truer celebration with the shackles removed i.e. a full-blown trng levelset showcasing all the technical strides made in the last twenty years." - Dick

"And what a celebration! Doing what this team managed to do with basically just the original level editor is out of this world. Even though we could see obvious changes in style between the authors of the levels, an excellent fluency was maintained throughout, with great lighting and atmosphere, good use of traps and enemies and lots of exploration. The celebration started in a rather classic, yet enticing manner with Tomb of Hathor, followed by a very brief, transitional Night at the Desert, both by Klona. Then, Tomb of Menel, by DJ Full, Vicennial Pyramid, by Zreen, The Poseidon Apparatus, by Sabatu, and the intertwined Trial of Tefnut and Sanctuary of the Goddess, by Niveus, finishing with a rather nice display of the credits while Lara speaks her final speech. DJ Full's and Sabatu's styles were quite obvious, and professional as ever, but none of the other builders crafted anything lesser, quite the opposite - the last two intertwined Cleopatra levels are a work of art, even though they do get a little too confusing at times. I don't know if I should say this, but my favourite was Tomb of Menel - interesting, surprising and original and not even once did I have to look at any walkthrough. A great map it was. But you can tell I liked the whole adventure and I want to thank all of the involved, including the project leader, Dermahn, the voice actress and the betatesters for a project that excelled in every sense and showed how far one's able to go these days, with basically what Core initially provided. Undoubtdely recommended." - Jorge22

"A masterpiece! This 8 level adventure is made by 6 different builders, each author contributed with his own style, without becoming inconsistent, and the result is a classic levelset that could very well be an expansion of the original TR4. The story is nicely developed, the levels are rather large despite one small transition level, and gameplay evolves excelent throughout the levels. The Cleopatra levels are the ones that surprised me the most, because it is something completely different from what we've seen before with its assets, and I understand it's the author's first release! Overall, a levelset both classic and non-classic TR fans will definitely enjoy. Congratulations to the team." - Feder

"This game looks like a small CaC competition in which levels are linked by an evanescent story. In other words, it's a sort of collage by 5 level builders with their own different style and personality. I can't see a real fusion, a coherent blend. Despite the rule of using only Core stuff, The general result is very heterogeneous. Maybe the project leader should have given stricter rules to ensure a better mash up. I don't know. I can't put myself in his shoes, and anyway it's not a big issue because the game is enjoyable and that's what matters. Only I can't do without considering each level as a story apart. And while Klona, DJ Full and Sabatu are well known and esteemed builders who always (and also here) offer us professional works, I have to congratulate with the novices for their interesting debut. Thanks to you the level editor is still alive a we all wish many years of fun more." - Teone

"As a tribute project, thematically this is somewhat of a fast-forward through the first half of TR4 (with no "modern" segments), as you go from an Egyptian Tomb to Karnak and Semerkhet type areas, with it ending in Catacombs and Cleopatra's Palace themes. The themes and objects are familiar, but the execution is ambitious, with huge scale areas and interesting geometry. The underground of the Karnak area in particular is one of the largest scale indoor-segments I've seen. The lighting and texturing is also great, and, while the amount of authors leads to execution differences, the theme shifts and general high quality does a lot to cover up inconsistencies. The classic themes also use their classic objects, but they're also applied well to support the themes. Since it seems to be used quite rarely I thought the Cleopatra's Palace areas in particular felt like a new take on that theme. There's also a nice reference to the TRLE Tutorial level.
The gameplay is heavily on the exploration and puzzle side, although there are a few more intense agility sequences and traps. While on the chill side in terms of pace, the levels are pretty huge (with interlinked levels in some cases) with the exploration required being quite intensive, and the large areas require checking almost every part of them to progress, although the clues are there if you're thorough. There are also various environmental changes like large scale flooding/draining and some walkable water. The one large outdoor level seemed oddly short, but it seems it was just a mood setting transition level. One segment also had shootable pots as secrets, and I'm not sure if they were actually supposed to unlock anything extra or if it was just a bonus challenge to smash them all. There's also some story, and, while light, it gives some goal to it and also leads to a nice ending monologue to cap off the tribute. An excellent set of classic levels that also use modern design to take them beyond what the original game had, and most takes after for that matter." - Mman