Level reviews

"Outside the nice music, it all felt unfinished- the sound effects were broken and were off- tune, the rooms didn't feel natural at all, issues with missing sounds popped up, and wallpapered texture as well as some misplaced ones. When I saw the 4-pushable blocks I felt like i wanted to exit the game without a second thought, but it wasn't the worst experience. The issue is missing sounds, a really long swimming section and besides that it was a decently enjoyable time." - OblivionJaw

"The quality is what it is but you cannot really get bored here, unless of the swim, already too long for a level as small as this one... or of the pushblock preceding the hydra fight... or the hydra fight itself... Okay maybe there are chances to get bored, however the lattermost can be skipped and the entire thing can be speedran in 3 minutes. Also, good lights makes up for chaotic texturing, so sometimes it was even pleasant to be hiding in this map. Therefore I declare it short, sweet and underrated." - DJ Full

"I do not understand why people release these incomplete levels. This one shows so much promise but appears as if the author simply gave up on it. This is one of those levels where Lara moves as if in molasses. Sounds are out of sync to the operations being performed and the music is on a continuous loop and starts to become annoying. Then there is no finish trigger which had me wandering about for a good 20 minutes trying to find anything I may have missed. Don't bother folks." - Torry

"I kinda don't understand why the author decided to release this level. Not to be harsh but in my opinion he should put more time into this instead of rushing. There are too many flaws. Wrong pitched sounds, lack of them, wrongly adjusted to the Lara and enemies, softlocks, no care about the details, rooms are very boxy, no finish trigger and etc.
I completely understand the author is a beginner but still he should put more effort into his first release. Only what I see is rush nothing else.
I really hope he'll put more effort into his next release. Not recommended." - Mahetus

"A very short level with few things to do. A timed run, shoot some enemies, a long swim to get a key, drag some blocks and a final monkeyswing to nowhere. Simple architecture, wrong sounds, very few pickups, not appropriate background music in the last area and not a finish trigger. Definitely nothing entertaining here." - Jose

"This isn't part of the One Room Challenge I'm currently going through and actually a late standalone meant for an earlier one. Since it was freed from time pressures that should mean that even if it's simple it should be pretty polished and free of notable issues, right? Not so much. Sounds are completely wrong so you get things like Tigers making Dog noises, and general strange or missing sounds, On top of little variety, there are texture issues everywhere including missing ones in notable locations, and no exit at all. Even beyond the overt flaws a lot of the walls are paper-thin or with no logic to the design (and not in an interesting abstract way) so the location has no believable design to it. The lighting is probably the strongest element, in that it's present with a little variety to the mood, even if it's still very basic. Lara's new animations are probably the standout element, and this is one of the first times I've seen a faster block-moving animation, but the most interesting new feature in a sprint jump isn't made use of at all. There's very little to the actual gameplay, and, as mentioned, there's no exit which had me confused for a bit. Since it didn't need to be rushed I'm not sure why there wasn't some basic fixing of obvious issues here, and it has very little to it as it is." - Mman

"A good (bad) example of a builder who probably started working on a level with passion and then quickly ran out of steam, but wanted to release it to the world anyway. The overall elements you get see are actually not too bad. The look and feel of the initial rooms kind of works. You get a short timed run, a very long swim for a key, a hint of a pushblock puzzle... but the more you move into the level, the more you find missing textures, there are sound bugs, there is no finish trigger and so you leave after about 8 minutes wondering why the builder even bothered to release this..." - MichaelP

"A draft of a level, uploaded without care and without testing. Maybe this had to be taken only like a showcase and not like an actual level, but then I think it could have been shown as a video on Youtube, simply, or through screenshots. The level has nearly no gameplay, consisting essentially in retrieving an underwater key back and forth, push away 3-4 movables and kill some enemies. The lack of a finish trigger will also make you lose some more minutes here at the end, because over than no finish there is also a platform area, suggesting that something has to be done there, but no. Visually we get missing textures, randomly textured ceilings, visible "out of the box" areas, highly cool animations by Joey's Aod Lara that really make a weird contrast with the rest of the level (looks like you get a Ferrari to move cement in a construction site), and messed up sounds. At least messed up sounds are generally funny. A suggestion: don't have this urgency to pubilsh a level if it's just a draft. Taking time to finish it and especially to make it test (and rework/fix what they suggest) is just better for you and for the players." - dinne

"Well, it's a debut level, so you pretty much know what to expect. There was one untextured spot amidst the pushblock sequence and not much else to do other than a timed run and a lenghty swim for a key. When it seems like it's going to open up into something other than a string of corridors, you're left with an unfinished area with a few pillars, or a monkeyswing, leading nowhere. 10 minutes. 04/21" - Treeble

"This one doesn't have the ORC21 identifier, so I assume it's not part of the recent competition. A good thing, too, as this is something that I might have done myself as a maiden effort. As such, it should never have been released (as I would not have). After an encouraging timed run to begin the level, the first clue that something is amiss was when I shot two tigers and they barked like dogs when they died. Right after that a crocodile gave a creditable ninja imitation, and after that we were off to the races that ended a minute or so later after picking up a meaningless artifact. At least the keyhole had a polished look. A block jumping exercise to nowhere follows, after which there's nothing more to do but hit ALT-F4." - Phil

"I downloaded this level without even noticing the rating. It has been a very nice surprise to see TR:AOD Lara and her moveset. The builder has some potential, too bad the level doesn't have any endgame trigger. The textures and animations were fine, but the ceiling was missing." - Fabio

"The sounds in this are messed up to such a degree that it's not even funny. Okay, maybe when you defeat the tiger-dogs and the crocodile who turns out to be a ninja in disguise. So, nothing good on the sound front. Ironically, the insane size of the download is due to the builder including an entire audio folder's worth of .WAV files (along with other superfluous stuff like the flep.exe and its dependencies), although only two or three of these are actually used. One is the TR4 boss fight track, which loops throughout the second half. The level file itself comes close to 30 MB in size; I have no idea why, since the level is barely even there. Not only is it exceedingly short, much of it is missing. Missing textures, missing faces in the room geometry, missing rooms; missing a purpose for the pillars in the final area. Missing a finish trigger. Since the builder doesn't have these basics covered, it's no use complaining about issues as advanced as boxy rooms, squashed textures etc.
Gameplay starts with an easily accomplished timed run; a bunch of spiders were presumably intended to make you bungle your first attempt, but you can simply run past them and inadvertently lock them in. You pick up a key at the end of a very long underwater passage, and of course you have to go back the exact way you came. You climb some blocks; you push some more. Then it's already on to the final area with an easily ignored gargoyle and nothing else to do. You can pick up a gold dragon. Or not.
I've heard people recommend to novice builders that they partake in an ORC or a 20 x 20 x 20 challenge, so as to learn how to be concise with your gameplay, avoid padding and backtracking, and construct efficient room geometry. I'm sure this works for some. It did not work for this builder. An inauspicious debut." - Mulf

"Gameplay gets a point for the inclusion of a lung busting swim;some token enemy placement,and an attempt at lighting,is meagrely rewarded likewise.The use of exciting fast-paced music for all the moments where nothing at all interesting was happening,though,was a surefire indication that the builder had quickly reached the end of his tether.With ten minutes of it starting,it was over and done with." - Orbit Dream

"I understand one-room challenges can be difficult to produce, but there were many flaws with this level. I'll say the main flaw was there was no 'end-game' trigger, so you just have to wonder around or quit the game. The gameplay had some highlights but it was not over-whelming in my opinion. The aesthetic of the level was good, with clean and crisp textures. I did really enjoy the look of some parts, even though the textures seemed to be arbitrarily placed in terms of country of origin and it's relevance. I've not played a TRLE that has incorporated TR:AoD's animations into the game. I've got to say, that I really had fun doing the sprint and jump instead of the traditional dive-and-roll. That was a nice touch and something that has kept my interest. The game was marginal at best. But I feel the author can make something even better and I look forward to seeing levels." - g12STL

"I am not quite sure why this author released this level at this unfinished state, he had plenty of time to polish it up and come back to the competition. I remember I read the author left because he had a crash in TE and lost motivation to continue, either way, review.
There barely is any gameplay, and what is here feels unfinished, there is a pushable block sequence which is utterly boring and unneeded, I for some reason had even problems underwater, which had me using DOZY to exit out of there.
Enemies there are some, yeah, but the objects are scattered around almost without a meaning, there was I think a secret? But it did not trigger and was in plain sight.
Atmosphere looked honestly a bit okay, but the wrong sounds really ended up bugging me, especially the pushable block sounds, which were so loud I had to lower down my headphones volume.
Lighting looked a bit promising, but the texturing ended up being a bit repetitive and some faces were even missing, which is actually really quickly fixable and again, I really wonder if the author did not wanted to do anything more with the level at all.
Very unfinished and fairly dread, but the author shows some promise with the lighting and overall atmosphere, sure would be interesting to see him in action again. I would not really recommend this one. Wolfy Regards." - Wolf7

"Well the only thing that shows some work is the lighting... but what is it worth in wallpapered, flat and uninspired areas and wrong sounds? Barely anything you could call gameplay, and even for the super short time I was annoyed by that running animation. After four minutes (if you ignore the enemies, two) you arrive in a pointless courtyard with a pointless jump sequence and no finish trigger, making this a pretty pointless level the builder had better kept on his hard drive." - manarch2

"A strange level that seems unfinished and btw there is no finish trigger, so the 7 minutes spent here seemed pointless. If the series of jumps was before taking the artefact and the level ended there after, that would have made more sense for the players. The lighting is worked on somehow but many texturing errors and many sounds are completly wrong. Aside from the series of jumps , some wild life to kill , a long swim and you have to strangely open the way to fight an hydra by pulling several pushing blocks." - eRIC

"This appears to be some sort of unfinished ORC project which (for reasons best known to himself) the builder elected to release as is, and unfortunately it doesn't really have a whole lot going for it in this state. The gameplay is incredibly meagre (the lengthy swimming exercise was an exercise in tedium and the pushblock sequence seemed entirely superfluous), the sounds are haywire, the object placement is all over the place, the textures are bland and there doesn't appear to be any discernible finish trigger. Not really worth bothering with, I'm afraid." - Ryan

"This level feels more like a test room and very unfinished with cube rooms, incorrect sounds, flat lighting, and no end trigger. This should've been dumped somewhere in HDD rather than releasing it. Hopefully, the author will release something decent next time." - Kubsy