Level reviews

"this is a very good own version of tr1 with the tr4 enginge, its a must play and way better than the original from 1996 in my opinion. 10/10" - Raider278

"I am overenthusiastic about this remake. Being an OG fan, I usually don't like TR1 remakes/reimaginations, but this one blew me away. It's the real thing with far better graphics and, as it progresses, with some twists. Unimportant stuff has been left out, a new level is added and recreated cinematics within the editor. It will replace TR1 on my drive. Great job. Thank you for this. Highly recommended to both TR1 fans and those who have never played it." - billie2001

"I love Tomb Raider 1 remakes & appreciate all the past builders who have created them. I agree with Phil's review - I found this to be a masterpiece. Thankyou" - AstroMike1

"I'd been looking forward to this adventure for years, and I must say I wasn't disappointed. Everything about this adventure is great, and the fact that the author created the TR1 cinematics with the editor is simply incredible. 8 hours of play to finish the adventure but so much more in reality and 8 hours of pure pleasure and with all the secrets, yeaaah. The adventure isn't that hard. It starts easily in Peru and ends a little hard in Atlantis, so even beginners will be able to play it. It was so cool to replay the first Tomb Raider with all the improvements the author managed to make, and even a new level with the motorcycle where Lara chases Natla. The mansion was great too, with a new exterior and lots of new rooms. I can only congratulate the author on this magnificent adventure." - Bigfoot

"Fun remake of TR1 with TR4 lighting and higher resolution graphics. More like 1.5 maybe with some places with anniversary style puzzles and mechanics in the mix. All the old sounds are there from the enemies as they were in TR1. Not the weapons sadly but that's just a personal pet peeve of mine. TR4 moves and ladders cut out some of the more tedious parts of TR1 speeding up the game somewhat, and even adding a bonus level in the middle for fun. Featured in this game are some very impressive remakes of TR1 cutscenes in engine of TR4, I was always playing and looking forward to the next one. Except for the one where lara climbs on the boat to go to the mines. Instead it's replaced by title screens describing what happened instead which took me out of the game a lot. I don't know if the builder couldn't make it work for that one or what but it was really jarring. In greece there is actual greek letters used for the gods names which I thought was funny them being finally fixed, and Pierre instead of doing his usual annoying attacks actually contributes to the story opening doors and dropping keys for you, and in Atlantis it had some of the grossest flesh walls I've ever seen, Lara's feet squish with every step, and the walls throb disgustingly well, It was so cool. The biggest negative I saw in this game would be the darkness. They give you lots of flares luckily but some areas you can't see without them it's so dark. It was really annoying. Also some of the enemies seemed to have trouble and were glitching out some making them trivial and non threatening the most being for the flying atlanteans but I hate them so it was sort of a blessing to me not to have to fear them. Overall a very great yet slightly flawed remake and nostalgic trip into the past worth your time." - Polar_Bear_Raider

"This is another full remake of Tomb Raider 1 like Sabatu's recent take on it. This is far more faithful, with a lot being near-identical in overall structure but with more visual effects and less cubic geometry. It makes use of the TR4 engine features, and the additions are mostly pretty tasteful while still enhancing things. Objects are also used well to recreate and build on most things from TR1, as well as add to the visual design, especially some of the more ambitious additions like in Atlantis. There's some quite interesting textures choices that are well executed; for instance, the first half of the Greece section now mostly uses Catacomb textures as it's basis, and it pulls that off well.
While the overall layouts are very similar there are some additions and general edits to make things a little more elaborate without feeling out of place in design or difficulty. Later game additions like Ropes, Crawling and Jumpswitches show up in a way that feels natural and fits in, along with a couple of new puzzles. The only major change is making the bike ride after Egypt actually playable, which is a nice touch. There are also some nice small improvements, like new shortcuts for a couple of potentially long backtracks, and things like converting all three Lead Bars to gold in one go rather than having to do it three times. Combat is actually a little easier if anything, as a lot of the more brutal ambushes have been cut down, although there are a few surprises like the T-Rex being seemingly unkillable. A couple of enemies have some weird issues, like the Gorillas being mostly bulletproof in a way that's obviously a technical issue, although this is at least averted by the Magnum (which gets a great upgrade/diversification into a Desert-Eagle/Revolver type gun that was possibly my favourite weapon to use) which seems to ignore this issue, however, as, like the original, the Magnum is only available in a secret before the end of Greece, the way around the issue is potentially missable. Enemy AI can be a little off too, which results in some oddness with their attacks and aggression, for instance, the Torso boss at the end is near harmless because it seems to have way more trouble navigating the ledge and can't seem to corner you properly. One or two additions also felt underused in a way that made them feel unnecessary; you find a couple of small Spiders in a secret in City of Vilcabamba, but then you never encounter them again despite webs showing up sometimes, which made me wonder why they were even included (or not added in a few other places).
The secrets are nicely done; they're generally in similar places (and the only one I missed is in the new Bike level), but the simpler ones are generally made slightly more elaborate or given a slight twist to require some more observation. Cutscenes are redone as in-game animations; it generally works, although some are a lot simpler or truncated, and with the Bike level addition a couple more playable cutscene action segments would have been nice. The one conspicuous cut is Natla seemingly not showing up at all in the final level. There are probably some more visually/geometrically faithful remakes out there, and something like Sabatu's TR1 is there for a far more ambitious, complex and difficult reimagining, but this is probably the best middle ground I've played between keeping to the original structure while giving it some additions that don't dilute the base design at all. It's worth playing for people both familiar and unfamiliar with the original, although it there isn't much especially surprising for anyone who has already played TR1 a ton." - Mman

"Another rendition of the TR1 game, the first world is still a bit boring, but farther on the builder introduced some new ideas here and there , there is even a new level which was a great idea, the visuals also improve , the best were the Egyptian and the Atlantean levels. Good attention to detail like for instance the architectural objects. The number of enemies is reasonable." - eRIC

"Improved graphics, improved movements and same (mostly) great gameplay compared to the original. A very nice (long) walk down memory lane." - Adrian

"This is definitely an astounding tribute to the original game, that manages to strike the correct balance between familiar nostalgia and making it something completely new. The sheer magnitude of construction is staggering (aside from a few cave areas near the start being a bit dull texture-wise) and the gameplay is pure, unbridled enjoyment from start to finish. Lara gets to pit her wits against some fascinating puzzles (as well as utilising her "new" movements) and there's plenty of combat from some familiar (un?) welcome foes. A truly brilliant experience throughout, highly recommended." - Ryan

"This is truly a replacement game, spanning 16 levels (not counting the optional house level) that pay homage to the original TR1 release while making no effort to mimic that epic milestone. I spent over 15 hours here, roughly one hour per level, while writing a walkthrough that covers 40 pages of text (not sure if that's a personal record, but if not it undoubtedly comes close). I was tempted to dock the builder one point in the lighting category because of the pervasive darkness that permeates most of the levels, but the excellence of the concluding segments caused me to reconsider. Basically, what we have here is a production that meets my standards for a 4-10 review: (1) would I pay for it and (2) would I play it again. It's purely delightful from start to finish, with many innovative touches not seen in the original, but it's never too difficult to spoil the fun. The gameplay is intricately laid out and must have required much advance planning, and I was particularly impressed with how the action progressed from Tomb of Tihocan until the end. Projects such as this one go far to explain how the allure of Tomb Raider has endured for nearly a quarter of a century yet continues to provide top-notch entertainment. Highest recommendations." - Phil

"Great reimagining! I can't say that there are many changes in the game. At least for me, because I don't remember TP 1 well enough to go into small details. Nice textures, lighting. Special thanks for the opportunity to ride a motorcycle. Cutscenes on the game engine are pleasing to the eye. Separately, I would like to highlight the level of Atlantis. It's so cool and atmospheric! In the original game, it blows the mind, but here it is pure madhouse! It is even surprising that Lara, seeing this, remains calm. The end, however, was a little disappointing. But this is nothing. Thank you, I had a great time spending 7 hours on the walkthrough!" - ddaring_dash

"Extensive Tomb Raider I remake. I never played the original (technical reasons), only TR2-5 and many custom levels. I can say I liked this set of levels. The description on the trle.net level information page is on point.

GAMEPLAY: It's oddly linear at first, like the gameplay could have been more elaborate. But gets much better later. I superficially looked at a walk through video of Tomb Raider I: this remake seems to add new elements rather than removing anything. It makes use of TR4 and TRLE customization like new moves.

VISUALS: Modern TR4-like look. It neither tries to imitate the pixelated low-res look of DOS Tomb Raider I, nor does it look overly modern and fancy like some contemporary custom levels. The first level will give you a good idea.

AUDIENCE: If you haven't played TR1, and want a very long adventure, that isn't too easy or too hard, this is your level. Other reviews say that fans of TR1 will enjoy this as well.

BUGS:

• There's a push puzzle in the Tomb of Tihocan level. You have to move 3 pieces or posts to the correct squares to get a key you need. I solved it correctly, but it didn't give me the key. This seemed unrecoverable. When I started from an earlier savegame and followed the video WT exactly, it worked.
• In a later level, there are climbable platforms, which I consistently couldn't climb at first. It turned out that I jumped in a specific way that normally works in similar situations, just not here. Very puzzling.
• Some levers need to be used twice to open a door. (You probably know this issue from some other custom levels.)

OTHER COMMENTS:

• Lara's Home was not very good unfortunately. Too standard, not interesting enough. But it's optional.
• I liked the cistern levels the most.
• Some of the enemies are relatively tough. Being careful ammo and medipacks is a good idea.
• Be careful with the timed gameplay at the end of the level with the bike.
• 9 hours of play time on the statistics screen for me (excluding reloads and replayed parts).

" - tuxraider

"Yes, this was long, and took me apparently a little over 11 hours of gameplay, which is, of course, more. I also found 31 out of a huge amount of 50 secrets, which isn't too bad for my average - secret finding is important here. I guess this is what TR1 could have been, had it been much better than it was. Most of the game isn't overly complicated, but I confess I took several looks at the walkthrough as the game came to a close, namely in The Great Pyramid, when things become somewhat faster in ways. The Atlanteans are defeatable and don't come in hordes, the traps aren't really too deadly, and most of the paths are imaginative, but not the kind to leave the player in a state of uncontrolled nervousness, all contributing to a very pleasant experience. The lighting and the general atmosphere are top notch, and I enjoyed the cut scenes in between. I really liked how balanced it all was. Absolutely recommended." - Jorge22

"There have been a great many custom remakes of the original games over the years but most fall short of fulfilling their brief of producing an enhanced version of the old classics. Either the author failed to complete the project or they added too many of their own ideas and ended up making something completely different. After a twenty-year gap I replayed the originals last year, but failed to get TR1 to install properly, so I was looking for something just like Redux to complete the set. This remake does just that - it gives you TR1, and only TR1 - but with updated textures, objects, lighting and gameplay elements: for example, you can expect to come across a few jump switches, shimmy cracks and crawl spaces. These do actually enhance the original gameplay without feeling like intruders. The original audio is used throughout (with some additional tracks here and there from later games) and the cutscenes are updated and greatly improved with in-game high-poly objects rather than the outdated FMV of the original.
Not everything was improved with this remake: The lighting tended towards flat, grey and dark, and with the naturally darker levels it was sometimes hard to make out features. Rendering green also seemed to be a problem in Redux. I remember in the original Caves and Cistern how the verdant foliage stood out sharply from the grey walls and grey rocks - not here, it all just appeared grey. In short: Caves, City of Vilcabamba, Cistern and Tomb of Tihocan all looked too drab. On the other hand, the brighter levels - like Palace Midas, all of the Egyptian levels, and Atlantis were rendered beautifully: City of Khamoon was a highlight in the entire set and it looked superb in its fancy new clothes.
I have only one issue with the gameplay: the final boss fight was made too easy because the baddy would get stuck in the corners of the arena. Looks like some grey boxes were inadvertently removed. These would have kept the baddy away from the edges. But, hey, it's not a biggie, I didn't play this for the boss fight.
Overall, Tomb Raider Redux was great fun to play, and a reminder that the original Tomb Raider was a masterpiece and a very atmospheric game - and considerably more complex than I had later come to believe.
" - Dick

"Something between a remake and a demake. While Sabatu's edit is best to play after the original TR1, this one here could be played instead of TR1. Nothing was seriously broken, most of things work fine, and some work even better. Also the difficulty seems to be set for everyone. Good work." - DJ Full

"It's hard to tell who will enjoy this game more - The players who remember the original or the ones who don't. For those that don't remember it, the review is simple - Play this masterpiece! End of story. Now for those who will play it with the full knowledge of its ugly older brother - it's a brilliant recreation with the builder's perfect sense about which parts to tweak. More elaborate "God rooms" of St. Francis to adjust to the non-beginner game? Check. Non-empty Colosseum? Check. Non-tedious Tihocan and Natla's Mines? Check. Non-exploitable Obelisk? Check. And it's just the tip of the iceberg. The visuals? Amazing. Egypt that finally looks like Egypt and so on. Now, the cons...Well, some minor issues like some inconsistency with the secrets, both with difficulty and triggering points. When I say "difficulty", I mean this: In the original game, some secrets were cleverly hidden behind a movable block that looks the same as the surrounding walls. This time, the block obviously sticks out and it really kills the essence of the original secret. Also, some secrets consist just of a weapon that you most likely already have, so you get practically nothing of it because it doesn't increase your ammo and there are no additional items. And probably my biggest "No!" thing: Using the engine flaws in a gameplay context. Imagine the underwater lever on dry ground literally in front of Lara's face. Why can't you use it? Because Lara lacks such animation, so you have to flood the room just to match the game engine. Also from the same category, the inability to enter a pretty wide crawlspace just because it has the exact height that Lara lacks animation for. I notice that a lot of builders started doing such things, so please stop. That and a few more minor details like the anti-climatic Natla-less ending resulted in 39/40. Other than that, well you already got the point. Play it!" - Tolle87