Level reviews

"You really have to consider all the enormous work and effort this extraordinary developer has put into delighting players with this exceptional work. I take my hat off to him. On the other hand, I think the BtB2024 voters simply looked at the magnificent architecture and the sheer number of hours spent completing the level(s), without thinking about the gameplay. Personally, this level(s) were quite frustrating, with a lot of backtracking and sometimes a lot of reloading to do the main tasks. In the last part with the floating islands, I suffered a very serious bug and couldn't kill any enemies, not even the small scorpions but any enemie, so I decided to quit and throw the level into the recycle bin. Regarding the return to "Back to Basics," I don't understand why they don't go back to the old authored levels that used the old editor, yet now they use new engines to create levels with all kinds of new movements and special features that have nothing to do with the classic levels. It's a shame. I recognize that shabaobab is one of the best builders in the history of TR custom levels, but this time he's disappointed me with overly convoluted gameplay. This is just my opinion, of course." - Jose

"Challenging but tackable because of space not being wasted, enough focus and hints given, and a method to pass the traps always existing. Go marvel both at how it resolves, and how beautiful and comfy it stays. All is here but a wild baobab. What can I slander it for? Maybe element density. But it is automatic when you respect space used. Otherwise I won't be surprised if it wins the competition. Veni, vidi, wadi." - DJ Full

"Another very long BtB adventure, which actually could have been two or even three entries. And it is a complex raid to master, despite some nice hints given along the way, as the areas are large in size overall and have many little nooks and crannies to explore with often sneakily hidden switches and crawlspaces. But it is also an amazingly clever one, where often you need to open up a different or alternative path than the more obvious, but blocked one. It also has many puzzles to solve, including rotation of objects, symbol hints to decipher, pushables to put in their rightful place and much more. There is a torch puzzle with a fun path to navigate around a Lake with the torch in hand too, which I liked a lot. I struggled quite a bit with a timed run in the first level, but the builder added time to it since, so it should be more achievable now. The whole Sacred Lake area is really very immersive and enjoyable to play, but you need a keen eye to spot the many things our Lara has to do here in her quest for three Scarabs, where each Scarab has its own fun puzzle area to master and there are timed runs, jump sequences, multi lever puzzles, target shooting, spike gauntlets and much more. I particularly liked the smeltering facility for its somehwat different atmosphere. And then, when you think it is all said and done you are presented with another final part that adds new moves to Lara and you will need to use them to make it through to the finish trigger. I am in two minds about this section: It is highly creative and innovative and impeccably designed, but personally I found it rather over the top after having gone through a 3 hour raid already and then with a very repetitive amount of tasks to accomplish and a fairly tricky final boss room. Less would have been so much more here for me, but overall you cannot ignore the magic created by this builder and marvel at how this is all even possible. One for those out there who do not shy away from a challenge. (Behind the Falls... 60 min, 3/4 secrets; Before the Falls... 30 min, 2/3 secrets; The Sacred Lake... 95 min, 3/4 secrets; Finale... 25 min - Total: 210 min, 8/11 Secrets)." - MichaelP

"Another incredible custom level made by Shabaobab. With some of the most unique and iconic level design, tough, yet perfectly balanced gameplay and stunning visuals, this level truly deserves to be the winner of the competition. Congratulations! :)" - Nickelony

"Lara’s off to the famous waterfalls of Wadi El-Rayan to explore a newly-surfaced cave. Although based on the size of the Wikipedia article, the waterfalls aren’t *too* famous. It also offers no insight into what Lara might find in the cave, but I suppose they haven’t had time to update the article yet. Soon it’ll be filled with information about all of the traps, platforming and disembodied voices one might find there. And I assume switches will get their own section. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This is a very compact level. Every square inch is always filled with something to do. There are traps and puzzles and platforming, and lots and lots of doors and levers. There are always so many things to do, it’s honestly kind of exhausting. Everything’s just. So. Much. Effort. Here’s an example: halfway through the level, you climb to the top of a structure where there’s a zip line which leads to a door. Before you can open the door, you first have to jump over to a another structure to pick up a laser sight, shoot a target above the door to open it, jump down to a lower ledge to pull another switch to trigger some spikes in front of the zip line, then jump down to the ground and climb back up. Only then can you use the zip line and go through the door. And that might sound fine in a vacuum, but the whole level is like that. It’s like the author crammed as much gameplay into the level as possible to make it longer, but my net gaming time was two hours, so it was hardly necessary. After being at work all day, this level almost felt like working a second job. It’s fine to let things breathe sometimes. Worse, it feels very artificial sometimes. There are too many doors and switches and rising blocks everywhere. A lot of times, when the author couldn’t think of another way to block your progress, they just used spikes that you have to trigger before you can interact with whatever switch or key they’re underneath. I don’t know, man. Sometimes I just want to pull a switch to open a door. Not pull a switch, do a timed run, do some platforming, dodge some traps, push blocks around for five minutes and then do some more platforming before finally reaching a second switch that opens the door. I’m too old for this. Of course, what saves the level is that most of what you’re doing – all this exhausting busywork – is actually fun (well, maybe not that push-block puzzle). There’s a lot of variety, with a lot of traps and clever platforming. There are also some puzzles to break things up. This is yet another BtB 2024 level with a hint system. Naturally I checked it out, for *cough* research, and I thought the hints ranged from basically giving you the solution to being alliterated nonsense. It’s a fun level overall, as long as you have the stamina for it. As much as I complained about the level-to-gameplay ratio, it’s all very intricately built and the author is clearly talented. There have been other levels in this competition where I’d enter a large room, do one thing and leave to never come back. In this level, when you enter a large room, you know you have your work cut out for you. Can it be a bit much? Yes, absolutely. But it’s often fun, usually well-designed and sometimes very impressive. Initially, I wasn’t too impressed by the way the level looked. The opening areas feel cramped and they don’t really stand out. The author seemingly found their groove after that, though, and every area after that looks a lot nicer. You get a lot of temples and an outside area that serves as a hub. Towards the end, Lara goes through a portal and reaches an area made up of islands floating in space. At this point, she gains a couple of new abilities which mix things up nicely for the finale. The level ends with a boss fight where the boss mostly left me alone. It’s a credit to the author’s talent that it somehow still felt very intense despite this. Anyway, I think I need a nap now." - Magnus

"What I liked about the level: 1) Not a bad thing but thought to mention that the skeleton fell into the water. 2) SO happy to accidentally discover you can shoot the skeletons with pistols and they explode! Loved it! 3) Loved using slopes to jump to higher ledges. 4) Nice spike traps with slopes and horizontal bars to climb higher. 5) I like the floating rocks around the special objects. 6) Not usually fond of boss fights but this one was super fun and doable. What I didn’t like or thought could be improved: 1) Just a small thing but would prefer camera shots on doors not to follow them as they move up or down. 2) The fixed camera blocking the view ruined the sloped block horizontal pole sequence (even if you can press look to escape it). 3) Underwater lever puzzle appeared solvable only by trial and error. 4) Not fond of underwater circular blades. Mostly frustration rather than challenging. 5) Experienced noticeable lagging in Level 3. 6) Timed run to the jumpswitch as the objective was not apparent. Conclusion: I am very grateful for Phil’s written walkthrough to get me through the level. I could not have gotten through it without it. Given this dependency, using a walkthrough may not appeal to many players. The best gameplay was within the final level with new abilities and no weapons in my opinion could have been used in all the levels to make it much more enjoyable and innovative. Due to some tricky jumping and timed runs, not suitable for beginner players." - Lizard Queen

"This is mostly set in ruins built into caverns. Most of the design here is on a relatively small scale (although the hub in the later part is pretty large), but the thing that makes it is the intricacy; everything is heavily interlinked and you can frequently see into other areas, the geometry is the also interesting, with lots of organic angles and shapes that give a slightly surreal style. The lighting and texturing is also excellent with great use of both to make things interesting and give it a style of it's own. It kind of reminds me of how eRIC's releases were designed (someone who isn't in this contest so nothing spoiled there...). Object use is great throughout with it adding a lot to the detail and plenty of creative uses to add to the unique style here.
This is four levels of varying length (with the first and third being the largest), although the third is made of several levels, and seemingly another that is split for technical reasons. While the level design is quite complex and intricate there are very consistent camera hints and a hint system for puzzles that generally keeps a decent flow going, and there are things to do everywhere, with areas frequently opening up in ways that you only fully grasp when the puzzles fully come together. It also keeps a nice difficulty curve with gradually more complex tasks as you go, and then the final level throws a curveball with some completely new mechanics added; there's a bit of a learning curve to them but they work well, and it adds something I've always been curious to see done in TR4 level. As well as exploring there are also plenty of traps and timed sequences too, but they are generally decently forgiving if you've opened the way to the target. This kept me engaged the whole time and it threw in frequent surprises and new things when I thought it had shown me everything it could. The only real issue I had that I wish the final boss had a way to remove fire if you were caught alight; other levels have done it this BTB and there was a good reason it could have been a thing there, so it was one pointless frustration here. The secrets were fine but they did seem slightly less creative given everything else. A very unique and perfectly executed style on top of excellent and creative gameplay and design; I think I might have accidentally saved the best until last." - Mman

"I'll start with the easy part, the visuals. The builder did an excellent job, texturing/lighting/contrast are all top notch, even above 10. The design is also amazing, but did I find it player-friendly? Not so much. Despite the many hints (I took them all), I felt confused several times, especially in the bigger area, but I managed to solve it by myself up to the very last area. After solving it though, it makes perfect sense and it is admirable how the whole thing was set up. I also appreciated a lot those timed runs, maybe because they were well set up and within my skillset. lol. Many great puzzles too. And now comes the last part with the new moves/abilities. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two areas, but I found the final boss area too stressful for me to enjoy. It even gave me sweaty hands! So I resorted to the WT when I didn't have fun anymore. Grinds aside, this is an excellent game which I very heartily recommend to experienced players." - billie2001

"Thank you for this game! Congratulations on managing such an achievement. Visually, I'd say this is an excellent game, with little to say of it and no lagging (on my laptop). Rich colors, great texturing, great lighting, and appropriate visual hints. The gameplay itself was convoluted most of the time, and even the hint system didn't help a lot. It was actually pretty essential (as in needed to avoid guess-work) in some points, and almost indifferent in others. I felt I had to remember too many nooks, too many levers, too many holes to fill, so it was hard to manage. Most secrets were easier to come by than some actual main paths, which is unbalanced. Above all: this took me a long, long time to finish, which is outside of the scope of a BtB. Of course, this is all very minor, and this is an excellent level that can be played by all players with a little experience. Definitely recommended!" - MigMarado

"We're truly being spoiled by a lot of fantastic games this time, and this one is one of the best of the competition. Perhaps more classic gameplay (for most of the time at least) but very fluently and strongly designed, complex puzzles, some involving double-usage of levers, very nice exploration and platforming of beautiful areas, quirkily used traps - a really fun affair. No real need to talk about visuals, they're almost faultlessly applied and a feast for the eyes. And when you think it all comes down to a standard finale you need to think again and it ends in a adrenalin rush including new moves and with a lot of creatively used enemies. If to complain about anything, then the gameplay is a bit cryptic at times despite the adventurer's hints and does not reach the creativity of some other levels, as well as the secrets being fairly easy to find and many in the same way, but those are minor sidemarks in a nearly perfect adventure that took me 1:40 hours to complete. If I had to decide the winner, it would be somewhere between this and Peak Pyramid - we'll see..." - manarch2

"This is an amazing level, but if you’re expecting to get through it in an hour or so think again! It’s quite complex and involves some marvellous puzzles/timed runs etc., but the difficulty for me was figuring out where to go and what to do at times. It really is beautifully crafted and immensely enjoyable, but you’ll need to be patient. It’s most definitely is worth the effort though, especially with Lara’s enhanced powers at the end." - Jay

"A long and technically advanced level, but not very player-friendly - most levels were quite confusing and rather exhausting to play. Had to repeat a difficult timed run in level 3 because I was being misdirected to the wrong switch by the layout." - Dick

"Wrapping up my BtB-Egypt run with this is a bit of a bittersweet feeling. The entire collection has been amazing, congratulations to everyone involved, but this one in particular (not unlike a couple of others) draws out for too long. It's amazing through and through, don't worry, you have incredible vistas here, lighting and texturing make for very lively environments which also tend to be rather unique as the author sure went the extra length to have as many triangular/diagonal walls and ledges all around. Couple that with clever use of objects and nicely laid out puzzles (for instance, what would be an otherwise pushblock puzzle has been changed into a "rotating" block puzzle instead). There's a lot (a lot) of platforming and exploring to be done, levers and objects of interest you see will often force you to go the long way around until getting to them, but fortunately there are shortcuts for your way back so you don't have a lot of pointless padding in the form of backtracking. The levels flow rather well, your next step might not be always obvious at a first glance and as you roam around you'll notice you might have more than one option at a time (which was particularly aggravating in the third level, where I never really felt like I was making any progress until much later on), but ultimately at some point I just wanted to move on to the next thing so I powered through to the end — the final level in particular was very fun, frustrating at times (I spartan-kicked the Lara doubles too often), but an unexpected twist only surpassed by the guardian boss fight. Not my favorite entry in this year's competition, but undoubtedly this will be among the top contenders. 2h40min, 9 secrets. 08/24" - Treeble

"This level set is a surefire contender for winning the BtB 2024 competition. Since it pushes for perfection in almost every category, I could save myself another review: you will probably want to play this! But of course there is no such thing as a perfect level. And part of what makes this one excellent is that it pretty much succeeds in balancing all it’s gameplay ideas and thereby carries the builder‘s quite ideosyncratic style to maturation. Right from the start, you‘ll notice the excellent sound design and effects such as the swirling of dirt. The environment sounds and looks alive (and the sound of the fly was surely made by a human, lol)! No gradual start, no wasted space; we begin with a true trapfest (as in "entrapment", lool)! For the last "puzzle" of the first map, you should read the guidance message. (The text disappeared too quickly, though, and the font is hard to read. Also, is it necessary that Lara can't move while the text is displayed?) The waterfall room that comes next is another showcase of unabashed building talent. The waterfalls are a little too thick to see through, though, and make the timed run harder than it needs to be (but of course they’re from the package). All the maps manage to concentrate a ridiculous amount of gameplay in a relatively small space, where traversal becomes the integral element. Despite the crammed space, the open/non-linear area organically hides some additional challange tombs that are a pure joy to discover. At this point, however, I ran into what may constitute a major gameplay issue: As it went in my playthrough, the challange areas appeared to be completely OPTIONAL. I was able to go all the way to the end without finding (or placing) even one scarab. And when I placed them, nothing happened! If that was intentional, I would have at least expected a reward. Anyway, I was motivated enough to reload and get the scarabs on my own accord, so it’s fiiiine…! Once you enter the dream/rift world, you’ve entered the builders personal amusement/torture park and are doomed to exuberant platforming fun with extra moves – who doesn’t enjoy that? (I personally think the dream world platform hopping minigame-type final area is a little played out, but when it’s executed so skilfully, I have no complaints.) Conclusion: An exhibition of TRLE-mastery, imo an instant classic of the present era. * Duration: long (3-4 h) Difficulty: medium Rating: 9.5 / 10 / 10 / 9.5" - evinaru_2

"This has been an absolutely amazing competition so far, and I'm sadly approaching the tail end of it (4 levels left to review now). It's definitely allowed the builders to let their creativity and ambition run wild, as is evidenced by this three-hour entry. It oozes perfection and professionalism throughout, undoubtedly by one of our premier builders. It nicely tells a coherent story, which is tied up very neatly after the dragon is defeated at the end. The visuals are impressive and striking, the atmosphere is gorgeous and the gameplay engaging from beginning to end. There's plenty of variation, including block puzzles, timed sequences, flipmap puzzles and acrobatics, plus some ingenious twists including Lara's "strengthened" moves in the final section, which I won't spoil here. The secrets are nicely hidden too. It's undoubtedly on the challenging side, and just maybe the timed sequences could have been a little less tight. But apart from that, I have nothing to criticise. An outstanding raid that the builder should be proud of." - Ryan

"Well, nearly a full month into the competition I've managed to play a grand total of two entries. But in self defense, I must say that El-Wadi is one marathon of a game that took me more than five net gaming hours to complete while I was writing a walkthrough along the way. Two of the four sections would easily qualify as stand-alone levels. The last one is a trapped-filled romp that took a lot longer to describe in words than it took for me to play, and it serves as a nice dessert to the main course. Gameplay is quite counterintuitive in places, and I'm glad that LoreRaider's video walk was available to get me through the rough spots. The only sequence that I feel was unfair to the player is that swingpole exercise near the end of the first level. It's quite difficult enough in its own right without being timed to boot, and in my view this merits deduction of one point in the gameplay category. If the builder is amenable to a revision, I would recommend taking out the timer completely. Otherwise, everything here approaches perfection, both visually and in its overall conception and layout. Congratulations to the builder for this outstanding release." - Phil

"A level that impresses in all areas. In my opinion every room and every area is very carefully designed, the tasks are varied and sometimes challenging, the lighting is very good and the background music is well chosen. What I liked best was the large outdoor area with all the tasks that had to be completed there, although there was an extra challenge in the final area with the bossfight. Here Lara has special abilities that she has to use to win the final battle. The action with the shooting balls is very well done. I've never played that before. All in all, an excellently designed level that I can only recommend." - nad

"Excellent level featuring plenty of visually stunning locations to explore and great gameplay. There are lots of entertaining and creative platforming challenges and all kinds of puzzles to solve. Double jump ability in the last level was also a really cool since it completely changes the way you approach each jumping task. It is very hard to find anything to criticize although I felt few times that the progression was maybe slightly too slow in some areas due to large number of jumps to perform, switches to activate, etc. This is, however, me nitpicking and overall, it is a really amazing level. Having played 15 levels in the competition, this is definitely among the best ones in my opinion." - Samu

"Bugs/Functional Issues

• There is a softlock if Lara drops into a chasm with an anubis after she has already pushed a block out of there. (But why would a player do that anyway? Don't look at me...)

Liked

• I am a sucker for puzzles an this adventure has a lot of them. Pushing or rotating objects into their proper places, sequence switches...even the levels themselves can act as puzzles when Lara needs to figure out the right order to toggle doors open and closed.
• Plenty of timed runs and traps will test Lara's skills and makes for an enjoyable challenge.
• This set of levels gives things a nice change of pace at the end when Lara gains a double jump and an insta-kill attack.
• The visuals give a beautiful array of different environments, from temples to sunken outdoor areas, with a nice variety in lighting.

Time: 2 hours 52 minutes | Difficulty: Hard | Rating: 10/10 - Outstanding" - JesseG

"This a really well crafted and beautiful release with some stunning vistas and wonderful locations. Honestly can't fault it for that! Which is why it is a real shame I did not really vibe with the gameplay at all. I feel the main problem was the length, it had really outstayed its welcome by the end. 1st Level was a bit too back n forth for my liking. 2nd Level I liked and was relatively short. 3rd level was interesting but was just way too long and the irritation was setting in by the end of it, which probably spoiled the 4th level and its implementation of new moves for me. Could have lost a level or 2 and it probably would have been fine with me. But the amount of work put into the release was incredible and can really appreciate the stunning visuals, can see how a lot of people might like this one. Would recommend for the visuals, gameplay not so much." - Feats

"Not adhering to the duration of 'about 1 hour' suggestion (took me 5.5 hrs)...but I'm not complaining. This was my first BtB level this year and what quality. Fantastic WAD (textures & objects) from the organisers and well used here in a multi-multi-level set. Huge, very picturesque & atmospheric areas allowing great gameplay. Not many enemies, more focus on exploration and puzzles which I liked. Found all 11 secrets. If I had to nit-pick, it was hard to see through the many waterfalls, but I can't really fault it. Excellent work. Could be a winner...but 15 more efforts to check out." - Adrian

"Very well crafted level with beautiful surroundings and clever gameplay ideas. It was very engaging since the very beginning till the very end. I really liked the last level with the new moves, particularly the double jump. Very fresh and original idea. Visuals are top-notch and the atmosphere is amazing. Nothing really to complain about. All in all, I highly recommend this awesome level." - BlackWolfTR