Level reviews

"This level has two features that probably puts me off the most in custom levels, namely death triggers with no hints, and irreversible timed runs. Right in the beginning we have four buttons where three of them kills you, and there are no hints to discern which one is safe. Towards the end we have to pick the correct one out of four artefacts, again no hints to figure it out. I really don't understand what the fun in this design is (same stuff with unmarked death tiles). It doesn't involve any challenge, you just reload and redo until you get the correct one. There's a very tight timed run which you only get one shot. While it is good to save in different slots in custom levels for this exact reason, you shouldn't have to. I could have used one save slot and doomed my progress there if I saved after pushing the button. What I prefer to see in levels is having the possibility to survive the adventure in your first try, if you play extra careful/smart. It can be difficult to do, but I think you should have the chance without random trial and errors. With this level it is impossible unless you were just extremely lucky. What I liked here was the final escape sequence. That was pretty well made." - Nomad

"This was a bit of a shame really. Unlike other reviewers, the wraiths didn't pose too much of a problem for me (the first one slowly disappeared on its own and the other two were near the end anyway), nor did the lone skeleton, which was easily avoidable. The Catacomb surroundings were solidly put together and eye-pleasing with some effective camera angles. What put a downer on my experience was the unfairly devious gameplay. The timed runs were far too tightly timed (and cannot be reset without reloading), the rope swing at the beginning proved too tricky and I only made it by bypassing one rope and flinging Lara onto the ledge from the first one. The earthquake near the end was also irritating as always, despite the end sequence being extremely effective." - Ryan

"I replayed this level already old and I found it excellent. Fairly short but pleasant to play, with a delicate end to negotiate, and 2 burning ghosts chasing us." - Drakan

"Rather shoert and straightforward TRLE with several but not original puzzles to do. Nevertheless it manages to entertain the raider for fifteen minutes. It was a pitty the lever of the timed door near the end does not reset itself. Recommended for beginners or nostalgic raiders!" - Gonxii

"Other reviewers have covered my major points, so I won't elaborate on them here. I saw that closed door you swim to through a hole in the corner of the pool room near the end, but I didn't notice the gem receptacle beside it and would have forgotten all about it had it not been mentioned in the walkthrough. It just leads to a secret and a medipack, but until then I was wondering what to do with the gem I'd been carrying. The builder really should have provided a bird statue somewhere to deal with those wraiths (but maybe he did, and no one found it). And I can't think of a more sacred taboo than throwing in a timed run (two back to back in this case) that doesn't reset so that you can try again. Still, the lighting is good and the surroundings are pleasant in this short adventure that ended for me in just under 30 minutes. Play it when you have some time to kill." - Phil

"This is a serviceable catacomb style setting, quite nicely done with a good atmosphere. The gameplay is reasonably well balanced, with a push puzzle (for once, a fixed camera angle that worked well rather than merely annoyed), some rope work, swimming, traps and timed elements. The downside for me was the lack of ability to get rid of enemies - no shotgun or explosives for the skeleton and seemingly no way of dealing with wraiths, which rapidly became a real nuisance. The spike/boulder/rope sequence at the end is most enjoyable, but would have been more so without the accompanying earthquake. It's a shame to feel that this could have been so much better with just a few adjustments on the part of the builder." - Jay

"The game started interesting, except for the unmarked spiked traps under the buttons. Later, in the pool room with multiple ledges and till the end of the game the gameplay was really bad: the buttons can't be reset to repeat the timed runs, there's not a way to get rid of the nasty ghost, the jump from the bottom of the long slide to reach the rope it's almost impossible to do 'cause the nasty spiked ball... There is a good design and the texturization is acceptable. The best were the cameras and the good atmosphere, but I can't recommend this level." - Jose

"This and recently played Mask of Enoemos are like inverted versions of each other. While in the former one a boxy central hall joins nice corridors spreading out of it, here we have a great hub structure linking to flat and underdone side corridors, though there are certain nice viewspots in them, like the rope swing hall or the knot pickup room. Much of disharmony comes from the lack of quality in texturing which doesn't correspond to plainly fine object filling. The author uses few classic puzzles and lots of shatters, I didn't even try to count them because why would I. Didn't like the wraiths chasing me all over the second half of the level... and one does not simply build a single-shot timed run, but I loved the final destruction and trap sequence instead. SUMMARY: Interesting. Likely confusing at the timed run - save before." - DJ Full

"Once again the author offers a tower and once again he offers a couple of puzzles where you have to use trial and error to succeed (I hate those!). Only this level is better than his first one even though it doesn't offer anything we haven't seen before (judging from the level's release-date I guess that's normal). I don't understand what readme-file Michael was talking about I didn't get one when I downloaded the level. Well I guess it doesn't matter since I got through the timed run without any trouble. The level isn't very hard and the enemies are easy to avoid but what really stood out was the ending. Sure it's not the only level with an ending like that but it was quite fun nevertheless. The level can be completed in about 15 minutes (don't listen to Torry) and it's worth downloading. Especially if you like booby-traps." - Magnus

"Holy Cow! what a level. Tight compact well organized series of death traps! I'd advise saving a lot during the level especially at the booby trapped switches. I don't know about anyone else but I couldn't get rid of a wraith that followed me relentlessly through the second part of the level. The last gauntlet is a WOW sure to make the hair stand on your head. It's just a pity Lara didn't 'steal' anything to run away with then it would seem like a 'hah hah catch me if you can' ending. Oh wait a minute I had a gem don't know what it was used for though. I did like that overhead camera in the pushable objects room and the flybys lighting and textures are very good." - CC

"This is a good level. Although I was very annoyed at some places - cause I didn't find the small crucifix against the wraiths and I had to run away from them. In addition pushing certain switches is dangerous and in the end you can't get all the 4 goodies without taking 3 Large Medipacks. :-) There's a timed run in the room with water. In the underwater labyrinth you have to find the second piece of the Horseman's Gem which is a Secret. Following the room with 3 ropes you will find the Pharos Pillar. I found 4 secrets but I didn't have weapon against the skeletons. There are no added sounds. The textures are average sometimes a bit dark but we are underground. :-) So you have to be clever and fast on this level." - Obig

"I have no idea what the title means but this is another catacombs level with the appropriate textures and setting. The usual items are used a knot two pillars a gem and two timed runs being the only challenge. A skeleton and a wraith were the only enemies so you don't have to worry about that and moving objects are apart of an easy puzzle. An underwater maze but don't panic it's quite easy and that's about it. I found three secrets and finished in twenty minutes." - Kristina

"Except for the trick buttons and hidden crawlspace this is a relatively straight forward level where the most exciting things are the beauty of the rooms and the end with the boulders spikes darts and rope swing. I found a few things annoying like the elementals and a tricky camera angle plus my download came with no readme file so I had to read about the button problem from the other reviews." - RaiderGirl

"This level started off quite easy but there I was after opening the second door and after drowning a lot with nowhere to go. Even after Ian gave me a good nudge in the right direction I decided that I needed glasses. Have been overlooking that receptacle over and over again. So finally I was on my way again. Talking about the readme file as this was exe I couldn't read it but had to read the reviews what was going on with that timed door. Well I made it on my own don't ask me how long it took and lucky me that I always save in a different spot. The end was what I would call overkill as that earthquake do make me queasy big time. I still don't get the fun out off the trial and error choosing and I don't mind the wraiths but in this level they just won't give up. 19-09-2002" - Gerty

"Near the end you get no less than four things I immensely dislike (two wraiths you can't get rid off a trial and error item choosing an earthquake and worst of all two timed doors that aren't resetable) and though I had enjoyed the level until then that totally ruined it for me. I could have done without the underwater maze the booby trap wall switches and you don't even get a shotgun (or I missed that) to fight the skeleton but the rooms are fairly awesome and there is that very dramatic final." - Dimpfelmoser

"What a disappointment! I don't mean in that this was a bad level on the contrary I could see that if this level had been stretched out longer than its short 25 minutes duration and given a bigger game environment then this would have been really great. The game play revolves around a large central room with 4 doors leading off it with each holding separate little adventures to collect key pick ups including 3 secrets except for the last door which leads to a wonderfully frantic gauntlet run through spiked boulders spikes darts and a rope jump to the end. What I found incredibly irritating in this level is the use of a ghost that pops its ugly head up while attempting a very tricky timed run and for reasons only known by the creator there is no way to kill it so it follows you around the whole last half of the level being a total drain on your health and of course for that gauntlet run it is joined by another just to irritate you further but if you just try to ignore them and keep an eye on your health then you should be okay." - Sash

"What I found what stands out in this overall rather standard Catacomb type level is the overall good use of cameras and sounds and the 'grand finale' gauntlet (Spoiler for David for the last move: slide backwards grab let ball pass pull up jump flip catch rope - piece of cake J). What I didn't like so much is the use of traps where you have no way to solve the puzzle other than 'try-and-die-and-try-again'. While the sparse use of enemies that you cannot kill gave it some adrenalin overall there was really no action involved with this level and if you miss reading the readme-file you can easily get stuck with the timed doors in the room with the push buttons. Overall a good 20 minutes of fun." - Michael.

"This level defies description. It is not that special but some of the intricate moves required and also some of the devious uses of hidden entryways makes this a cat kicker and a hair tearer. Some reviewers state they got through this in 20 minutes. Well if you DOZY through it I suppose that is possible but if it is played correctly it will take double that. Look for a hidden ladder under the waterfall. The rope swing passage is just about impossible due to the camera angle and you will be trying this again and again to get it right. The timed door sequence cannot be done if you follow the pathway up to the door. Find another way! The ending sequence albeit short is pure nightmare. ROTFL. What a great level." - Torry

"Just as the previous level from the author there are many of those unpredictable traps such as the buttons in the start of the level. I usually don't cheat but there was no way here! This level has a timed door puzzle the door is too far from the switch and the time is very short. The best of the level we just see in the ending where an earthquake shakes the screen and Lara is running out from two spirits avoiding rolling balls and spikes. The level is nice but I don't think I would play it again." - Treeble

"Despite its simple nature and design this is a very enjoyable level! My favourite part is the camera angles there is a nice variety of them and used well for example when a door opens the camera switches to show an enemy charging out of it! Also in one of the puzzles the camera shows a top down view which I thought was very well done! However the rope swinging I found to be very tricky and a little frustrating at times but the author should be very proud of himself!" - TrueRaider

"A simple level but nicely done. Straight into a large room with some pick-ups at the top - good use of textures and sound. The puzzles are a little simple though and more could be made of the space. There is a problem (which the author warns you about in the text file with the level files) where in a timed-button room the buttons can only be pressed once - and the timing has to be pretty precise to get Lara to where she needs to be. There's an annoying ghost but no apparent owl-cross-thing to kill it. At the very end it's nicely cataclysmic but I was completely unable to do the last move - a tricky jump/grab maneuver after a long slide while being chased by a boulder (I said it was cataclysmic). There are not many enemies - a lone non-killable skeleton (no shotgun or grenade launcher I could find) some scarab beetles a ghost - and not many pickups." - David

"This level is a thoroughly short and linear level. The traps are very tricky and so are the rope swings. Do heed the warning found in the readme file. I found the end rather interesting." - Scott

"This is a fairly short but vicious little level. In fact I had to use the DOZY cheat several times to get through it. The timed doors were far too difficult to get through without a great deal of practice which I really couldn't be bothered with. (Look I'm a busy man all right?) Several of the switches and pick-ups were booby traps and I'm really starting to get fed up with underwater mazes. But that ending....brilliant!" - Orbit Dream