Level reviews

"Another quickie that took me less than 20 minutes. The reason for my 7 in the second category was the flying shark, a feat I'd never before seen accomplished in a custom level. (Reminds me of watching Dumbo when I was a kid, and laughing along with the crows at the concept of seeing an elephant fly.) The builder provides the M-16 with lots of ammo to dispatch the assorted enemies with speed and efficiency. I managed to kill the modified tinman at the end so that he dropped the Dagger of Xian right in the path of a flameblower, so I had to pick it up and finish the level in flames. Still, not a bad raid for the short time it lasts." - Phil

"This has an interesting mixture of varying texture themes and for me, it set this level apart from the Egyptian norm of 2001 levels. That said, the gameplay isn't extraordinary, but it's rather intense being chased by Crusaders, mummies, ahmets, flying sharks and a tin man throughout the level. But, the powerful M16 weapon takes care of them. It's no award winner, but there's something about it that I liked." - Ryan

"This had a slightly different feel to most of the early levels, with quite a lot of enemy action involving avoiding mummies and crumbly crusaders whilst trying to negotiate those narrow 'coffin' corridors. It's a short (twenty minute) level and quite fast paced. I rather enjoyed it." - Jay

"Some defects in this small level which could be avoided, but no. The paper walls, the shark floating and ataccking in dry floor, the small bridge I couldn't cross... Atlantean? Yes but with some egyptian and ship touches too. Not difficult to play, avoid some enemies, getting some artifacts to open some doors and pull some levers; not a good idea Lara catch fire to get an important item. Even with many defects in the texturization, the appearance is often good, 'cause the rooms are not very big. Playable, but not very enjoyable." - Jose

"A level which begins with an earthquake inaugurates nothing good for eyes, fortunately it stops rather quickly and we can admire the job made by the author. Decoration varies between very good and pretty poor. The idea of sarcophagi in walls is brilliant. The gameplay is simple and asks for not enough research. The most complicated being to avoid many enemies who put on in the middle of Lara's road. It is a good rather amusing level to be played." - Daffy

"I must have played this level years ago, because I immediately remembered the strange beginning with an earthquake and knights appoaching. "Atlantean Demon Caves" certainly has some originality, but really weird things like the flying sharks or that Lara can sometimes walk on bubbling lava don't make any sense. Difficult to rate the textures as they vary from beautiful to hurting the eyes (the yellow flickering room, for example). You get a great gun and some difficult challenges, particularly picking up an object from a pedestal with flame emitters all around. I wonder why that switch didn't turn off the flames, what was its purpose then? Not a standard game (which is good!), but at the same time a bit of a random collection, it seems." - Ruediger

"Mad. Over-the-top. Advert for TRWest/Wadmerger. How did I get that burning pedestal to switch off? No idea. Good for 20 minutes of fun though. Sorry would love to write more but I'm in a bit of a hurry!" - Orbit Dream

"I'm sorry but this was just a shocking level that seems only set up to cram as many enemies of varied kinds into a 15 minute level on top of that the environment is just all over the place texture wise and linear game wise plus the flare bug is there from the get go and it isn't a bright level. Christian has done much better than this and I am astounded this has rated as high as it has." - Sash

"Within this short 20 minute level you will be treated to a plethora of textures from a whole gambit of the Tomb Raider games and what a miasma it is. Strangely enough it did not appear out of place and whilst the puzzles were all relatively simple some aspects of the level were so surreal that they also fit in with the strange surroundings. Most notably were the sharks that left their pool and swam down the hallway in mid air chomping on Lara's pretty little butt as they went. I particularly liked the entryways made of the Egyptian coffins which was something I had not seen before. The dead knights were a pain especially when coupled with some mummies and a darned ahmet but the M16 was up to the task. Now this is not a level I would usually give high scores to but for the courage and tenacity shown by the author I believe he deserves the accolades. At least this time there is an object to the level as Lara leaves with both the Amulet of Horus and the Dagger of Xian." - Torry

"The first level of this series short but gives a good idea what will follow. Hands the golden serpent the talisman are the items you need to progress. You also pick up the Amulet and a dagger but they are not used. It's quite dark with no flares and the flare bug at one point. Knights mummies and a mutant will stand in the way. Watch out for fire traps and remember things aren't always what they look like. Off to the second installation." - Kristina

"Well actually quite a short and simple level. You make your way through not so Atlantean caves in order to find the Amulet Of Horus and The Dagger Of Xian but until there you will use other artifacts in their holes. Not really difficult but not so easy. There were maybe too much fire and that hurts! I enjoyed this level. Also don't expect the crawlers but do expect a large variety of enemies: knights mummies bats and even ahmets." - Treeble

"What a weird level this was. A mishmash of textures and enemies. The mummy laying there and standing up was that a warning that things could get worse? After placing the first object I had a hard time locating the entrance towards this adventure. From then on it is straightforward all the way. There are some puzzles like that fire puzzle that was nice. Some very nice looking spiked balls and plenty of enemies like at one time you get the dead knights an ahmet and even mummies thrown in for good measure. There are some bats and dogs and even a well dressed tinman. Placing objects into various slots will open up doors. The best were those bloody sharks swimming in the air. I just had to reload that part a couple of times and play around with it. That M-16 gosh what a firepower. 16-10-2002" - Gerty

"This is the weirdest Custom Level I've ever played and therefore an absolute must. You get such a strange mix of colourful textures and enemies you really don't know where you are and what to expect. The most spooky bit is when the hammer head shark moves through thin air as if in water and gnaws away at Lara. Absolutely unique. Further on you get attacked by four knights and three mummies all at once and if this isn't enough a mutant will join in a little later. Then right at the end there is a tin man retextured as a cossack which is truly marvelous and I hope that this enemy will be used by other authors in levels to come. You find some items along the way but sometimes it doesn't make much difference if you place them or not. See if you enter this level you might as well leave your brain at the reception cause nothing here makes much sense. But the jump sequence is great fun and I liked the sand elevator. As with everything else the atmosphere is pretty strange as well but it's quite gripping in a way. Unfortunately the level is far too short for you to get used to its very special vibe." - Dimpfelmoser

"Your quest for the Dagger of Xian starts with an earthquake and ends after less than half an hour of linear gameplay through a bit of a wild mix of rooms. Even the long jump sequence could be done with your eyes closed. Still it is an enjoyable experience with the animated textures and the great variety of enemies you encounter (knights mummies bats dogs flying (!) sharks ninjas and a remeshed tinman). Make sure you get the M-16 in the dark corner of the first room for an extra bit of fun. The biggest annoyance was the puzzle where you need to set Lara on fire." - Michael

"This was a quick 25 minutes level which I didn't care for very much but that is a matter of opinion isn't it? There are some intriguing parts of the level such as the passageways through the narrow sarcophagi and of course flying sharks. The game is basically linear but there are so many dark areas and the flares for the most part useless. Not much puzzling to be done. A lot of un-killable bad guys at once that you just have to avoid some dogs and a mutant." - Momster

"This is the first level I play from Christian and I can say that this one is an interesting level to play. The atmosphere is very good and I like those places with the Atlantean textures the settomb textures or some from other TR. There are also some good puzzles and I like the passageways through the sarcophagus. The enemies are well used some baddies are retextured like a horseman in the hollow knight of TR5/Ireland. You have to deal with mummies sharks dogs and an ahmet with only the pistols and the always welcome M-16. The only downside point is some bugs like the flares bug. It was rather short (30 minutes for me) but fun." - eRIC

"These surly are deamon caves but with a lot of mixed textures (it looks as if the author wanted to try them all) which gives the whole level a strange look and little atmosphere. You start off with the fire-bug and then at one point the camera locks so you can't see anything while getting attacked. And then when two sharks came swimming in mid air I surly was astonished! I liked though the coffins that let out the deamons but of course then you had to run since you could not get rid of them. 20 minutes of gameplay." - G.Croft

"This level is very weird! The author used a lot of textures from different games of the Tomb Raider series. I don't know if Lara is in Atlantis or in an Egyptian tomb or in a wreck of a ship or even in the temple of Xian! That's not very interesting. The graphics are good but lighting could be better in some rooms. The puzzles are very simple but I've found some nice and tricky traps sometimes. I also didn't like the use of templars and mummys here because you can't kill then. That's very boring." - Leandro

"This level was just one surprise after the next for me with its intriguing blend of both textures and enemies. There was a great mix of rooms yet somehow they all managed to look like they belonged and all somehow fit together. I saw the textures from the underwater shipwreck areas of TR 2 plus those from inside the ship The gold river texture from TR 2 gold various textures from The Last Revelation including a library room the coffin shaped doorways and various desert areas and my favorite texture of all time was even here - the pulsing bloody walls from the Atlantis levels of TR 1. I never knew what to expect from one room to the next which to me was a lot of fun. The enemies too were an odd assortment though for the most part they were from The Last Revelation. I have to say they were used in a very interesting way though. In one room I was attacked by four mummies three undead knights and an ahmet all at the same time. My favorite though was the sharks. I entered a hallway and could see the room with the sharks at the other end. Suddenly one of them came completely out of the water chased me down the hallway and into another room where he was hovering in midair biting me just like he would underwater. Just for fun I reloaded and ran the way I had come from - he chased me all the way to the first room and started 'swimming' around in midair. I also came across some dogs and ninjas in my travels. I only wish that the puzzles had been as exciting as this was a fairly easy level to play. I ran into some spikes spiked balls found and placed a few objects filled a room with sand and I enjoyed the sloping block jumps over the pool of lava but it's fairly simple and most people will get over on the first try. One puzzle really confused me as you have to grab a hand from a burning pedestal then jump into some burning water. Once you pull up out of the burning water you are ok but I never would have figured that out without doc's help. I also encountered the flare bug in a few rooms but thankfully there weren't many dark areas. I really enjoyed this interesting level though and think it's quite worth the download. Plus at the end you get to leave with the Dagger of Xian." - RaiderGirl

"This level was near the boundary of those massacre levels I hate so much. Enemies keep coming and coming and it gets worse you don't get a single weapon even if there are a few ammo pickups on the way. I usually love texture mixes from different TR's but it was such a 'kish-mish' in here I wanted this level to end sooner. The lightning was very poor that made matters even worse. There were also many puzzle items and buttons that I don't know what they were for you could easily miss your elevator to the throne with the 2 dogs and the end with the horseman could have been easily skipped with just pulling the lever and ending this level (even if you're burning!). I'm ashamed of this but I think there were less chances I could pass the part of The star of light without using the dozy. But the level was already frustrating enough I couldn't have lasted a minute more in it. Not that there weren't any good parts in here cause I liked how the 2 knights came out from the sarcophagus the spike ball that you think is gonna get you but actually falls into a pit. But that's about all. I wouldn't bother I was only curious how Atlantis looks since I didn't get to see it in the original Tomb Raider." - eTux