| Reviewer's comments |
"This is the debut level of a builder that some years later gave us many awesome levels. The
talent can be seen in this one too, but it also has many beginner mistakes. Some pitch-black
spots everywhere, binoculars not working properly, an excessive amount of annoying fixed
cameras and a gameplay that is not bad but rather basic, repetitive and uninspired. Lighting
and texturing are good but without any touches to give some character to the environment." - billie2001 (03-Jun-2022) |
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| "I quite liked the elevator sequence
despite the fact that (like the majority
of this level) it was almost a carbon copy
of original TR5 VCI sections. Aside from
that, and Lara's snazzy outfit, this was
pretty much the usual VCI fare and the
gameplay was very much the tried and
trusted format for this genre: too much
crawling, a lot of guards to shoot,
buttons to press and keycards to find and
it gets pretty tedious just going through
the motions as you do in this level. The
fixed cameras were totally unnecessary and
often hindered otherwise simple movements.
Despite the environments being as good as
you can expect from this builder, I was
rather disappointed with this one." - Ryan (27-Feb-2018) |
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| "There's only so much you can do with the VCI formula but Christopher undoubtedly gives it his best shot and interspersed between all the usual running around look-alike corridors searching for the ubiquitous Computer Discs there can be found several startling moments which help lift this adventure above most others of its kind. The lift-shaft is indeed the most impressive yet seen (with a good set of athletics needed therein) and the climb around the outside of the building is a gem (even though the end-of-the-world problem is ever present). But despite these (and several other) striking moments this is essentially an hour or so of Ventilation Ducts Atriums with glass windows and brown corridors with automatic doors which swoosh open when you approach; you know the form. If that's your sort of thing this well constructed adventure will please you just fine. Others may want to look elsewhere." - Orbit Dream (29-May-2004) |
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| "VCI type building brown walls offices shelves cupboards and toilets to rummage in doors to open duct crawling clever hidden moveable blocks fixed cameras and a lovely moonlight sea view out the windows. Loved Lara's hair and outfit. Find discs golden roses pass card VCI key. A very familiar room where Lara climbs up a ladder in a circular room with ledges and big window views of the city at night and a fixed camera follows her around the edges. A great looking very tall elevator shaft with two elevators chain to slide down rope to swing and an almost impossible to see trapdoor on top of one of the elevators. Onto a really great slide to a rope over fire. This all looks familiar. The last bit of action outside the building was well done to get the blue rose how beautiful. Fairly straight forward stuff especially if you got the hang of things in the original game." - CC (11-Aug-2003) |
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| "First of all I am not that fond of Labs level and secondly I hate fixed camera's in general some even make me feel sick to my stomach. Must have done this level a couple of times and chucked it away almost as fast as I installed it but today I decided to play it through. It is a kind of easy going level only made harder because of those unnecessary fixed camera's. Very tedious was searching all those closets and finding zilch apart from the glass covered ones. Even the huge elevator shaft couldn't bring a smile on my face. As you may have noticed I am peeved. 12-04-2003" - Gerty (20-Apr-2003) |
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| "I must say this level was not at all of my taste. Odd camera-angels made me irritated a lot of times when you can't even see Lara or what she does. And I'm not sure why she was in this building? To find a blue rose? The setting is a big office building with a lot of rooms in some of them you find a lever or a pickup and in some there is nothing. Stairs and crawlspaces and ventilation systems a lot of doors - some opens when you approach and others you have to open with a button or a card. A lot of shelves to search but only a few things to find in them." - G.Croft (17-Feb-2003) |
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| "This is a great looking level with an impressive start and interesting sound. It's fairly uncomplicated play and you probably won't need any hints. If you're tired of over-complex levels you can never complete this will be good. It could be said to be a little short and simple for some players though." - Coral (24-Jan-2003) |
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| "This level is quite a faithful rendition of the VCI Labs level from Chronicles but without the bugs. Even so I thought that it was a very painful level to play. The mere fact of having to check dozens of shelves for the likelihood of a prize and where most were empty was quite annoying. Add to this the even more annoying camera angles which precluded a proper inspection of a room. The VCI waltz came into good use as you danced around in an endeavor to get the camera at the correct angle so that you could inspect all corners of the room. Lastly the level was way too dark and even though flares were provided there is no need for this kind of black gloom whereby grey shadows would have done the same job. About the only area that presented a challenge was the elevator shaft. Other than that quite a boring disc hunt with no objective that I could ascertain." - Torry (22-Jan-2003) |
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| "Not only are almost all the major areas in this 45 minute level pretty much copies of the original the elevator shaft and the long glassed hallway to name two but the fixed camera angles just got on my nerves as it sometimes screwed around with orientation. Apart from that you get the regular VCI thing though I was happily surprised at the very end with the nice unconventional collection of the blue rose but that was it for me really otherwise I had seen and done it all before." - Sash (14-Jan-2003) |
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| "This is a easy level. For beginners too. You must find some objects. The enemies were soldiers. Some places were copies from TombRaider 5. This short level has a good graphic. What I do not like in part one: The camera. You see Lara on some places only from the side or from far away. You must not look in the shelves. There is nothing. All in all a good level. I was playing 1:05 hours and I had fun." - Andi Croft (12-Jan-2003) |
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| "Another level set in a VCI installment and not really quite different from the others but in this one you get a lot of empty shelves to search. A few hidden pieces to find and open doors to proceed talking about which I loved those golden doors - don't remember seeing them in the original Escape With The Iris level. Still in the objects point there were a lot of baddies around including those scientists you would leave alive in Chronicles to get the secret. Lara's quest is a blue rose which she gets by climbing outside and well that wasn't really new but it cheered up the level a little. As eTux pointed out if you're not tired of the VCI setting it's worth a look otherwise don't bother with this one." - Treeble (10-Jan-2003) |
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| "This level is what its title says. The setting will be very familiar as it is definitely VCI like but the game play is poor. Buttons to push two discs and the two halves of the VCI key to collect. The rest is just crawling climbing shooting some guards in between and that's it. It also has the chain climbing and elevator trapdoor from TRC at some point. The thing that annoyed me was the camera angles in many occasions it got difficult to manoeuvre in a small room with the camera being on the floor and looking at Lara's butt instead of looking at her from the ceiling at least not that there is something wrong with Lara's butt. One disc gave me some trouble the one inside a block that needed lowering but I finally got it. I found two secrets that is two golden roses and the blue rose as I was near the end. It just has too many buttons and doors plus not many enemies otherwise the animations from TRC were nice and so was Lara's outfit. Give it a try." - Kristina (10-Jan-2003) |
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| "At first this seems like a remake of the original VCI level - Escape with the Iris but after about 30 minutes of gameplay you see that there are some things from the author added. I liked how the author made the elevator shaft so it would seem very very high and getting the blue rose outside the skyscraper was the highlight of the level but I can't rate it higher because you can't hide the fact that most of it was the same as in the original level. Sure it's a good thing that you really feel like re-entering the offices but I'd really prefer something original than the scenario we've seen a lot before. A nice level nevertheless but if you're tired of the VCI levels don't bother!" - eTux (08-Jan-2003) |
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| "Having forgotten a rare and expensive object her first time in the VCI labs Lara's back to claim her prize which she retrieves after searching many offices opening a few doors crawling through the ventilation system and killing the odd guard or two. There's nothing difficult so you won't be reloading too often but there are a few well hidden trap doors and ducts to climb into. The elevator shaft is neat and there's a good explosion - overall a fun level to explore." - RaiderGirl (21-Dec-2002) |
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| "That starting flyby made me a little dizzy and throughout I thought the camera work was a little over-ambitious as some of the angles were rather annoying than helpful. Lara's outfit is cool though and you explore the often ventured VCI building again this time with a few faithfully reproduces rooms from TR5. A few movable blocks are thankfully marked well and in most of the air ducts you can actually walk upright rather than crawl which was nice for a change. The tedious bit would be searching all those shelves but as I had read the reviews I did not waste my time there and finished after about 45 minutes - with two CDs the two pieces of the VCI Key and two golden rose secrets found a dozen or so guards and a dog killed and many many buttons pressed. Some of the sound effects are good and the path to get the blue rose at the end is a clear highlight." - Michael (16-Dec-2002) |
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| "This level reminds me strongly of TR5 in addition affectionately copied. Here Lara had to overcome some enemies find key cards and CD's. Thus also much leg work. The layout sound and camera guidance were ok. Two golden and a blue rose found my Lara. Thus an exciting high-tech level. And for the first level the author really went a long way. But also again a matter of taste. Me and my Lara liked it." - Navi (12-Dec-2002) |
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| "An hour long base adventure with surprisingly few enemies that stays faithful to the design of the TR5 lab. There are an awful lot of doors to open but thankfully you get the occasional helpful cut scene. I liked Lara's outfit and the way all the movable blocks are marked. Although at times the fixed camera angles were slightly confusing the overall effect was rather appealing. As it is with most base levels there is simply not that much to do expect crawling climbing through air ducts collecting a couple of access disks and making your way from office to office. However there are a few great moments here. The jump and rope swing through the huge elevator shaft is brilliant as was climbing outside the house shortly before the end. I found it a bit daunting that you could search all the shelves but you never found a single thing. I got stuck at the start because I ventured on before using the disk and a door closed behind me but that's just a minor flaw. At the end of the day the traditional VCI adventure is simply not my kind of level." - Dimpfelmoser (07-Dec-2002) |
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| "Could have been called the quest for the blue rose because that's what you end up with. Before that you have your regular disk-searching button pushing guards battling in a setting that reminds very often of the regular VCI level (the round room the elevators). Nothing special but not boring either. One strange sequence I have not figured out right at the beginning when you blow up the fire extinguisher there's a room with a glass cage with a moving block and three buttons: have no clue what the purpose of all that was. If you do not blow up the extinguisher then you go through the level the normal way anyway. Found two secrets. One thing...there's a load of storage racks where you find exactly zippo: no ammunition no flares nooooooooo-sing as Manuel (Fawlty Towers) would say. That was a bit tedious because after all a rack may have hidden a crucial disk so you just had to go through them all. Other than that I loved going through all the rooms in a steady flow ending with some outside wall climbing." - bERT (02-Dec-2002) |
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