Level reviews

"in Irish mansion you play as young lara with guns and the level certainly has a good spooky and gloomy atmosphere and its really nice to have an original build to explore around again, i really like the fixed cameras , it adds a refreshing change rather than just seeing the back of lara all the time. unfortunately the level is missing a few sounds and the gameplay is all about exploring all the rooms and finding objects, keys and switches in order to open more doors and areas etc, there is no traps or puzzles im afraid but there is some enemies with crows and white bears or something and of course the demon at the end, it all ended rather abruptly after opening a door so i was disappointed with the length as well" - John

"The most interesting aspect here is certainly that you have young Lara wielding guns. Sadly this means she has a braid instead of two pigtails and as such the mix of the two looks plain odd. Gameplay boils down to finding a couple of keys and sneakily hidden levers or buttons to proceed. I liked the fixed camera angles and the general ambience of the manor, but as a whole this wasn't particularly thrilling or engaging at all. 20 minutes, 1 secret. 09/20" - Treeble

"While the utilization of TR5 Ireland assets fits the general layout of the level well(alongside some crows from TR2), its all generally sabotaged by just how unfinished it all feels(with most sound effects missing, many rooms offering very little gameplay purpose beyond a simple task or pickup and the stock TR4 ambiance not doing much to generate a spooky atmosphere intended by the builder). In the end, a pretty dull level that is well worth skipping." - Ceamonks890

"This is fine for what it is, although I was left underwhelmed and feeling that some things could have been improved with more work put in. The setting is a modified mansion which settings-wise isn't too bad, and having Young Lara with weapons certainly proved a pleasant change, but there's not much meat to the gameplay, as it consists mainly of locating key items and opening doors, plus a bit of shooting added in for good measure. Although I never found these particular fixed cameras annoying, the lone flyby was rather distracting and sloppy and there were numerous missing sounds elsewhere. I don't think I'll ever replay this one again." - Ryan

"I'm sorry to rate this so poorly but in my download certainly, sound files seem to be missing. Camera angles could have been improved also. I hate fixed camera angles. They really hinder the progression and I have found them to be quite ubiquitous in recent downloads and this occurence has led me to abandon the level in question - OFTEN. I am not a builder but happen to think I review levels fairly. This one is not one I would revisit. Sorry about that." - High Priestess

"This is the penultimate level released by a builder who was quite prolific during his early teens, but who then may have been caught up in the more important things in life. It features a young Lara with guns. And flares. This alone made it more fun to play than most young Lara levels, although I never once felt the need to use a flare. The setting is a modified house, and it's quite short at 20 minutes. Enemies are relatively few, and you get ample weaponry and ammo to deal with them. It ends rather abruptly, almost as if the builder had grown tired of the project and just wanted to throw in a finish trigger. Harry Laudie has provided a typically compact walkthrough. A pleasant little time-passer, to be played in between the longer levels." - Phil

"Young Lara with guns and flares? The house has a good design, and it's well ornated, but it's a pain all the missing sounds and not a single cd track to create a better ambience. Easy tasks, usually you'll need to backtrack 'cause you have not the necessary items to open the doors. The rooms are dark, but I found enough flares. Some animals to shoot here and there, a small button very hard to see in the room with three crows, a single flyby (of course, without music) running out of the world, and no really interesting features in a level without complications." - Jose

"While it can sometimes be nice to take a break from temples, tombs and caves, one of the problems with mansion levels is that the gameplay generally ends up revolving around finding a key to open a door, which leads to another door with another key, and so on. This level also suffers from that problem. Traps and puzzles are nowhere to be seen, and except for the odd enemy (lots of ravens in this level), there's not a lot to do besides finding keys and opening one door after another. No, if you're going to make a standard mansion level, you have to make it look interesting, and this is what the author has put the most effort into. There are objects from Tomb Raider Chronicles everywhere, and they all help to make the mansion a little bit more convincing. Unfortunately, the author didn't take the time to make them work correctly, meaning that you're going to be running through tables and wondering what's up with Lara's animations. The outfit, too, needs work, since having young Lara with guns messes up her hair. A lot of the sounds aren't working, either, meaning you'll spend most of your time listening to the background ambience. Lighting is virtually non-existent, with the whole level having a blue tone, without any of the room being particularly dark (or bright, for that matter). This all helps to kill the creepy atmosphere the author has clearly been trying to achieve. Considering that the level only lasts for ten minutes, there are a lot of pickups you don't really need (I found two shotguns AND two crossbows), but at least they make the ravens easier to take care of. This is basically your average Lara's Home level, but with a darker setting." - Magnus

"This is all rather unsatisfying.One the one hand you get a rather well-designed spooky Mansion with plenty of atmosphere;on the other,heaps of elementary mistakes (doors placed the wrong way round;dreadful fly-by's)which could so easily have been avoided and which undo all the good work. The Gameplay is all rather elementary but even this is hindered by incorrect animations and elusive placing of key pick-ups. The chapel is a nice touch,and the birds were quite effective,but this young Lara outing ultimately goes nowhere and seems rather pointless." - Orbit Dream

"To use the old mill textures in a mansion so well was impressive and there was quite a good level of exploration here. I would have loved a few sounds for the atmosphere and although the cameras were well placed they caused that classic problem of being annoying at times. When I first loaded the level I thought that some sort of storyline or climax would take this away from the usual mansion-style level but that didn't come across as much as I hoped. A good idea very averagely done." - Croft Storm

"A bit short but an interesting level. Fixed view of the camera gets a bit bothersome sometimes but it's okay. Found merely one secret but have had the shotgun and crossbow twice. Interesting that crossbows can only be used once. You will have to make your way a bit zig-zag in this level but that's just something we got used to in Tomb Raider. There are not too many enemies: little baby monster from TR 5 whom you can finally kill birds (sometimes a lots of them a hard bite) couple of dogs an armed villain and a knight at the end. Textures were okay they become the level but unfortunately there are no sounds added still it was a great adventure good fun. I can recommend it anyone no special hardships to overcome and in my opinion no chance to get stuck." - Obig

"I remember when playing the original so-called Ireland level laughing that people would think Ireland must be a dreary moody spooky place to visit. And here I am laughing again especially as we're all fainting with the heat at the moment. But then this is not reality so let's move on. A big thank you to Gerty and Pam for helping me get this game going on the Mac. There were some problems though like Lara's hair (unless it was meant to be like that!) and sound but being able to play the level was more important to me. It's basically a mansion and the spookiness is there in abundance with dark textures cobwebs broken roof in the main hall etc. Young Lara has and finds weapons and ammo and it was great to be able to shoot those little creepy baby spirits. I thought at first I'd need a torch like the original game when they were afraid of fire but no you can shoot them back to the evil place they came from. Some camera angles are awkward especially the low floor one in the room where you get the crowbar. She had no binoculars but I chose the word binoculars in the inventory and was able to see around the room. There are difficult to see wall switches in a room full of rubbish and in an outside area. There are overfed crows about a lacerated dog that I thought was dead until it hopped up at me and our old friend the dark knight. I found two crossbows two crowbars and 1 secret. Outside where there's a huge broken barred railings I could see a big area behind these railings but I couldn't get out there what a shame. A very short and easy level but worth a look at." - CC

"I was pleasantly surprised to find out that even though this is a young Lara level you do get some weapons very helpful against the crows dog soldiers and even demon babies from Chronicles. There seemed to be other things from TR 5 too like the heart crank bone powder and some of the things that made those levels spooky and this one spooky as well. Search this Irish mansion for hidden switches keys doors etc and keep an eye out for at least one secret." - RaiderGirl

"Oh no not another mansion I might hear you cry. Yes this is but one with a small twist. Although this is a house it has a spooky atmosphere. As for enemies those white little leprechauns appear yuck some vultures a dog and some guys. Finding a Key a Heart the crowbar and a crank and also some bonedust hardly you're normal finds though will make you progress. One switch blended so well into the wall that I must have passed it several times. The weapons Lara found were re-textured and I even found 2 crossbows. The best was that although this is a young Lara she has weapons. As for playing it on a Mac it wouldn't work but it might be on a later date as Pam is contacting the author and let's see what he comes up with. 11-07-2003" - Gerty

"Young Lara with guns exploring within and around a mansion which I thought looked really impressive. Very spooky excellent use of objects and good texturing too. There is a key a heart crowbars bonepowder and a crank to find in order to progress and a few suitable enemies get in your way (white goulies crows dogs). The use of fog and cobwebs is great. Gameplay is unfortunately a little thin with a lot of running back and forth in order to get the respective doors open and it ended after about 30 minutes. The one flyby is really rather bad and there are some issues with the sound samples (like for the shotgun) but all in all an enjoyable and interesting adventure." - Michael

"This is the second of the author's levels I have played. After 'Dome of Hills' I swore I wouldn't bother with Christian's levels simply because his idea of an interesting Lara outing and mine are too different. 'Irish Mansion' took me about 15 minutes to play. The Irish component I guess is the green mist (maybe the color on my monitor is not set correctly). There are no puzzles that I found. There are no enemies worth noting. Lara is played as Young Lara but she has weapons. I thought Young Lara was never played armed. Oh well. The sound is screwed up so that half the action has no associated sound. There are some custom objects: A crank which is inserted in a hole but not cranked but the door is rolls up - some associated cause and effect. A heart (human?) which must be placed in an alcove to open the door to a chapel (there is a paragraph or two in that association). And a bag of bone meal found in the chapel (another association worth a chat or two). The atmosphere is very appropriate and quite well done except for the odd area to the right of the mansion (bathed in green fog on my machine). Access for those who care is quite easy - shimmy passed the fence from the slanted wall. There is nothing on the other side except a lot of trees Lara can walk through." - Dougsan

"As usual the author is good in custom objects and even though we don't see many here they create a good setting. This mansion is not like all the house levels out there that look the same but has uniqueness. It's spooky and with fog effects garbage in various areas one of which is the kitchen but unfortunately some of the objects have no collision. We are searching for a heart the bonepowder and a key there is also a crank. The crowbar is being left from enemies at some point so watch out for it. The atmosphere is convincing and I loved that forest with the dog walking around the scarecrow an area that unfortunately we don't get to visit unless I missed something. I only found one secret and got chased by those small yellow creatures from TRC. The demon from the same game was there as well. After an hour mostly because I couldn't find a switch the level ended. I really hope Christian will add more puzzles to his levels environmentally they are quite good. Give it a try." - Kristina

"Difficult to review this one. Christian manages to bring all the objects of the Old Mill level (Chronicles) in his little mansion level but in changing the contents of the wads something went badly wrong with the sounds. And for the spookyness that this level needs (it sure looks spooky so well done to the author) I feel sorry for the author not to have done more about that. If you let that aside this is a not so bad little mansion level with keys a crank a heart and bone powder to collect a sneaky lever to find and one study room (with ceiling fan) with a 100% resident evil camera point of view (well done). Why you should play this level: there's a nice outside area with another (not reachable?) area with some animals lying around creating a nice scary atmosphere in dark blue colours." - bERT

"Young Lara with guns whatever next! There's a lot of Black Isle about this level - the heart the bone dust and those strange little white homunculi etc. It's always nice to see someone trying something a little different and there are some nicely retextured items. Some things don't quite come off - when searching drawers she sticks her head right through them and when entering a room the enemies seem momentarily frozen in place but overall I found the atmosphere very good indeed. Not a long level (about 35 minutes) nor a particularly challenging one but sometimes that's just what you feel like and I enjoyed my brief trip to Ireland. I don't know how many secrets there are supposed to be but I only found one. 13.07.2003" - Jay

"A mansion level yes but a different one well okay it isn't really different in respects that you need to open up rooms to keep moving but the atmosphere with the use of textures does make you feel like you could be in Ireland. The texturing also applies to the pickups as the usual shotgun crossbow and arrows are all newly retextured and I like them a lot apart from those pickups you come across a few new or not so used ones such as the bonedust a crank and a heart that help you progress. The enemies in this 20 minute level are not many but are varied with a couple of those tiny marshmallow ghoul babies some black birds a very underweight doggie and a couple of male enemies but as you play with young Lara you expect this could be a problem well throw that thinking out the window as this time our young heroine has finally found her backpack and she's lethal....finally! Have a play with this level but don't expect a great deal just make sure you keep an eye out for a well hidden button that stunted the play for me for a couple of minutes and see if you can find more than the one secret I found." - Sash

"Although short lasting 30 minutes or so I thought this level was fabulous. The whole spooky atmosphere is maintained throughout with the perfectly suited textures and objects. I especially liked the bike and the little white guys from TR Chronicles that you have to shoot. On the whole there weren't a lot of enemies but that suited me just fine and with the new shotgun and crossbow I enjoyed killing them (how sadistic does that sound!). The main hall is well made but the lighting of the objects hadn't been altered so some things looked a little strange but it didn't bother me that much. The use of fog was interesting and added to the spooky Irish atmosphere in a way it was very clever. The biggest bad point are the cameras they were a little awkward. For example in the room with the first crowbar I found it hard to search the room for other items even though there weren't any. But the sheer atmosphere made up for that!" - TrueRaider