Level: Lara Downtown back home search
Author(s): Harry OK
total rating:0.63 Gameplay &
Objects &
Sound &
Lighting &
CC 1 1 1 1
Ceamonks890 1 1 1 1
DJ Full 1 0 2 1
eRIC 0 1 0 1
Gerty 0 0 0 0
Jay 0 1 0 0
Jose 1 1 1 1
Kristina 1 1 1 1
manarch2 1 1 1 1
MichaelP 1 0 1 1
mugs 0 0 0 0
QRS 1 1 2 2
Ryan 0 0 0 1
Sash 0 0 0 0
Sutekh 0 0 0 1
category averages
(15 reviews)
0.53 0.53 0.67 0.80

Reviewer's comments

"A set of four very disjointed levels that are so full of bugs that they became unplayable without constantly resorting to DOZY. The first level can be played until the end if you DOZY over a couple of invisible barriers, but also has a lot of very tedious running around and backtracking for keys and switches. The second level can't be completed even without cheating as picking up the Eye of Horus doesn't open the exit door as it should so you are stuck there. I don't know whether level three could be completed or not as I seemingly messed up the chain pulling and couldn't get through the exit. The fourth level can again be completed, but is even more tedious as the backtracking is almost done to death here. Textures and atmosphere are very dreary throughout, rooms are tiringly empty and as mentioned, it's pretty much unplayable in its current state. My one point is for the movie posters in the cinema level, but otherwise I would just recommend that you stay away from this one." - Ryan (17-Aug-2018)

"No offense towards the builder in question, but this is essentially a perfect example of what NOT to do, when crafting a series of levels. Awful texturing? Check. Non-existent lighting and atmosphere? Check. Sleep-inducing gameplay? Check. Atrocious boxy level design, with barely any objects or enemies present? Check-a-roo. And on top of having more glitches present then you can count on two hands(to the point of having to constantly use DOZY simply to keep things moving), all we're truly left with, is something that's just a flat-out unplayable mess. So overall, better off avoiding this one completely." - Ceamonks890 (01-Jun-2015)

"This is undoubtedly the work of an inexperienced builder who thinks that making a good level is creating a few huge and squaric rooms (several simply copied) with - if existent - bad textures combined with long hallways and adding a few film posters in one level. This isn't. Add to this long running and pushblock sessions, a lot of bugs that cause the players to either be completely stuck or use DOZY to finish every level (it's indeed possible if you want). The first level is the only one that gets points in EOS (because of the outfit and some switches) and LT (for the mentioned posters), the second one in ASC (for the only real cutscene in this level combined with a nice sound) and the third and fourth levels in GP (because there are a few jump sessions which could be called decent). So bottomline this all comes to a fair average - no category deserves getting a zero, but this level is not recommended in any way because it's mostly a pain to play." - manarch2 (22-May-2012)

"One point for the textures, but only for those in the first level. One point for the cameras, but only for those in the third level. One point only for these parts of gameplay that can be done without cheating. And one point for music. This is the strongest piece of this set. However, huge rooms and stretched textures make all the objects placed in this set appear very rarely. As a result, they are not enough, what makes a feeling of the whole project being terribly empty. Bugs. Lots of bugs. No possibility to finish the whole game without cheating. SUMMARY: Recommended only for DOZY usage fans. They can expect lots of events usually occuring in buggy levels here." - DJ Full (04-Oct-2010)

"A small collection of levels that cannot be played properly due to bugs. I managed to see everything by choosing each level separately and using the original scripts to allow me to DOZY. All the levels are huge, big empty rooms, with a lot of stretched textures, thin walls, and hiccups like spikes shooting down instead of up. We find cartouche pieces, pillars, Hathor head and stand, with actions such as ropeswinging, monkeyswinging, slides, jumps, levers, pulling pharoah statues, and running for miles in every direction. Lara looks great. I'm not sure what the idea is here. Lara Downtown could refer to the cinema in the first part I played. Although what Egyptian tombs have to do with the cinema posters is anybody's guess. I'll just imagine that Lara fell asleep while watching a film and dreamed about running, and flying, through endless gigantic corridors to find the not-so-elusive pickups. Perhaps we'll see something more playable in the future." - CC (18-Apr-2006)

"This has been sitting on my HD for far too long. Because of the bugs I encountered and trying as hard as I could, I couldn't play the complete level. So there you go." - Gerty (17-Apr-2006)

"Can someone hand me some insecticide 'cause this level is chock full of bugs!' There are something like 4 levels to this game but as I could only get to the second, and that was with the help of DOZYing, where I found myself well and truly stuck with a closed gate, I can really only assume that's how many there are...but frankly even if there were no bugs this set of levels, at least as far as I got, is pretty much a stinker...was that too harsh a word, well actually that was probably being kind. There is every kind of no-no you can think of: thin walls galore, huge empty rooms that I DOZYed to cross, and terrible texturing. Next time I hope the author plays his levels through as this could not have been the case here otherwise he would have become stuck too and either fixed the problem or never released it." - Sash (01-Nov-2005)

"I had to cheat to finish this level due to all the bugs. I like the idea of the level with the cinemas etc but hopefully the author will learn from these mistakes and make a better version with no bugs later on. 2005-10-08" - QRS (08-Oct-2005)

"Well, I don't know what to say. Good things I've seen: Lara's outfit in first and second levels and some new textures. But this levels have many bad things I've seen in another levels: very bad puzzles, no enemies, no weapons, no ammo and few objects, very bad architecture, only huge and empty square rooms with wafer thin walls and very bad applied textures, no lights and no cameras, poor sounds,... A very bad set of levels for me to play, a waste of time. I'm sorry." - Jose (12-Sep-2005)

"I am afraid that this game is unplayable. There are so many bugs that prevent you from progressing, like doors that don't open to go to a previous area when you have to and invisible blocks blocking the way where there should be a 'free' passage. The little I played wasn't terrible but it wasn't good either. The initial idea was good, to create some kind of movie cinemas and the posters on the walls were nice but unfortunately all we see is huge empty rooms which are badly textured. I managed to play and finish the first level using DOZY from a point after but I couldn't finish the next ones, only the last one. There are pillars, a portal guardian to find, ninjas and mummies to fight and I even got a secret in level two. Overall it needed more work in every category. The outfit Lara's wearing is similar to the winter one from the upcoming official game 'Tomb Raider Legend' and it looks great, so does her face. I hope for his next level, the builder will take care of the bugs and improve his design so we can have a playable and bug free game to play." - Kristina (25-Aug-2005)

"I'm sorry to have to say this, but please don't bother downloading this level. It's so full of bugs as to be virtually unplayable and it doesn't even look appealing - just huge empty areas with stretched textures and not much to do apart from a lot of running around. You can't get far initially without using DOZY and frankly it's just not worth the hassle. I'm sad to say that this is the lowest score I've ever given a level and the one point I did award was just because I liked the movie posters in the cinema." - Jay (25-Aug-2005)

"The Grand Cinama (2/1/1/2): A lot has been said about the bugs in this game, but this first part can actually be played to the end if you use dozy in two places where an invisible wall seems to prevent progression. When you do you get flip six switches and collect and use six keys in a rather tedious fashion as you have a long way to go back and forth through the huge empty room. Liked the cinema posters, but overall this has all the beginner's mistakes (like many thin walls, stretched textures etc). Tomb of the Pharoas (0/0/0/0): I really don't think I can award this part any points. I did not find a way to progress much in it and the initial parts I could do were not inspiring in any way either. Mummification Chambers (2/0/1/1): Again I could not quite complete this part, but there is actually a lot of tedious running around and climbing to do that gets you to levers and a cartouche. Using dozy I did actually get to an area with a chain that could have been an ending but just wasn't (?). Cleopatra's Closet (1/0/1/1): This one can be played and completed but it needs a lot of patience during the quest for knots and a portal guardian as you run around a lot in those huge endless and very empty rooms and hallways. All in all, the author has shown actually some solid skills in Level building, but totally neglected to ensure playability of the level and needs to work more on the size of the rooms (smaller is almost always better) and the texturing and lighting." - MichaelP (15-Aug-2005)

"Well, what can I say about a level where you have to use DOZY almost at the beginning to be able to continue? This one's a bugs feast, from missing/stretched textures to the aforementioned mandatory DOZY to the fact you simply can't finish it. This wouldn't be that much of a problem if it weren't for the gameplay. Huge rooms, looooooong corridors, one after one another. And you often have to visit them several times only to find keys/items and their matching holes. I played most of it sprinting to try and avoid the tedium, but no could do. This said, it's not dark (could have been) and the pictures in the theaters were a nice idea. So that's 1 point in the textures department but I'm afraid that will be the only one." - Sutekh (07-Aug-2005)

"Obviously, this game can not be completed. I played it with the original scripts as there was no way I could enter in one of the cinemas in the first level (because of a strange invisible block). Maybe this level is a hub level for the three others which are standard and short Egyptian quests. There is also no way to complete the 2nd level because the author has forgotten to add 64 in the OCB setting of the first half of the eye of Horus, and no way to complete the 3rd without cheating. The 4th level can be completed although it is quite possible to get stuck for good if you don't do things in the same order than the author has intended. So many bugs both in gameplay and in the design is a real challenge for the imagination. Just for the record, in the 2nd level there is a wall (thin, that is) which may be 80 clicks high without any wall segments: if you have never noticed streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetched textures in a custom level before, you can't miss this one, it is quite unique and fascinating, and push off the limits of what can be done with the editor. So I give one extra point for the textures as I was marvelled by this and also for the giant movies pictures in the 1st level (well done, by the way). And another point for the different looking Lara." - eRIC (03-Aug-2005)

"Unfortunately, you cannot review a game you cannot play. I notice that some people made progress in your game, Harry, but I wasn't one of them. Sorry, sport! Look forward to your next endeavor." - Mugs (01-Aug-2005)
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