Reign of Chaos - Natla's Hideout by Nadine Lannte (Horus)

Level 1- Hellforge

As the final part of the adventure began Lara and I entered the forge of Hell; me with sweaty palms and a thundering heart, she with that usual cool attitude and guns constantly drawn. The place is stunning, but who has the time to enjoy the view with enemies swarming all over her back and traps around every corner?

To say it's difficult is a major understatement. Right at the very beginning I was on the verge of giving up as I had Lara dodging spikes, skeletons and wraiths. All this about 10 minutes into the level.

Less than 10 minutes later I was tossed head first into a challenge so sadistic of nature that I was tempted to give up. Imagine Lara performing a seemingly impossible ropeswing to a ledge far away, with an inevitable death waiting below in shape of a lava pool AND a wraith all over her back. This only gives you a taste of what you can expect in a place where Lara is searching for her arch-enemy Natla.

The goal here is to locate the forge and here I was simply stunned by one of the most clever puzzles I’ve seen: Lara needs to set off some fire emitters and return to the floor above, where she has to drag two forging bowls onto the floor above the flames in order to create two Ashen stones. Once she has obtained these two she can leave Hellforge, still in one piece.

Level 2- Garden Of Stone

This is probably one of the longest standalone levels I’ve ever played. It is split into two parts and both of them are equally difficult, in fact this is probably the most difficult level in the entire game. If you can get through this you can give yourself a huge pat on the back, because this is (unfortunately) not for inexperienced raiders.

In this first part of the level Lara must dodge traps and enemies, solving a torch puzzle and make her way to what looks like Pompeii after the volcanic eruption. The main goal here is for her to make her way across a large area consisting mainly of scorching lava, broken bridges and slabs of rock. And she even has to do so several times to find another Ashen Stone and eventually outrun a wraith before she can claim the Silver Key.

This task is long and challenging, it contains jump sequences that demand precision and utmost caution and to me it made the entire level feel even longer. Spending three hours jumping across lava can become too much for anyone, but the reward for going on is bound to make you forget all frustration.

The second level takes Lara through traps and a torch puzzle, past enemies, up to the ceiling and down again in a neck breaking timed sequence until she finally reaches a library. This is a part I enjoyed a lot, even though the two-story library turned out to be a quite complicated part. The bookshelves were split into sections, named after Harry Potter terms and spiced up the experience even more than the unexpected spike traps between the shelves.

At the end of it all a long timed swim/run for the exit made up what can probably be considered the hardest challenge of the game alongside the huge trap gauntlet in Mystic Tree.

Level 3 - Cathedral

This level was almost shockingly short in comparison to the ones before it, but it was a welcomed change. This part of the game takes place inside the nave of a cathedral, once more built with an amazing eye for detail and texturing, and among other areas we also get to see the basement and garden as well.

To progress here Lara needs to find two angels: one that can be collected in a peaceful garden and one that is obtained through a challenging task that includes getting past even more difficult traps. These two tasks, both so different from each other, created a skilfully made and solid contrast.

Despite of its short length and few things to be done the place is still riddled with traps (such as the perfectly placed lava pools and trenches in the nave) and some devious challenges. This will without doubt test every one of your skills before setting out on the final quest to destroy your enemy once and for all.

Level 4- Death & Resurrection

And so the moment has come to do what you set out for in the first place: finding Natla and ridding the world of her evil presence. This might be the game’s shortest level, but it’s not necessarily easy for that reason.

Despite of the somewhat tricky jump sequences, a copious amount of climbing, many fire traps and even a painstakingly hard timed run/jump I never felt this to be as hard as I would have thought at first.

Natla’s sanctuary is a true beauty to behold and once more I can emphasize that it’s worth coming all this way only to see it with your own eyes.

Finally Lara finds the receptacle where she must part from all the hard-earned Chaos Gems and from there on follows the battle with her ultimate enemy. I won’t reveal how it ends, but what is certain is that it will be a bit of a shocking moment.

Prepare for an explosive grand finale when Lara enters the castle garden and after a long climb retrieves the Source Of All Good. The world is once more safe and sound.

Conclusion

And so a near perfect adventure comes to an end (like all good things sadly do) and peace is once more restored. As Lara walked out onto the green meadow under a black sky filled with stars I nearly had tears in my eyes. That was how immense it was to sit there watching the final credits rolling across the screen, savouring everything I had gone through. It was hard and at times I was tempted to chuck my keyboard out the window. I'm glad I didn't though, because I wouldn't want to miss out on the immense satisfaction of completing such a massive experience. I know you wouldn't want that either, so whether you're a beginner or have been raiding tombs since the beginning of time so to say give it a go. This is where you're bound to go through every emotion that comes along with playing a game. And you're going to hate it at times, but love it all more in the long run. I know I did and I'm looking towards the future with bright eyes, hoping to once more see a similar project somewhere in years to come.

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