Reign of Chaos - Venice by Oliver Mausch (karlo002)

Level 1- Sewer System

After the creepy experience in the desolate ghost town in Mexico and a quick trip back to the airport Lara goes in for a crash landing in the Venetian sewers. And as a Tomb Raider environment sewers never hold good news. As if these murky underground channels aren’t dark enough from before, there is the issue of the second Chaos Gem, the red one this time, wreaking havoc on this otherwise charming city.

One thing I constantly find myself disliking about sewer levels is the fact that they cover an enormous amount of ground. There always seems to be at least five different paths to choose from in every single room. But in reality this level isn’t at all that bad. Sure it is huge, but a lot of it is about backtracking over the same areas and although there is a risk of that becoming too tedious I thoroughly enjoyed this level.

Even better was it that there are no enemies here that can not be dealt with by firearms. I can hardly describe the satisfaction I felt by blasting down my first zombie and actually realize that it would stay down instead of wasting two shotgun shells only to see it getting back on its feet after about two nanoseconds.

No overly immense challenges in this level really, but there were some tricky tasks that took quite some time to do, such as drying out and re-flooding certain parts, finding keys and fuses and making your way around a maze-like network of hallways and channels. At one point I also came across a rather large block puzzle and if you don’t pay attention at this point it’s easy to move a block into the wrong position, having to start all over again by reloading the game. At least make sure you have a savegame before starting and preferably also a good map at hand.

The main goal of this somewhat tricky (somewhat tricky due to the massive backtracking and a rather difficult timed run/jump) level is to find a way to reach the upper level of the sewers, where the exit is located.

Level 2- Hereafter Holiday

Those who expected to be out of the sewers and see the light of day will probably be somewhat baffled to find out that Lara is still down there as the level starts. We now find Lara at the upper level and the current goal is to find a way to exit this murky place.

If you thought that would be easy, think again. There are quite a few tasks left to be done first, one of them includes finding a way past a massive spike trap.

The sight that greets the eager raider above ground is no more cheery than that below: there are pools of blood in the streets and everything looks dark and miserable.

Although this level is rather straight-forward and you’ll seldom get stuck wondering where to go next, the traps and obstacles are slightly more difficult to get past in comparison to the previous levels, something which kept me on my tip-toes from beginning to end.

The setting is absolutely gorgeous, with an atmosphere so dark and sinister that you can almost feel the sadness and misery haunting the city. I found the gameplay to be both challenging and interesting and there was certainly no time for being bored at any point.

At the end of the level Lara finds the red Chaos Gem inside a church, which was so beautifully created and so life-like that I hardly dared breathe during the entire time she spent there.

The satisfaction of finally finding that gem after all those challenges was (if possible) even more immense than the one I felt after finishing the first Mexican level and although this turned out to be my favourite level out of the Venetian lot, at that point I was really looking forward to a bit of relaxation in some brighter and cheerier surroundings.

Level 3- Say Cheese

With this title I was honestly not sure what to expect. Although I already knew that this is a game of yin and yang so to say (balance between good and evil) the bright and beautiful levels never ceased to amaze me. The contrast always seemed so sharp and almost unexpected, but never in an unpleasant way.

Eager to explore the sunny side of Venice, a city which I have been in love with since my first feeble experiences with Tomb Raider 2, I sat off down the streets of a city so charming and delightful that it was hard to imagine that the same place had previously been infested with blood, rotting corpses and nothing but tragedy and death before.

Here we have another one of those levels that give you a distinct feeling of vacation somewhere in a southern location (especially recommended for dark and dreary winter days).

The friendly merchants and female locals add to the most welcomed feeling of life, the crystal-clear pools look incredibly tempting and you can almost imagine Lara putting her feet up at one of the cafes with a cappuccino in her hand.

I said almost though and I meant every letter. Just because it’s friendly and peaceful doesn’t mean it’s boring and uneventful. Quite the contrary: there is plenty of exploring to do and even a tight timed run, a few traps and on top of that some puzzles that require quite a bit of thinking.

Conclusion

Oliver has created a set of Venice levels unlike any that I have seen before. Sewer levels are not few and far between, but here it has been crafted into perfection. It looks and feels like a real sewer (creepy of course, but isn't that a part of the point?). The suspense you feel as Lara climbs out into streets covered in blood and with the sensation of death everywhere is nothing at all like the Venice we've seen before. Its dark and sinister atmosphere is the complete opposition of the warm vacation feel of the last level. The contrast is so overwhelming that this alone is worth playing these levels for.

Back to Top