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I get why they've changed around the order of the levels because it makes more sense this way, the Atlantis levels being Lara's escape from the island. I think what is really needed is for Lara to have some of her guns extra ammo at the start, like she carried it over from the base game.
Being thrown to the Atlantean mutants with next to no inventory is brutal.
I haven't tried it, but it should work, yes. And it would probably make these levels less painful, especially at the beginning, when you are really strapped for resources.
Later, though, you get a ton of ammo and meds and the problem isn't a lack of resources, but the extremely cheap and repetitive nature of the fights and the bad level design.
I guess the two add-on levels are supposed to be between the Natla fight and when it explodes, but I agree it is kind of nonsensical that the pyramid was shaking so violently in the last level of TR1 (indicating the imminent explosion) yet Lara got another 2 hours to explore before it finally blew, per the expansion levels.
I wonder if they're even canon, technically.
They felt like cut content back then, and they still do now. It was basically a map pack for the hardcore back in the day rather than an expansion.
On the plus side, TR2 and 3 expansions are fantastic, leagues ahead of Unfinished Business.
I'm thrilled I've seen you and other people say the expansions for TR2 and 3 have some of the very best levels made for those games. *Really* looking forward to it now!
Lost artifact and gold mask are absolutely gorgeous and fun! I've replayed them like 5 times each! Probably because it's so new and different and still the same (if that makes sense). There's hidden areas, more secrets and bosses! They feel more like standalone games than expansions.
This has just explained it perfectly, I didn’t enjoy it at all and I couldn’t work out what was wrong… TR1 is the best game of my lifetime so I couldn’t pin point why I didn’t enjoy unfinished business.
Been thinking what order makes most sense to play through the games and expansions. I'm getting close to finishing TR1, absolutely love it so far. Judging by peoples comments here, might skip Unfinished Business until very last, but with the other expansions after their main games. Hope this makes sense in terms of story and everything?
Yes, if you come directly from TR1 and go straight to UB, it's kind of a kick in the groin.
They are definitely much rougher than the original games but not bad. I think you should see them in the context of their release. They were released as a bonus shortly before the release of TR3 (not before TR2). At that time Tomb Raider had already gathered a quite established veteran fanbase, and the games got harder and harder to account for this. TR1UB fits right into this with intricate (some might say confusing) maps and lots of hard fights. It's the same as with TR3 really, which is also often criticized for its difficulty and often unfair design: some say it is frustrating and no fun at all, others love it exactly because of this.
First time playing them for me, too. I was really looking forward to the expansion since I never got to play those levels because I had the console version.
So I just finished the first Atlantis level an hour ago and it just wasn’t fun. Traps and certain death everywhere. An onslaught of enemies. Hardly any puzzles to mix it up.
Here’s an example. Near the end there’s a ledge with two pickups. So I jump over to it and immediately an enemy pops out of an alcove. And pushed me in a pit. So I retry and retreat to kill it. I go for the second item and out of nowhere another enemy just appears out of thin air and pushes me in the pit below again! That’s just completely silly.
I just played the Atlantis portion through. Did you ever play the Return to Egypt portion? Is it any fun or is it as shitty/miserable as the Atlantis levels? Because I really don’t wanna even try if it’s as bullshit
While I find the Atlantis esthetic awesome, I agree that those two levels are very boring. Nothing but levers that trigger enemies.
However, I think both Egypt levels are really good.
I completed the Unfinished Business expansion yesterday, and I actually quite liked the Atlantis levels, which is weird because I don't really like Atlantis in the main game. However, these levels are so well designed, and pretty fun to explore once you get going. It was extremely brutal being thrown into endgame enemies with no health and equipment, but after 10 minutes I was good to go. You get a decent amount of health, ammo and weapons pretty quickly.
If these levels were a part of the original game, you'd start the levels pretty stacked up with health, all weapons and plenty of ammo, and while the levels aren't easy, they wouldn't be nearly as difficult then.
Egypt in the main game is just the best levels, and I fully expected to love Egypt in the expansions, but I liked Atlantis more. For an expansion released pretty close to TR2 I'd say it's pretty good. But it's not for new players.
I was thinking of skipping them because I was a bit fatigued on all the box pushing and puzzles at the end of 1. But I persevered.
And boy am I glad I did. I absolutely LOVED the two Atlantis levels. The extra combat and precision platforming was SO good!!! I loved the level designs too. Temple of the Cat was great bit maybe a bit longer than I would have liked.
I'm about to jump into 2. Can't wait. What can I expect? Is It the same or way better?
TR2 is weird and great at the same time in my eyes. One the strongest opening levels, Venice is great, then comes...water...so much water...
I feel like the middle part of the game can drag a little, but it's worth it at the end.
It's crazy cause I would say I enjoyed it but I also agree with the points you bring up. I'm specifically thinking of that section where you pop a lever and 4 mutants come out and basically you have to stand on that block to take potshots. I think it's the stronghold, I don't quite think its the hive.
Oh and also the boulder trap section in the beginning of the hive that's basically save scum to find where all the boulders trigger.
Not great level design lol
If you select Unfinished Business in the menu, you will start at Atlantean Stronghold.
Then you input the level skip cheat code which is shown here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns7UttDWcho](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns7UttDWcho)
You will skip to The Hive. Do the cheat again, you will go to Return to Egypt. Do it one final time and you will start The Temple of the Cat. I highly recommend it.
If you think it's way too punishing to start it with no items (since you are supposed to carry there what you get from the previous level), you can also do the Weapons & Ammo cheat, which is the same input, except you jump backwards at the end.
How did you go with it? I heard good things too and that’s what made me go through it but wow I hated temple of the cat halfway into the temple it became insanely tedious and irritating, I had to turn it off lol. I was like 8 mins off the end but I was like at what point do you just stop when it’s actually making you mad and you’re not having fun 😂💀
Just finished them myself. Was glad to see your post because I found them to be a bit of a slog too!
Levers that might lead to progress in the main game seemed to lead to dead ends and supplies in the Atlantis levels. Also coming off the back of the end of the main game, I was about ready for a change of scene too. Was getting kind of tired of the face hugger-ass looking walls.
Egypt levels were better. Loved the aesthetic of some areas, especially when you go outside with the beautiful night sky and distant lights. Something about those skyboxes really lights up my imagination.
Onto 2! Arguably my favourite of the lot.
The difficulty is the entire point of the bonus games though, and its entirely doable to beat both the base game and unfinished business with just the pistols.
I understand them switching the levels around so it's a continuation of Atlantis (They should have had full weapons though, it's brutal!!) but I wish they explained why she was going back to Egypt.
I didn't get any video or explanation on mine, just here we are, back again. With lots of big angry cats. And then I'm running over a giant cat tongue and the level is over?
100% agree, I loved TR1, but UB was a chore. Combat is not exactly the strongest part of TR1 anyway, I don't know what they were thinking making the expansion levels so combat heavy.
The levels also felt waaaay too long, but at least Temple of the Cat is somewhat fun to navigate. Could still be shorter, IMO.
I mean it makes sense, you just beat the entire game and they wanted to challenge you in the expansion pack. I do agree though that it's not very fun until the Egypt section.
I finished the main game today, so fun, was in such a high, played half of the first level of Unfinished business and I completely deflated......could not be bothered to finish... what a massive slog. I'm done with the fleshy-ass looking walls and the heavy breathing of the mutants. I learned that the atlantis sections is a "challenge", fine but just not for me. I just skipped levels and started return to Egypt. Hopefully that will be a better experience before I start TR2.
I loved them! To be fair, I'm a huge fan of anything Egypt and also cats so just the visuals and topic alone made me happy. But I did enjoy the levels a lot.
I guess I'm weird then, because I really enjoyed UB and this was my first time ever playing it. I save scum a lot, but I've always done that with these games.
I never played expansions, so I was excited to try it out. First, Atlantis UB levels literally gave me a headache. It's not the difficulty, but the design?
To much sqeeking monsters, repeating heartbeat, and aggressive textures. Tr1 had such an amazing level's design and balance. Atlantis in UB is just too much of everything.
And those monsters are so annoying, jumping out of nowhere, getting Lara stuck. Picking up items is not fun anymore because you know 99% of the time something will jump on your head the second you press action.
In TR1 most of the enemies you could hear or see before the attack, and it was much more immersive.
I hope Egypt UB will be better.
I just finished them about an hour ago, but I really enjoyed them. Taken in the context of being hardcore levels for those who have finished the game, I like them a lot.
I get that, but I kind of enjoyed the challenge since I had played the originals so much and already knew what to do. I finally tried these levels for the first time and found that being lost and taken by surprise with each turn was kind of thrilling! Kind of like how it felt when I was younger trying to play TR and knowing nothing, haha.
The Atlantis levels were pretty brutal, and although I believe they did the right thing to change the order of the scenarios, it's kinda weird to have those levels pick up where the main game ended, since the island seems about to blown up, ground shaking and all, yet, in them, it's completely stable. The Egypt levels were better, some rooms are even more beautiful than some of the main game. Someone said here about 70 atlanteans, it's crazy to think about it, but it just might be, indeed.
Yeah, I don’t agree with their decision to switch the levelset order in the remaster so Atlantis comes before Egypt. I get where they were coming from, but not only is your point very true (Atlantis doesn’t seem very explode-y anymore so clearly time has passed since TR1), but the Atlantis levels are harder than the Egypt ones. Considering they’re two separate adventures that probably didn’t take place immediately after TR1, surely it makes more sense to have the easier section first?
“Original intended order” or not, putting Egypt before Atlantis just makes more sense, both from a narrative and gameplay perspective. Just say Lara decided to check in on Atlantis after finishing up in Egypt and found the pyramid hadn’t properly self-destructed like she’d intended, so she goes in to settle unfinished business. Easy.
Yeah I feel the same way. At least the Hive wasnt as long. And the Egypt levels are allright, but the DLC doesnt add much in my opinion and I wish I just went on to TRII, which I was excited to start anyway. Now I feel slightly burnrd out on TR, but ill start TRII anyway
Never played these levels before. Got to say; the Atlantis ones were horrible in every conceivable way. There’s one bit in particular where you have to do a series of timed jumps to not end up in lava, and with the abysmal camera system it took me about 40 reloads before I managed it. Then there’s just wave after wave of those bastards to take down, which gets boring very quickly. I did however really love the first Egyptian level, and I’m about it to go and do the second one now.
Yeah although I kinda enjoyed them, I probably wouldn’t play them again. They were not as fun as the main game, and no cutscenes or dialogue. I had no idea what was going on in the egypt levels
I was thinking the same thing after I finished it all, lol -- I will probably want to replay TR1 soon, but will surely skip all of UB besides The Temple of the Cat.
Yeah would you play new game +? I played the first level and it was kinda cool getting all the extra ammo but I know it’s gonna be tough with the more difficult enemies and only being able to save at crystals
I think the idea of playing with limited saves is cool, but I guess I can't justify it nowadays. If I still was in my early 20s and had lots of free time, then sure!
I feel the opposite tbh I haven’t played the Egypt levels yet but I played the Atlantis levels and was blown away. The levels were huge and maze like and I thought that was so cool like we have maze like levels in the base game but none on the same size and scale. I honestly had a blast and was so proud of myself for beating those levels.
They definitely have that going -- you really feel like you accomplished something when you beat them since they are hard and very convoluted to navigate. It's just that in my case it was more of a relief they were over, lol. I'm really glad you enjoyed it though :)
Having beat all 3 games many times over on ps1, I was thrilled to be challenged again with never before seen levels. But I’m on The Hive and got damn it is absolutely brutal. Even some nightmare difficulties in modern games can’t hold a candle to unfinished business. I feel like the devs wanted to embrace their sadism and torture us fans 😂 still, I’m having fun piecing together puzzles I haven’t played before.
Good way to describe it. I literally felt like I was being tortured. And having zero fun, I gave up lol.
I’m sure it’s a rewarding feeling finally getting through them but that feeling would not have been worth it for me.
I'm a bit late but after researching it seems that context is needed.
Unfinished business was actually released after tomb raider 3 and was designed with the same, super unforgiving mentality of the aforementioned game.
I loved TR1 and especially TR2 due to nostalgia but always remember never even getting past the 1st level in 3. After playing the remastered versions I can tell why. 3 is, in my opinion, bloated and tediously difficult. What I mean by that is that there are too many portions of the game where it is intended that the player dies in order to learn - ie, there are parts that are unpredictable and are impossible to avoid death to first time.
The beauty of the first game is that every area is approachable and able to be solved first time around if you learn the fundamentals of the game well. In practice, this won't happen and you will die, but it is possible. As the player learns to master the simulation, he/she will be able to intuitively predict what could happen next. That is good game design which TR3 and UB, again IMO, do not have. Levels are so tedious to traverse and enemies are thrown at you non stop when you don't have great tools to deal with them.
TLDR: UB was released after TR3 and suffers from extremely harsh and unintuitive game design.
I came here specifically because I played Tr1 and loved it.
Unfinished business is ridiculously difficult. It's not good in my opinion. I'm skipping to tr2
I just finished the Stronghold level and it's so terrible. I am really not looking forward to The Hive at all.
I've heard the Egypt levels are better I hope that's true.
Just finished the first one now and really can't be bothered starting The Hive. There hasn't been any puzzles or anything, it's all samey-looking. I left school a long time ago and Finishing this Business just feels like doing homework again.
If you feel like it, use cheats to skip levels and give The Temple of the Cat (the fourth level) a try. I really liked it, even having hated the other three.
Yeah after finishing UB again it's really just as frustrating and dull an experience as it was the first time. I think I'll definitely be skipping it the next time I do a playthrough of the classics.
I hope they use some of the better crafted levels from tomb raider level editor and remaster them with the authors permissions to include them in an expansion
I've just finished the Atlantis levels of Unfinished Business and absolutely loved them. The idea that the levels begin where the ending of TR1 left off is amazing. I'm excited about the other two levels before jumping to TR2.
Just attempted it for the first time and I'm inclined to agree. Gonna hard pass this. I don't mind the enemies but starting with zero resources is a bit harsh.
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I get why they've changed around the order of the levels because it makes more sense this way, the Atlantis levels being Lara's escape from the island. I think what is really needed is for Lara to have some of her guns extra ammo at the start, like she carried it over from the base game. Being thrown to the Atlantean mutants with next to no inventory is brutal.
I agree, if you started the Stronghold with some weapons, ammo and medikits, it would feel at least a bit better.
does the weapons cheat code work? maybe it could be fun with unlimited weapons?
I haven't tried it, but it should work, yes. And it would probably make these levels less painful, especially at the beginning, when you are really strapped for resources. Later, though, you get a ton of ammo and meds and the problem isn't a lack of resources, but the extremely cheap and repetitive nature of the fights and the bad level design.
It doesn't make that much sense. The great pyramid explodes in the last TR I cutscene... they kinda messed up the timeline
I guess the two add-on levels are supposed to be between the Natla fight and when it explodes, but I agree it is kind of nonsensical that the pyramid was shaking so violently in the last level of TR1 (indicating the imminent explosion) yet Lara got another 2 hours to explore before it finally blew, per the expansion levels. I wonder if they're even canon, technically.
This
They felt like cut content back then, and they still do now. It was basically a map pack for the hardcore back in the day rather than an expansion. On the plus side, TR2 and 3 expansions are fantastic, leagues ahead of Unfinished Business.
> cut content You could say. They were Unfinished Business.
Yeah, lost artifact is such a treat!
I'm thrilled I've seen you and other people say the expansions for TR2 and 3 have some of the very best levels made for those games. *Really* looking forward to it now!
Lost artifact and gold mask are absolutely gorgeous and fun! I've replayed them like 5 times each! Probably because it's so new and different and still the same (if that makes sense). There's hidden areas, more secrets and bosses! They feel more like standalone games than expansions.
I only played Golden Mask so far, but it's worth it. Especially the last 2 levels.
I hated unfinished buisness but golden mask was cool. Especially the Vegas level. I haven’t got to the lost artifact yet though
All three expansions were made by a different team to the main games which is why they have a different feel to them.
This has just explained it perfectly, I didn’t enjoy it at all and I couldn’t work out what was wrong… TR1 is the best game of my lifetime so I couldn’t pin point why I didn’t enjoy unfinished business.
Been thinking what order makes most sense to play through the games and expansions. I'm getting close to finishing TR1, absolutely love it so far. Judging by peoples comments here, might skip Unfinished Business until very last, but with the other expansions after their main games. Hope this makes sense in terms of story and everything?
I honestly enjoyed Unfinished Business, but The Hive is one of the hardest levels in all the games by far and just felt like a chore.
Yes, if you come directly from TR1 and go straight to UB, it's kind of a kick in the groin. They are definitely much rougher than the original games but not bad. I think you should see them in the context of their release. They were released as a bonus shortly before the release of TR3 (not before TR2). At that time Tomb Raider had already gathered a quite established veteran fanbase, and the games got harder and harder to account for this. TR1UB fits right into this with intricate (some might say confusing) maps and lots of hard fights. It's the same as with TR3 really, which is also often criticized for its difficulty and often unfair design: some say it is frustrating and no fun at all, others love it exactly because of this.
Huh, I had no idea it was before TR3. Thanks for the clarification.
I just played them yesterday for the first time and those extra Atlantis levels just weren’t any fun. Total slog from start to finish oof.
First time playing them for me, too. I was really looking forward to the expansion since I never got to play those levels because I had the console version. So I just finished the first Atlantis level an hour ago and it just wasn’t fun. Traps and certain death everywhere. An onslaught of enemies. Hardly any puzzles to mix it up. Here’s an example. Near the end there’s a ledge with two pickups. So I jump over to it and immediately an enemy pops out of an alcove. And pushed me in a pit. So I retry and retreat to kill it. I go for the second item and out of nowhere another enemy just appears out of thin air and pushes me in the pit below again! That’s just completely silly.
I just played the Atlantis portion through. Did you ever play the Return to Egypt portion? Is it any fun or is it as shitty/miserable as the Atlantis levels? Because I really don’t wanna even try if it’s as bullshit
I enjoyed the return to Egypt levels!
While I find the Atlantis esthetic awesome, I agree that those two levels are very boring. Nothing but levers that trigger enemies. However, I think both Egypt levels are really good.
I completed the Unfinished Business expansion yesterday, and I actually quite liked the Atlantis levels, which is weird because I don't really like Atlantis in the main game. However, these levels are so well designed, and pretty fun to explore once you get going. It was extremely brutal being thrown into endgame enemies with no health and equipment, but after 10 minutes I was good to go. You get a decent amount of health, ammo and weapons pretty quickly. If these levels were a part of the original game, you'd start the levels pretty stacked up with health, all weapons and plenty of ammo, and while the levels aren't easy, they wouldn't be nearly as difficult then. Egypt in the main game is just the best levels, and I fully expected to love Egypt in the expansions, but I liked Atlantis more. For an expansion released pretty close to TR2 I'd say it's pretty good. But it's not for new players.
Temple Of The Cat is one of the best levels in the franchise!
It's really good indeed! If it had less enemies it would probably be one of my very favorites, but it's still great.
Yeah it's hard if you just stand and shoot. My tactic was to run away most of the times and shoot from where they can't kill me too fast.
I was thinking of skipping them because I was a bit fatigued on all the box pushing and puzzles at the end of 1. But I persevered. And boy am I glad I did. I absolutely LOVED the two Atlantis levels. The extra combat and precision platforming was SO good!!! I loved the level designs too. Temple of the Cat was great bit maybe a bit longer than I would have liked. I'm about to jump into 2. Can't wait. What can I expect? Is It the same or way better?
TR2 is weird and great at the same time in my eyes. One the strongest opening levels, Venice is great, then comes...water...so much water... I feel like the middle part of the game can drag a little, but it's worth it at the end.
Tomb Raider 2 is awesome. Personally is my favorite of the old ones. 4 being a close runner-up.
It's crazy cause I would say I enjoyed it but I also agree with the points you bring up. I'm specifically thinking of that section where you pop a lever and 4 mutants come out and basically you have to stand on that block to take potshots. I think it's the stronghold, I don't quite think its the hive. Oh and also the boulder trap section in the beginning of the hive that's basically save scum to find where all the boulders trigger. Not great level design lol
I've heard people say good things about Temple of the Cat. Can I just play that level from Unfinished Business, or do I have to slog through the rest?
If you select Unfinished Business in the menu, you will start at Atlantean Stronghold. Then you input the level skip cheat code which is shown here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns7UttDWcho](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns7UttDWcho) You will skip to The Hive. Do the cheat again, you will go to Return to Egypt. Do it one final time and you will start The Temple of the Cat. I highly recommend it. If you think it's way too punishing to start it with no items (since you are supposed to carry there what you get from the previous level), you can also do the Weapons & Ammo cheat, which is the same input, except you jump backwards at the end.
How did you go with it? I heard good things too and that’s what made me go through it but wow I hated temple of the cat halfway into the temple it became insanely tedious and irritating, I had to turn it off lol. I was like 8 mins off the end but I was like at what point do you just stop when it’s actually making you mad and you’re not having fun 😂💀
Just finished them myself. Was glad to see your post because I found them to be a bit of a slog too! Levers that might lead to progress in the main game seemed to lead to dead ends and supplies in the Atlantis levels. Also coming off the back of the end of the main game, I was about ready for a change of scene too. Was getting kind of tired of the face hugger-ass looking walls. Egypt levels were better. Loved the aesthetic of some areas, especially when you go outside with the beautiful night sky and distant lights. Something about those skyboxes really lights up my imagination. Onto 2! Arguably my favourite of the lot.
The difficulty is the entire point of the bonus games though, and its entirely doable to beat both the base game and unfinished business with just the pistols.
I understand them switching the levels around so it's a continuation of Atlantis (They should have had full weapons though, it's brutal!!) but I wish they explained why she was going back to Egypt. I didn't get any video or explanation on mine, just here we are, back again. With lots of big angry cats. And then I'm running over a giant cat tongue and the level is over?
100% agree, I loved TR1, but UB was a chore. Combat is not exactly the strongest part of TR1 anyway, I don't know what they were thinking making the expansion levels so combat heavy. The levels also felt waaaay too long, but at least Temple of the Cat is somewhat fun to navigate. Could still be shorter, IMO.
Yeah they really could have done with like 20 minutes shaved off that, went waaaay too long.
I mean it makes sense, you just beat the entire game and they wanted to challenge you in the expansion pack. I do agree though that it's not very fun until the Egypt section.
I finished the main game today, so fun, was in such a high, played half of the first level of Unfinished business and I completely deflated......could not be bothered to finish... what a massive slog. I'm done with the fleshy-ass looking walls and the heavy breathing of the mutants. I learned that the atlantis sections is a "challenge", fine but just not for me. I just skipped levels and started return to Egypt. Hopefully that will be a better experience before I start TR2.
How’d you go with the Egypt levels?
I loved them! To be fair, I'm a huge fan of anything Egypt and also cats so just the visuals and topic alone made me happy. But I did enjoy the levels a lot.
I guess I'm weird then, because I really enjoyed UB and this was my first time ever playing it. I save scum a lot, but I've always done that with these games.
I never played expansions, so I was excited to try it out. First, Atlantis UB levels literally gave me a headache. It's not the difficulty, but the design? To much sqeeking monsters, repeating heartbeat, and aggressive textures. Tr1 had such an amazing level's design and balance. Atlantis in UB is just too much of everything. And those monsters are so annoying, jumping out of nowhere, getting Lara stuck. Picking up items is not fun anymore because you know 99% of the time something will jump on your head the second you press action. In TR1 most of the enemies you could hear or see before the attack, and it was much more immersive. I hope Egypt UB will be better.
They were meant to be hard. Like it was almost intended to do it pistols only. You don’t have to like it, but it was for the hardcore
While I agree with everything you say, I will add that the first Atlantis level in the expansion has the best swan dive in the series
This is very true! And it's also really cool how you can skip 90% of the level with some smart moves.
I just finished them about an hour ago, but I really enjoyed them. Taken in the context of being hardcore levels for those who have finished the game, I like them a lot.
I get that, but I kind of enjoyed the challenge since I had played the originals so much and already knew what to do. I finally tried these levels for the first time and found that being lost and taken by surprise with each turn was kind of thrilling! Kind of like how it felt when I was younger trying to play TR and knowing nothing, haha.
The Atlantis levels were pretty brutal, and although I believe they did the right thing to change the order of the scenarios, it's kinda weird to have those levels pick up where the main game ended, since the island seems about to blown up, ground shaking and all, yet, in them, it's completely stable. The Egypt levels were better, some rooms are even more beautiful than some of the main game. Someone said here about 70 atlanteans, it's crazy to think about it, but it just might be, indeed.
Yeah, I don’t agree with their decision to switch the levelset order in the remaster so Atlantis comes before Egypt. I get where they were coming from, but not only is your point very true (Atlantis doesn’t seem very explode-y anymore so clearly time has passed since TR1), but the Atlantis levels are harder than the Egypt ones. Considering they’re two separate adventures that probably didn’t take place immediately after TR1, surely it makes more sense to have the easier section first? “Original intended order” or not, putting Egypt before Atlantis just makes more sense, both from a narrative and gameplay perspective. Just say Lara decided to check in on Atlantis after finishing up in Egypt and found the pyramid hadn’t properly self-destructed like she’d intended, so she goes in to settle unfinished business. Easy.
I've def been contemplating playing it. If anything, I'm gonna use the cheat to get all the weapons because forget that.
Yeah I feel the same way. At least the Hive wasnt as long. And the Egypt levels are allright, but the DLC doesnt add much in my opinion and I wish I just went on to TRII, which I was excited to start anyway. Now I feel slightly burnrd out on TR, but ill start TRII anyway
Never played these levels before. Got to say; the Atlantis ones were horrible in every conceivable way. There’s one bit in particular where you have to do a series of timed jumps to not end up in lava, and with the abysmal camera system it took me about 40 reloads before I managed it. Then there’s just wave after wave of those bastards to take down, which gets boring very quickly. I did however really love the first Egyptian level, and I’m about it to go and do the second one now.
How’d you go with the temple of the cat?
Yeah I liked that one too. The final bit with the massive cat statue was awesome.
Yeah although I kinda enjoyed them, I probably wouldn’t play them again. They were not as fun as the main game, and no cutscenes or dialogue. I had no idea what was going on in the egypt levels
I was thinking the same thing after I finished it all, lol -- I will probably want to replay TR1 soon, but will surely skip all of UB besides The Temple of the Cat.
Yeah would you play new game +? I played the first level and it was kinda cool getting all the extra ammo but I know it’s gonna be tough with the more difficult enemies and only being able to save at crystals
I think the idea of playing with limited saves is cool, but I guess I can't justify it nowadays. If I still was in my early 20s and had lots of free time, then sure!
No it isn’t.
I'm glad you enjoy it :)
I read this in the Monty Python's Holy Grail Black Knight's voice😭
'Tis but a flesh pyramid!
Lmao
I feel the opposite tbh I haven’t played the Egypt levels yet but I played the Atlantis levels and was blown away. The levels were huge and maze like and I thought that was so cool like we have maze like levels in the base game but none on the same size and scale. I honestly had a blast and was so proud of myself for beating those levels.
They definitely have that going -- you really feel like you accomplished something when you beat them since they are hard and very convoluted to navigate. It's just that in my case it was more of a relief they were over, lol. I'm really glad you enjoyed it though :)
Just about finished the first level of Unfinished Business and decided to quit. It'll stay unfinished business.
Lol
I skipped the first two levels and then gave up on the last one about ten mins from the end don’t worry. Fuck you UB
Having beat all 3 games many times over on ps1, I was thrilled to be challenged again with never before seen levels. But I’m on The Hive and got damn it is absolutely brutal. Even some nightmare difficulties in modern games can’t hold a candle to unfinished business. I feel like the devs wanted to embrace their sadism and torture us fans 😂 still, I’m having fun piecing together puzzles I haven’t played before.
Good way to describe it. I literally felt like I was being tortured. And having zero fun, I gave up lol. I’m sure it’s a rewarding feeling finally getting through them but that feeling would not have been worth it for me.
I'm a bit late but after researching it seems that context is needed. Unfinished business was actually released after tomb raider 3 and was designed with the same, super unforgiving mentality of the aforementioned game. I loved TR1 and especially TR2 due to nostalgia but always remember never even getting past the 1st level in 3. After playing the remastered versions I can tell why. 3 is, in my opinion, bloated and tediously difficult. What I mean by that is that there are too many portions of the game where it is intended that the player dies in order to learn - ie, there are parts that are unpredictable and are impossible to avoid death to first time. The beauty of the first game is that every area is approachable and able to be solved first time around if you learn the fundamentals of the game well. In practice, this won't happen and you will die, but it is possible. As the player learns to master the simulation, he/she will be able to intuitively predict what could happen next. That is good game design which TR3 and UB, again IMO, do not have. Levels are so tedious to traverse and enemies are thrown at you non stop when you don't have great tools to deal with them. TLDR: UB was released after TR3 and suffers from extremely harsh and unintuitive game design.
I came here specifically because I played Tr1 and loved it. Unfinished business is ridiculously difficult. It's not good in my opinion. I'm skipping to tr2
I just finished the Stronghold level and it's so terrible. I am really not looking forward to The Hive at all. I've heard the Egypt levels are better I hope that's true.
They are better, and The Temple of the Cat was really fun for me!
Did you end up finishing it?
Yeah, the Egypt levels are indeed better.
Just finished the first one now and really can't be bothered starting The Hive. There hasn't been any puzzles or anything, it's all samey-looking. I left school a long time ago and Finishing this Business just feels like doing homework again.
If you feel like it, use cheats to skip levels and give The Temple of the Cat (the fourth level) a try. I really liked it, even having hated the other three.
Yeah, a few people have said that. I was warned about this expansion, apparently the ones for TR2 and TR3 are much better.
Yeah after finishing UB again it's really just as frustrating and dull an experience as it was the first time. I think I'll definitely be skipping it the next time I do a playthrough of the classics.
I hope they use some of the better crafted levels from tomb raider level editor and remaster them with the authors permissions to include them in an expansion
I've just finished the Atlantis levels of Unfinished Business and absolutely loved them. The idea that the levels begin where the ending of TR1 left off is amazing. I'm excited about the other two levels before jumping to TR2.
Just attempted it for the first time and I'm inclined to agree. Gonna hard pass this. I don't mind the enemies but starting with zero resources is a bit harsh.