| Reviewer's comments |
"Short level with a very simplistic gameplay, rather mediocre sometimes, although it serves for it surreal purpose. Texturing is rather decent, probably the strongest aspect of this level but the lighting is neglected. Overall, an atmospheric level and kind of interesting." - Neltharion (13-Jun-2023) |
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| "While it's not much of a looker (and in fact the very first room was pretty harsh on the eyes due to flickering colors), I really enjoyed this level and was surprised to see in-level teleports, think this might have been one of the earliest instances in which those were done. The shocking colors do serve their purpose to transport you into this dream world where Lara keeps seeing bits and bobs from different games, all the while fighting baddies reskinned as herself - brilliant. Not particularly difficult as you mostly solve one room before moving onto the next, despite the several side rooms it was a reasonably linear affair. 30 minutes, 3 secrets. 03/21" - Treeble (14-Mar-2021) |
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| "If you manage to let your eyes adjust to
the weird swirling textures scattered
throughout this level, then you'll find
that the dream atmosphere works rather
well as a result and I found them to be a
nice touch while journeying through one of
Lara's many unsettling dreams. I did find
the gameplay a bit lacking though, as
aside from a timed run or two it mainly
revolves around searching for levers and
items, which made it rather repetitive as
a result. The custom objects that are
dotted around, as well as the enemy Laras
(Attack of the Clones, anyone?) and the
three secrets do add a bit of
entertainment value to an otherwise
simplistic raid though, so there are worse
choices to make if you want to while away
35 minutes or so." - Ryan (07-Mar-2019) |
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| "Probably one of the weirdest game I had played back in 2015,
when I was a pretty clueless Wolfy.
It's not entirely bad to be honest, I quite enjoyed it. The
surreal atmosphere was kinda cool, was it? And the usage of
objects, especially in the coastal section, was very neat.
On the other hand the gameplay was too exploring based for
my taste and texturing was just too weird sometimes!
It is a rather silly game, but it was kinda worth it. Wolfy
Regards." - Wolf7 (06-Mar-2019) |
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| "Really there is an effort creating new colourful and animating textures, also with Laras as enemies, but few more. At least there is no much backtracking, and I found enough guns and ammo; the secrets were not hard to find too. What I missed were some camera hints when pulling switches showing the trapdoors opening; also at the end of the level after getting the dagger, how to know where to go? Not a hint to show the ramp turned into blocks. Take a try, but perhaps you'll need sun glasses!" - Jose (22-May-2017) |
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| "This renowned builder was quite prolific for a couple of years
before suddenly disappearing from the scene. This was his
maiden effort (seems as if I've played a number of those
lately), and it incorporates some good ideas. The dream-like
ambience makes for some bright colors in places, but there are
too many areas where it's so dark you can't see your hand in
front of your face. Jenni has provided one of her rare
walkthroughs, and it covers all the bases in clear fashion,
including the three secrets (one of which features a
walkthrough wall). The builder went on to release more
notable works, but this 45-minute level is certainly worth a
repeat play." - Phil (19-Mar-2015) |
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| "A rather special level (a dream) but still interesting. There are not a lot of enemies and puzzles are difficult ones." - SlyRaider (23-Aug-2014) |
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| "In this short and easy level Lara travels with a teleporter between several strange and surreal rooms and has to find the final artifact to finish and wake up from this dream. The game play is simple and quite entertaining. There are plenty of areas and objects that look familiar from some of the older TR versions and Lara also encounters several enemies, which mainly look TR1 Lara herself. The atmosphere is pleasant and there were lots of animated textures, which gave this level a bit of a psychedelic feel. Definitely something different for a change and a nice debut! (30 minutes)" - Blue43 (12-Jan-2011) |
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| "We are in nice and colorful rooms. Besides we can find ourselfs in floating islands and in gardens. There are no any puzzles or tricky moves. Just find keys and switches. Easy and pleasantly game." - Andzia9 (11-Mar-2009) |
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| "After the particularly bright and colourful slide at the beginning, we emerge inside a room containing with what appears to be a chess board. The wall textures are made of playing cards, and it all looks nicely 'dreamlike'. The imaginative texturing is present for most of the level, and some of them were easily playing tricks on my eyes at times. The gameplay throughout is rather easy and it is unlikely that you will get stuck, but it was still quite enjoyable. There were various themed sections on offer including a small 'floating islands' style area, and what appears to be a zoo (but without a great deal of animals). The main form of 'trap' in this level seems to be flooring that sets poor Lara on fire, and this leads to a multitude of jumping sections in order to avoid them. Most of the baddies that we fight are replicas of Lara herself, armed with a sword and an uzi, which was also a nice touch. Overall, this is a well-thought out level that is both entertaining and imaginative." - Spike (25-Jul-2007) |
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| "Lara on acid ;) I was looking for different levels and I found one. I really like the concept of this level. All the weird hypnotic colours makes me dizzy but at the same time adds to the dreamy feeling. The level was very easy (35min with all three secrets found) but I enjoyed it! 2005-04-07" - QRS (07-Apr-2005) |
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| "A super level with some very innovative ideas: the dream theme features Lara running around in her pyjamas probably dreaming about collecting yet another artifact that she has accumulated in her life (it's all the girl does after all!) and running away from herself as depicted by the main enemy of the level being herself. The dream theme is further accentuated with sliding down a colourful chute (falling in to dream land), visiting places she has been to before on her travels (Floating Islands), and strange rooms and places that often pop up in dreams and never seem to fit the whole theme (a piano on a hill in the middle of a room; a sewer with deadends in all directions; teleportation from one place to another as dreams can often flit from one place to another randomly; and a large colourful psychedelic room near the end) which all ensured that gameplay was always interesting and with great atmosphere. One secret is easy to find, but the other two are a bit more tricky, ensuring excellent replay value to get those last two. A thoroughly enjoyable level to play and an excellent first effort." - Jenni (13-Mar-2005) |
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| "A good, inventive and very original level with a solid 'Alice in Wonderland' atmosphere and some very good ideas, such as the Lara alter egos, the teleportation and, last but not least, Lara's outfit. Delirium levels are a genre that I love, and they aren't that many around. However, when it comes to this particular one, the delirium inspiration seems to fall off after a while. Not that it becomes conventional, but a bit contrived maybe. Or perhaps is it that the originality of the atmosphere isn't present in the gameplay, which consists of easy research (with the exception of one secret), easy jumping and easy shooting. This said, I had a good moment with this one. Nothing special, but all in all enjoyed it." - Sutekh (11-Mar-2005) |
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| "Using Lara's dreams as a part of the storyline and thus having an excuse to throw everything in you fancy, or make it how you like is not a new idea, but works pretty well in this enjoyable 35 minute adventure. The environments vary between many you've already seen before like sewers, floating islands, a (beautiful) lagoon, temple of Xian, some psychedelic rooms and a chessboard. The level is confusing at times, due to lack of camera work, but you can find your way if you explore - the tasks don't vary much from shooting a bunch of other Laras (!), guards, etc. and flipping switches, only at the end you get some action with traps, and rope swings. I also liked how the author disabled you from going anywhere after the rope swing until you got the crowbar, nice. Overall it's a bit surreal, but doesn't really offer much new in the journey from the initial chessboard area, and back to it, and eventually back to Lara's bed. Try it, if you fancy something different, just don't keep your expectations high." - eTux (15-Feb-2005) |
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| "This level is quite unique. The textures remind me of 'Psychedelic Caverns' but they are an improved version of them they have nothing to do with Windows wallpaper and some of them are animated. This level has a few technical defaults. In the area with the green water there is an uncolored section of the pool (that is inaccessible in any case) and in the area with palm trees and some water surrounding the tiny island there is a section of sand that moves with the water. This level also deals with the theme of games (eg. cards and unplayable chess games. We can distinguish the pawns from the other pieces because the pawns don't have any relics from TR: The Lost Artifact). This author really knows how to use objects from other games of the TR series (eg. the dagger of Xian the blades and the immobile warriors that seem threatening but they are not most of the time). I have noticed that at the end of the level the author triggered the skeletons instead of the Xian. Perhaps the Xian's AI did not function properly. I was impressed by Lara's clones (a combination of a baddy and Lara from TR1). I found Beethoven's music quite intriguing because it entices the player to fall asleep and to dream just like Lara (but I prefer Rachmaninoff to Beethoven). The teleportation effect the retextured objects and the reproduction of a part of 'The Floating Islands' were fascinating. Concerning the gameplay I appreciated the logic of certain parts of the level but I think that he should've varied the gameplay a little more because it mainly consists of killing enemies (scorpions and baddies) pulling switches (however the textures can hide them very well) and jumping (cf the floating islands). On the other hand the author improved in the gameplay department when Lara had to jump carefully in order to obtain a crowbar which allows the player to open a door that would lead to the a trigger that would teleport Lara to the area with the dagger of Xian. I was really intrigued when the skeletons pursued Lara. At the same time she had to jump over a few blades and wait for a spiked boulder to drop in the hole containing spikes. That part of the level is simply a test of patience (if you jump you will surely die). I liked the way TimJ put in the new game section a fake level called 'The Void' (if you select that tomb4.exe will crash) because it is a void to a certain extent (the level doesn't exist). Of course you can select 'The Dream' instead of that nonexistent level. The author put an incorrect number for the finishing trigger (please put 24 next time) which made tomb4.exe crash. I wonder why the author put 'The Planet of the Apes' poster. Is it a way of representing something random (typical of dreams)?" - Sakusha (26-Oct-2004) |
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| "Very interesting level in conceptual terms. Lara revisits some of the places from her previous official games in dreams and finds two pieces of a cartouche a revolver a crossbow the laser sight the dagger of Xian and even a secret which was if my memory serves me well the Uzis. It took me a while to find the finish trigger because I'd been there before and I never thought the place would have changed in the end. Meanwhile Lara fights her own replicas (what do psychoanalysts think of that?) some guards and some scorpions. The place is psychedelic enough but not any kind of psychedelic mess it's even pretty solid and beautiful for a dream level at least from what I've seen in other dream games irritatingly made of plain shapes and forms... It's no nightmare. I thought the ending was a bit sudden. The readme tells us there will be a continuation. Looking forward! (August 14 2004)" - Jorge22 (20-Aug-2004) |
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| "There's no doubt about it being a dream though it verges more on being a nightmare. Poor Lara has to fight not only herself (clones) but skeletons and a single SAS as she goes in search of a sword then it's back to bed with her dream self. To find that sword you come across some really interesting areas a giant chessboard floating green islands floating crypt grotesque piano room and sewers but unfortunately the gameplay was a little weak on and let the whole experience down somewhat for me. I did like the 2 secrets I found I missed a third but I thought getting the crossbow that wasn't a secret held a little more challenge and I was surprised that it wasn't one of the secrets. In the end this is one to play just because it's different but the 35 minutes it takes to finish shouldn't bamboozle anyone." - Sash (25-Jul-2004) |
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| "This is an adventurous nightmare of Lara. :) The textures are a bit strange and colourful but everything can happen in a nightmare. Even you can fight again yourself several times what's more you can kill yourself. :) The objective is getting the Dagger of Xian. The other enemies are scorpions armed men and skeletons. You can get several places: amongst buildings floating platforms even in a sewer where you are searching for Keys. Unfortunately I didn't find ammo for the Crossbow so I had to run away from the numerous skeletons in the end of the game. The added sounds are also cool. I recommend this great adventure to all of you. You can find a Hungarian walkthrough (as we don't have English version) savegames and pictures here: http://www.freeweb.hu/treditor/12/the_dream.htm " - Obig (11-Jun-2004) |
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| "Indeed a very cool start of a positively bizarre level. Lara's pajamas are funny the animated textures the piano scene the floating islands passage fighting her own ego and the transporter effects are all well done. Also the jungle area and the sewers add to the general variety of the setting here. Unfortunately it does seem as if the author ran out of steam a bit after all the vivid imagination that got this started - the gameplay is not all that exciting with mainly a level to lever progression with a few small backtracks and even a bit of target shooting rope swinging and a gauntlet with skeletons spikes and a boulder doesn't get the adrenalin up. But it's a nice and certainly different 40 minute romp which is well entertaining so give it a try." - Michael (29-May-2004) |
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| "A Nightmare on TR Street. Lara finds herself facing her own bad-ass evil self in a psychedelic world not of her own making. This level delivers some unique and exciting environments. My own favorite was the black and white pyramid with the grand piano on top - something I haven't seen before. An easy play with a good amount of action and a lot fun. Recommended." - Duncan (24-May-2004) |
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| "This level is very easy. Textures are suitable to Lara's Dream. She fights against her counterpart but it is easy to kill the counterpart. You have to use switches find keys and use them. Lara is teleported to different places. Traps are not difficult to avoid. In some rooms I recommend not to look long at the walls you will get headache when looking too long at them. Find the Ba-cartouche and use it. The floating green platforms are suitable to the level. Play it if you like it is a good one." - Avmaster (23-May-2004) |
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| "I don't know if sending this review will have any purpose other that boosting my review count. I wasn't able to pick up the second cartouche so that's as far as I went. But what I did see was weird and wonderful just as it would be in a dream. In fact it's one of the best 'dream' theme levels I've seen. Lara starts sliding down on flickering multi-coloured slopes. Turn her as she's sliding so she can grab a ladder otherwise she'll fall to her death. Now we can see her lovely pyjamas and slippers and Lara (or is it Lara?) is standing in a room like a chess board the chess pieces have well known artifacts on them and playing cards around the walls. Off through one entrance we come to a piano on top of a black and white pyramid and when we push the switch there we get a very unusual sight of Lara clones coming to get you. These were the TR1 no ponytail Lara. They use swords and uzis and they die just like we're used to seeing her with that agonising groan. Through the other door is a floating islands area with green islands and a temple where we see skeleton knights in niches in the walls. This is where it all ended for me I would love to have seen the rest. Sigh!" - CC (06-May-2004) |
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| "I loved this level of Lara in a dream with its beautiful colours and exciting rooms. Lara's goal here is to get the dagger and in order to do so she has to pass through various points and places all of which had a unique feel about them. Enemies were scorpions guards and a couple of skeletons but the real shocker is the Lara clones who show up blasting away only to be taken out by Lara herself hmmm that was weird but then aren't all dreams? I must say I found it all very enjoyable and I can't say I got bored at any point. Found a few secrets but fear I left some behind. Fav room was the black and white room which reminded me of the much loved Nightmare In Vegas level and ermmmm!!! well my kitchen lol also the moving psychedelic textures were quite stunning. Very good level with plenty of atmosphere and fun within." - Moonpooka (06-May-2004) |
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| "Yes it's a dream - cue the psychedelic textures. I freely admit that I'm not always a fan of dream levels but this was definitely one of the better ones. I absolutely loved Lara's pyjamas and matching slippers and the inclusion of familiar objects from past adventures was a good idea. The fact that most of her enemies were clones of herself indicates a very disturbed psyche - she obviously needs some heavy duty counseling. The ending was a nice touch although very brief. Not bad." - Jay (01-May-2004) |
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| "When you start choose KV 5 and you are on your way. There aren't many dream levels out there and I find it sort of interesting to ponder what was behind it all. But back to this level psychedelic I would say specially the beginning. The gameplay is rather straightforward and consist of finding levers. I was surprised how big it was but maybe that is just me although not at all amused to see some floating islands. Getting the crowbar and almost at the end the Dagger and Lara left with those safely tucked away in her backpack. Enemies there aren't that many didn't even shoot the soldiers as they never aimed Lara there are however another person shooting at Lara and was pleasantly surprised to see those clones. Some scorpions and almost at the end skeletons. I found the revolver and later the grenade gun as secrets and get that sight as there is target practice to do. Don't worry if you missed the revolver you also will find the crossbow for that. 24-04-2004" - Gerty (30-Apr-2004) |
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| "I shall begin this review with that oft used expression 'This level somehow did not click with me'. I first read this in a review of Michael's for 'The Hand of Sirius' (in which of course he was quite wrong; as that level was clearly a masterpiece) but it nevertheless neatly sums up that somewhat indefinable impression one gets when playing a level wherein one is irritated and unsatisfied but one can't quite define the cause. Oh God this review is getting incredibly pompous! Let me carry on in plain English. I think it must be the 'crazy' textures that always appear in 'dream' levels; coupled with a bug in the sewer section where a door only opened after I'd reloaded a savegame; and the animation ranges for the custom textures themselves which made my eyes go all squiggly and the areas in the sewer which I was never able to reach (intended or not?). Whatever the case this was one of those 'non-clicking' levels. But other players may of course enjoy it immensely. All I can say is go there and find out for yourselves. A lovely taste in music though!" - Orbit Dream (30-Apr-2004) |
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| "Lara is 'living' an unusual dream in which she is facing herself as an enemy. I admit it's something very interesting - quite different from other levels with the dream theme. The textures in some places remain unusual to indicate that the world she is wandering in is not real but it's nicely done although a bit dark in some places. Lara has the artifacts from her previous adventures all around her and she is being attacked by her TR2 if I am not mistaken clones in several places which hold swords and pistols that reduce her health rapidly. Keys are there to be found and a padlock to shoot with the laser-sight combined with a suitable weapon. I only found one secret the revolver. The end was nice with Lara finding herself sleeping on her bed and then the game crashed to the desktop but I assume it was the end. It's the best 'dream' level I have played so far." - Kristina (30-Apr-2004) |
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| "And the nightmare is over. ;-) A matter of taste this one. Not much to say. What I did not like was that I had to shoot at Lara (inserted as an enemy here). Apart from that a dagger to find and I did not like the graphics in some places. Found two secrets. Puzzles are rather easy as you slide into the various sections. There are also puzzle pieces to find and combine. At the end you see Lara sleeping on a bed." - Navi (30-Apr-2004) |
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| "Nice level with different textures - Lara is to be transferred here three times to find the dagger. The level is not hard and you can finish in 40 minutes." - Yoav (30-Apr-2004) |
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