| Reviewer's comments |
"I think I liked this one more than the previous levels, as there's now a change of setting
from the base, to the outdoors. Lara visits some nice places here, my favourite one was the
treetops in the "Canopies" part. The atmosphere was great and I also liked the classic
tracks that played at some parts. The traps were fun as well. Wonder which place Lara will
go to next..." - alan (11-Oct-2022) |
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| "As always in case of a multiparter with a single plot I rate
all parts equal but highlight merits and flaws of each part.
Where do I begin... this levelset starts and develops great,
has all the basics done simple and effective, and the
sceneries are not so over the rainbow but consistently
comfy, until the third level brings it on to the epic level
and the interconnected canopic episode forms the peak of
immersion. Unfortunately the more you play from there
onwards, the more glitches and chances of softlock you
encounter, especially in the the actual Atlantis part - so
the game felt like worth playing the beginning, absolutely
worth to play the middle and not so much pleasant to play
the ending, which is the opposite and unfortunately worse
variant of the same impression I got in Barkhang's
Nostalgy. Both games were simply too good to be left in
such a poor beta, or even alpha state, and would be
absolutely immersive if only polished enough - why to design
seriously organic bits and unique places to make a player
struggle. Pleeeease, please, and it's aimed at every single
builder... just don't leave your stuff half-baked because it
takes very little to ruin a lot of effort, and unluckily
there's a lot of little here." - DJ Full (12-Nov-2018) |
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| "After exiting the base, we've arrived in a dark
and spooky jungle, and I really liked this one.
The only things I didn't like was the
persistent sound of an activated boulder, and
the disappearing scenery in the treetops area
(although I'm thankful that it only occurred in
that location). Aside from those negatives,
this was very enjoyable. There are some good
puzzles to solve including a block puzzle in
the Cascade area and a hub room concept in the
Canopies area. Lara also has a chance to wreak
some havoc by blowing a trailer to bits and
releasing a boulder to create fire. I liked the
music that was used in here, that really aided
the atmosphere. Recommended." - Ryan (27-May-2017) |
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| "Once again an original design by the builder, even at this
day and age. The setting includes two parts, one is the
jungle with its cascades and various trap filled caverns
and the other is canopies, which are the tree tops with
huts on them. You could reach one part of them via a lift
and it was nicely designed with its rope and buttons, very
unique. The jungles itself are very realistic, right in
the opening the level pulls you to it. It feels alive with
its greenery, waterfalls, villages, a camp and various
animals. Musics are awesome. Gameplay is medium to hard
difficulty and rich with various ideas and traps. I had
some problems with picking up the keys because the
electrical currents around them are random, unless I
couldn't understand the pattern. The level has its bugs as
mentioned in the readme, one is a boulder with limitless
kinetic energy and keeps making sounds which I actually
used to get my bearings time to time. And when you first
get to the canopies the environment keeps disappearing
which subtracts from the beauty of it. Lastly, I must
mention the brilliant secrets of the game, you use the
skulls by putting them on pedestals to reach the rewards
and I loved it! I had fun and recommend it." - Nomad (05-Feb-2016) |
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| "A little bit disappointed when comparing with Atlantis 2. In
all aspects it had a bit of a downgrade. The game play felt
tedious and frustrating at a point; the lighting was bad and
there was a few glitches with the textures. And for some
reason this trle in particular crashed a lot for me when
loading a savefile. Not even the exe given by the author
fixed it. I hope the follow Altantis are better, or at least
at the same level as Atlantis 2." - Zhyttya (07-Jan-2016) |
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| "Overall I loved the atmosphere in this level set. You are again in a jungle and also up in the canopy and will travel up and down especially if you are also secret hunting. There is however a flare bug at the end, what is nasty as the level there is quite dark. Also at one room, you are prone to experience completely blackness (no textures) as that room is built in the lower right corner of the prj. Fun is that you can let some animals do some battles for you, also do watch the monkeys as they know where some secrets are hidden." - Gerty (05-Jul-2013) |
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| "Aside from a couple of negligible glitches (the flare bug and some black-out in the tree area), this is an engaging two-part adventure that still plays well years after its release. I made a number of changes to my walkthrough along the way, both for stylistic reasons and because I was flat wrong in a couple of places. For example, either Justin has made changes to the underwater maze or I was smoking something illegal when I played it the first time. Anyway, the walkthrough now posted can be used safely to play the currently hosted levels. Play the entire series if you haven't already done so (or, on second thought, even if you have already done so). There's not much being released these days that will give you a better raid." - Phil (10-Jun-2008) |
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| "This couple of jungle levels are long and complex 'cause you'll have to jump between levels many times if you forget something. Dark ambience with a good architecture, a lot of items to find and place and a lot of switches to pull with some interesting areas and several innovative effects in certain places. The best I liked was the final four elements zone and the fight between the big scorpion and the ahmet. Sometimes you could have to reload an old savegame 'cause a door can close before you can enter or a ball obstructs a passage, but it'll not be a great problem. Good work." - Jose (06-Jun-2008) |
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| "This series just getting better. I really liked the place, the waterfalls and village, and everything else, the atmosphere is so great, gave me a 'being there' feeling. Kinda like south pacific from TR3, but without the indigenous personnel. In the readme Justin admits that there are lot of glitches, so I expected worst, but all I found a graphic bugs at the beginning Canopies and flares not lit up, aren't matter. He also mentions 4+1 'free' secrets. Couldn't figure out what that means, I found all (?) 4. Can't wait to see Atlantis at last." - Akcy (09-Jun-2005) |
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| "I thought these maps were much better than the first ones in the series. They are simply more impressive locations with more fun things to do but less frustration. Oh and a quick tip: don't shoot the giant scorpions because they are friendly! Maybe they are secret fans of Lara? Really search these maps as the solution despite seeming difficult at times is never very far away. A good game then. These maps took me 1 and a half hours but I didn't find a single secret." - gfd (18-Jun-2004) |
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| "We have left the base and are about to go forth into the jungle in a thunderstorm and rain very impressive. Loved all the different waterfall areas. And finding a way through a native village and the usual feeling of 'what's around the corner of each hut'. These crafty natives have even built huts high up in the trees and I was impressed even though the background disappears at times. The puzzles are very appropriate to the level theme a block pushing puzzle - simple but effective spikes to dash through - we're in native trap country fire puzzle with torch - don't need to open some fantasmagorical door system because we're still dealing with a simple native village but we do have to deal with weird and wonderful animals - just like you'd see in a jungle. I loved that trailer so realistic with loo kitchen tv room and doors either side. There's a lot of ground work (Atlantean Cascades) and climbing in the trees (Canopies). The levels changing each time sometimes in one only for a minute and back again but it's not as bad as it sounds. I also loved the way the lifts take you to another level up or down. Getting towards the end it's all indoor underground with too many tasks to mention all of them to get keys and bring you to the next level. One great moment was a giant scorpion that ignores Lara and goes for an ahmet instead. On to the next level." - CC (13-Apr-2004) |
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| "Semi jungle (Atlantean Cascade) semi indoor corridor (Canopies) set of levels. Justin is very capable of creating original settings (the big transport vehicle in the jungle and the treetop setting to name but two) everything beautifully lit and textured. Gameplay wise everything is very varied from boulders escape acts to sequences where you have to thread very carefully like in the corridors filled with wall burners. The author also is capable of creating dark rooms without turning them into darkness hell experiences. Unfortunately towards the end so many lights and fires have been used that the flare bug shows up. Also one of my pet hates turns up and I mean the barbecue Lara bit where for a few seconds you have put Lara on fire which means no matter how good the rest of the gameplay is the maximum points are reduced to 7. Enemies are varied too (bats 'finned' crocodiles and monsters). In two sequences there's enemies attacking each other which is always nice because then you don't have to use that much ammunition on them yourself. Brings a bit of tension in the game too. All in all a very entertaining set of levels from an author with a lot of imagination and originality to sell." - bERT (01-Oct-2003) |
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| "The third (or rather 4th and 5th) level in the Atlantis series and still no Atlantis in sight but I didn't mind since the jungle setting is my favorite through the whole TR series and this one's really lovely. You explore many sections of a plateau where everything mostly is very lush & juicy with lots of waterfalls and a truly great atmosphere which makes you feel the heat of this spooky night. The SAS guards strangely didn't seem out of place at all and sometimes with some helpful scorpions they were easy foes to kill. I liked the neat effects like the flame that ignited the pot and the trailers (?) near the elevator were great too. The bad points are the flarebug near the end and the darkness through the level (which wasn't a problem till the flare bug appeared). Well one of Justin's best levels to date anyway definitely worth the download." - eTux (26-Jan-2003) |
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| "This level is set in a jungle. Plenty of puzzles and traps to master. Lara has to find a few blue gems to open up new areas in the level and then finds the sun goddess to reach the final part of the level. There she has to find four stars to get the first of four keys - not an easy task. Cameras were not always there but you could find your way. Sound was quite ok. Enemies were SAS scorpions large and small bats and the mutant crocodiles. The level was well designed but the darkness in most places was quite disturbing and near the end you even had the flarebug." - Navi (12-Jan-2003) |
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| "Atlantis 3 has an original gameplay but is not so well done. The idea of the cascades and the village in the top of the trees is very good but the pass between levels could have been better because there's not a transition area. It's also a dark level and the puzzles and traps are sometimes harder than they would. The underwater mazes are difficult and I had to use the DOZY too many times." - Loupar (04-Jan-2003) |
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| "Brilliant double level with an excellent atmosphere and fantastic sound. The gameplay is always interesting and the second part of these levels is a little bit hard. I liked the nice jungle village where you listen the Indian Music of TRIII and the wonderful water-filled room where the giant scorpion is killing an ahmet and you can listen to Lara's Theme. Secrets are Golden Skull that you can use on pedestals to open doors. Good puzzles and very nice textures and colours. The final room is amazing and now my Lara is in a poll at the beginning of 'Where the depths unfold' that promises much." - Cuqui (12-Dec-2002) |
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| "Justin's done his usual brilliant job of creating a very life like jungle in these two levels that really play as one large one as you skip back and forth between them. They start out simply enough with some exploration among the treetops and village huts to collect a number of gems and keys then the hard stuff comes near the end with a number of locked doors and little tasks to complete in order to get all the keys needed. The fun little tasks involve crocs ahmets underwater circular blades blue lightning boulders fires spikes collapsible tiles underwater mazes skeletons long falls and tricky jumps etc. till you finally get the last key. The level ends with a strange flyby maybe it has something to do with the next level. The best room of all has to be the one with all the wrecked trailers and monkeys running around." - RaiderGirl (08-Dec-2002) |
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| "Amazing story line and a wonderful environment. A jungle scenery with waterfalls and giant red scorpions in a cut scene you see one of them killing a SAS guard. Friendly monkeys also skeletons that will interfere a little with your tasks just blow them away. Climbing through blocks near the big waterfall you get to an opening and the fun begins. There is a movable blocks puzzle and the more you proceed the more the puzzles vary. The most challenging levels with the old theme of Tomb Raider I dare say with trees and darkness traps swims and climbing those trees. The secrets are skulls and some times the monkeys might give you a hint for a secret if you watch where they are coming from. The bugs are mentioned in the readme file by the author but the most annoying one was even from that music not stopping the disappearing rooms in the trees area pity. Anyway I think the elevator which will take you back and forth and this whole adventure in general will definitely reward you for any trouble you got into. The whole Atlantis series are very good and unique I hope Justin will change his mind and continue it." - Kristina (02-Dec-2002) |
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| "Atlantis 3 starts with a very nice view. A colourful waterfall in semi-darkness. You encounter bats boulders and harmless monkeys. You have to do some climbing avoid a few traps and pull/push some crates around. The atmosphere is excellent with mist thunder and lightning. From the outdoor area you'll come to a little village. The village seems to be deserted except for SAS ahmets and scorpions in all sizes. The second part will be mainly jumping between levels. Up to the treetops and back down again. Alas up in the trees you will encounter some graphic-bugs the only bad thing about this level. It's very dark up there and you will have a hard time finding anything. When you finally think the level is over you will encounter some more mean traps one of them a fire-maze. All in all this level is much better than 1 & 2." - Tombraidergirl (23-Aug-2002) |
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| "I liked the third part better than the first one. The atmosphere has Justin strangely done thanks to the beautiful textures and the perfect lighting. One could solve the puzzles well besides some were made very good. Fortunately there was not so many SAS and the remaining opponents were also inserted well. Particularly well he has managed the treetop area although it also had some graphics mistakes. Some outstanding jump sequences round the picture of a very good level." - Xxenofex (13-Aug-2002) |
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| "What an eerie fascinating and absolutely fabulous level this is! Set in 2 intermingled levels one spent playing on the ground where you come across many waterfalls caves and village huts and the other in the treetops complete with a village of tree houses and an elevator. I was just blown away by all aspects of this 110 minutes game from great puzzles that never let you sail through glorious environments that were wonderfully crafted and the atmosphere which had me constantly on the edge of my seat with not only apprehension of what evil creature lay around the next corner but at what new adventure also laid around it as well. Along the way the player must find quite a few key pick ups loads of keys 4 gems 4 Hands and an Atlantean icon while fighting not very many but very deadly enemies large and small scorpions skeletons ahmets mutant crocs and some SAS men although some of these men are actually friendly and help take care of some scorpions so be a little discerning when you come across them. There are also 5 secret skulls to be found which from this level in the series on should be collected as they will be necessary to access areas or other secrets in later levels. I took a point off here and there because of a few slight bugs the screen goes black at certain angles when you first reach the second level the flare bug happens close to the end and a boulder that almost blocks an exit is heard for a while after rocking back and forth but Justin has informed me that he is taking care of all the bugs throughout the series and will eventually release them as one huge game. I'd hate to see the size of that download!" - Sash (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Jungle awaits you with thunder and lightning! Fantastic atmosphere and very long and entertaining gameplay in these two combined levels as you make your way through watery cascades greenery and stone trees and huts and face a variety of enemies along the way (bats friendly monkeys mutant crocodiles and ahmets SAS small and big scorpions skeletons). Good use of sound fog/mist and few but well placed and crafted flyby cameras. I spent about the first hour of net gaming time in the 'Cascades' part finding 2 gems and the second hour (mainly) in the 'Canopies' part finding another 2 gems 4 hands and numerous silver keys that help you progress towards the short but cool ending flyby which brings you into Atlantis 4. There are a few rather minor bugs some listed in the readme but they do not interfere with play except maybe the disappearing of the 'walls' when you stand at a certain angle in the canopies level and the flare bug near the end. In terms of puzzles I recall a pushable block puzzle which was close to being tedious but still ok; a few spike runs; a very cool effect with the replication of the Karnak water puzzle but using fire; a water and a fire maze and much more. Cool effects like the elevator that brings you up and down to the canopies; the floating treetops; the finding of the third gem which you had seen right at the start; the flip effect when the stones drop onto the caravan and the use of the skulls as secrets which help you collect goodies later on. All in all quite a treat and a definite must-play!" - Michael (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Well another brilliant level. They seem to be getting harder as they go along. This is actually two levels and you switch back and forth ala Last Revelation quite a bit once you actually hit the second level. The puzzles were great. Not too difficult to figure out but quite the opposite to execute. Everything worked fine except for the last 10 minutes when the flare bug showed up. Previously the flares worked fine for the whole game. There are a few areas where you must get it right the first time so save and save often otherwise you'll be doing a lot of hiking over territory you had already surveyed. This level took me 3.5 hours of actual gameplay but with all the re-loading I spent at least 6 hours in front of the PC. A well done level worth playing." - Torry (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "I may say that Justin has practically created a game personalizing the introduction (title.tr4) with images a beautiful music and all his level. For what concerns Atlantis 3 I am able say that it's a double level beautiful and exciting kind in the ending. There are a lot of objects for example there are 8 silver keys 4 blue diamonds gold skull that you are able to use a lot of arms and others. There are caverns waterfall forests villages and lost temples and a buried laboratory bus a lot of different traps and enemies but even harmless monkeys. In short there is some of all and I'm more struck to the continuous pass from a level to the other about 8 times! I have ended the level in 2 hours finding 3 of the 5 secrets and a lot of little bugs not serious. The difficulty is above medium. My personal compliments to the author!" - Boris (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Whoa I just don't know from where do I start in this one! I finished both levels in a whole week though the save just showed 2:15 hours. I got stuck several times and I believe this massive download is worth every byte it has (or had since I lost it somehow). Not only the two levels in the same zipfile there's one new title screen which is a thousand times better than the original (maybe because we are tired of looking that same old beginning...). The first level Atlantean Cascade took me a lot of time a boulder trapped itself almost blocking the exit there were hard puzzles to solve and it was the first time ever I used a golden skull for something :). The second one Canopies was AWESOME. It has one of the coolest looks I've ever seen in custom levels set initially in treetops and huts! I've gone back and forth between these two levels a lot of times. The second part of the second level was a bit harder. And the final rooms were very challenging: each door had a silver key as a prize for the raider who would beat the challenge. They go from simply climbing up and activating levers to underwater mazes with hidden levers. The enemies varied too: friendly implosive monkeys to those giant scorpions (that I really hate!). Also try 'talking' with some enemies and make friends instead of shooting everything that moves!" - Treeble (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "The first part of this level recalls to mind the Coastal Village of TR3 which is a nice change of pace. Puzzles obstacles and traps are varied and challenging keeping the gameplay lively and engaging. Along the way Lara encounters giant scorpions mutant demons skellies and more which she battles with a cool assortment of TR3 weapons like a Desert Eagle and Rocket Launcher. The ambiance is rounded out with a nice 'soundtrack' including my favorite music from the India levels. While the atmosphere is superbly rendered I have to rate it down for 2 major bugs: an incessant boulder sound after a certain point gets annoying and during a foray in the treetops the surroundings completely black out at random. Otherwise a very fine level." - Tombaholic (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Justin sure does have a lot of imagination. He comes up with new traps and puzzles all the time. Great level with a lot of exploring to do. Some parts are really tricky but not 'undoable'." - G.Croft (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Half a year after finishing from Atlantis 2 I continued this good series. A double level starting in a jungle it gets better and better the further you proceed in the game. The small villages and the houses look nice and the golden skulls as secrets are a good idea. Again I had some problems with some dark places but it didn't ruin the fun I had to play this level. Don't shoot at some of the enemies they are friendly and very helpful in some areas. The floating treetops looked fantastic with the houses and 2 elevators. Look carefully here use your binoculars and flares. The difficulty is medium the puzzles are good and unique like the one with the falling rocks on the bus which opens a new entrance inside. There are some bugs in the game which Justin describes in the readme but they don't influence the nice gameplay. A must-have-played double level!" - Freeman Porter (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "It has been one month since I played 'Atlantis 2' but now I'm back writing a review for the third installment in the series. Once again you have to make your way through two levels before you finally reach the end. The levels last for about 70 minutes and of course there are some enemies standing in your way. The enemies don't pose any real threat though since you'll be doing a lot of jumping back and forth through the levels and thus recovering you health. The jumping between the levels is otherwise nicely set up especially at the time when you get to pick up the gem you saw right at the beginning. You'll be doing quite a lot of jumping exploring and a little puzzling but there isn't anything very hard in the level but it's nice to not get stuck a lot. The texturing of the levels is very good but once again the levels are too dark. The overall atmosphere is very high too and it really feels as if you're in a dark and cold jungle. Once again a very good level by the author and now I'm off to play the next level. Or maybe I should wait another month? (25 May 2002.)" - Magnus (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "This was another incredible level from Justin. A beautiful journey down waterfalls through jungle clearings and up in the treetops of this mythical land. The download was massive expanding to 45MB but when the game finally finished the reason could be seen. I was on a mission to somewhere and the trek went on for hours. Some places I mysteriously went back to as if I'd forgotten something. The puzzles were of medium difficulty. A fiery furnace took some while working out the best route. Some puzzles involved moving between levels in lifts from ground to treetops the cascades and the canopies. I eventually came to a slide; the end was in sight; I slid I swore two hours later I finished. One or two bugs were found; a rolling ball got stuck almost blocking an exit and the flare bug appeared late in the levels. Finally the sound effects throughout were really good especially after a rolling ball sequence when you survived and looked around listening to some orchestral music. Unfortunately you have failed. The exit is blocked but the music is nice." - Fairy Godfather (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "In the two first levels of this series there was more modern installations than ancient ones but you could already feel the mystery of Atlantis and see strange creatures. In Atlantis 3 the modern civilization tend to disappear completely and there are only a few SAS as you are approaching the heart of those legendary places. The atmosphere is of course very good supported by good sounds and music. There are a lot of good and new ideas: new ideas of traps and new use of objects. Those two levels are intermingled and you go from one to the other by using lifts. You also pickup objects in one level and use it in the other one. The author has put in this level all the ingredients that make a great adventure a lot of work and innovations. I especially like the wooden villages and also the end when you solve the puzzles to pickup the silver keys in temples of the four elements. It was a great and enjoyable moment with some nice custom music and the lovely music of TR1 and it was funny to see a large scorpion killing a mutant. The gameplay of the whole level is pure tombraiding so you can't miss such a monument." - eRIC (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "This is certainly a great adventure with an entertaining gameplay set in a beautifully textured jungle; it's just that I'm not a big fan of those cubic trees and you get a lot of them. But I loved the RV in the clearing the cataract you had to climb up on and the moving beacon after you solved the (not-so-tricky) torch puzzle. The course is pretty linear most of the time but if you're careless you might miss a crucial item and have to backtrack quite a bit. The variety of enemies seem to be thrown in in a rather arbitrary fashion the more as you can kill some of them from a safe distance. There is such a plethora of tasks that I had to refer to the other reviews to bring them all back to mind but now it seems pointless to list them again. Just let me tell you that there is a really good mix of different actions and puzzles that keep you on your toes while nothing is so tricky to become frustrating. Near the end you step into a room with lots of key holes and when you set out to get the first key you come to a place where you need no less than four hands. This is going to take ages I thought to myself but it's actually done in no time (if you aren't trapped by the rolling balls that is). If you liked the coastal village from TR3 you have to play this well a jolly good time is guaranteed for all." - Dimpfelmoser (21-Jun-2002) |
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