trle.net ::: Level Reviews

Level:	Eye of Eve
Author(s):	Qunai

total rating:	6.87	Gameplay & Puzzles	Enemies, Objects & Secrets	Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras	Lighting & Textures
	Bogey	9	7	6	7
	CC	7	7	7	7
	Dimpfelmoser	5	4	6	5
	Drew	9	8	7	7
	eRIC	6	8	7	8
	Gerty	3	6	6	7
	Kristina	9	7	7	8
	Magnus	7	7	6	8
	MichaelP	9	7	7	7
	RaiderGirl	8	7	7	8
	rjb	4	5	7	7
	Sash	5	6	7	8
	Torry	2	4	6	8
	Vinci	9	7	8	8
	Wendee	10	5	9	9
	category averages (15 reviews)	6.80	6.33	6.87	7.47

Reviewer's comments

"The setting consists of a couple of huge icy caves with a surrealistic complex of giant stone cisterns inside, but that is mostly an excuse to play hide-and seek and to create jumping exercises. Your objective is to find "coins" which are scattered around the level. These can be used in various ways, and finally you need a few of them in order to exit the level (after having exchanged some others for gems). The level is quite non-linear and you don't need to find all coins in order to exit. There are not so many enemies, but I did have difficulties with a pair of demigods. The level is connected like a Swiss cheese, so you can easily get confused about where to go (and there are red herrings). More than once, the bright and uneasy texturing will camouflage legdes and openings and there are other disguises too. At the start, you can choose between two paths to the main caves and you cannot go back, but then the rest of the level is open to explore, although a certain passage may take some time to find. Take note of the eye symbols that you find here and there. They are usually important. And do use your own eyes, they are also very important in this level. There are many difficult jumps, but most of them are manageable (albeit not easy) whith a proper approach, so I think that some notorious jumps are not quite as bad as their reputation. The level does require a few quite exotic moves (or bugs if you like). One of these is mentioned in the readme, but for a couple of others I needed to consult the walkthrough. The challenges are very well crafted, but the combination of obscurity and very difficult movements makes this level really hard. You should arm yourself with quite a bit of patience before playing it." - Bogey (01-Jul-2007)

“Firstly, a word of congrats for the walkthrough, & all those who contributed. There is much, it seems to me, that would be almost impossible to work out: tiny holes to find & get through, obscure routes to follow, plus the many v.difficult jumps. With a fast loading time, I've been able to re-try jumps 50+ times, if needed. Knowing they are possible helps a lot, but how did the 'pioneers' in this game manage to keep their sanity? W/o the walkthro', I would have spent months on this game, it seems to me, had I wanted to find everything. (In the event, I took 3-4 days, finding all but one artefact.) HOWEVER ..... This is the first level that I've played that has made me want to give up playing TR (not just this game, TR as a whole), as so many of the jumps seemed so foolishly conceived. In (many?!) other games I have felt frustrated at times, through not being able to do something (who has not?), but this is the first time I actually remember becoming angry. To quote from something I wrote elsewhere about this game, the example of the jump I couldn't do: "After about 100+ attempts at this w/o success, I decided to actually count from then on! At attempt 212 after this point (next day), I suddenly went through the gap, but was so astonished that I forgot all about the need to jump again, & just slid all the way down to the ground below! At attempt 500 I decided to have a break. At attempt 700 I decided to have another break, partly to encourage my index finger, punching that left cursor, to heal & partly hoping that I'm not doing permanent damage to my keyboard. "While doing this, I reflected: now does this game embody what we really desire from a TR custom level? Do we find the moving to areas that we can hardly reach, by jumps that are 'trying', to put it generously, sometimes using moves that are considered 'illegal' in TR etiquette & gameplay, that anywhere else we would call by their real name: 'bugs', to find 'hands' that we cannot readily see, an enriching experience? 750 attempts (so ~ 900 in total): still not done; time to abandon the problem as 'pointless' & 'move on'."
I agree with the other reviewers who have said that this author seems, unfortunately, to have shown little consideration for even the 'good' TR player (let alone the 'ordinary' one!) when making his game. I also tend to agree with those who have suggested that this designer is merely wishing to show the rest of us how devious his games can be. It is extremely rare that I should become so concerned about a mere 'game', but I feel that this is because the interesting ideas in some places (eg. the 'eye' 'transporters', the floating sharks, the vastness of the space used, the need to exchange one artefact for another) are totally swamped and completely spoiled by these ridiculous jumps we are obliged to spend ages perfecting. I don't find this 'an interesting challenge' at all, except for the parts (see those mentioned above) that make you remark on some subtlety or innovation in the game. I think far too much of it is just, to be blunt, foolishness. I have no desire whatever to be an 'expert' player, if this is what such an accolade entails. Having now finished this game, using the essential walkthrough as a guide, & having retrieved all but one of the artefacts, I feel I can now reasonably comment on what I had hoped was going to be 'a step further', but which I feel is, instead, a step into, to be blunt again, nonsense. The other unfortunate side-effect for me, after having played this game, is that I shall now need a (long?) break from TR before I am able to return to it. Nor shall I be playing any more levels labelled 'very difficult', if they are anything like this. (Not a happy bunny, then!!) ” – rjb (29-Jan-2004)

“Now is the time that I think I am very blessed to have a Mac and a PC so doing this one on my Mac and playing some other levels on the PC was a bliss or else I would go crazy and also would have chucked this one ages ago. This took me the better part of two months to go through it. Still one more to go though and when I finish that one I will chuck all three of them as I really hate this sort of gameplay. This is indeed for the hardiest and fools among us (the latter being me) and personally... I think TR should be enjoyed by all. I am also glad there was a walkthrough or else I wouldn't have made it at all. Starting this one is no fun as you have no time to see where you can go or what you have to do so just getting to a place you can save safely is a tremendous task IMO and that was just the beginning. Also it is quite handy to look up in the Stuck forum every now and then because there are some handy pointers to find in there. The overall look was rather nice like the cave area that icy area and that so called Greenhouse area but to be honest my feelings toward this level were pretty hostile as I never knew what kind of trap I was walking into or what of stupid jump I had to make. Glad there is still Stella site as there are some handy ‘bug’ jumps to study. I did have help from my TR buddy as I was at my wits ends a lot of the time. 02-11-2003” – Gerty (12-Nov-2003)

“In icy caves a spaceship is trapped. A strange spaceship indeed which seems to be made of stone it looks more like a big structure with good architecture and textures of the City of Tinnos. In this level texturing is often good to see but the lighting is maybe a bit too bright. The enemies play a role as some are carrying artefacts you need and the retextured harpies were cool to look at. About the gameplay/puzzles I was surprised to enjoy some parts the puzzle with the movable stone and the elevator is quite good the timed door and most of the jumps are not so hard but some of the jumps are highly irritating. The main problem with this level is that you hardly know what to do next I could not have reached the end without the walkthrough made by Michael and without by-passing the hardest quests. So hats off to all players who have made it without walkthrough!” – eRIC (12-Oct-2003)

“Now if you decide to take ‘Cry and Grieve’ I mean ‘Eye of Eve’ on then know one thing IT’S BLOODY HARD! If you’re not the type of player that loves to try and attempt extremely tight almost impossible jumps over and over and that’s if you even know where you are supposed to go then totally disregard this level avoid it like the plague and if need be run off to a foreign country change your name and sell fruit by the side of the road. Unfortunately for me I fit that category though I love a challenge I don’t want to have the walkthrough printed out and sitting staring at me the whole game through and for this one I referred to it so many times it is imprinted into my base memory. I did however really enjoy the environment this is set cave areas green atrium like glassed in room and a huge ice cavern with enclosed watery structure in the middle but the frustration level was so way up there that I started to loathe looking at it as each nook and cranny held some hideous jump to make. If this had just been slightly sometimes more than slightly toned down in the difficulty element then this would have been such a fantastic adventure but as it is it can’t be much fun for the general playing public excluding Krissy of course who I’m sure loved it because she’s just a phenomenal jumping FREAK!” – Sash (22-Sep-2003)

“Memories of this level . . . jumps jumps pinpoint pixel-perfect hair-tearing keyboard-abusing jumps. Screeeeeaaaaam. Got that off my chest . . . I'm calm now. The first time I used all the star shaped 'hands' to get everything that was available only to end up at a very difficult jump to find I had none left to carry on so I had to go back and save as many hands as I could along the way. For example not getting the crossbow and lasersight. I needn't a lot of help on this level and I couldn't have finished it without the walkthrough and help from the forum from tersvenn and especially Michael. If you manage to survive more than 3 seconds at the start a bit of jumping and a reasonably easy timed run through a water room you come to two huge rooms seems like one on top of the other access through holes in the floor with smaller rooms off here and there. I suppose you could say 'the eyes have it' because where the 'eyes' are you need to do things. Not many 'enemies' as such skeletons demigods flying ghostlike birds oh and two crocodiles. Usually you run around a level to 'find' things to do in this level your way is pretty clear but it seems impossible to get there - those jumps. It's hard to describe this level. Is it a spaceship or a broken gigantic structure? There is snow and ice walls a nice looking water room with trees and windows. After a while the 'look' of the level pales compared to what has to be done to get yourself through it. In the end I was just left with the thought that "I've done it" a great sigh of relief. The biggest moan - judging the distance of the jumps is a nit-picking exercise especially that one where you have to backflip and forward grab a small climbing ledge. After a few hundred goes you lose interest. They 'can' be done though - eventually if that's any consolation. Definitely not for the faint-hearted. Having said that I'm glad I played this level a pretty deep notch in the old gun barrel!!! Would I recommend this level to people . . . I DARE THEM to play it.” – CC (12-Mar-2003)

“This may have been easier for me than for the previous reviewers because I was lazy enough to wait for some nice guy to write a walkthrough before I even attempted it. After printing it out and trying to follow it step by step I still had to play the condensed version (see end of walkthrough) where you collect just enough of the hands and gems to get the final door open. I just couldn't make it through some of the harder jumps - guess I'm not an experienced Japanese player. I felt that the level itself was very clever and lets the player choose when they will keep a hand/gem or exchange it for something else like the crossbow or laser sight plus the elevator was well done and I would never have figured out that I needed to shoot those blocks by myself. There are few enemies demigods banshees and flying sharks! but they really add to the alien atmosphere as do the new textures with the eyes etc. Overall an interesting level but be prepared to be frustrated from the beginning.” – RaiderGirl (03-Mar-2003)

“Well after more than 800 custom levels played and reviewed I thought how difficult can an allegedly difficult level be when there is only so many moves available for a playable character like Lara. Be prepared for a surprise. I learned two new moves here (after 7 years of TombRaiding!) and spent the better part of two days in this level ending up with 17 hands 5 gems and a guardian key but admittedly there are two jumps which I am still trying to accomplish legally. Mind you that means that I managed about a dozen other 'near-impossible' jumps just fine plus an interesting timed run and I few other nice twists and turns. It is really a love it or hate it experience and I guess I actually found it utterly ingenious how the whole thing was built and constructed and while some of the 'near-impossible' jumps are really ok as you can manage with a few tries there is a handful that are just ridiculous and tend to end up to be pure luck. Had it not been for those I would have thoroughly enjoyed the non-linear course of a 2 hour net gaming adventure. Enemies are only a few demigods (carrying crucial items though) mummies harpies and skeletons. Not to forget the two hilarious flying sharks. The 5 secrets seemed to by be placed rather erratic though. This is one to test your skills on - play it if you dare.” – Michael (24-Feb-2003)

“Because I played this level (or freak of a level as Ted so aptly called it) over the course of five months I had plenty of time to muse on what makes this experience such un-enjoyable affair. I think that there are three major aspects that each in their own right wouldn't be so bad but in combination prove to be disastrous. First the game is very non linear you have to go back at a certain point but you're not given many clues as to how and why; second you need to employ some bugs to make progress at various points and finally the setting is not very atmospheric. In short you spend many hours in a bleak environment groping for far fetched ways to proceed and most of the time you don't really know what you are supposed to do. If Kristina hadn't virtually lead me by the hand through large parts of the level I would have quit halfway through. On the upside if you would make a list of the 10 levels you would take with you onto a desert island (that you have to spend the rest of your life on) ‘Eye of Eve’ would most likely be among my choices cause you can spend forever looking for those hands and as my understanding of it I haven't found all of them. Also the author has devised a system where you swap two hands for one gem and throughout the level you need hands and gems to proceed but you seem to be able to choose different ways to do it which I reckon is pretty clever and I can't remember having seen something alike in another level. However as Mulf once said: ‘The author makes it very clear from the start that he isn't interested in creating an gripping atmosphere or a believable storyline but rather to present the experienced Japanese player with some tricky moves’. So you get a demigod underwater and sharks floating through the air there await many deaths as you try to figure out where to jump and there comes a time when all you want to do is just get it over with. So I would only recommend this if you've played the other tough ones and thought they lacked a challenge. I spent one week on a jump in this one. A jump that I had managed once but wasn't able to do a second time which nearly drove me nuts. Thankfully Kristina came to my rescue and pointed out a path where you could skip this particular jump take a different turn and lose only a bit of health instead. Still from then on I was somewhat scared to go back.” – Dimpfelmoser (01-Jan-2003)

“First off I want to go on record that there is absolutely no need for this kind of level. This must be the biggest ego trip I have come across in my many years of raiding and quite frankly I consider it an insult especially considering the response some of our members received from the author when asking for assistance. For those of us idiotic enough to want to best this level consider carefully all you know about raiding and immediately discard that. Here you will need the obscure move the unwanted bug and indeed need the illegal and often maligned slope to simply progress. Study up on the many ‘bugs’ that have cropped up over the years as here they become a necessity and not an aberration. The opening gambit alone is extremely difficult with a series of timed jumps from side to side to avoid the many boulders descending down on you. Once safely passed this you make your way to the top of the slope to a passageway to collect the first star then swim battling currents and a floating demigod and into a swamp room. Here you need the shallow water bug to proceed plus a bit of luck. Into a cavern with red fiery mummies out again and into a huge ice cavern where nothing seems real. There are two stars on high ledges left and right in that room both giving off the ‘secret’ sound and then down underneath the structure to another large ice cavern. Whilst exploring this you are set upon by two ‘floating’ sharks that swim through naught but air. There is another star down here in a hole just after a spike trap but you need as far as I could count 8 stars for the large room with multiple doors and another two gems here plus two more stars down underneath the structure and another gem. Behind these doors are various items including more stars and gems and the telescopic sight but it is here I gave up as this is simply an exercise in futility (and stupidity) and I am sure simply put together to show the world how clever the author is. My opinion is he belittles not only himself but the Tomb Raider community at large with this.” – Torry (18-Nov-2002)

“A very very hard level. The author does warn in his notes about the difficulty but you really can't imagine it until you see it. As we are used to from levels built by our friends from Japan bugs are vital to the gameplay. You can't complete this level without them but my guess is that they don't see it as the rest of the players do meaning that those moves are bugs but more like it they use them as something extreme taking full advantage out of Lara's limits. Collecting hands and gems you will be facing some difficult jumps really tight crawlspaces and a few skeletons demigods and a surprise at the end. A timed door and the swallows jump is one of the very hard parts of this level the other one is performing the ‘super’ jump at some point further. I admit that although I was sweating and got frustrated many times this level is a very good exercise for the big funs of TR custom levels. As another difficult level from another Japanese builder I also completed this in months because I left it quite a few times. Finally I felt mature enough as a player and I thought I had more patience to continue with it and I am proud to say I completed it. Speaking of which I couldn't have done it without the help of a Japanese builder (VINCI) who was very helpful and I have to thank him for it also two members of this forum (Drew Magnus) for their encouragement as well as help while playing it. Now someone could say it was a team work and I guess it was but that is the beauty of it players all around the world getting together and help each other about something they love. By the way I did find a few things myself I mean it wasn't like I had everything on a plate nevertheless I do appreciate the support and especially this site. Do play it even if you just want to try a few hard moves or see Lara surpass herself and believe me she can do that even if you don't finish it will be a good experience.” – Kristina (29-Jul-2002)

“In hindsight and my opinion Eye of Eve is really a brilliant game. It showed how the author Ito complicated with cunning room designs Lara's otherwise simple moves! Yet the plot isn't complex at all --- there are just two huge rooms. Each has two floors. At the lowest ground you'll see stuff behind glass windows that require gems and star hands. You may or may not get them depending on how much you want to explore this game. But the exit receptors need to be fit in with the rest of the pick ups. And you need the stars to get the gems. So the combination as well as which stars to get (as there are extras) is entirely up to you. The problem is that these pick ups are scattered everywhere from the highest room down to the middle ones. Finding them is one thing but getting to them is another (difficult) thing. All the while you need to go from one floor to the other. Nothing is straightforward; it's either the slope flips the twists the 'feign' grab or some other kind of acrobatics in order to progress. In a way it's not Tomb Raiding but Tomb Looking in a maddening sense. Tomb Looking? I spent most of my game time just looking in full view at those star hands but not quite knowing how to get them! My only complaint is why the author did not give his gamers the chance to blast those two dragons and a mutant at the end of the game. It would have been a fitting finale (and release) for all the pent up aggravations.” – Drew Pizza (27-Jul-2002)

“The author warns that this is a very difficult level. TAKE HIM AT HIS WORD! I have spent two and a half hours playing and am now quitting before I complete the level because it is just too difficult and obscure for me. If you like to die hundreds of times trying to figure out what to do or how to make a jump this level is for you. Heck just for a challenge you might want to try it. The opening sequence is one where you have to perfectly time several jumps to avoid several boulders then to an underwater maze that was the least difficult part then to a swampy room with crocs timed switches and difficult jumps. Lava room with mummies are next...how the heck do you get out of here? Back to the swampy room and on to the ice palace with several pick-ups. This is where I quit. I know people that have gone further than I have. I don't know how. All I can say is good luck.” - Wendee (21-Jun-2002)

“This is the hardest custom level I have ever played! Your goal is to find ‘stars’ (Hand of Orion I think?). It’s actually much harder than it sounds and you have to make lots of hard jumps to get them. I have found lots of places where Lara gets stuck in ‘the jig’ but that’s not so serious considering how the level is built up. You can get to a lot of places but just a few take you to a star (yes I like calling them stars!). There’s not many enemies but the few there are are quite well placed. If you decide to play this level remember : Eyes are good...” - Magnus (21-Jun-2002)

“Firstly I should say it's the most difficult level I've ever played. Many exceptional and difficult actions are required and several crabbed tricks are included. But these are very novelties! This level is very ORIGINAL! After I've collected all items I've become to be a fan of it. Very wonderful! I wish to thank to the author M.Ito.” – Vinci (21-Jun-2002)