Level: 1943: The Black Diamond Author(s): sonnyd83 total rating: 9.07 Gameplay & Puzzles Enemies, Objects & Secrets Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras Lighting & Textures DJ Full 9 9 10 9 High Priestess 10 9 10 9 Jay 9 9 10 9 Jose 7 9 10 9 Larabiker301 9 10 10 10 manarch2 8 9 9 8 Phil 9 10 10 10 Rambo 9 9 8 7 requiemsoul 9 9 9 9 Ryan 9 9 10 9 young Lara Croft 9 8 9 8 category averages (11 reviews) 8.82 9.09 9.55 8.82 Reviewer's comments "This is a creative and highly enjoyable game, and is one of the rare occasions where a storyline comes across really well and the game itself allows you to immerse yourself into it. Initially, Marcia is imprisoned and by conferring with the Major and General she is able to escape and by way of a zip line, is able to make her way to the next part. The second part is more action based, with a few sentry guns to destroy and a hair-raising getaway after liberating a jeep. Throughout the game, the gameplay is very creative with a couple of enjoyable block puzzles, interesting usages of items, a slight twist on the traditional element puzzle, plus plenty of route finding. The settings are convincingly and very well constructed and the cut scenes were a big plus." - Ryan (08-Jan-2018) "If you wanted to know what will happen if Medal of Honor meets Tomb Raider, here's your answer. Stealth infiltration, highly precious bullets, secret conversations to make spy contacts and utilizing early XX century technology to execute missions for them, long runtime of character lines and background tracks including old vinyl recording and radio broadcast throw us right into the past. Some things can be done earlier than intended and the ending lacks a bit of force - without at least some getaway aircraft provided, the final climax doesn't surpass the leveljump one. Maybe these levels should be arranged in the opposite order. Highly recommended." - DJ Full (21-Aug-2015) "Except some ilegal slopes I found, the game is very well designed from an expert builder. Not a normal game, but an adventure where Lara must interact with a lot of characters, many times without guns and using her intelligence and habilities to perform variety of tasks. The first level was a bit tedious with a lot of backtracking, re-visiting the same places several times. The second one is a bit better, but easy to get stucked if you miss a small ring or one of the wheels you need. The final escape in the area with the hangar is fantastic. Recommended." - Jose (22-Feb-2015) "A fantastic suprise. This level is very good and unique. The stealth sections are very well implemented. The tasks are great. Maybe..some sections of the second level is a bit hard and frustrating ( for example, Jump using motobike or find some item like crowbar). Anyway, it's a highly recommended level." - requiemsoul (07-Jan-2015) "Gameplay & Puzzles: Very imaginative level with many good ideas, stealth parts, character interaction and a true adventure feeling. There is a bit of confusion with triggers not supported by cameras or supported by unclear clues but I found this game to be excellent. Enemies, Objects & Secrets: The enemies are the soldiers and they can't be shot except for the end, but getting around them was quite a task! The object design is very nice too, there are a lot of new ideas with the design. And the secrets are very well hidden, I found only three. Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras: The architecture is a bit too squaric but I liked the use of fog, the sounds and cameras too if they would be more helpful. The atmosphere is nice at the whole, there's a good retro feel. Lighting & Textures: The texturing can be much better, it's very simple for most and there are some streched ones, the lighting is a bit flat. Both are good but I can see that the builder has applied them, it doesn't work seamlessly. Total: 8,25/10, a very inventive and fun level with a bit worse looks." - Rambo (21-Oct-2014) "Perfect level that portrays the flair of old action/spy movies. What stood out for me was the way the gameplay was designed to work. I heard Lara's thoughts therefore I knew what object to look for this was a big help and cleared the confusion out. I liked the story and what the author of this level did with it so another plus for my rating. The fact that made me lower my object and texture ratings was, that I had trouble with the usage of some items(the bike especially) and I found some textures dull particularly in the last part of the level." - young Lara Croft (16-Oct-2014) "This remarkable level has been out for a little more than a month, and I'm amazed that it has so few reviews at this point. If you're looking for a completely new raiding experience that's fresh, invigorating and unlike anything you've ever played, waste no more time and download now. It's actually divided into two parts. The first and by far the most elaborate section takes place in a prison compound where Lara has to sneak her way past guards that seem to be everywhere. If she's "caught" she has to serve a sentence of some specified length that I've already forgotten. I never tested this feature but simply reloaded each time I ventured too near a patrolling guard. The gameplay is fairly obscure in places, making me glad I had Dutchy's walkthrough for help. Everything is quite intense as you make your way through the level, and you have to be constantly on your toes. The second and concluding section has you in what appears to be a Soviet camp protected by mines, barbed wire and numerous soldiers. Here's where I encountered my only bug-like experience in the entire game. The first little wheel had somehow vanished from my inventory at some point between reloads, and when I kept playing anyway and went down to shoot the sentry gun, the supporting vehicle was not destroyed along with the sentry gun, preventing me from picking up the second little wheel. The problem did not recur when I took the time to replay this whole little section in one go, and it's the only thing that keeps me from awarding 10s across the board. In all I spent about two hours and forty-five minutes here, and it's a fun raid from start to finish. Highest recommendations." - Phil (09-Oct-2014) "My initial view of this game was really high and it didn't fall. From start to finish, this game was pretty well executed. From level 1, you spent most of your time doing tasks which I couldn't really say were monotonous but there were a bunch of new and original ideas and puzzles that stumped me from time to time and forced me to take a look at a walkthrough. Luckily, that didn't halt my progress. The atmosphere was superb with the feel of a real camp. Texturing was amazing and well done and the objects spiced up the level beautifully. I really don't have any issues with level 1 and level 2 doesn't really raise any either. You get your same type of building aesthetics only this time its snowing. This level oozes with atmosphere and I actually stopped for a moment and just had Lara look around so I could actually see everything. Gameplay here was a bit more fast pace but still involved this game's usual difficult tasks. Lighting and texturing throughout the game was well done. The underground sewers might have been a bit more done but really nothing else to say. Good job and I'll make sure to play your previous levels to see how you've improved. Overall, a enjoyable adventure indeed, although somewhat difficult, IMO. Time - 2-3hrs, Difficulty - Easy/Medium, Recommended!" - Larabiker301 (23-Sep-2014) "Loved the music with the load screen. This is an unusual and highly imaginative level, highlights being a block puzzle unique in my experience and the way Lara gets sent back to prison if she strays too near the many guards, not to mention having to injure herself to gain access to the infirmary by 'safety dropping' from a height. There are indeed some nice humorous touches throughout the game. The second part moves to a snowy village with a wonderful atmosphere and some highly entertaining bike riding - possibly the first time Lara has ever taken a vehicle down the sewers (yes, she's down the sewers again, despite having a beautiful mountain village to explore). There are some excellent animations and delightfully different tasks to achieve and it should all be within the scope of most players, difficulty wise, the main challenges coming from working out just what to do next. I must say I had a marvellous time playing this one." - Jay (23-Sep-2014) "Firstly I want to say that the general concept of this game is absolutely superb. The break out of the prison in level 1 is very well executed with a very original task-orientated gameplay (and the work 'task' is meant literally here) and lots of great stealth sequences, then roaming around in a snowy landscape in level 2 with many more tasks to be done and some more nice objects and enemies to interact with. Indeed there is a lot of running around wondering what to do next, as the next step is often unintuitive, and lots of long backtracks (in particular the one to the water current in the second level) but admittedly this kind of open world game has quite a few immersive moments. The camera hints could be more helpful though in showing you where to head to next; maybe some more flybys instead of fixed cams would have helped. As often in levels with innovative ways of using objects, the game has a slightly buggy nature (for example, one or two patrouille guards in the second level can be shot and then you can't move further because the death zone is still active), but this is often unavoidable and I can forgive those bugs. Lookwise, the builder has also done a little more to create a believable atmosphere, the choice and placement of sounds is quite correct and ambient, but there's still a bit room for improvement as some areas have a quite odd, I'm really missing the word here, maybe "raw" feeling to them and lack detail a bit (some rooms are a bit square too); the texturing and lighting are solid and creative yet not most authentic at times. One small thing is that the bright and blue sky colour in the first level did not fit to the rain ;). Guess that the game with all its presented ideas should only be the start of a quite independent, but deeply necessary new way of designing custom levels that are far more entertaining than many run-off-the-mill levels we've definately had too much by now, so a strong advise to Dave himself and other builders is to take levels like this as an inspiration for something new. Not everything has to be perfect at the start, just like in this level, anyway better than relying only on some tried and true media. Found 5 secrets in 1:35 hours." - manarch2 (20-Sep-2014) "Possibly one of the best levels I have had the fortune to play in quite some time (admittedly I don't play every level released but of those I do play...), especially given that I almost overlooked it as initially there were no image depicting the content and I wrongly assumed it was going to be another base/lab level which would mean crawling around a lot looking for items whilst avoiding armed guards and laser traps. How wrong could I be! Not only was it a very exciting and aesthetically beautiful level but it had some real ambiance and great sounds. I did require a few hints but the builder and the forum members were all very helpful and prompt to reply which was a bonus given that I haven't been engrossed in a level this much in a while. It is always nice when the builder devotes their time to assisting the players. The fact Lara was promptly thrown in a cooler if she approached a guard in too close a proximity was very inventive and in actual fact a very handy short cut if you realise you have taken the wrong direction and don't relish having to backtrack :D I have marked this up highly because it truly deserves every point. I spent two entire days lost in this level set and blissfully so. There are few levels that really make me lose myself in the environments and this had a good mixture of a prison environment, various different exciting rooms to explore, a snowy environment, fair amount of enemies and potential enemies, great score and manageable challenges. No timed runs which are my pet hate and aside from the inevitable need to to and fro a little bit it is by no means relentless on that score. The builder keeps the challenges achievable and includes an occasional narration by Lara helping the player along when needed. I eagerly await this builder's next adventure." - High Priestess (07-Sep-2014)