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Level: Castle of Jives back home search
Author(s): The Give
total rating:6.65 Gameplay &
Puzzles		 Enemies,
Objects &
Secrets		 Atmosphere,
Sound &
Cameras		 Lighting &
Textures
Blue43 6 6 6 7
Cuqui 8 7 8 7
Dimpfelmoser 7 7 7 7
eRIC 8 7 8 8
Fairy Godfather 5 5 5 4
Gerty 7 6 8 8
Kristina 7 7 7 8
Leandro 5 6 6 4
MichaelP 7 6 7 8
Momster 8 7 8 7
Monika 8 7 6 7
Orbit Dream 4 6 6 8
RaiderGirl 7 7 7 7
Sash 5 6 6 5
Scottie 7 7 8 7
Sheevah 7 6 7 7
Treeble 6 6 6 6
Whistle 8 7 6 6
category averages
(18 reviews)		 6.67 6.44 6.78 6.72

Reviewer's comments

"This is a nice level with a mixture of costal and library textures. The game play is relatively easy and straightforward without any real challenges but entertaining enough to never get boring. There are multiple rope-swinging sequences and some other TR acrobatics but finding levers and prying stars with the crowbar make the main progress in this game. Plenty of pickups of weapons and very useful flares are all over the places so there is never shortage of anything the player needs. Lara does encounter a small army of ninjas and while they are a bit tedious to fight in the beginning it is a blast to blow them to pieces once she has picked up the crossbow with explosive ammo. Other than that there are a couple of brown dogs, some crocs, fire wraiths and two demigods. The exterior areas have very bland and boxy design with bright and even lighting, but once inside the areas look actually quite nice and the lighting is decent, especially in the torch lit areas. Overall it a nice old level that although not spectacular or overly exciting, is still worth the download and the time spent playing it. (53 min, no secrets found)" - Blue43 (30-Oct-2011)

"From the outside looked this Castle is unspectacular and dull. It was not built especially thrilling. Why should one play further? Yes, why, actually? Because of the inner life of the Castle. Since this is built and textured considerably more diverse. Nevertheless, there the discoverer heart makes immediately a jump. Aim is to find the Horsemen Gem with which it goes then to the level end. She must find 3 stars. But here it can come to a bug. At a place one must use two stars to open a door. I have used first on the right from the door the star and then on the left. Then, however, there has nothing done itself, the door stayed shut. Then I have made it reverse. But after I had used the star first on the left from the door and went then to the right, the door opened without I had used the star. Moreover, it was too dark at many places. Though one could find Flares, but not so many, how one could have needed, actually. Opponents were Baddies which have never shot, however, but always have searched body contact, skeletons which one could carry with the explosive ammunition to the other side, crocodiles, dogs, Demigods and two fire ghosts. Playing time was about 50 minutes. Result: Good level, which would have earned a better formed undeveloped outskirt area" - Scottie (17-May-2009)

"This is a library.wad styled level that starts out with oversized boxy and empty rooms with rather bland lighting effects, but later on it does improve a little bit. Gameplay is very linear and smooth with the exception, maybe, of one sneaky pushable block in the revolver room. Most of the objects are soundless, so it has kinda spoiled the atmosphere of the level. There is one torch that you can lit up but have nothing else to use it on. Towards the end you have a mirror room. The camera flybys could use a little work, because they go through floors and walls. 40 minutes, 1 secret. 04/08" - Treeble (03-Apr-2008)

“Not a bad little level with plenty to keep you thinking. Ninja dogs and a croc form your opponents. Lara has to do a variety of moves to get the three stars you need to find. Light and dark sections often with surprises cameras are a little weird when Lara does a climb - far too close to her. Graphics generally ok but some thin walls. Don't worry if you don't need to use the second star the level has a trigger fault. Well worth a play.” – Whistle (14-Mar-2003)

“Good level not too difficult. Beautiful castle. Nice textures and good atmosphere. Gameplay is funny. Some excellent puzzles and clever the movable blocks. It's really a pleasant level.” – Cuqui (25-Nov-2002)

“This was also a game Ian and I tried to play simultaneous but as mentioned by Matthias I ran into the same bug the door with the crock wouldn’t open. Even after trying Monika’s advice of using the original WAD it didn’t work so from then on I looked at what Ian was doing. We had a very hard time spotting the place to put the block so a third gate would open as it was not obvious at all. For the rest it was a great game even a bit too dark for my taste. Enemies are ninja’s and they hardly travel alone dogs they seem to jump at Lara at places that made me jump in my chair wraith demigods skeletons and crocs. But there is more than enough firepower. We found also one secret. The first pushable block was hard to spot the rest was much easier. Not a difficult level (apart from spotting the first block and the other one in the ‘Dog room’) with nice ideas. 14-09-2002” – Gerty (16-Sep-2002)

“I really wanted to score this level highly as I was enjoying it up until I'd collected the third star. I then spent a good half-hour trying to work out how to open a closed door. The solution as ever was totally obscure and not based on any form of logic (it involved a push/pull excercise). If it hadn't been for this I would have marked the gameplay higher. Other than that the textures and lighting were nicely applied; the castle felt 'real' and the various enemies kept the thing moving along nicely.” – Orbit Dream (15-Sep-2002)

“I am so glad I booted up this level. I’ve had it on my download list for ages and somehow never got around to it. I had a thoroughly engaging time in the little over an hour I spent in the Castle of Jives. I almost trashed it too it was so unappealing at the start drab plain with a ninja stuck in a door and seemingly no place to go. This is what the forum’s all about folks if not for the thread I found I wouldn’t have had this delightful experience. This is not a hard level by any stretch of the imagination but easy it’s not either. A little on the dark side but flares are provided along with plenty of other goodies. I enjoyed the touch with the ninjas wearing ‘dog handler protection’ on their arms. Nicely moving gameplay cleverly disguised movable blocks strategically placed adversaries and darkly lit switches all come together for a great time.” – Momster (19-Aug-2002)

“Well I haven't seen the end of it but since I played the first half twice I might as well write a review. I'm now having a go at levels I abandoned ages ago because I was stuck and this is one of them. The annoying thing is that I found the hard to spot moavable block all by myself and then couldn't make progress after I placed the two stars. On my first try I didn't know about the helpful search function in the forum and for ages I tried to grope for another cleverly hidden movable block as well as things to shoot cause shortly before I got stuck I found the lasersight. Now I learned via the jives thread that I've apparently encountered a bug (Mac only?) that prevents the crocodile gate from opening and even I reinstalled everything twice it won't budge. A pity really cause so far it has been an exciting adventure. The legendary unmarked block is a bit unfair I felt but everything else comes together quite nicely. The castle setting is beautifully done the enemies attack at the right moments the flyby that fastly moves back to get the approaching skeleton in is a dramatic moment indeed and after that elusive movable block at the start the hidden crawlspaces seem like a snitch. The more irritating that I'm not able to finish this good and proper.” – Dimpfelmoser (11-Aug-2002)

“I felt that most of the time spent in this 50 minutes level was used merely to run through rooms and only here and there you actually had to stop to accomplish anything and even then there was no real difficulty factor involved. What I did like was that the atmosphere in the level grew the further you moved on because the lighting became steadily darker but this was taken to far and became just that annoying darkness where you could barely see your hand in front of your face thankfully the texturing is quite plain so you don’t really miss anything. Don’t get me wrong this isn’t a horrible level and some I’m sure will think it is wonderful but I found it fairly devoid of character.” – Sash (21-Jun-2002)

“A pleasant surprise this level – at least after eRIC told me about the best hidden movable block I have yet come across (in the room with the four scrolls). Once past that you make your way through solidly textured rooms progression is fast paced and quite linear but nicely keeps interest through variations of the way how you need to open the next door. Often enough a well-hidden crawlspace or yet another movable block needs to be spotted. Enemies are not so many but also varied (ninjas dogs wraiths demigods skeleton and crocodiles). I liked the cute ‘dog face’ and the mirror room near the end found one secret and reached the end after about an hour.” – Michael (21-Jun-2002)

“A level with very simple puzzles and no lighting. The architecture of all the rooms is very poor and identical. Can't say much more.” – Leandro (21-Jun-2002)

“The majority of this hour long level will be spent exploring a large castle that constantly changes as you progress further inside. It not only gets darker but each room seems to have a look of it's own. The puzzles are always changing too so you never know what to expect next or what to look for. It could be a well-disguised pushable block a crawlspace hidden in the dark a block that must be pushed to a certain square or a floor tile that raises up out of the ground - I never used the torch though. The enemies are varied too and include ninjas crocs demigods dogs a fire elemental and a skeleton that appears at the worst possible moment. The three golden stars were easy to find though as was the one secret. I didn't understand the ending fly-by though. A fun level with a few surprises and a few challenges.” – RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002)

“It's there if you look hard enough the pull-out block the jump switch and the torch. What was it for? I carried it till I could no more and never used it. Plenty of ammo & weapons to deal with the enemies that dared to show up. Not a difficult level taking about an hour to complete.” – Fairy Godfather (21-Jun-2002)

“Although this level is not that spectacular it wasn't a bad game. There is not so much to do besides finding three stars and a couple of levers and killing some ninjas so I'd call this level ‘easy-going’. But you have to keep your eyes open to find what you are looking for. Some pushing blocks are very well hidden and without some help from the forum I wouldn't have found the third star although it was kind of 'in front of my nose' all the time. It would have been easier to find things if the level would be less dark that means you have to use your binoculars and/or flares very often. The author didn't use any cameras but in most cases it's obvious where you have to go and what you have to do next after pulling a switch.” – Sheevah (21-Jun-2002)

“The play goes on more or less straightforward. You have to look very closely or you might miss something which will stop you from going on like a movable block well blending into the wall or a Golden Star not being so obvious to see. One has to collect 3 Golden Stars. When opening a door with 2 Golden Stars queer things happen. But the door will be open in the end. The most difficult thing was a 3-rope jump. The enemies were mad dogs ninjas Egyptian guards fire wraith crocodile skeletons. I found one secret. As the game went on it got darker and darker and it sort of stopped the flow of the game for me. In between one has a torch for lightning the rooms next to the flares. I found it not an overly exciting game but it had some really interesting parts in it.” – Monika (21-Jun-2002)

“As you begin this level you get the impression that it’s going to be just a big empty place that you’re going to run around and complete it in five minutes. Not exactly. The game play isn’t the best it could be but as you go along it picks up. Again many doors to open by flipping many switches. At about the middle it gets more interesting in order to proceed you need to pry a few stars from different rooms. The underwater rooms are good and a few fire traps above makes you keep going. Two problems though the left hand of the enemies looks like Lara’s leg and it is really disappointing the second problem is that when you are called to find and place the first two stars the double doors can be opened just with one of them. Too many ninja’s as pairs are always the obstacles for the player. The textures are very common but well placed. The lighting is good mostly at the dark areas. It can give you half an hour of fun.” – Kristina (21-Jun-2002)

“Here Lara explores a nicely designed castle with many rooms some of the textures are from the lost library. Enemies are not the most important part of the level but the ninjas the crazy hound dogs and a few others (one firesprite one croc guardians and skeletons) will keep you busy. There are passageways and secret rooms and some good puzzles some are quite simple but others are not obvious at all so you can be stuck for a while wondering what to do. There are not so many push/pull blocks but I emphasize here their importance. The level ends like it has begun by an outside area but I didn’t understand the meaning of the last flyby; maybe it explains the title of the level. Note: There are strange things with the two golden stars puzzle: firstly when I push the button to extinguish the fire to take the first star when I came back to the room with the star by the corridor the fire was still burning but returning by taking the pole it was extinguished. Secondly the door can be opened with only one star. But these bugs are not too much annoying I did not rate lower for that so you can enjoy this nice level it's a good one.” – eRIC (21-Jun-2002)
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