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Level: Dark Skies 5-7 back home search
Author(s): justin
total rating:9.34 Gameplay &
Puzzles		 Enemies,
Objects &
Secrets		 Atmosphere,
Sound &
Cameras		 Lighting &
Textures
Akcy 8 8 7 8
CC 10 9 10 10
Cuqui 10 10 10 10
Dimpfelmoser 8 9 9 9
Dougsan 8 8 10 10
Engelchen Lara 10 10 10 10
eRIC 9 9 10 10
eTux 8 10 10 9
Gerty 8 10 9 9
Kristina 9 9 9 9
MichaelP 9 9 9 9
Navi 10 10 10 10
Phil 10 10 10 9
RaiderGirl 10 10 9 10
Samu 9 9 9 9
Sash 9 9 10 9
Treeble 10 10 10 10
category averages
(17 reviews)		 9.12 9.35 9.47 9.41

Reviewer's comments

"The first level has the most annoying maze I ever encountered. After succeeding that, the rest is peanuts as they say. The “floating Island” idea is also not my cup of tea. You are again in a different environment, this time a spaceship. The next is underground with caves and the last a sort of jungle level. I couldn’t shoot the gem from the lion’s mouth, standing way on top of a tree so I had to give myself an explosive to do just that." - Gerty (11-Mar-2011)

"I played these levels when they were released years ago, and even though I wrote a walkthrough for them, and even though they've achieved their richly deserved spot in the Hall of Fame, I've never gotten around to reviewing them. However, I learned quite by accident recently that the entire Dark Skies series, together with the introductory level (Tutorial City), has been bundled into a single download at TRO-Online. I figured that this provided a great excuse to replay the series and fine tune my walkthroughs at the same time. (And I'm embarrassed to admit that along the way I caught and corrected a number of errors, most of them cosmetic but one that was quite egregious.) The highlight, of course, is that wicked maze that must be conquered in Level 5. After getting through that, the rest is relatively serene. I had my walkthroughs in front of me for help, but I encountered no jumps or other sequences that required more than a few tries. The levels are dark, to be sure, but that's the trademark of the series. Although I felt obliged to light a flare from time to time, the darkness did not provoke the annoyance that I've experienced in other levels. The gameplay is crisp and never boring. I've had a great time reliving a great gaming experience, and anyone new to raiding who hasn't tried these levels should download them immediately." - Phil (25-Apr-2007)

"This is absolutely the best game from Justin I have played thus far. The environment is pretty good looking consisting of many different kind of areas. I think that alien ship in The Abyss level was really cool because I haven't acctually seen anything like it before. When you're jumping in outer parts of the ship the screen is shaking sometimes which gives a nice impression that wind is blowing hard when the ship is moving. If I had to say some minus side in this level I would say the maze because I got really lost there. The other two levels are very good too and the rain in Dark hearts of the wood level was truly a nice effect. In second level there's a lot of great tasks to clear and the secret outdoor area was unforgettable among the indoor areas. This is a top game including three really well planned levels so don't miss it." - Samu (25-Mar-2007)

Three very different levels, where to find three keystones, also three secret roses. The Abyss (7/8/4/8) The basic idea that adventuring on a large zeppelin is really great. The interior of the airship makes quite short and easy level with just a few enemies and nice puzzles, gameplay is kinda relief after the previous levels. It nicely textured and set, some things indicate that it's not built by men. Good added sounds. But the outside section under the ship was a nighmare for me with the disorienting fixed cameras. It's a cheap solution to raise the difficulty of an otherwise simple task. And it's not even difficult this way either, only annoying. However I recognize the creativity of it; the maze with fixed points of views, which shift by every step was disturbing and frustrating, sorry, but that's my taste. Death Pits of Wrath 8/9/8/8 An underground level, the longest of the three, with lot of lava rooms, and nice torch puzzles. Some new elements, lighting up skulls and animal skins. The pleasant secret area outside of the caves was refreshing. There are no hard tasks, and it feels somewhat ordinary, compared to the 'not from this world' atmosphere of the previous levels. Dark Hearts of the Wood 9/8/10/9 My favorite level of these three. Gloomy but great atmosphere with the thunders, rain, and great added sounds. The big area which becomes unfloaded is good idea. I liked the fountains, also the blue room where picked up the keystone looks good. A nice touch that the SAS in the secret, is friendly. - Akcy (29-Jun-2005)

“Three levels three different adventures where an artefact must be found. At last a masterpiece in this series and no game crashing this time. Good puzzles good distribution and number of enemies (not few and not too many) and a great atmosphere. The Abyss (9/9/9/10): Lara will explore an impressive spaceship. The first look at the spaceship floating in the azure is breathtaking. Gameplay highlights : a very good torch puzzle an ingenious maze with a map and a secret area that recalls somewhat the Floating islands. Death Pits of Wrath (9/9/10/9): In underground rooms and caves with lava many puzzles to solve to open doors. Some rooms well designed with textures from TR1 (Atlantis Natla's mines) and TR3 (South Pacific). Tigers pteranodons skeletons and SAS traps and classic gameplay. The secret area with a beach and blue sky is not to be missed. Dark Heart of the Woods (9/9/10/10): Not really a jungle level although you have to jump on trees. Atmosphere and textures from the Irish levels of TRChronicles raiding here was a great delight. You have to explore a temple before and after the water is drained. As in the previous worlds a secret area that is not really rewarding in pickups but gives more discovery and dinosaurs to fight. Although not very long this level was perfect. Tip: if you have the Mp5+explosive arrows the puzzle with the reluctant gem to shoot in the mouth of the lion is much easier than with the revolver.” – eRIC (22-Sep-2003)

“Justin really has taken this series and twisted it so you can’t imagine what each new level is going to contain. In this set of three you first get an amazing spaceship (I think) where you get to roam free under it on this mind spinning maze of walkways all in all extremely original the second part finds you in a cave/temple location that was very atmospheric with torch puzzles and movable block puzzles and the third drops you into a dark jungle where part of your quest is to drain a large underwater temple. These were all wonderfully fun and each with a brilliantly placed special rose secret but also each had some detrimental aspects. In the first the overhead fixed cameras on the walkways got hard to deal with after a while and I was begging for normal view although the cameras did help with reading the maze map I suppose in the second there is a terrible rope swing that has you being devoured by the wall behind you as you swung and the third for me was a game stopper at one point you have to shoot a gem from a lion’s mouth from atop a tree branch which is a long distance away and with the scope and zooming in I still could not shoot it from that angle and had to flycheat to the ground to be able to shoot it. Justin really knows how to keep interest in a level and with this nearly 3 hour set of levels he didn’t disappoint.” – Sash (18-May-2003)

“WOW. What an extraordinary trio of levels. In THE ABYSS we're on a gigantic airship. What a creative imagination Justin has. Even if you read that gameplay is easy just download it anyway to see it. All the way through you're treated to haunting background music methinks it's a mix of the so-called Ireland level of the original game. Amazing atmosphere I've never seen anything like it. The only thing I've played that might come close is Obsidian Heights. Great attention to detail. The Lighting is a little weird (not surprising in this level). And that unbelievable maze in the sky! Not only have you to deal with fixed camera angles and you can't see where you're going (even with the binoculars) because the distance disappears but you have to suffer an earthquake as well or should that be air turbulence up here! DEATH PITS OF WRATH have you mainly in caves and lava rooms where the memorable thing here is lighting skulls on poles to open a door and setting fire to stretched animal skins. There's a cleverly hidden entrance in a nice outside lagoon setting. In DARK HEARTS OF THE WOOD you come across raptors and unfriendly natives in a very convincing dark forest during a thunderstorm. You also come to a cave like setting and a central tower off which there is a lot to do. The last lion’s head to shoot disappeared when I used the lasersight so I had to try and line up the little red dot as near as I could in line with the lion’s mouth through the scope and hope for the best as I swung it to where the head disappears. It eventually smashed even though I couldn’t see it. A strange thing happened at the end of my game an SAS guard didn’t shoot at me but chased a native around and shot him for me! I jumped on a block near the artifact and watched in amazement. Miracles happen every day. Great stuff Justin I hope there's more.” – CC (29-Apr-2003)

“How do I rate beauty? Without a doubt Dark Skies 5-7 are the most beautifully levels I have ever played. They are not at all what I was expecting. Ten pages of questions in the forums with talented players of the likes of Kristina and Momster getting stuck seemingly all over the place suggested to me this was going to be one bear of an effort. Much to my surprise I got stuck only twice once trying to shoot a gem with the revolver when a grenade launcher had to be used (a bug imho) and earlier when I couldn’t find a push block. I really enjoyed Dark Skies 5-7 very much and highly recommend the game to all players. If Justin had added some challenging puzzles this would have been close to a perfect level. I did like the mazes VERY much but they were interesting more than challenging. The maze in the sky was a real trip and was quite imaginative. A big BRAVO Justin.” – Dougsan (22-Apr-2003)

“I remember when I became a regular on mprager.de roughly a year ago (Feb 2002) that some of Justin's Atlantis levels were at the very top of the highscore list and it was so frustrating for me as a Mac player cause they all came as exe-files. But so much has changed since then. All of Justin’s adventures are available as a Mac compatible download now and all of his level (save this one here) have eventually dropped out of the Top 50. Which is a pity really cause I have always admired Justin's very original inventive and unique approach to level-building. His settings are never as perfect as those from Piega or Inchdix but they are always more individual I felt. This here starts in the tradition of the sinister science fiction vibe of Dark Skies 3-4 but the last two parts have a distinctive TR1 feel to it which I thought was beautifully done and worked a treat with the more technical surroundings of the previous chapters. Justin even went so far as to leave out the crawls which I am particularly grateful for. As far as the gameplay is concerned I have two major complaints. First the long earthquake in the part 5 and second a couple of puzzles that I found rather enigmatic (I won't say trial and error cause I might have missed the clues). I said this before I really tend to get a terrible headache if the earthquake stays as long as it does here and as there is not much I can do about it I would like to implore all level builders to keep their earthquakes as short as possible. Also I had to use dozy in the last part cause the lion's head that you had to shoot would disappear when I was looking through the lasersight aiming at the gem. Very strange; never had anything like this before. I could only destroy the gem from down below. Compared with Justin's other levels you get not many enemies and apart from a persistent crocodile they pose no big threat. I really loved some of the secrets that had huge areas all to themselves and I didn't even mind that you lost quite a bit of health for a rose that has no practical use. All in all it gave me more than three hours of top quality raiding with many different tasks to complete and I think this series presents a believable link from the innocent fun of the early days to the more recent space age scenarios. PS: Seeing that I give this a slightly lower score than the rest of the reviewers I might add that there were some little things that make this level less than perfect in my view but as most of them have been pointed out by others I won't go into that right now.” – Dimpfelmoser (11-Feb-2003)

“These three levels have justin's name stamped all over them with the surreal yet realistic environments and tricky jumps and puzzles that are required to get to the end. I must admit to being glad that these don't seem as hard as some of his previous levels though - there are none of the 'impossible' timed doors and jumps that I've seen before from him. I'm not saying they're easy though - I had to look at the walkthroughs more times than I can count. 'Abyss' starts out in a huge floating spaceship where you must find a gem burn a rope open doors etc. all to make your way to the walkways under the ship. Here you'll find many metal walkways floating in space which eventually will get you to 'the Mother of All Mazes'. With the camera angles and wind blowing this is very difficult to get through - I found it easiest to just print out that part and follow it line by line. 'Death Pits of Wrath' reminded me of the cave areas from TR 2 mixed with the Great Pyramid area of TR 1 with lots of exploring to do nasty traps and puzzles whose solutions aren't always apparent as you search for two hands and four keys. Apart from a short venture outside to get a rose most of the level is underground and a little spooky. 'Dark Hearts of the Wood' starts out in a forest where it's raining which looked great and you need to find your way into a water filled temple that you will later drain and then make your way though again. Again some of the basic block pushing switch pulling trap and enemy avoiding puzzles but in justin's levels even all this seems new and exciting because he does it so well. In each level there is a stone artifact to collect and once you have all three you place them in the 'crossroads' level which I assume will lead to the upcoming levels (I can hope at least). A little more camera work would not have been missed maybe on some of the switches and blocks but otherwise I thought everything else was superb.” – RaiderGirl (03-Feb-2003)

“What can I say... I found these levels quite perfect. I love them and I enjoyed before the previous ones. Now I have left Lara in the central transporter waiting for her new adventure and I bet she's eager to go on!” – Cuqui (30-Jan-2003)

“Finally Justin is back to level-building and while according to the readme he himself was not so happy with this effort presented here it certainly provides you with several hours of great and diverse raiding. The Abyss (7/9/9/8 1:30 hours 2 secrets): This for me was an interesting experiment with a rather weird spaceship atmosphere. Very original idea. There are several wheels to turn shelves to search cool weaponry a crystal key (gem) at the start and I like the part where you had to burn the hanging rope. Enemies are SAS a vulture and a few alien raptors (which would have suited Hokolo’s Alien Cave very well). The silver rose secret is very nicely done. BUT and for me that was a big BUT here the maze while being original in its concept was very annoying for me due to the disorienting camera angles so I was quite relieved when I got out after throwing all the switches in the correct sequence. The shooting of the crystals was a nice touch and the bridge of the ship looked good too. Get your Abyssal Keystone and on to the next part. Death Pits of Wrath (9/9/8/9 1:00 hours 3 secrets): Changed settings – now you are in a volcanic cave area. More enemies here (pteros skeletons tigers crocfish and a few SAS) and more traps too: teeth doors (with no sound) boulders earthquakes darts collapsible tiles burners. There are two nice torch puzzles a push/pull blocks puzzle and a multi lever puzzle and one where symbols help you further and there is also a bit of jumping/climbing thrown in for good measure. You need to get two golden stars and four keys (copper bronze silver gold) to reach your Magma Keystone. The gold rose secret offers a wonderful excursion into an outside area. Some of the switches are sneakily hidden and the rope swing through walls was a bit of an annoyance. Otherwise good fun. Dark Hearts of the Wood (9/8/10/9 0:45 hours 3 secrets): The shortest for me but the one I enjoyed the most. The flyby at the start is awesome and the atmosphere in the woods is utterly gripping and real (and that is not only because of the added rain). You get movable blocks/raising blocks puzzles to figure out and have to drain a large area and then climb your way around it. Several lion heads to shoot and some tree hopping to get to your Heartwood Keystone. Enemies are pteros raptors many natives and a few crocs and one SAS. I thought the jump to the grenade gun secret was rather tricky and you had to backtrack quite a bit for the Emerald Rose secret. All in all excellent raiding here and I am looking forward to Justin’s continuation of the series.” – Michael (26-Jan-2003)

“What a confusing set of levels. I have been in a number of unbelievable situations. One of them was when I started one of the levels but couldn't see how I could proceed so I went to another one leaving a torch in a room getting back though to the first level after finishing the second the torch disappeared and there was no way I was going to play it again as the levels are very dark with many traps and difficulty above medium. The reason I left the level with the torch was because I couldn't get the damn thing lit excuse my language because it requires a certain position for Lara to be able to light the torch. Of course then I got a savegame from Elvis which I have to thank him for and then I missed a pick up for one of the artifacts because Elvis had already finished the certain level before me. Anyway back to the description again as mentioned above they are very dark and as usual the flares didn't last for long even though I used my savegame from the crossroads therefore I added flares. One level is inside and under a ship another one is kind of a forest and one other it has lava rooms rocks outside areas as well. I got stuck plenty of times especially trying to get a hand behind a movable block but the solution sometimes is simpler than we think. The enemies are not many and thank god for that because with everything that's going on in there the last thing you need is to be chased by something all the time. So the player has to face skeltons pterodactyls raptors I think I spotted some condors but I am not sure. Not enough ammo given if you ask me and again I am glad I used my savegame from the previous set. The maze with the suspended bridges in the ‘Abyss’ level made me want to throw up I was in there god knows how long pushing levers and trying to find which door has opened and trying not to get sick. The player has to collect three artifacts and place them in the ‘Crossroads’ level also there are three roses that are secrets and will be useful to play two secret levels I hear of course Justin has to build them first. Apart from all the trouble I got I enjoyed smashing gems draining rooms and pushing blocks but I would prefer not to be able to go from one level to another and risk loosing things like the torch situation I mentioned above. Play these levels but remember it's best to finish a level before proceeding to another and explore thoroughly.” – Kristina (05-Jan-2003)

“Wow! What a hair raising set of levels! ;-) Great work by Justin – the atmosphere alone was created very realistically whether you were in the space ship a kind of jungle or water temple the whole setting was well designed. The puzzles are well thought out and Lara is really being challenged by tricky jumps or pushable puzzles with five levers. Well actually four to pull but you have to find out which. Don’t want to give it all away ;-). I especially liked when Lara had to find four keys as you had to think much and be patient especially with the jumps. The skeletons got on my nerves a bit ;-). The difficulty level is quite high at times. Lara has to use a torch a few times and I found four secrets. Found one rose but the other one Lara could not pick up as she got spiked. In each level Lara finds one of the three blue artifacts she has to place at the end. Enemies were well designed mainly guards but they did not hurt Lara (at least not in my game). Skeletons dinosaurs pterodactyls and a few natives. Textures and Lighting were well done not too dark just suitable and some nice objects used. A real challenge awaiting Lara here – well done Justin!” – Engelchen Lara (05-Jan-2003)

“Well I would be giving four elevens to these three levels because they really deserve it in my opinion. I still didn't understand why justin says ‘these levels have a serious lack’ because they were simply excellent enough for me. You see Justin didn't add many earthquakes and timed runs which are his main trademarks but the levels are even better I dare say. Three completely different settings each one holding its own artifact. ‘The Abyss’ level is set in a space ship which was the hardest level for me so I went on playing the other levels before BUT I activated the torch bug. Once you move the torch from its original position it disappears and when I came back surprise no more torch. Justin was kind enough to fix that for me (Thanks!!!). The bottom of the ship is simply brilliant nobody has ever done such structures before and this was the unique maze I actually enjoyed to get lost in a custom level. You pick up the silver rose which matches the metal color. Next level ‘Death Pits Of Wrath’ takes you to a place that reminds a lot of Atlantis (both TR1 and Justin's previous series) fire everywhere and fire puzzles obviously. This was the easiest and the first I finished so I would suggest players to start with this one. You get the golden rose which matches with the fire color. Finally level 7 ‘Dark Hearts Of The Wood’ that is my favorite of this whole series if not the entire TRLE levels ever released. A spooky jungle setting that takes you to the nerves with the creepy background sound from the Old Mill adventures in Chronicles. Rain around complicated puzzles and interesting flipmaps. There was a bug with my game so I couldn't shoot with my Desert Eagle the jewel in the lion's mouth but I managed to do that with my Grenade Launcher and everything was fine again. You get the emerald rose here which matches with the greenish setting. Then with the three artifacts together you open another transporter in ‘Crossroads’ which takes you to the next level that's already in the works I believe and if we know Justin we can expect it to be out soon ;) I really loved them all and wished there was more - waiting for the next set of levels.” – Treeble (03-Jan-2003)

“What an interesting set of levels Justin has provided us with! The atmosphere is spooky throughout the 3 adventures there are wonderful secret areas to explore within and even though the game is damn confusing you'll have your fun with it (you should not feel bad when using a walkthrough as even if these levels are not as hard as the previous 2 you'll be ready to give up without help sooner or later) I've reviewed the levels in the order I finished them: Death Pits of Wrath - A mix of TR 1 Atlantean and Greece/Rome levels texture wise. There are a few textures from TR2 & 3 but the majority are the ones I mentioned above. This is the easiest level of the 3 maybe because it's not as confusing as the rest. There are some torch puzzles mostly you have to light some skulls on a stick burning the animal leathers was a new twist and I found that out accidentally which gave me the great feeling when discovering something new in the original TR's again. The puzzles were easy even the one involving the slicer-dicer was not that tough once you knew what to do. The lever + flaming statue puzzle could be very confusing for some but I got through this one fast so I don't have any complaints. An absolute highlight for me was the seashore - plane crash site secret. Very lovely because you have a change in the level - no more lava no more smoke and no smell of death! Just a seashore to relax kill a few soldiers & crocs and go on a mini quest for the golden rose. Enjoy it while it lasts and then return to the usual level. There were some strange things in this level too. At the start some textures were missing but it's hard to spot them if you don't look for them so no big problems with that but there was also a lava pit that didn't kill Lara later on. Of course this doesn't spoil anything in the gameplay but still a small problem in the level the author should be aware of! The Abyss - this is a very unique level sure we've seen levels above mystique oblivion ever since Obsidian Heights but the flying airship was masterfully crafted! There is also one small torch puzzle here (be sure not to leave the level before you've done with it otherwise the torch will disappear! (this is a level editor bug so no need to blame the author)) and also a small maze that'll confuse you as hell if you'll try to get through without the map! Maybe you won’t understand the map fully at the start but once you do this little maze is even quite enjoyable! (despite the never ending earthquake that guides you as you push the levers in it) Another good thing to mention was the extremely smart way you got to the silver rose even if I did need a hint for this! I was quite surprised when the panel opened and so allowed me to access the suspended platform with the silver rose! It was also quite dark for such a bright outside area but not pitch black so you definitely will see most of the level. Damn confusing but damn good too! Dark Hearts of the Wood - This too ain't no hard level but since the underwater levers are very hard to spot sometimes this level might keep you running around without a clue for a long time. The gameplay in this level involves the infamous underwater levers some valves switches block pushing laser sight puzzle and also a bit of swimming not extremely hard (well one slide with the fires swinging blades and spikes might be a small challenge but nothing impossible anyway) just don't let this level confuse you and you'll be OK! Some remarkable things here are the few episodes in the level when it is raining through the leaves of the trees or through some clefts in this temple's roof. A very nice atmospheric touch. I also liked the swamp at the bottom of the valley and the passages leading in all directions of the temple. The secrets here were a bit obvious and I didn't have a lot of trouble getting the dessert eagle in the small alclove and the emerald rose in yet another very well made secret area. An end note here - I do think some of my ratings are a bit higher than the levels deserve bit I really liked this trio and had no problems with rating them like I did. And besides some of my fellow raiders when playing the game seemed very furious so I'll leave the downrating to them ;)” – eTux (03-Jan-2003)

“These 3 Levels of Justin I must honestly say have almost beaten me ;-) At the end Lara places three artifacts. I actually expected something more of the ending or has my Lara overlooked something? Now to the single Levels. First Lara pulled me into a spaceship with lots of levers. Outside the wind blew around Lara’s ears. ...but it was designed in a gigantic way. Then Lara comes into a type of cave with lava. Here she had to do a lot to find 4 keys and that was not simple. Then Lara is in a type of water temple where also many great challenges await. The puzzles are well thought out and very difficult in places. Lara’s battle skills and endurance is asked for. Tricky jumps to master. Pushable object puzzles. For beginners these levels are not suited. The atmosphere was created really brilliantly. Lara really is demanded here. The opponents whether it were dinosaurs or skeletons - simply great. It is exactly for my taste - a masterpiece ;-) Another little hint for you Justin. Do you know – ahem - medis??? You could put some more in next time. ;-))))” – Navi (03-Jan-2003)
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