Level reviews

""Hypersquare 1" is in my opinion the best customlevel game created to date in the last 25 years and it is worthy of all 10s in the numerical review score. The unique gameplay of action moves in this game is unequaled elsewhere and a must play to see what Lara can do legitimately. I have played this game twice to completion. First, on Win 7 when the game was initially released and recently on Win 10 where this game actually looks better and plays great. Two of the sub-levels in this multi-level game, "The Tower of Eternity" and "Other Time Distortions", are the best of all the free Tomb Raider games. They are perfect technical masterpieces and fun to play multiple times as truly unique Tomb Raider games. Psiko achieved a degree of excellence with these levels that few other builders can match. However, the bar has been raised for Psiko with his planned "Hypersquare 3" because currently some builders are starting to reach the level of proficiency that can come close to matching Psiko's, as shown by Loch with his "Movement at the Monastery" customlevel. This is actually good news because the more excellent Tomb Raider games there are, the better it will be for players. Still, "Hypersquare 1" is an absolute must-play game for all Tomb Raider aficionados despite its challenging action moves. They are not really hard if you practice them in the tutorial ("The Hypercube" level) provided by Psiko within the multi-set game. Any TR player who does not have trouble with their hands can accomplish these moves as the game is fair with all of the moves unlike some other builders' challenging levels that are deliberately designed to be almost impossible. The player's age is not a problem with "Hypersquare 1" as it can be played without problems by senior citizens as well as children. This game will take weeks of real-time to play, but it will be worth it if you can spare the time and savor the gameplay like good food. You will be happy to have experienced this game!" - TOMBSAGE

"Being currently the biggest TRLE levelset you can download(at a whopping 4.33 GB when fully extracted), the ambition demonstrated here alone puts a lot of official higher-budget AAA games to shame, with a significant amount of creative ingenuity present throughout. It honestly blows me away to know that this was all crafted by one guy over the course of a decade, continuing onward story-wise from the builder's previous non Lara at the Movies-related releases, which I haven't played yet at the time of jotting down this review. The visual presentation just pops out of the screen, with tons of abundant high-quality assets & a wide variety of colours. And with next to no framerate drops considering the quantity of stuff being rendered on screen at once, its nonetheless an incredibly impressive technical feat within this very ancient engine. But the remarkable innovations don't stop there, as the gameplay & storyline have also received a notable upgrade from your standard custom level. And while I found the narrative itself to be cheesy with the builder self-inserting himself into the story as an actual character, the game is self-aware enough to maintain a solid tonal consistency from start to finish(even if the voice acting can come off a little stilted at points, due to the translated script from the author's native language into English and a lot of the discussion about parallel dimensions/time travel during the longer length 1990s-styled FMV sequences can go over one's head easily, if you're not paying close attention.) Gameplay on the other hand, has been greatly expanded upon to the point, that going back to the regular TR4 set of moves afterward, feels incredibly limiting by comparison. Hand-to-hand combat, manually controlling the direction of your sliding, jumping up slopes without much difficulty, easily grabbing ledges when side jumping, a bizarre but incredibly handy backward jump that can be propelled forward with the right timing and so much more, thanks to Lara's fancy jetpack and the various amounts of technology she will encounter on this adventure. And you're definitely gonna need all these techniques to progress, as the general level design has been completely conceived with these moves in mind, for better or worse(being easy to learn but tricky to master). Don't feel like you need to be concerned about conserving ammunition for opposing threats however, as the builder has granted infinite ammo for every weapon you happen to come across. So feel free to blast away like a madman while dodging enemy attacks, as its the traps that will cause ya the most headaches. And unfortunately, this is what generated the most frustration for me throughout my general playthrough(at-times cryptic sense of direction within the levels aside), as there were some sequences that proved too hectic to process fully at first, requiring a break from it all temporarily every now and then, just to give my senses a rest. Having said that, I never found myself bored. And at time of writing, Psiko is working on an addon of sorts planned to be released with the second season called 'Link12', which intends to fix the overall gameplay difficulty of this very levelset to be more balanced, among other things. So perhaps whenever he manages to get round to completing and releasing said projects, my complaints in the gameplay department may very well be entirely resolved altogether. But in conclusion, a very intense(at-times long-winded) experience with an incredibly great eye for detail, from the tons of new custom animations and good music choices to the overall enemy & level design. Recommended with a word of caution though, as this obviously won't appeal to every player out there." - Ceamonks890

"just two words, marvellous, amazing." - Beaewa76

"just one word. PHANTASTIC.This is the next genaration of TRLE levels.I REALLY cant wait for his new game." - OlafRaider

"Whoo, what an adventure! This isn't a game, it's an experience. I'm so glad I finally got round to playing this as it really is an unmissable masterpiece. Yes, there were some frustrating parts, but those pale in comparison to the amount of time, effort and forethought that must have went into this. Whether it is the brilliant FMV sequences, the colourful, gorgeous, futuristic environments, utilising the rockets, or the brilliant gameplay, this is definitely a must play for experienced raiders. Thanks for an amazing game, Psiko. Greatly looking forward to the next installments." - Ryan

"From Saint Marks Square Level 1 to Paradoxes, 17 Levels of brilliance! from the design to the game play and puzzles. If you can master this game you can play any Tomb Raider Game with one hand tied behind your back! Great Job Antonio! Killer Gameplayz is Ready for Season 2!!" - Killer Gameplayz

"This was another amazing TRLE one that took me months to complete, the graphics look up to date witch I have never seen in any other TRLE. The story again was really cool. On the whole it was innovative. No other TRLE is like it which makes this alot better. My only critism Is the fact it doesn't have many secrets." - JoeTheCrazyGamer

"This is one of the most innovative, fresh, unique and outstanding levelset I've ever played, it is so unimaginably big and it will keep you hooked for days, even weeks on end, the gameplay is smooth and fresh, it's a whole new Tomb Raider experience, I don't think even Core Design could make such an extravagant levelset. The puzzles are very hard yet very intriguing, they really are tough to solve and require so much brainstorming and alot of thinking to solve them, the gameplay is fresh, especially with the new jetpack experience, it changes your view on the gameplay completely, you HAVE to use your jetpacks in certain places in a very innovative way, I love the puzzles and gameplay, even though they're very hard, I love the new addition of swings and other new mechanics like the one new pole where you climb and do a side jump, the new mechanics are very well done and feel really intertwined in this levelset. Enemies are new and tough as well, they require a good amount of hitting and fighting, some are strong and some are not as strong (yet they're still too strong for a TR experience, but the new unlimited ammo helps), they're completely built from scratch, every enemy is new and shiny, some are animals and some are metallic and others are machines, it's a really new experience for any TR player, the objects are very well-made and very new as well, everything in this level is new and handmade, from the boxes, to the wads to the textures, they're very beautifully done, Psiko really outdid himself! The atmosphere is beyond impeccable, it's exquisitely done, the atmosphere sometimes is very creepy and other times it's cozy, I love how the cities feel like real cities, they're very well worked on, the cityscapes are great as well, they all make you feel like you're playing INSIDE the level, not playing it from outside, the environment is greatly done too, I love new greenery, scenery and new tress and grass, it's like quite a fresh addition to the level. The lighting and textures are perfect, almost every texture and wad is handmade and new, they're high quality and very clear, they have a real 3D effect to them, which makes it even more amazing, the lighting is very well placed and the hue and contrast are perfectly done. I would give this level a 1000 out of 10 if I could, it's beyond perfect, it's one of the most fresh, unique and extravagant levels I've ever played, Psiko really outdid himself and set a new standard for every TR level ever made, I applaud his amazing work. Thank you Psiko for making this level that I tremendously enjoyed!" - LaraSpears

"An inventive limit-pushing perfectionist of IQ surpassing the download count strikes again, crossbreeding a stone age buffalo with an iron elephant into another mammoth. It's only distorted by requiring occasional changes of thought direction, and though hints and warnings are given they often miss the target, so if you don't pay constant attention you may skip something within a huge map and get halted to search for it - so in the end I'm quite tired... but also absolutely sure I touched a new dimension, or many of them, even though I still don't understand everything I have seen. While my eyes can affirm a huge complicated outworld scenery with a basic "wow", the background science of this overworld is mindblowing. Theoretical and practical physics we get shown, explained and studied tear the storyline into pieces located in different times and spaces. You could think an ordinary brain just won't comprehend it, and indeed the initial reaction is nothing but "what the heck?!", not to mention the game also gets more and more entropic in time (and space), but the ending puts everything back together into a purifying conclusion, blurring any difference between reason and effect, to form both a solution and a grander mystery for later (or former) seasons - and since the ultimate answer will only develop through them, I'll not only call it a must-play but also a must-build. SUMMARY: Hyperoutstanding. I saw him as Gustav Mahler of custom levels back then and nothing changed since that day except for better." - DJ Full

"Psiko has (once again) created a transformative work that radically elevates the raiding experience. His new work surpasses the highest levels in all rating elements and includes a mesmerizing story-line that seamlessly transports Lara through immense vistas of his awesomely hypnotic and magically fantastic dreamscapes. The revolutionary advancement in raiding magic that shook up the community years ago with the release of TR-A, has now reappeared with even more powerful artistic, intellectual, and technological breakthroughs. This is truly an epic adventure on a grand scale. An odyssey of hundreds of challenges across huge maps of extraordinary worlds in a constantly unfolding suspense- filled tapestry of exploration, in pursuit of answers to many of the most fundamental and exciting cosmological questions, all with a wink and a smile. Lara is recalled by Psiko and asked to help solve a mystery about an apparently malevolent distortion in the space-time continuum, He sends her (“OHH, this feels wonderful!") into a series of present, past and future dimensions; exploring fascinating cosmological portraits that literally explode with beautiful majesty, all fashioned with the author's powerfully creative imagination. The immense journey includes a delightful return to the mythic legends that once defined a part of our world. Then extends those influences up through and beyond the line of classical times and reasoning that continually hampers my thought-processes, when, at times, I would get this smug belief that I actually understood what was happening here. Then, just as quickly I get that startled deer in the head-lights look and, Wham! Bam! "But you don't know what it is, do YOU Mr. Jones!" Soon after beginning this adventure, I realized how critical it was for me to just take my time. This is a highly complex, and mysteriously challenging custom level way beyond almost anything I've previously experienced. Right from the very beginning in St. Mark's Square, the gameplay is intuitively challenging, intricate, inventive, and demanding. And that goes for both the required placement and action for Lara's moves, and for figuring out her forward progress. This is not a journey for the faint of heart, for those who are impatient, for those who want instantaneous gratification, quick raids, and simple solutions. However, as I eventually discovered, the answers to my uncertainties were usually in plain view. Psiko's ideas are so intelligently interesting and so cleverly portrayed that I struggled for some time to get into rhythm. Eventually though, I became attuned to the road, and on that road I also felt like I was driving a Ferrari. This ride is such a high that it will spoil you forever. Oh Baby, gimme more and more of them there rockets! Even though I am a broken-down old raider, I only needed one save game graciously provided by Psiko on one of my more difficult Time Flux jump sequences. This is not to say I wasn't required to work constantly on my game-playing skills. But the satisfaction and sense of accomplishments that come with that are terrific, and that has always seemed to me individually as a player to be yet another one of the many rewarding gifts of living in Psiko's world. I did have to refer to the walkthrough a few times. (SPOILERS) Once to find that damned torch in that ridiculously inconspicuously hidden hole in the wall in the Roman Aqueduct-Veneto. (I think that idea was a real miss by the builder and the beta testers.) Second, which was for me, the most confusing part of the game, was wandering around lost in the future Park of Wonders unable to understand where and why I needed to use that damn Roman Crossbow since I couldn't break the spell of the restraints caused by time paradoxes in my mind. I gave up on the one secret in the Tower of Eternity because I could not figure out how to get across some floating islands. I finished Hypersquare some three months later, with 41 hours of total gameplay, (yeah, I am that bad at raiding.) I experienced many moments of complete bewilderment induced by the spatial sensory disorientation in the author's gorgeously unique canvases, and also by the analytically illogical imbalance of experiences Lara is confronted with. It's the intensity and grandeur of a truly visionary magical theater rarely gifted to us in our lifetimes. No matter how dismissively I might try to reorient myself back into my comfortable, mundane complacency, no one gets out of here unsettled. Which is exactly where I live, absolutely lost in time and space. And while his homage to the metaphysical art of di Chirico literally revolve around in the background, I was struck by the relational congruencies of the levitating, and unfolding tessaract we enter into in Hypersquare with the one portrayed in Dali's Corpus Hypercubus. No, I will never be able to comprehend what is going on inside four spatial dimensions. But it's a great feeling just to sense that the directional heading is right on the money in my own nostalgia of the infinite. Psiko's powerful interpretations of nuclear mysticism in this transcendental voyage are so enjoyable I never wanted it to end. I saw that good old “spooky action at a distance" really kicking in during an enchanting Venetian waltz; speechless at seeing how beautiful are those ladies masks, and suspect that I do know who that masked man wearing the Italian colors at the lectern is. Just like the enigmatic Buddha, the author constantly throws Lara into the most alluring, humorous, and mind-bending adventures of twists and turns with an imponderable, yet engaging smile. And, yes Sir, I am always ready for more homework with Amalthea! So much humor! Ejecting entranced pilots out of cockpits, bumping into spaced-out time-warped floating sailors, seeing Uncle Albert teach us relativity, being forced to become psychotically deranged to effectively murder of a bunch of maliciously dancing plants, wondering where you can get ahold of some them there awesome Dubs, learning that the old arcade PACMAN game actually leads to a hyperlink. And Lara's backwards thrown kiss, well, that is just perfect man. At the end, I was just like the Avenger pilots on Flight 19 who had had their clocks removed from their cockpit instrument panels before they even took off. My journey through Hypersquare left me even more unhinged and lost in time than I abnormally am, sitting around aimlessly now waiting for him to release more and more and more. And the great news is that he has hinted at a continuation into a trilogy, so we may be re-encountering those accursed Demigods and those incomprehensible Eternals waiting for us just around the next Tower of Eternity. My God, what an astoundingly startling vision of beauty and mystery that Tower is, stumbling around in awestruck love of place holding Planck's Constant in my trembling hands. Psiko appears to be moving beyond the indeterminacy of Schrodinger's cat into the quantum pigeonhole effects where recent experiments utilizing diamond chips see cosmic information entanglement being mimicked by electron partners swapping places. He now has me staring backwards ....looking at the techoegyptian uniform as if I had never seen it before, much less worn it. But, did he dismiss Lara's question to him because he just doesn't have time to chat, or was it because he wants another pizza? I am humbled by the enlightened demeanor and chivalrous compassion of the man himself. While continually elevating this raiding phenomenon with some of the most powerfully intellectual and artistically beautiful and technically creative moments I've ever had the good fortune to experience, Psiko consistently remains unpretentious, kind, and patiently understanding. We are truly fortunate to have this Renaissance man in our time. In yet another time paradox, Giorgio de Chirico actually posted his own review of Hypersquare many years before Psiko created it: "To become truly immortal a work of art must escape all human limits: logic and common sense will only interfere. But once these barriers are broken it will enter the regions of childhood vision and dream." Mezcal" - Mezcal

"First of all I'd like to say that this game really could've passed as official TR game and there is little difference in terms of technical ability to even the most modern video games. Psiko indeed plays in his very own league in terms of building superb futuristic environments, with all possible details you can imagine and care for every object and textures. I must say that subjectively, the environments did not totally please me with almost an overload of objects in impressive sceneries (this is perhaps the first level I wished for more simplicity lookwise), sometimes the lighting is a bit flat too, but the overall feeling of all levels is so great and there's only little to fault objectively that this doesn't have any effect on the ratings. Basically, I can sum up the last three categories as perfect and move on to the gameplay and puzzles category which is the only not quite perfect one, IMO. Granted, there's a huge technical ability to create all the new moves (which create some very nice platforming parts in fact), there are plenty of ideas in this game that enhance the anyhow majestic experience, a fantastic storyline with dozens of FMVs, animations, videos (those must have been enormous work)... but at the end I was rather glad that I finally made it through. That is, most of all, due to the rather repetitive setup most levels suffer from - solve some excessive platforming parts to reach 4 to 8 levers to progress. Mind you there are some very good usages of this setup where the tasks to get further are quite fun, but that is not always so. Often, the sequences to reach the switches are exactly the same and their only challenge lies in having enough patience to solve them. To name a few examples - the high towers you have to climb (not always with the normal climbing animation, but the slow one) for four switches in level 6; climbing up a long way to eight jumpswitches in level 7; distinguishting eight fires with a waterskin you have to refill every time in level 10. Those and countless more examples felt like just to be there to prolong the time, but it would be better if they were just cut away - or even more, replaced by a variety of creative challenges, which is also a bit low for such an enourmous game. As said there are many repetitive parts and this game would've been so much improved with much more diverse and ingenious usages of the given novelties. The rotating ladder in one level, for example, is a very nice gimmick, but could've served for a nice jump sequence or even puzzle, but it's basically just to climb up having a nice rotating view. One example of too many, I'm afraid. Of course there is good use of many things, especially the new jump and slide moves, the TFS (which created some very nice puzzles in level 8) and, even if also underused, the kick moves to stun enemies, but this game lasted a few minutes less than 10 hours for me and the content for the duration really could've been enhanced a bit. Due to the impressive new things in here and many fun activites I still decided between an 8 and 9 in the gameplay, but chose the lower option because of a couple of things. One thing was that there are quite a few rather confusing things, with a tendency that a (clearer) camera hint more here and there would've helped, especially when two things are triggered with one action (like when the outfit in level 11 is shown but not the item you have to pick up first, resulting in a quite heavy backtrack if you miss the item). The walkthrough was a steady helper for me though. (Slightly off-topic: Please, do something to avoid having to open and close the game each time when players need a walkthrough - if you just go out of the game, the task manager is needed to close the game. The window mode helps here but not in all cases when the game stays black after using another window, and often crashes on reloads. This is rather frustrating, also because the intro always loads when restarting the game and it takes too long to skip it with Esc.). Another small issue were the trigger problems in level 10 with the eight (...) jumpswitches (albeit this task was one of the fun variations) - some of the jumpswitches didn't trigger correctly and I had to run all around the structure, not necessarily under the jumpswitches, to trigger the actions. Quite an excourse here about the gameplay, but still think that this game is top notch in most aspects, even compared to other games, and there are many other (justified) praises from the other reviewers so one more critical one shouldn't be so bad. Needless to still hugely recommend this game to all who didn't play it - even with a few parts where you have to be patient this is more than absolutely worth the gigantuous download. I found all five secrets in 9:55 hours of raiding." - manarch2

"psiko has outdone himself again !!! Everything already said here and more. He is the genius and inspiration for methods and ideas no one has come close to imagining yet. Congratulations on one more brand new set of ideas, that may be emulated, but never surpassed !!! This adventure takes the player where truly no one has gone before. Keep up the excellent work psiko !!!" - Juno Jim

"I'm not going to say much except that this extremely lengthy game, which took me months to finish, with parts of the walkthrough and Psiko's kind help in between, is an art work that takes the editor to higher levels and was all worth it despite the fact that I actually felt like a *willing* hostage during all that time. The several FMVs are an important part of what makes this game different (I don't dare call it "level") as are all the state of the art surroundings throughout the game and the way in which a few new moves were so perfectly incorporated. It's so huge and it took me so long that I can't say which parts I enjoyed the most, but probably the time travel parts as I always love it when a game takes the player to different places/ages, so as not to become a bother ever. Having said that, the game has a few nearly impossible parts ( thank God for a save here or there) and is, in general terms, not at all intuitive - personally, I don't see how one can finish it without a little occasional help and that is the minus part that forces me to rate it 9 in gameplay & puzzles. Hadn't it been for that and it would have gotten a definitive 10 from me. All in all, an absolutely unique job amazingly achieved and I'm glad I played it. Thank you, Psiko, for the invitation!" - Jorge22

"I finished the complete adventure. And i HAD to rate this. This is just... WOW ! Psiko really did a masterpiece, like, the kind you only see very rarely in your entire life ! The gameplay is all new with moves you can't use in any other map ever created so far ! The lifetime of this map is extremely long because downloading 4Gb of TRLE really means something ! The ennemies are varied, to classic ones to bosses ! Lots of interactions ! Lots of puzzles ! Lot of imagination ! Graphic details are just wonderful (if i'm not saying perfect) You could compare this adventure to an original Tomb Raider due to all this gameplay system ! My only small regretted thing is difficulty, I had to use a lot of time to progress in the beggining but I managed to progress in a correct time after some acquired "reflexes". Anyway, i recommand this map to everybody ! Just, be prepared to use your brain, because Psiko really did make an awesome job !" - Hedteur

"I played this level at its output. I did not thought do it in full as it seemed complicated. And I always wanted to advance and I took to the game. So I continued and I do not regret it, it's a wonderful adventure with new moves (I ask the rockets in all levels of tr), objects unpublished, a very good game sometimes quite difficult but still doable. All levels are great, but I especially enjoyed "The tower of eternity", which to me is the best of the series in all fields. It is incredibly beautiful. Psiko thank you, you've earned your pizza lol. Congratulations." - Drakan

"I'll get the easy part out of the way first. The scores. When stacked up against the inventory of custom levels out there, I feel it borders on the criminal to award this production anything less than 10s across the board. I downloaded this game (an ordeal in itself) on April 21, so I nursed it for more than three months before finally finishing a couple of days ago. I used the walkthrough, without which I would not have progressed far in the very first level, and although it was obscure in spots (too many uses of the phrase "make your way back" without elaboration) it enabled me to make steady progression. The gameplay is difficult in places, with new moves never before seen in a custom level, but I was obliged to use someone else's savegame only a few times throughout the adventure. For this reason I have no idea what my actual playing time was, but my game clock registered over 45 hours at the end. The attention to detail here is simply astounding, the lighting is so good that I rarely felt the need to light a flare, and the wealth of color is an absolute treat for the eyes. With all the uniformly drab and colorless levels we've been subjected to lately, it's a relief to know that an accomplished builder has not forgotten his sense of beauty and color, not to mention his respect for the players who are experiencing the fruit of his labor. In evaluating an inspired release such as HyperSquare, the reviewer is tempted to try and craft a review that's commensurate with the lofty merits of the game being reviewed. Any such effort, however, would be doomed to failure, so I'll just conclude by saying that for anyone who hasn't yet experienced this awesome production, delay no longer. The concluding credits promise more to come, and I'll be eagerly awaiting that day." - Phil

"One month I play this game, quite hard but very addictive. All levels are beautiful and require a lot of skill. Movement with rockets is very well done and very useful. Thank you for the walkthrough without which I would have struggled to finish.Congratulations." - Minox

"This is likely the best TRLE level ever made, and it's so astonishing that it's very difficult to think there will be made something more good than this "Hypersquare". Everything is made at professional level, and makes me wonder why psiko doesn't do game design as a job. Exploring and breaking (again) the limits of trle engine, psiko brings to us a wonderful story deployed in 12 levels that are so rich of atmosphere, various, orginals, that at a certain point you'll ask yourself how that can fit in a human mind alone (I envy you so much, man). It's impossible to give less than 10-10-10-10: this game is beyond amateur level, and even in professional world it will be top marks." - Miya

"Even there are a few things I don't like about this level (no weapons/enemies/illogical actions), there is only one thing to say, if you're thinking about playing or not: Play it. Now. Very hard gameplay and jumps, BTW..." - Zentralfriedhof

"Okay, so after a long time of playing this game, it's time to review this level. This was a really big game which took a long time to download. Was it worth it? Yes! This was a really great game. I loved all the moves that Lara had, I loved some of the physics in this game, but most of all, I loved the atmosphere. This game was so realistic. Gameplay was intense and never got boring. The textures were well- lite. This may be just one of the best custom levels out there! I'm looking forward to parts 2 and 3 of the hypersquare series!" - MegaGamer

"Hyper Square is not a simple level costum , but a full game. In fact I think if Psico had the time and desire could very well become a saga, it has all the requirements to become such. As soon as you start playing you realize the potential and talent of Psico . The first thing that strikes you is the graphics, never seen until now, outstanding graphics unthinkable get with current methods adopted by LD until now, Psico adopted a technique of his own that combined with his skills as grafic 3D enabled him to build real works of architectural art. Wonderful Game Play , during the game does not get bored, there's always something to do and to think about. Psico has done even more, now Lara has new features, can make special jumps and slopes that until now no one could avail overcome. All this means that the player needs to review the way of thinking to solve problems and puzzles that arise during the game. Music and atmosphere wonderful. Psico will accompany us during the game and there will be some really beautiful animated scenes that are almost forget that the game engine is pretty dated and that everything has been made by a staff but not a single person saw the immense work. Custom objects and enemies, I believe that Psico has pulled out of this game engine more than you could imagine. It is not a simple game. We must be real experts and we must have a lot of patience, but for fans of the genre is a true masterpiece. play absolutely! Give 10 to this game is the least we can do and now it will be very difficult to stand comparison to these votes." - Mikki

"I retired from reviewing because I no longer had enough free time to play all the levels. However, some games are just so good that they deserve an exception. Be prepared to be confused, there is a fair bit of to-ing and fro-ing and some of the puzzles are verging on fiendish. Be prepared to be gob-smacked at the areas, beautifully re-textured objects, and stunning vista. Be prepared to be frustrated at some of the manoeuvres which seem impossible, but boy, is there a sense of satisfaction in completing them. Overall, be prepared to eyes-down-look-in for the ride, if not of the century then as least a very long time. This not for the faint-hearted, it took me about three weeks to complete and might be beyond some players. (This is not a negative point as I believe there should be levels for all abilities.) A thoroughly good romp through Psiko's fertile and off-the-wall imagination. Thank you. P.S. Found all the secrets(smug!)" - Diz

"I'm not a skilled player but I managed to finish all the levels ... in some places it took many attempts but eventually I did. Psiko is a genius! In addition to creating new moves (thanks to the rockets you can do what until now was just a dream) has created some very, very and very beautiful scenery. The environments and the objects are so news and beautiful that explore and admire the scenery becomes more important that finish the level. For me this is a job so exceptional that 10 is an understatement. Absolutely not to be missed!" - Chopper

"There are good builders, excellent builders, outstanding builders and then there's Psiko - way past such definitions and out the other side in a class of his own. This is a work of such mind boggling scope and sheer brilliance that it's almost impossible to describe. You really have to experience it for yourself. The cutscenes and animations are incredible and it's hard to believe that one person could have created this masterpiece. Lara has some amazing new moves too. Now, for those who, like me, occasionally feel quite sufficiently challenged by Lara's old moves, I must confess that there are a few occasions when you will be begging for assistance. I hope the walkthrough will contain savegames at key moments because this is a game everybody should attempt and not everyone is lucky enough to have a resident expert to help out, as I have. It took me three weeks to finish and I feel I shall have to take a break for a day or two because anything else will be such an anticlimax and I only wish I could give it more than straight 10s." - Jay

"An absolute fantastic adventure which if you once start playing you will be wishing for that it will never end but I can guarantee you that this game will challenge you with enough complex nonlinearity that once you make it to the finish that you will be satisfied definitely. As I played psiko`s Tomb Raider A The Techno Egyptians I knew what I could have expected from his next release and all that expected complex challenge and breathtaking visuals which I admired all the time really is here!!! And not only that...as there are many surprises here! Well I rated every aspect seperately and then made a result as follwing: Gameplay & puzzles: 9.75/10 Gameplay: 9.5/10 Very complex and challenging gameplay with lots of tasks to accomplish, environments and areas to explore, new moves which is another challenge which you must learn, items and puzzle items to collect, new ideas (time flux speciment...) and many many more. I absolutely loved this complexity, even though there are some "uinspired" tasks for example to find eight jumpswitches to which a way to get there is challenging but you must do the exact same tactics to reach it (The tower of eternity) and there are some other "same weaknesses" in some other levels, also I appreciated the new animations except the swimming animation, for me the original is better, but these are just absolutely minor things which didn`t really affect the score in this aspect as the whole impression in gameplay terms satisfied my needs with countless new ideas and challenges in every level. Puzzles: 10/10 I loved every puzzle in this game, for example the puzzle how you make a meal for psiko is ingenious, the use of waterskin, avoiding and getting through traps, also the use of time flux speciment creates another dimension of puzzles as well as "how to get there" in which many times the way is a new moves which are very cleverly thought out especially in later levels. Enemies, objects & secrets: 9.83/10 Enemies: 10/10 I have nothing to complain about enemies as they are really fitting and appearing at the right time, mostly if not all are retextured, modified and also many new ones! Some of the enemies are making a big part of the storyline, you also encounter many big boss enemy fights in which the way to beat them is ingenious...epicness Objects: 10/10 All objects are absolutely brilliant and are creating a big part of the atmosphere aspect...This game is full of new and detailed objects and are perfectly placed and fitting to the looks. Secrets: 9.5/10 At first I must say that I rather prefer more secrets in such massive game but I don`t mind if author hides just few but only if those few are really extremly cleverly hidden or creating a quest. In this game there are 12 levels and 5 secrets to find in total. I was able to find 3/5 of which 1 really was a miniquest and also the other two are excellently hidden and those two which I couldn`t find are motivating me even more to replay game. Atmosphere, sound & cameras: 8.5/10 Atmosphere: 9/10 Absolutely realistic and one of the most detailed if not the most detailed grafics I have ever seen in a custom TR. I really had a feeling that I was in Venice and it was a pleasure to explore all those breathtakingly looking areas. If a master is working with meta2tr than the result is proffesional. You can choose any corner of any level from this set and admire it. The only thing which I couldn`t really stand were those black textures with yellow lines in later levels as from my point of view it just didn`t fit to those breathtakingly looks which are connected to those black-yellow textures. I can understand what author meant according the storyline of time theories and paradoxes but I believe that it could have been done differently despite all those eyecandy looks. Nevertheless I loved atmosphere in this game and I was admiring it all the time while playing. Sound: 7/10 In my opinion the "weakest" aspect in this game. I just always prefer ambience sound in background. Nevertheless the choise of the background music are mostly fitting to those technological environments and there are some really nice soundtracks too but only few! Also as you progress further and further all those background sounds are reapeating and perhaps didn`t fit in some parts of the level. Also there is some very loud part of one of the background music and can get really annoying after some time. I just could imagine different choises in some levels or in some parts of the levels. But still as a whole impression for me is that the audio is solid and somehow enjoyed it too. But keep in mind that this may be my personal taste and you can fully enjoy the sounds. There is also one thing which come to my mind and that some textures weren`t set up to sound...I mean there are some grass or iron textures but when Lara passes those we can hear stone sound. Cameras: 9.5/10 In this aspect I start with FMVs which are absolutely fantastic, how they were connected to the storyline and to the progress and tutorials as well, all those animations and speakings, well about the speaking, yes they are very interesting and explaining many about time and space theories and paradoxes but I think that some dialogs could have been done more emotionally, I take as example the final fmv in which an enemy bothers and hurts Lara with hands and while that they were talking to each other as if they would be friends doing nothing, I mean more emotions to the dialog in particular situation would be appreciated. But it is just really very minor thing which I wouldn`t say it is bad rather could have been done better. There are also some impressive camera flybys always a pleasure to watch. I must also say that I agree what one reviewer mentioned that there could have been more camera clues. Well despite all these little or meaningless issues cameras aspect are in a very high level. Lighting & textures: 10/10 Lighting: 10/10 Everyone knows what lighting can do. Without lighting there would be no atmosphere. Yes lighting will give a life to the level and I can say that psiko have done really a proffesional work with it. It just took my breath away, I could stand and admire it so many times. Absolutely realistic and fitting to the ambience and horizon, just woow. And not only that also the adjusted colourness so that you have a feeling it`s morning or daytime or evening... Textures: 10/10 Textures are absolutely detailed and applied with full care and there are no real texture missplaces or mistakes. All textures are 256x256 in size and that making HD visuals. Well as I mentioned some of the things which I didn`t like I want to say that mostly they are not bad! Rather could have been done better! And speaking about that what I liked and what I didn`t like...if I would write all the things I liked then the review would be 100 times longer :D I really fell in love with this game and I enjoyed every nanosecond playing it and that it became one of my personal top collection where there are only the best of the best. If you still havn`t started to play this game then start now and reveal the fate of the Hyper World. This game took me 18 hours of net gaming time (3 weeks 2-5 hours daily) and have found 3/5 secrets. My last but not least words go to amazing psiko... Thank you so much for this masterpiece, I appreciate all the hard work you put into building and made us players absolutely happy raiding, respect from me! 10/10/9/10" - OverRaider

"The game has great graphics and music, challenging puzzles and huge levels for exploration and of course the awesome gameplay! I suggest you to play this game!" - Milan

"Objects ( best of the best), Graphics, environments, textures, lighting... Audiovisually is a milestone. It is glorious. It is perfect and outstanding. However, the gameplay is not as good. It has very creative and fun parts (8 or 9 level ), But also many and very tedious ones (eg, 3, 4 or 7 levels). Very focused on so hard and confusing exploration and nanometrics jumps and traps. The lack of hint-cameras is brutal. Not a game for everyone. I think a project of these characteristics should be more accessible, friendly and fluent." - requiemsoul

"Masterpiece just might not cut it. From the very beginning you know this is something special, and obviously psiko poured an absurd ammount of effort in these gems over the last ten years. Not just the levels themselves, but everything else that comes with them: I particularly loved the FMVs and how there were some with Lara in our world and some with psiko in hers. Brilliant. There are one too many novelties spread throughout the levels so, more often than not, you'll find yourself wondering just what to do next, I myself spent many hours running around like a headless hen and definitely would not have made through if it weren't for the amazing trle community and also the author's care: I was amazed to see psiko offering support as often as he could, his patience must be infinite. Throughout the twelve ever-expanding levels, you explore a vast majority of environments, most of them very otherworldly but gorgeous all the while. The resources used in designing these levels also provide them very unique patterns and, all in all, it's jawdropping. Several features here are nothing short of amazing, such as the use of hyperlinks in Endless World or the way wormholes are seamlessly crafted into The Tower of Eternity and later levels. Speaking of this particular level, just wow, such an intricate design - I even mentioned on the forum it looked daunting and quite overwhelming - but it is actually quite simple when you look at the big picture. Up next you have three-parter Time Distortions which are vastly impressive wonders on their own. The very first contact made me feel like I was in a huge amusement park, transcending everything one can imagine: within just one level you're aboard a modern (and actually moving!) ship, and then somewhere in ancient Egypt, then the Ice Age. It spirals even further into "madness", for the lack of a proper word: I thought the moving ship was amazing, but then I witnessed Lara jumping across flying planes to eject pilots off them. Ground breaking stuff. I mean, my head still doesn't really fully get around the whole concept, but it is nothing short of brilliant. Psiko also went the extra mile for providing everything in English for us, but when I try to put the theories he and Lara explain throughout the levels my head hurts - in the very final level, however, when you experience first hand everything coming full circle, you just can't help but have your mind blown. All the while I also felt the nerd in me saying how perfect the whole scenario would be for subtle TechnoEgyptians references - despite never having played it to the end myself - and oh boy even I felt a thrill when a specific FMV late in the game was trigger. Again becomes the first time? Guess we'll have to wait for the continuation to Hypersquare, now... Usually for levelsets such as these I'd write shorter notes per individual level, but considering how tightly tied together the first two were, I decided it would be better to write it all at once when I reached the final finish trigger. I apologize if I forgot to mention something, but there are just too many awesome things to look at and marvel in these levels, not to mention it did take me the best part of the last 8 days to get this done. I can still vouch I was floored a great number of times and I feel most players will feel the same way, but I feel I have to leave a warning here as well: this is not for everyone! I myself time and time again say how I'm not too big on non-linear levels, so once again I want to thank psiko and the community as a whole for their patience and support in helping me through these levels. Beyond that, the environments may not always feel "tomb-raidery", but those who remain open minded enough will definitely enjoy this - I know I certainly did! THANK YOU psiko, for gracing us with such an outstanding and unique piece of TRLE history. 19 hours, 2 secrets. 04/14" - Treeble