Level reviews

"This is a "classic" series I've never played through, unfortunately this first part is very dated. A lot of this set is comprised of large rooms with very little detail and flat lighting, along with repetitive or stretched textures. As an obvious early work there are signs of improvement as it goes along, and the last couple of levels do become more consistent and interesting in this regard; combined with some creative geometry some of the later parts do have an evocative strangeness to their design. The lighting and textures also get better, and, while still flawed, there's generally more consistency and some decent looking stuff at times later. Object use is fairly standard Egyptian stuff, but it fits in well enough.
The gameplay is unfortunately much more flawed, with lots of moving through giant empty rooms with little in them, and while there's quite a bit of climbing, a lot of it feels somewhat uninvolved and just there to fill space rather than add pacing or a unique challenge. It both improves and gets worse as it goes; there are some pretty decent trap and platforming sequences later on, but there are also things like multiple long pushblock puzzles and, while there's quite a bit of backtracking earlier, the later examples seem intentionally annoying, with things like long crawlspaces or tons of wading on paths you traverse multiple times. There's also a trap that seems to intentionally block progress altogether if you trigger it, I was able to glitch past it pretty easy, but the fact it's there is puzzling in itself and made me feel even more ungenerous to it's faults. There are some more ambitious designs and interesting areas that hints at potential that's presumably realised in it's sequels, but I can't recommend this as it's clearly mostly just a beginner experimenting with the editor, and there's a few too many slow sequences and obnoxious flow-breakers for it to be worth the occasional interesting things that come out of that." - Mman

"This is a case study of why bigger isn't always better. The main characteristic shown in these four levels is the use of large, barren chambers with wallpapered textures, which does not make for a great atmosphere. Lighting is almost always flat, toggling between completely bright to completely dark, except the last level which showed some promising in-between shades as well as use of colors. The gameplay is a bit of a mixed bag. For puzzles you get plenty of pushable objects, most of which are simple "push this onto that special tile" exercises, but the puzzles in the last level get more interesting with different pushables influencing each others' paths of travel. Combat is pretty frustrating because I never found a shotgun or explosive arrows, meaning I could only try to dodge the hordes of skeletons and mummies that are the sole inhabitants of the adventure - except the last level which changes things up with some intense demigod and harpy fights, a nice change of pace. For traps you get a huge amount of boulders, and while it was usually fun to avoid them it does get pretty repetitive. There is also an unfortunate spike pit where you simply have to guess where the spikes are, meaning the only solution is trial and error. It breaks immersion when you have to rely on the foresight gained from savegames to get past an obstacle. There are also missing camera shots from switches and poorly marked climbable walls and monkeyswings that add to the feeling that this levelset isn't very player friendly. While I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this to others, I saw quite a bit of potential in this adventure and I look forward to seeing how the sequels are going to improve. 3 hours 42 minutes." - JesseG

"As one of the most ambitious multi-level sets from the early days, the builder should be commended for putting it together. It certainly has its enjoyable moments, but an equal amount of repetitive sections and it gets wearying real quick. There are some good trap sequences (mostly of the boulder variety), neat flipmaps (that were quite buggy as one only activated after a few tries), timed runs and pushable puzzles, but unfortunately there are definitely far too many block climbing passages, tedious backtracking sections and long ladders to climb. Also, the size of the main rooms might seem impressive at first, and in some ways they are, but the textures are applied in a repetitive and unappealing manner, giving them a bland look, and there's too much darkness in some places. Enemies are also numerous, but only one pack of explosive ammo is provided, so you'll have to make do with pistols and Uzis otherwise. Nonetheless, it's certainly a good effort and might be worth playing for its enjoyable sections, as it's remarkable considering its age." - Ryan

"Finally I've finished this endless game. Room after room and you have to look for lots of puzzle items, solve lots of pushable puzzles, climb lots of blocks. The main gameplay in this game is about puzzles, but the levels are not very difficult, they're linear. I didn't find any weapons other than the Uzi and crossbow, but I only found 10 explosive arrows for this one in the entire game. Many rooms are nicely built but some look bland and boxy. Each level takes about an hour or so to complete, so they are very long. At the end Lara picks ups a key, maybe for the next levels. Play it if you want to complete lots of puzzles, find lots of items, and climb lots of blocks." - alan

"I was looking forward to play the Sanus series but I am disappointed in this first release. The four levels haven't aged very well I am afraid. The whole adventure is about running around in big empty rooms, accomplishing similar tasks and finding the same keys all over again. Like in the first 3 levels you find a lot of gems, in the last one you find 2 more only to find that you need another 4, not to mention the pillars. This would not be a problem if interesting tasks or developments were put in between, sure there are puzzles and traps but it feels bland for some reason. Additionally it drags on and on taking more than 4 hours to finish (for me at least). There are these moments when you stumble upon an impressive sight in which you can see the builder has a talent in architecture (the inner palace of the first level, the pyramids and the city) but after the first look, the excitement they bring quickly dies because there is not really much to explore. The third level, the one feautering the inner city is easily the best one, with the pace improving as you progress. The Sun Temple of Ra has some bugs and a game breaking level design as well which is already mentioned. It also features a horrible shallow water part which you travel three times. Couple of good points - lighting work is pretty decent at some parts, particulary the rooms holding the blue gems. Fun platforming here and there. The last box pulling puzzle would be decent if it was applied correctly. Overall I can only recommend if you have a lot of time and haven't played the better ones." - Nomad

"This long, four part level was quite adventurous for its time. It still has plenty of plus points, not least those lovely gold and blue TR1 Egypt textures, which are used quite effectively for the most part. Everything is on a rather grand scale - huge, rather empty rooms, which can feel a bit daunting, but everything is readily achievable. There are a variety of enemies, lots of traps, push puzzles and what felt like an inordinate amount of monkey swinging, but after a while it does feel rather repetitive and, for me, it rather outstayed its welcome. I played the third and fourth instalments of this series some years ago and remember enjoying them so perhaps part two will be something to look forward to." - Jay

"Better title this levels as "forgotten city of the climbing blocks". For me was tedious and bored climb all the time thousands of blocks and ladders. The puzzles are always the same: pull levers to raise blocks and place moveables, sometimes long distances. Another times there are no hints to do the tasks like the brown spiked floor or the three spiked levers. Also in the last level I had to wade a very long distance to pick up an item, retrace my steps to place it and return a third time to the open doors where the item initially was. Even the traps are always the same spiked balls falling on sloped passages. Allways the same enemies in the same level; huge and empty rooms with the same texture tile in big surfaces; no ornaments or decoration... There is an effort with cameras, sounds and flybies, but many times the camera shots work only for a milisecond and you can see nothing. Bad applied textures in many places ('cause the large and not segmented panels), excessive darkness in many rooms and not enough flares, not an extra weapon except the crossbow only with a single pack of explosive arrows... A big effort from this author, but not applied in the right direction." - Jose

"I remember having started this level set at least twice and dropping it before finishing the first level, don't ask me why though. Now I'm on vacation I thought I'd go back and finish some of the old level I still haven't played, so here I am, working from Z-A on the first level CD. Enough chit chat, though. Let's get down to business. Something to be noticed is that most of the camera clues do NOT work (you see the screen flash, but it's too quick to see anything). * PYRAMID OF CHEOPS (OUTSIDE) (30 minutes): the whole level had a nice architecture when you analyze it, but it's completely out of scale. You're roaming through huge (I mean it), empty rooms, most of the staircases are four clicks high and there are some other design flaws such as the end of the world in the pyramid by the end, a few waferthin walls and the texturization/lighting overall is pretty repetitive, a bit tiring on the eyes. Gameplay here is all about platforming through these huge areas to eventually pick up a few puzzle pieces to proceed. Enemies are mostly crocodiles, but in the end three skellies appear to guard the pyramid entrance, easily outran. * PYRAMID OF CHEOPS (INSIDE) (50 minutes, 1 secret): this one actually feels pretty much like the first one, except now it's a tad darker and you'll see yourself lighting flares many times throughout the level. It feels quite nonlinear, though it's easy to keep track of where you've been. There was one point where the texturization affected really bad the gameplay, in the room with the huge flipmap where sand drops in and you have to jump and slide through, it all looked the same it was tough to figure out where to go next, thankfully there's a walkthrough. I quite enjoyed the quest for the tablets on the obelisk, it reminded me somehow of the Obelisk Of Khamoon (TR1) level. On the downside, there were a few untextured surfaces (mainly at the obelisk area) and the flyby for the first eye of horus piece was a little off (overlapping rooms, I'd believe). * UNDERGROUND CITY BURIALS (60 minutes, 2 secrets): this is where the levels actually begin to get better. I didn't find design flaws, although the rooms could certainly be a tad smaller. Gameplay here is decently varied, and somewhat inspired by Palace Midas (TR1) level. Your objective is to gather four crystals and a wooden pillar to finish the level, but until you get to this point you'll have collected many more pieces to open the barracks in an earlier area. The level varied between very bright and very dark, but I didn't run out of flares so I guess it is ok. There are lots of platforming to do here, and a few skeletons to dispatch with the crossbow. * SUN TEMPLE OF RA (70 minutes): the best level in the set no doubt. This one has a better thought out gameplay, still revolving on the find item to proceed formula, but along the way you come along two pushable blocks puzzles. The overall feel on this one was also better than the other three levels, and the final showdown was really nice. Pity the author had used this demigod, you can only have one triggered at a time. On a bottomline, I'm sure Yasin's work has improved a lot, I haven't played his more recent outings, but the ratings probably speak for themselves. I'll be playing the rest of his game at some point as well. Total time: 210 minutes, 3 secrets. 03/06" - Treeble

"Well I tried it when it came out, tried it again after playing many more levels and three times is bulls eyes as this time Michael had the TR4 for upload so I was finally on my way. Note the date when this was made and you have to admire Yasin for his courage to make this big ambitious mini game. What stands out, vastness and emptiness. The rooms you encounter are huge and so big that the horizon disappears and they are also so empty. In the first level I felt very sad for that lonely warthog, cooped up on the second floor in a huge building. The second levels was too dark for my taste and the third level even after re-installing I had a bug after the jumping on specific tiles that I have sadly to admit that couldn't finish this epic. Here and there, there are missing textures. Yasin sure likes heights as most jumping was done going to the top and jump ledges and then going down again. But hey, if you have nothing on your hands and it is raining outside give it a go. I for sure love vast rooms, a pity that they were so empty. 26-11-2005" - Gerty

"When one considers that the builder was only 15 at this time of this release, he can be forgiven the almost insurmountable installation problems associated with his original download. However, Bex and Val have seen to it that future gamers will not be plagued with this problem, as they have provided playable tr4 levels which have now been incorporated into the download. I played this series for the purpose of writing the walkthrough and was expecting a rather quick and easy project. Nearly two weeks later I've finished this marathon task and put the final touches to a 26-page walkthrough. There are a few rough spots along the way, but for the most part the levels are fairly linear, straightforward and fun. You find ammo for weapons I never located (revolver, shotgun and grenade gun), but that might simply mean that there were more than the two secrets I found (neither of which awarded a weapon). Some of the reviews have complained about skeletons in the third level, but the crossbow and one quiver (at least) of explosive arrows are provided before you get to that point. The final level has a half dozen or so harpies and demigods, so if you've exhausted your arrows by that time you're stuck with your pistols. I started this series predisposed to dislike it because of the installation problems, but I soon warmed up to it and really enjoyed the second half. 95% of the gameplay presents no real problem for the gamer, but for the other 5% you'll be grateful to have a walkthrough available. Now that a hassle-free download has been provided, I recommend it highly." - Phil

"I knew that I wouldn't enjoy these levels as much as I enjoyed the next four but I still got a little disappointed when I started the first level. First of all - the levels doesn't look anything like the next four. 'Forgotten City of Sanus II' is set in a jungle but these levels seem to be set in a big temple (with textures from Tomb Raider (the first game)). Second of all - the rooms are huge. Yes huge. You spend more time running through rooms than you do solving puzzles. Well not really but you get the point. And third of all - the levels are boring. Not all the time there are some areas with clever puzzles or things like that but overall. I don't really know why I found the levels boring - there are plenty of puzzles. My favourite was a block-puzzle in the last level where you had to push blocks onto different tiles to raise blocks. After a block had raised you had to push another block onto another tile and only after that you got to push the first block again. It reminded me of a game called 'Lost Vikings 2' where there were there were several characters that had to help each other. The texturing in these levels isn't that good. It's good in some places but it gets to repetitive and boring. The lighting isn't that good either. If you have to choose between these four levels and the author's next four I suggest that you play the latter. There really isn't anything special in these levels. After three hours and 55 minutes I happily ended the last level. Not because I had had a really good time but because I was glad that it was finally over." - Magnus

"After too many hours of doing the same thing over and over and not being challenged save for not making a rolling ball roll (WOW!!!) and running through what look like pieces of someone's a**e only to be confronted with the four hundredth bug (give or take) in a game I had to put together I found out I didn't put it together correctly and had to do it again if I wanted to give an honest rating. And so I have played Sanus 1 twice in the last two days. Medals aren't necessary. Marines always accomplish the impossible in due course. If you are a newbie to the abilities of Lara have played one or two TRLE offerings you might learn enough from 'Sanus 1' to make the tedious hours it takes to play worth your time. As a newbie you might find some of the jump combinations a bit challenging and the puzzles (a word I use very loosely with 'Sanus 1') might slow you down a bit. And as a newbie you will need to find whatever firepower is available to get through the last level. If on the other hand you are at all accomplished in the field of TRLE then you will enjoy 'Sanus 1' if you like lots of climbing up symmetrical blocks sliding down ramps monkey swinging running from skeletons playing in the dark etc. I found one puzzle to be challenging (fourth level - solution is on the wall of the dark room). I got stuck with the spiked rolling ball that you have to climb around (prevent from rolling). I played the entire game with just the pistols. I found two secrets and had firepower but felt it wasn't necessary to use it. The pistols and Lara's agility worked fine. All in all this is a truly boring level that goes on and on with every scene seemingly the same as one that was just played. The first two levels depend almost entirely on darkness for mood and challenge. Level 3 just about put me to sleep. Level 4 began to show some imagination but it was much too little too late. And I had to put the damned thing together! I found two secrets -- don't know how many there are in total." - Dougsan

"The first four levels of the Sanus series are an early work of Yasin and it shows. All four levels have huge and mostly empty rooms wallpaper style texturing and you will have to run and run and then run some more to progress through them. The net gaming time of four hours is actually close to the actual time spent as you are hardly ever in doubt about your next step. Pyramid of Cheops (outside) (6/5/6/5 40 min.): After a quick initial slide you start your quest here. I did enjoy the platforming sequences as this turns out to be good exercise and progression is fast and smooth and only hampered by some 20 crocodiles and a lonely warthog. The portal guardian a coin and two gems are the puzzle pieces here and besides a handful of simple but effective flipmaps this part is rather uneventful. Pyramid of Cheops (inside) (8/5/7/7 60 min.): This starts darker as it is meant to be inside and throughout there is more attention to lighting with some good effects here and there. The enemy of choice here is the dog. You get to deal with a small water maze need to collect two guardian keys two timeless sands and five cartouches and the collection of the four cartouches from a central tower was really quite enjoyable. Also gameplay is more diverse here with a neat sloped blocks jumping sequence some boulder traps and even a timed passage. A few flybys are added when you push levers and pick up the halves of the Eye. Underground City Burials (7/6/7/7 65 min.): No less than seven gems a knot and two pillars mark your way around this underground coastal style city. There is very tedious long shimmy passage at the start and the pushable objects puzzles are rather obvious. Lots of monkey swinging to do as well. In this part quite a few textures are missing and one water flipmap does not work so well as you can still see the water textures above while the water is already gone. On the upside you get a timed sequence a doors puzzle and a few boulder and spike traps to keep you alert. Enemies are very pesky skeletons as you have no weapon to eliminate them and a few crocodiles. Sun Temple of Ra (7/7/7/7 75 min.): Again a lot of climbing and monkey swinging required here and heavy use of various pushable objects (including planets) and I liked those esepcially when applied in combination with raising blocks. Simple but still fun. This time around you even need nine gems two knots a pillar and two scrolls to finally make it to the Sun Key and the end of Sanus 1. You get tougher enemies (demigods harpies skleletons and crocodiles) and there is a very obvious shortcut which saves you from doing more than half of the work in the last movable object puzzle room as you can jump up to the crawlspace much earlier. Also I had a stuck situation because a boulder I had triggered blocked the way when I needed to get back later. I liked the sewer area with the waterfalls but the wading back and forth was too tedious. Bottomline this is a long adventure that won't have you thinking much but if you like to run jump climb shimmy and monkey swing Lara all over the place you will certainly have a good time here." - Michael

"This set of four levels kept me highly entertained for hours! The first level involves a lot of climbing and jumping there are two gems plus a Portal Guardian and token to search for the long fall into the water was a lot of fun as was climbing the great pyramid at the end. The second level has more exploring and tricky jumps and has some Guardian keys two Timeless Sands and five cartouches that need to be found. The third and fourth levels have a lot of clever puzzles to solve (maybe a few too many pushable objects though) and quite a few gems scrolls knots pillars etc to search for and usually each object has it's own puzzle! Enemies don't play a big part in this series so far which is nice because I personally like to concentrate more on exploring and there aren't very many pickups anyway. All the levels look great with many huge well-built rooms to explore plus varied puzzles to keep it interesting till the end. Secrets found: 3" - RaiderGirl

"This is an old level-series. The game has many textures from Tomb Raider 1. I like this very much. TR 1 was the best game. In these four levels I must find a lot of objects. The textures were not the newest but for this time good. The enemies were sceletons crocodiles bats scorpions. No soldiers. This was the best. In dark caves and catacombs I must find movable objects. The puzzles were not hard. In the last level there is a globe-puzzle. I like this. But in the last level were two bugs. Do not trigger the rolling ball behind the green ladder. And in the next room is a big hole. You must hang Lara on the side from the hole. I was playing 5:25 hours in these four levels. I did not find a secret. But I had a lot of fun." - Andi Croft

"Now I have played this level long time ago and gave it another try when the sequel came out but abandoned it because of an animation problem the second time. I would like to write a few words though about Yasin's first try Rollercoaster was just a test given the fact that I do remember the levels although not the exact puzzle items. I remember that it was quite easy at first in a sandy area with some crocodiles and quite big rooms. The jumps were his favourite back then I suppose. Getting further you had to make your way up onto some kind of pyramid with boulders falling at times and when you reached the top those skeletons wouldn't let me do my job. As you progress from the bright levels you get to the darker one with dogs jumping suddenly and make your blood turn cold plus a lot of searching is needed and more tricky jumps. What I want to say is that this boy has talent and it is worth to play his levels from the beginning and finally get to his latest masterpiece. Of course we are eagerly waiting to play Sanus III hurry up Yasin but not too much as we are expecting the best from you." - Kristina

"Another one of those levels I had played a long time ago had forgotten and now replayed to be able to give a review here. As I enjoyed the level at the first time I played it I enjoyed playing them now too even if it did get a bit frustrating or even boring in some places. Spent about 3 hours throughout the whole adventure and found only one secret through the 4 levels! The texturing is not very good and such beginner's mistakes as wallpaper effect stretched textures compressed textures and wafer-thin walls appear very often sadly. The level architecture is quite simple and the lighting is not among the best I've seen so far. It improves 'a bit' through the 4 levels but still wasn't near to that what I would call good. There are good things which I wouldn't call highlights but still were something different through the levels In the first level the 2 level building with the arches was quite good and well crafted in level 2 I liked the tower with the 4 tablets (the only secret I found was in the tower) in level 4 the idea of the city was nice but this is the level I slowly got a bit bored but mostly frustrated cause it was hard to fight the skeletons with no explosive arrows. The last level was the best in every category and I did like the smart globe puzzles and the part were I had to wade in the water after another knot (even if I found the crocs a bit unfair in this section). The levels show promise and I recommend the author to remake them after finishing Sanus 3 or 4 cause there are a lot of things you could make so much detailed and interesting (the architecture textures lighting maybe the puzzles a little bit). You can play the levels to see the few nice ideas of the author and most importantly to get to 'Forgotten City of Sanus Part 2' ;)" - eTux

"I have seen some of the other reviews and I have to disagree somewhat with them. This level or set of four levels has obviously had a huge amount of work put into it especially texturally as this level is absolutely full of large rooms full of grand looking structures like a three tiered bridge like structure a small town full of double storied buildings as well as other rooms full of houses and buildings a slightly smaller version of the sphinx and I could go on. There are I agree some game play elements that are used again and again such as climbing big stairs and jumping from platform to platform but this level took me just over 5 hours to play in total and I can't imagine many level builders able to fill that amount of time and space with new and original puzzles one after the other and besides there are quite a lot of diverse fun puzzles and moves that I was kept interested right till the end. I would have liked to have seen more non key pick ups though as in the first 2 levels they were like hen's teeth and only near the end did they start to be a little more common though still not enough especially considering the end battle scene and a few more secrets would have been great as well. Apart from that though I really think this is a very worthy level so if you plan on playing it all I can say is grab a coffee a bite to eat and make yourself comfortable cause this is gonna be a long night!" - Sash

"I spent nearly 6 hours altogether to finish all 4 levels. If you like climbing you'll really enjoy the first 2. It really got monotonous after a while. But as you progress you can see the author's level-making skills improve and the gameplay and puzzles become much more interesting. I made it through the first 5 hours without using a single medipack which is good since toward the end I had to move objects while being hacked by skeletons then face some major enemies with nothing more than pistols. All in all I'd say that the last 2 levels were very good and promise good things to come from the author. The ratings are based on 4 levels as a whole but the last 2 alone would rate much higher." - Tombaholic

"Really I was expecting something huge full of action and puzzles. But it was only huge. Textures are the same all the way action is the same all the way (climb up these blocks run around the room and jump to the far ledge) enemies are the same all the way (tons of crocodiles for the first level dozens of dogs for the second thousands of skeletons in the third). Ok towards the end it gets better especially the Underground Burial City except that I got stuck for ages until the author released a fixing patch for the game but it was too late to change my overall opinion. However as the gameplay improved toward the end there might be hope for the yet to come sequels." - Jbc21

"These four levels are great fun to play through with a lot of variety. There is perhaps a lack of objects to pick up but otherwise the amount of effort put into creating the levels it clearly shown. Everything is well done and some large areas to explore." - TrueRaider

"This is a series of four levels that are worth playing. There are some good puzzles most of which are in the later levels. I found the game play to be very linear and even though the puzzles were easy they were still very creative especially the block type puzzles near the end and the timed door puzzle. There were a fair few different types of enemy and they were well placed. I didn't find the shotgun which was annoying as a lot of skeletons appeared towards the end. The camera work was good when I could see it a lot of the time when I pulled levers I would see a very quick view of what it activated in fact the camera view was almost a flicker. I am not sure if that was normal for everyone else who played it or just my installation. Nevertheless you didn't really need the camera views as it was very obvious what had happened most of the time." - Jason

"Review 04.05.2002: This is my second review. I had to rewrite it because Yasin took a lot of trouble to offer a playable game for the Mac. Thanks for that. Before I couldn't finish level 4. That was very sad because without a savegame from the end one can't play Forgotten City of Sanus II. Now playing level 1­-3 and part of level 4 for the second time was in my opinion even more fun then the first time. Especially since this time I could eliminate most of the pestering skeletons. There is a lot of climbing to do and I thought Lara must get stiff muscles or get arms like Arnold Schwarzenegger. In level 3 started the pestering skeletons to appear. Other enemies you will meet are crocodiles dogs and demigods. There are timed doors to pass sometimes in row. Boulder with and without spikes came down from many places. There are trigger pads in the game. Sometimes they are timed but not always. In level 4 are several puzzles to solve. All of them take some thinking. I got stuck with one because I thought dashing was asked for but this time one just had to tread carefully. If you want to play a longer game this could be one for you. It took me about 7 hours to get through the 4 levels." - Monika

"This is a nice set of levels of exploration action and many puzzles to solve. Several hours of good raiding (and sometimes very good) for downloading only 2 MB it's a good deal. I don't know why I have liked playing these levels so much maybe it's because they reminded me a little of TR1 especially for the good atmosphere the architecture of some impressive and huge rooms the sober textures and even for the clever gameplay. The use of the camera is well done and not overused that's a good point. Texturing and lightning are ok. All along the levels you will notice that the main colours used are yellow and blue and that's fit perfectly these Egyptian places. Outside Cheops: Some rooms have a nice architecture and the atmosphere is very pleasant and warm with the sound of the waves. The enemies are mainly crocodiles; there is also a wild boar that seems to have lost his way and a few skeletons at the end. Searching for blue gems an ornate handle or a token the highlights here are the architecture of the big room with the arches a very great dive into a pool and the many rocks that are falling upon your head when you climb the little and the big pyramids. Inside Cheops: After the warm sound of waves now the sound of the wind in this mysterious place. For me this level 2 was the most challenging level of the game. There are good traps and tricky jumps. I had to make dozen of attempts to succeed one jump and I was tempted to give up. I like the area with the big obelisk in the water where you have to find 4 tablets (this is the only of the whole game with some missing textures). City burials: After ten minutes of classical raiding the gameplay and the puzzles which were good are here becoming simply excellent. I like very much the fourteen different patterned tiles puzzle. I tried different combinations according to my intuition when I suddenly remembered that I have seen the solution somewhere else in this level. At some points the game is very funny or exciting when Lara tries to solve a puzzle while she is annoyed by sticky golden birds and skeletons or when she walks in corridors half filled with water: she can't run in the water and crocodiles are coming! At the beginning of the level I was stuck because of a spiked ball so I had to do the beginning of this level again and to be careful not to trigger this trap. Sun temple or Ra: The puzzles are very brilliant congratulations to the author! Here you need the science of reasoning and 3D logic to solve some rising blocks puzzles. The final fight against the guardians is pretty hard. A very good level!" - eRIC

"Now let's be reasonable here shall we?! Of course I understand that you're bound to rate higher when the author is an active member of the mprager community and such a nice one at that but to give nine points for textures and lightning is utterly ridiculous in my view. It improves towards the end but in the first two levels there aren't many textures to speak of let alone lightning. You get those huge plain rooms with absolutely nothing in them everything looks kind of boxy and two dimensional and you can't help but think that it might have been a good idea to make the level a bit smaller but take some effort to create an atmosphere. Bearing this in mind I think it's a great achievement that the gameplay is actually very entertaining as it is pretty fast paced and you have the feeling of making good progress in those endless rooms. But again you get many never ending climbs up some big stairs and you wonder what the point of this might be. Jumps galore and the reoccuring theme of the spiked boulder run are fun for a while but there comes a time when you suspect that you have inadvertently uploaded an earlier savegame as some of the tasks and traps are almost identical. I don't know about the secrets I found none but enemy wise the first two levels are somewhat basic. Crocodiles first then dogs. Hmmmm?! But it gets better in part 3 and 4 as there is an army of skeletons hacking away at you but you only have ten explosive arrows so you really have to think twice before using them. I could cope with one at a time but when they attacked in groups I reached for the crossbow. The challenge being that you had to round them up so that you could destroy all five or four with only one arrow. I ended the level with 2 explosives left. In the fourth part you then get some neat puzzles and by and large I enjoyed them but what really annoyed me was that the author seemed determined to drag out the net gaming time as much as possible. You get long pointless crawls have to wade back and forth through waist high water and there are a great many globes and pillars to push (usually to the other side of the hall). We're talking about 320 minutes of non stop raiding here and bearing in mind that you started the adventure in fourth gear its a bit anticlimatic that the further you get the more the gameplay slowes down. However there are many highlights along the way like the timed runs making your way up the side of the pyramids the great change you cause by simply stepping on a tile the room with the four cartouches (in part two) that gives you the opportunity to do four swan dives. I could go on forever so all in all I can highly recommend this set of levels as it features some very special raiding and is strangely pleasing throughout all those hours. But truth be told the atmosphere camera work placing of enemies textures are all a bit amateurish and leave room for improvement." - Dimpfelmoser

"I must admit that because I was so thoroughly fed up with all the miles I traveled and all the blocks I climbed in the first level that I nearly gave up. How glad I am that I did not. The game unfolded beautifully from there. The puzzles and timed runs had just the right amount of difficulty for me. Not being a whizz-kid I found that after a few tries they were doable. How much nicer it is to the feel of the game when you can just 'go with the flow'. Particularly enjoyed the 8 pillar jump sequence and even more so the following one that included some backwards jumps. Lara just took me over these herself. A sneaky glass platform to help with a pillar (took me a while to literally stumble across) nasty spikes with no floor block marking to guide you a false timed run with a jump that must be inside the doorway (or you are stuck once the door drops) and a beautiful waist-high water maze all contributed to this unmissable game. Great also to have a good 'shoot-em-up' as a finale." - Tortoise3