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Level: Scarabinth back home search
Author(s): Will Gell
total rating:7.48 Gameplay &
Puzzles		 Enemies,
Objects &
Secrets		 Atmosphere,
Sound &
Cameras		 Lighting &
Textures
Akcy 4 6 3 2
Andi Croft 9 8 8 7
CC 7 7 8 7
Cuqui 9 8 8 8
David 8 8 8 7
Dimpfelmoser 8 8 7 8
Doug E 10 10 7 5
eRIC 9 8 8 8
eTux 10 9 8 8
Gerty 8 8 8 6
Kristina 8 8 8 8
MichaelP 8 8 8 7
Miguel 8 7 8 8
Momster 7 7 8 8
Neso 8 8 8 8
Orbit Dream 7 8 7 7
RaiderGirl 8 8 7 8
Sash 8 8 7 7
Scottie 9 8 7 6
The Aussie Adventurer 5 4 6 5
Treeble 7 8 8 8
TrueRaider 8 8 7 7
category averages
(22 reviews)		 7.86 7.73 7.36 6.95

Reviewer's comments

"Yet another level from way back in the mists of time,this Cleopal adventure is unavoidably dated in terms of its appearance,and the gameplay (as the title suggests) incorporates labyrinths on two different occasions - which are an unavoidable nuisance. What especially lets this otherwise solid entry down is the incipient darkness,which entails lighting a flare every thirty seconds;and is persistently irritating as a result.Nonetheless,there is a constant busyness to this 50 minute adventure;and the gameplay (never hard) keeps you entertainingly running around from timed challenge to demigod,from spiked corridor to climbable pyramid.You encounter the usual 'early days' error of stretched textures above portals,but the level is otherwise built with a thorough attention to detail and a good aptitude for inventiveness.Even after 12 long years,this remains a perfectly playable and entertaining outing;which is really quite an achievement." - Orbit Dream (06-May-2013)

"It is not in such a way, that Will builds bad levels. On the contrary. The level properly give pleasure. The problem is only which his level about wide distances are too dark. This is not different with this level. Though I could find enough Flares, but if one must explore the rooms so often with a Flare, it becomes irritating sometime. But apart from this darkness this was a very good level. It has given pleasure to look for the four beetles. The riddles were relatively easy and with the suitable weapons the opponents were no problem. The sound felt well and the same one is valid for the Flyby's. Everything is there, in principle to have a brief hour one's fun, only unfortunately, this darkness disturbs massively." - Scottie (20-Feb-2010)

"Despite the level being quite dark , I think this Cleopal level by the author is one of his bests , the atmosphere is pretty good and there are some very good puzzles in there, like the room with all the timed doors or the puzzle with patterned scarab tiles . The maze was not so annoying and the author was certainly one of the first (or maybe the first) to use a skeleton to show you the way if you pay attention. The big underwater cave is a bit underused though. Good stuff, one of the best Cleopal levels ever made, I had fun replaying it." - eRIC (17-May-2008)

"I would never have thought that any builder would come out with a level where I must play with flare in hand literally from start to finish. Except of course when shooting, I just fail to see the point making a level this dark. Sure we find lots of flares, but still wasn't enough, so towards the end I had to look around with one, then load back the game to spare them, and go on the explored route in darkness, that just killed gameing experience. This was the very first TR level when I was seriously thinking about quitting! Then still finished it, but this was no fun. I could write about that the tasks would have been interesting if I hadn't have to light up flares constantly, or that textures would have been fine, but what for if most of the time we can hardly see them. If you can stand dark levels give it a try because otherwise not bad, but be warned." - Akcy (17-Dec-2007)

"A standard cleopal level, as Michael describes, with the exception, maybe, that this level overuses scarabs and labyrinths - mind you, there's even an underwater one. I started and dropped this level quite a few times in the past, and only today struggled to play it through the end, and it ends up being a fun adventure, eventually you get past the initial maze and then reach a huge underground area which leads to the palace. I only got the Lasersight when I slid down to the end of the level, which happens to be in one of the initial rooms, but luckily it wasn't needed at all during the level. The explosive arrows provided were enough to blast the numberous skellies. 45 minutes, 3 secrets. 01/07" - Treeble (28-Jan-2007)

"Welcome again tombraidians. Here is a level that I would have liked better if it had no scarabs in it. I am not too partial to scarabs being in levels unless they are used well and they are not. The level design and look were ok without being anything special. Enemies were ok other than those scarabs of course. Lighting was used sparingly and texturing was fair. Overall, not a fun level to play, but not as bad as some that I've played. If I had to give this level a grade, I would give it a C-, a low pass mark." - The Aussie Adventurer (19-Aug-2006)

“Some really simple but lovely rooms here using the Tut and Cleopatra wads you will see a fountain room very similar to the original game. Scarabinth! what does that mean? You do need to find four scarabs to put into a little black pyramid to get a mechanical scarab and there are lots of live beetles I know there is a scarab beetle in the natural world. A simple timed door at the start scissors traps and a slide over spikes to come to a very deep hole and a drop into water. Here is a very strange setup indeed an underground site with climbing up a slope over a wall some jumps to a switch deal with demigods and a 'canal'. That was a good timed swim in the canal. All this is very dark. A bit of swimming and now we're in the fountain rooms and we see the black pyramid. Around the pyramid are doors to different puzzle rooms. These are quite good especially the one with I think 10 doors to open. Near the end Lara picks up a blue gem and a Lara statue appears - no prizes for guessing there's harpies about and that final run uphill dealing with a lot of skeletons and into the Caves of Amun. Yes the pace is picking up now.” – CC (19-Aug-2003)

“A dark level but weird thing is I liked it. It’s based on the cleopal WAD so what else would you expect than the black beetles and the pyramid. There is a maze not very hard but quite confusing and after that the fun begins. Skeletons demigods beetles harpies all of them will stand in Lara’s way. You need to collect a gem the four beetles and a pillar. All that by passing through some traps fire traps bird blades spikes and sloping surfaces thus jumps in the entire room. The main area looks very nice with fountains and steps that lead to different levels of that area. I had fun with this one so I am going to install the next one and I suggest you do the same.” – Kristina (24-Jul-2003)

“Although this one wasn't as dark as The Trench I still had to use quite a lot of flares. A rather nice level weren't it for the headache I had (a dark level does that for me). Nice ideas as that skeleton showing Lara the way through the maze. And all those beetles eeewww. Loved the four different puzzles you had to solve to get the four black beetles. Took some thinking and luckily not that hard. Even the timed runs here were very much manageable. Apart from the beetles there are some demigods and some harpies. Found 3 secrets. 25-05-2003” – Gerty (26-May-2003)

“Again a level by Will Gell and forever the same pleasure to test it! I repeat me but I don't say enough it because it's right! The textures are superb and I love the labyrinth at the middle! The skeleton's shot is very funny! Don't forget to visit it (I don't say most about that)... One shadow on the board the end; I don't like the lift up with digs and skeletons but it's a great level ! Don't hesitate and download it quickly!” – Neso (01-May-2003)

“A fun cleopal style level with the typical puzzles that you'd expect to find - exploring for the four black beetles the spiked paths Demigods and harpies the Pharoh's pillar. This was probably the first maze I've enjoyed in a long time though as this time you actually have a guide. I've never seen this done before and it was really cool. Your objective is to find the gem needed to open the door and get further into the pyramid and after a few timed doors spike traps and swims you have your gem and are on your way again.” – RaiderGirl (21-Jan-2003)

“It is a complex level. Very well done. Atmosphere is excellent and nice gameplay. But too dark. At first I didn't see the jump switch exiting the maze. There are four funny puzzles: the 3 flames; the sloping blocks; the ten doors and the big pyramid. Great job!” – Cuqui (18-Nov-2002)

“Probably my least favourite level from Will for a number of reasons. First of all I'm not a big fan of the Cleopatra wad; second as the title suggest there is a maze along the way and finally settingwise this is rather close to Cleopatra’s palace from TR4. In fact the area with the two pools from where you reach the black pyramid seems to be a copy from the original game. Well if there's a black pyramid the four black beetles can't be far away and indeed there are four doors branching off that lead you to the four tasks you need to complete to finally get the mechanical beetle. The gameplay is entertaining throughout and I really like it how the course brings you back to the place you started out from. There is so much variety in the things you have to do although there are not as many timed runs as I would have liked. I remember when I played this 8 months ago I wasn't aware that you could actually kill the demigods so I searched for ages trying to locate the Pharao’s pillar and eventually had to resort to the walkthrough. Which would imply that you could reach the end in The Last Revelation with out killing a single demigod. Interesting isn't it?” – Dimpfelmoser (01-Sep-2002)

“With a very moody dark first half and a thankfully brighter more puzzle driven second half this is a great sequel to ‘The Trench’. In the first half you need to make your way through a not too difficult maze especially if you follow the skeleton as he leads you to the end but then he turns nasty and then find yourself in a huge underground cavern where you come up against a not so happy demigod in the second half you need to retrieve 4 beetles to access the mechanical beetle which will then lead you to the end but not before you fight quite a few more enemies but you should have enough ammo so this isn’t too deadly. There are also 4 secrets in this level and if you are easily spooked like myself then I recommend only finding 3 as one of them is found in a pitch black skeleton pit where the first time I played this level I nearly jumped out of my skin with fright...why can’t Lara hold a flare and a crossbow at the same time...and replaying for this review I didn’t even dare go down there again this time the secret can stay a secret!” – Sash (21-Jun-2002)

“A classic Will Gell level indeed perfectly crafted and very entertaining. As you can guess by the name quite a few of those scarab beetles around (and I hate these but they fit with the gameplay). Loved the idea of the skeleton leading the way through the maze and the placement of the four secrets. As this is based on the cleopal WAD you get to deal with blades spikes demigods and banshees and then the unavoidable ‘find four beetles for the black pyramid’ puzzle but the puzzles to get them are great in their variety. Towards the end the action increases a bit and you leave the level after about an hour of net gaming time.” – Michael (21-Jun-2002)

“Overall a good level but not really much originality. The labyrinth is tricky but not frustrating and quite a lot of skeletons.” - TrueRaider (21-Jun-2002)

“A very nice level indeed. It starts in tunnels with pressure plates to open doors things to find and scarab beetles to avoid. Lots to explore and then just as you think it might be over a whole new area opens up with four beetles to find to get the mechanical beetle - each beetle is in a room which requires different means of crossing and the whole thing comes to a satisfying skeletal end with Lara having to beat off numerous skeletons as well as a growling-power blasting monster. Tactics are required here as there are not enough shots to kill everyone and unfortunately there is no grenade launcher (which would be handy) unless I missed it! There's even a cool maze in the middle with an underground burial site (complete with skeleton) but I didn't spend too long there as there seemed to be nothing to find. Great textures good sound and atmosphere a superb level. One hint. At the end be sure you return to the room with the clone Lara and kill the second Phoenix bird. If you don't do this then Lara's energy is mysteriously and constantly depleted as she tries to battle the skeletons which is not much fun.” - David (21-Jun-2002)

“Scarabinth is the best level I've played lately. Only downside is that it was a bit on the dark side. Having said that what an effort the author put in! Brilliant use of textures and effects. Well done” – Doug E (21-Jun-2002)

“Yes indeed Will learned a lot from his first level to this - growing better every time. He placed his level similar to Cleopatra’s Palace and you get the feeling he is doing better than the original. Well placed textures and a good gameplay - logical and a lot of surprises - I remember my heart stops one time and later another time as the unexpected came....it’s for enjoying more than an hour - what has he prepared in the third part?” – Miguel (21-Jun-2002)

“This is the darkest level from this series. But the gameplay was very good. There were a lot of beetles and some skeletons. The demigods were following Lara. The textures are fine and the atmosphere very good. But the darkness is very bad. I was playing 1 hour on this fun-level and I found a lot of weapons and ammunition. The 4 black beetles you must seek some time. This series you must play but you need a lamp for the lightning.” – Andi Croft (21-Jun-2002)

“This is one of the best cleopal-wad adventures I've played so far and this inspired me a lot to make my own cleopal level. Of course it was a bit dark but I can't complain about it too much because of the unforgettable moments like the big cave where you see the demigod from a distance the labyrinth that makes you firstly run away from the skeleton in search for some weapons to fight him in the many well-designed areas. Just fascinating!” – eTux (21-Jun-2002)

“Simpler somehow more straight through gameplay than the author's previous levels. You need to complete tasks within four timed doors to get the pickups and items needed to open the door to finish the level. Good puzzles took a while to get out of the jumping block room the shimmy crack well hidden. Skeletons were a pain not overwhelmingly so but the inevitable bugs more bothersome and there were a couple harpies. 45 minutes of decent gameplay” – Momster (21-Jun-2002)
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