| Reviewer's comments |
"This is another early attempt at doing
something a little different to the norm.
It's at least adequately executed, but
unfortunately doesn't deliver on what you
might hope for from the title. The
gameplay is what you'd expect from the
Cleopatra's Palaces format: demigods, the
hunt for four Black Beetles, the Portal
Guardian face on a stick thing and the
Mechanical Scarab, plus live scarabs.
There is also the addition of some
invisible platforms which I suppose
justifies the "Suspended" part of the
title, but that's about as far as it goes.
The texturing is a bit haphazard for my
liking and some of the scenery kept
blinking in and out of existence. But all
in all, it's very straightforward stuff." - Ryan (02-Jan-2019) |
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| "Whilst this doesn't quite come off for me, I do appreciate the builder's slightly different take on a theme. On the one hand, it's a fairly standard cleopal style beetle hunt (four black, one mechanical and dozens of voracious biting ones, oh joy), but there's the added interest of having part of it set in, yes, 'suspended' mode. There are some ingenious, if occasionally confusing invisible paths, but mostly you'll be fine if you watch out for the smoke signals." - Jay (05-Jan-2018) |
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| "This looks like one of those concepts that look great on paper but don't quite live up to it when fully fleshed out. I'm not sure if the author could have done something to even remedy this, but the game engine fails to render things properly, so especially when you're jumping across black areas with invisible tiles, you see parts of the level warping in front of you, as if the game wasn't sure you were supposed to be seeing them or not. Also, there isn't much of a suspended city, other than one or two structures everything takes place underground. There were quite a few issues, such as the end of the world right in your nose on the first room (you actually need to climb up there, so it's not as though as it was a mere oversight), wafer thin walls, unmarked death tiles and also the most unfair dart trap setting I've ever seen -- might actually have been the first time I ever died to one. When you open the crowbar door, make sure you crouch, otherwise even a full health bar will be drained within a blink of the eye. I guess I got lucky as I casually stumbled into all black beetles, so backtracking wasn't necessary, but I still needed to check the walkthrough to realize there were invisible platforms in the very first room. 40 minutes, 3 secrets. 12/2017" - Treeble (11-Dec-2017) |
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| "Invisible blocks, flying tiles, crude combination of
textures, small but surprisingly confusing layout of the
central area hurt my head quite a bit. I struggled a lot
but I persevered to the end determined to beat this
unnatural puzzle and had a satisfaction when I finally
did. I don't know why but I didn't get that the smokes in
the air hinted at invisible blocks, especially after
crossing the invisible bridge. There the author
conveniently explains the existence of the invisible
blocks in the game. Once that is out of the way, there is
another problem - at parts I can see beyond the end of the
world so when I saw the pyramid across the central
platform I assumed that the sight was a glitch and tried
to find routes to access there, thus all this revelation
of invisible bridges failed to light a spark in me the
second time. Overall, the idea and the gameplay were not
bad (in fact it was creative) but due to the issues and
its ugly texture layout (and Lara's outfit) they didn't
suffice." - Nomad (10-Jul-2017) |
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| "I liked quite lot of this level. The transparent paths on starting area are extraordinary. Few jump switches were hidden quite good. Good looking textures and easy gameplay make this level enjoyable." - vienna (27-Nov-2016) |
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| "A cleopal-style level nice to play with some unconventional touches like the pool with transparent walls or the invisible paths over the starting area. But I found an important defect: you can advance and explore the areas even when you haven't the items you need to continue playing so, when I finally reached the suspended pyramyd, I realized that I've missed a beetle, and I had to take a look at the walkthrough 'cause I didn't like to explore all the entire level to find an item. Except for that, the level is not bad, there are some "errors" here and there but not very important. Better play it following the walkthrough." - Jose (11-Jun-2016) |
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| "In my quest to play all the earlier levels which I'd previously missed out on,I have had to re-aquaint myself with all those little gameplay quirks associated with particular wads which we all used to know so well back in the day.With this level,for example,it becomes quickly apparent that it's been built using the old Cleopal wad:and that means four black beatles,a mechanical scarab,demigods,and the stupid smiley face on a stick.Lo and behold - there they all are!This does not in any way reflect badly on the bulder,who was simply using the only resources available to him at that time;but what severely lets it down is the sheer stupidity of the final ten minutes,which completely insults the player after they have dutifully performed all the previously logical tasks.Consequently,one tends to look to other aspects of the level to hopefully compensate - but in this case (and despite being quite competantly built) there is little that actually stands out.Textures have been placed reasonably competantly,but are frequently rather scrappy;while atmosphere is hampered by the awkwardly surreal external locations.The enemies are probably the levels most entertaining feature,but even these are simple to neutralise with the copious amounts of explosive ammo at the players disposal.In short,it's a playable example of a level built in the early days - occasionally silly;rough around the edges;but reasonably entertaining for the hour or so that it lasts." - Orbit Dream (14-Jul-2013) |
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| "A level with a good concept , with some mistakes in the execution , the textures of the suspended part above the starting area vanish depending where you are standing, probably portals which are not adequate. The end of the level is also abrupt and I don't understand why there was another torch there for the final secret. This is a user friendly level in general , which flowed very well , until the point where I reached the floating island with the black pyramid with only 3 black beetles and did not had a clue where the last one could be, I had to look at the walkthrough for I did not wanted to explore everywhere again. I quite enjoyed the couple of timed doors , and the pool with transparent walls. 50 minutes." - eRIC (15-Feb-2009) |
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| "Any connection among the name and the level? I do not think so. It does not look like a city well nevermind. Lara dressed all black tries to find many objects some of them not hidden well but a few jump switches were hidden better. Good looking cleopal textures around and easy Gameplay can gave you one hour of enjoyment." - Yoav (04-Jun-2004) |
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| "A medium but fun level in a cleopal setting. Lara has to collect four black beetles a gem a pillar and the portal guardian by visiting various underground areas. There fountains to be seen with one of them having a hole and inside an underwater lever in thin air with no walls around. There was one timed run and skeletons with annoying beetles and demigods to fight. The invisible steps were a nice idea although too obvious and unfortunately we have the 'end of the world' bug. I found two secrets and never open a door that I believe contains the third secret. Not an original level but worth taking a look at." - Kristina (26-Jul-2003) |
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| "Rather amazed to find Lara power dressing in a rather severe black trouser suit. Rather a weird level as well. Expected to be presented with a floating 'City' but all you get towards the end are two floating buildings and all rest on terra firma or beneath it. Gameplay net very exacting and no outright puzzles (just finding things). To get out of the level you need the mechanical beetle - use 4 others to extract it and various items to open doors. Beware totally invisible platforms flares or bins don't work and some tricky jumps and an evil timed door. Graphics standard for Egyptian level with some reasonable lighting could have given a bit of 'colouring' to the dark/invisible platforms/blocks. All in all not a bad level and worth a go." - Whistle (10-Apr-2003) |
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| "What a let down! I was expecting no hoping to find in this level an entire city built on floating platforms but most of this is spent on the ground in quite normal looking tomb/temple areas and the first time I needed to actually enter one of the 3 suspended areas was 30 minutes into the game and the level only lasted 45. This is a nice but fairly standard level with no great difficult puzzles where Lara dressed oddly in Sophia's suit must find around 8 key pick ups 4 of these beetles for a pyramid to retrieve the mechanical beetle and then end the level in one of the suspended buildings. What I liked a lot were a couple of timed runs I'm a sucker for timed runs and a pool of water that has clear sides so you can see a gang of skeletons roaming around outside where you need to go next. What I didn't like well there's only really one thing the way the pyramid that you use the beetles on is invisible until you stand in a certain place so I was running around like a mad woman searching for it and had to ask for help otherwise I never would have found it." - Sash (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Every once in a while you come across a level which in hindsight is very simple and straightforward but while in it you were searching high and low and just not finding the items or places you needed to find. This one was exactly like that for me. I missed one of the three exits from the initial main area for a long time and I missed two of the pick-ups along the way so I basically covered most of the ground three or four times and spent 1:15 hours of net gaming here finding three secrets (what was that torch at the end for?) battling some ninjas skeletons demigods and a harpy mastering two not so hard timed doors and a devious darts trap and a simple torch puzzle. The task is to find and use a gem a scroll a knot and a portal guardian and then the 4 beetles for the pyramid so that the mechanical scarab gets you to the exit. I am not a fan of invisible ledges and never will be even if they are slightly marked like here with smoke. And I still wonder why Lara was raiding this area in what looked like a rather elegant evening dress." - Michael (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "It's a very weird level in my opinion. First Lara is trying to raid a kind of 'floating temple' or something like this. Not a very bad idea but it's weird. Then we have a level with very confusing textures creating an unreal world (and of course the floating temple helps here too!). And the last weird thing is Lara's outfit... a dress? Well it's nice... but I don't think that Lara would use a dress in order to raid a tomb. Anyway many weird things bad design and simple puzzles created a not funny level to play." - Leandro (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "The texturing in the beginning room needed a little work so I wasn't really expecting too much out of the rest of the level but I was soon pleasantly surprised. The rest of the rooms though nothing unusual looked very nice and I enjoyed the four little journeys I went on in order to find four beetles. The entire forty minute level is relatively easy with no hard puzzles or difficult jumps but the hidden passages spike traps circular slicers invisible platforms darts and timed doors will keep you busy as will searching for the items needed that include the four beetles a gem a pillar and the hathor effigy. There are a few enemies in your way - demigods ninjas and some skeletons - but there are plenty of health packs scattered around and the two secrets I found included weapons and ammo. I was a little confused at the end because I had found the four beetles and then didn't know where to place them. All I needed to do though was climb the invisible platforms up to the suspended temple and look around. I loved the room with the pool of water suspended in the middle of a large room but I didn't really like that Lara had Sophia's body. I had a few doors at the end that I never got open and I found another torch at the very end and had no clue what it was for. Hope I didn't miss anything exciting." - RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "The title promised more than I found in the level. What a pity but still I did have fun. I found Lara looking a bit funny in the clothes of her enemy Sophia. I for one wouldn't start tomb raiding in an outfit like that. That floating room I sometimes saw at the start of the level intrigued me nonetheless. In the outdoor area in the beginning of the level there is a major end of the world problem. You could look over the sites and find out where the openings are for Lara to proceed. That's how I found the crowbar. Also in the beginning I was running back and forwards a bit as I didn't know what Lara was supposed to do. But there is enough to do like finding 4 beetles effigy blue gem pillar and handle. Enemies are not that many some ninjas skeletons and demigods. Not being able to find the place where Lara had to put the 4 beetles I just took a leap of faith. The smoke was a sort of give away. Found 2 secrets. 18-05-2002" - Gerty (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Hm. This level is obviously not one of the impressing ones neither visually nor gameplay-wise. Lara has to run around a bit dive a bit collect some scarabs kill a few baddies and demigods - and that was it. The texturing is a little carelessly worked out and while trying to let them not look like wallpapers the author has used them in a way that they look a bit mixed and patchy somehow and not fitting. Also there are paper-thin walls now and then. Lara is wearing a kind of Men-in-Black-Outfit and you can like that or not - I didn't. Besides I had no sfx while playing. To cut it short: If there is a rainy afternoon and you haven't got any other level on your HD then take a look. Otherwise leave it behind." - Sheevah (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "If you find the crawlspace to start with right away (which I didn't) this clocks in just under an hour. You will have to get used to the fact that Lara is dressed like Captain Igloo (don't know if you had that Fish Finger TV Commercial outside of Germany) and her sense of fashion isn't the only thing that seems slightly out of place in this Level. There are a lot of objects to find and use enemies jumps swims climbs invisible walkways and still it becomes a bit boring after a while since it's all so obvious. No real puzzles to start with like when you find the torch the flame you need to light it and the object to set on fire is right next to you. Still worth playing." - Dimpfelmoser (21-Jun-2002) |
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