| Reviewer's comments |
"I have always been a fan of Emoo's levels, but I have to admit I've always been daunted by the sheer size of this release. It is a set of five levels, after all. On a mission to review all of the levels released in 2002 before the end comes, I've finally come around to playing this masterpiece, extremely late to the party. As has been the case with most of these releases, I've had the walkthrough open close by to make sure I'd reach the end and not end up postponing the levels for another 20 years. Despite the great many improvements that have been made to the editor as a whole, this set doesn't look its age and holds up very well visually; truly timeless. The environments are beautiful and quite unique, from lonesome beaches at night to a series of chambers around a volcano. The only part where I felt things were a bit off was the "race track" which I felt was a bit flat, but it's just a short segment in what otherwise are lenghty and expansive levels which will have you running back and forth quite a few times. One of the levels is actually just a puzzle room, and one you even go through twice, but the remaining three levels had a nice mix of traps, enemy encounters and exploration, so this is definitely one everyone should check out (or rather, should have checked out already). 135 minutes, 11 secrets. 07/20" - Treeble (19-Jul-2020) |
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| "This is as big as you can go with vanilla engine - the map keeps expanding wherever you go - but I just can't help the feeling it was taken too easy: tasks are often basic and gorgeous locations get frequently interrupted with draft rooms. While the slow pace matches the melancholic moonlit landscape, stopping to admire it should be a choice rather than necessity, and don't even tell me of that lever maze which was probably why I never replayed this game despite of the chill, intriguing memory burnt inside my mind. And yes, the lack of ending - the last level just cuts off... sigh..." - DJ Full (16-Jul-2019) |
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| "For the most part, this is a well crafted
adventure. It possesses great looks and
setpieces and has its fair share of
enjoyable moments in the gameplay section.
In the former, the first three levels are
stunning to look at, and in the latter,
there are a few platforming sequences that
provide a good and fair challenge. On the
other hand, there are quite a few
frustrating and repetitive tasks that drag
the experience down. There's quite a lot
of tedious backtracking across all levels,
which only slowed the pace down and I
didn't enjoy having to perform a few tasks
more than once just because it was
necessary to progress (the jumps across
the pillars in Midnight Lagoon or the
jumps across the blade pool in Underneath
the Volcano), and I didn't like the pixel
perfect jumps either. Enemies are well
enough situated, but do get a little
wearying when you have to continuously
fight wraiths, horsemen, bats, demigods
and skeletons at every turn, but I did
like some of the objects like the titular
Silver Moon in one of the secret areas. I
also felt that the last level was a bit
rushed and an unnecessary add on but that
might just be me. A good game overall, but
it could have been better if some of the
gameplay decisions were rethought." - Ryan (15-Aug-2018) |
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"There's a pretty unique theme here, with a South Pacific-
esque island with the twist that Tinnos textures make up the
temple parts. With the help of a few new textures they fit
perfectly and the pack makes it feel like they were made for
a tropical theme. Despite this being a very old level set
the visuals hold up to most newer packs, and many of the
views in the first levels are very beautiful. The only times
it slips up are in the last couple of levels, with one being
little more than some cubes and the other feeling quite a
bit more basic than the earlier levels (although still
decent).
The gameplay is mostly enjoyable and also very challenging
(to the point that that aspect almost feels ahead of it's
time). There are some interesting ideas like elaborate
flipmap use too. Unfortunately camera hints feel a bit
lacking at times, especially in the first level, and Mystic
Madness should have been a one-off rather than repeated
twice; the first time around it's pretty creative and
interesting as you realise it's not too bad as long you keep
your compass directions in check, but then doing it again
when you know how to solve it is just tedious. I also had a
bug with certain doors not being open in the final level
that fixed when I replayed a significant part of it, so I'm
not sure if that's a one-off bug or a level issue. Beyond
those problems however it full of varied tasks and it's got
a nice sense of bark over bite; a lot of things look very
intimidating at first but aren't too bad once you start
thinking about what is required. An excellent set that still
holds up very well outside of being a little weaker towards
the end." - Mman (17-Nov-2012) |
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"This adventure is made up of 5 levels, of which the first 3 are mostly excellent, in terms of gameplay as well as visuals. The last 2, on the other hand, are full of obscure/frustrating/dull gameplay, and their looks are nothing great either. Of course, there are some bad bits in the first 3, and good bits in the last 2, but overall, the impression I had was that the last level (Underneath the Volcano) was some unfinished older level that the builder had just tacked on to the rest of the game in order to pad out its length, while the fourth level (Mystic Madness) was some weird experiment with flipmaps that he decided would be cool to insert into the game as well.
The visuals in the first 3 levels are nothing short of spectacular. The beach vistas in the first level, the underground temple in the second, and the huge outdoor maze in the third are all gorgeous. The colour schemes are great - Mystic Maze is particularly colourful, with brown and red architecture covered in greenery, all under a deep blue sky with the titular silver moon prominently visible. The last level is particularly dark and dull in comparison.
Gameplay is a bit on the tough side, with several tricky jumps and traps and lots of enemies. This is by no means a bad thing in general, but it does get out of hand at times. For instance, the enemies could have been used more creatively, instead of simply sticking a skeleton, tinman or demigod around every corner. I particularly love the traps-and-platforming challenges in Volcano. Midnight Lagoon also has some good gameplay, including a jeep ride, which is fun, though a little strange (what's a jeep doing in the caves?) But the non-linearity and backtracking get quite tiresome. In the 3rd level, if you make the mistake of jumping onto the central section of the upper part of the maze, you are stuck unless you retrace your steps through a large part of the level. But the last level is the worst culprit for backtracking, especially the task involving jumping over pillars in water, and falling down into the water each time. The numerous unmarked blade traps in this level are also particularly annoying. While the technical aspects behind the sole puzzle in the 4th level are rather intriguing (once you get past it), on the whole it's a 'too-clever-for-its-own-good' type of puzzle that no one is likely to figure out on their own. The end feels very abrupt - Lara doesn't even find any artefact to show for her troubles. The lack of camera clues gets annoying from time to time, especially considering that the builder obviously loves setting up cameras just for the heck of it. Not that I'm complaining about the latter - the unusual camera angles make for some great screenshots!
Overall: A mostly very beautiful game with mostly good gameplay, but it would have been a better experience overall if it had ended at level 3." - Mytly (29-Nov-2011) |
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| "This could be a great adventure, but the endeavor of the author so players must repeat the same tasks a lot of times ruined the gameplay. Sometimes there are classic tasks but very tedious, like the use of excessive ropes in the third level. The first level is good, but there's a lot of backtracking for me to like, and the very difficult jumps in the fire pillars room was very nasty and force you to try and try and try it a lot of times. Second level was the best for me, at least you can figure out what to do in every moment. Third and four levels were really tedious, with all those switches to pull in the flipped rooms with no hints and evenmore you'll have to do it twice!!! Very very bad this repetition. Last level was not so bad, but it was very nasty and tedious for me the pool room where I had to trigger a blade, return to the beginning, trigger another blade, return to the beginning, etc. and so a lot of times; was very bored. But the cherry of all the game was when near the very end I turn the lava to water; when I reach the openings, the doors were closed, I took a look at the walkthrough and there was a lever I shoud not push, so I had to reload an old savegame (hopefully I had one) and repeat again all the tedious tasks in the pool and all the tricky jumps in the lava room with the spikes, shooting again all the enemies, etc. Very very very bad. Another features are good, with interesting tasks, correct texturing, enough guns and ammo, but excessive enemies in some ares for my taste and I missed a lot of cameras when triggering something too. I realized all the work behind this adventure, but I'm sorry so I can't recommend it." - Jose (23-Aug-2010) |
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| "I certainly enjoyed this game due to its atmospheric sceneries and interesting gameplay. In my opinion author has made lighting and texturing very well utilizing TR3-tinnos textures skilfully with some other textures. Audio tracks fitted well to the setting and gameplay included many unique puzzles. After all this game doesn't belong to my favorite levels because it has also many features that affect negatively to the quality. For example I wouldn't have minded if author had used more camera hints after using switches because it was sometimes slightly boring to run around everywhere to find out where to go next. Architecture looked also a bit boxy in some places but it doesn't have a big effect on reviewing because this is an old level and when it was made the standard of levels wasn't as high as it's nowadays. Even if most of the puzzles are great some of them are in my opinion rather illogical like the pilar puzzle in Mystique Madness level. Without walkthrough I probably wouldn't have had patience to solve it by myselves due to its weird logic. Anyway I liked this set of levels a lot and it's definitely worth playing." - Samu (04-Aug-2008) |
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| "TOMB RAIDER: ISLAND OF SILVER MOON. This game takes place in a tropical island off Chile. The feeling of being in an exotic location at the dead of night is really good. Theres nothing quite like it. The yellows, blues and peachy colours blend together nicely, and fit well with the crickets and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks. We also have caverns and a 'lost city' type complex.
The difficulty is very hard in places. I doubt if I was the first person to be completely baffled by the 'Pillar Of Illusion' puzzle, and there is an absurdly difficult room involving lava and spike tiles late on. It's pure evil. When it dawned on me what I had to do to get past it, I literally just sat there and shook my head. Also there are some very cheap floor-blades late in the game as well. It doesn't help the fun factor. Perhaps too many battles as well.
But it sure is worth it. The island setting is very well realised, and the environment is definate eye-candy, despite being relatively basic.
This is actually a 'part one' of a saga, but seeing as the game is a fair few years old, we probably will never see the continuation. :(
Anyone wish to continue this fantastic tropical Tomb Raider by making an IOSM part II?
It would be a shame for the journey to finish after the 6 or so hours that it does.
So, apart from a couple of unfairly difficult bits, this is well worth your time. It's got a delicious beachy flavour and is quite unique.
8.8 / 10" - tizerist (09-Jul-2007) |
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| "I won't start this review with a 'wow!' but yes I have to agree this game is very beautiful. And sure enough beauty and creativity score high on my agenda. The first level in this game is Midnight Lagoon - very beautiful settings findable secrets a great jeep ride at least a place you'll certainly get to before you should and that's the room with the annoying skeleton after the spikes - don't waste your brain cells there you'll get back later. You have to pick up four Oceanic Masks which will be used later on. To do so though you'll need to search very carefully - some places are simultaneously very well hidden and in plain sight. Do search for holes in the water and remember: there is more than one. The second level is named Volcano - More classic yet very classy. The big room with the sliding platforms is fantastic. Lots of lava loads of skeletons sometimes in pretty bad situations but you'll certainly know what to do if you're an experienced tomb raider. Then come Mystique Maze and the small Mystique Madness (divided into two similar parts) - very very complex (you're free to disagree). If there's any relation between LSD and video games then I could call this a bad trip. Not because it's ugly or oppressing. It's certainly not ugly. Simply complicated as hell. Some things here seem kind of delusional. Some others will bring you back to tomb raiding reality: tin men crocodiles demigods but that's it. Mystique Madness contains the weirdest puzzle I've seen (or maybe my memory fails me). Do look at the walkthrough for this small puzzle or you may up wasting your time for hours and hours and still be unable to solve the riddle - please don't tell me the puzzle is brilliant a puzzle is supposed to be solvable... or maybe I'm too dumb. From then on all you have to do is go get the gems (serpent stones) on the other side of the platforms get down back to the Volcano level use the stones and off you go to the next level! Still about this level somebody said there was only a maze - a childish maze let's add if we're sticking to the classical maze idea... I didn't see it like that. In my opinion the general ambiance was mazy and in that sense the achievement was perfect in spite of the overdone Mystique Madness puzzle. So the third and last level is called Underneath the Volcano - Right at the very beginning you'll find yourself in a room with skeletons a tin man and those dreaded floor spikes that will accompany you throughout most of the level. This sets the general ambiance... This is a very dark level at times containing entire armies of skeletons several traps some tin men and three demigods if I'm not mistaken - it is therefore challenging but in a much more classic way than the mazes. Most unfortunately there is a terrible bug here that may prevent you from finishing the game. And you may only notice it after you've sweated enough to beat a room with lava spikes and a lever at the end - and make your way back amongst the spikes. I'm aware it's been said already but in the room with a keyhole and two levers do not use the left lever or some doors won't open! Unfortunately even though I'd read the reviews I'd completely forgotten about it... Oh well... Don't make the same mistake. All in all then this game outstands for its beauty (except for the third level greatly built but you can't call it beautiful unless you've got uncommon tastes) it's clearly very creative and you should certainly download it. Just don't be a masochist (as I was) in trying to figure out the Mystique Madness puzzle if you think you can't and don't touch the left lever near the end. I fear I have to consider that lever a very bad bug which is why I'm forced to downrate a little and I'm sad I must (you didn't really think I'd be going through the spikes and lava room again just in order to get to the very very end now did you?). (June 15 2004)" - Jorge22 (18-Jun-2004) |
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| "This level is not for beginners! Even experts will struggle with it from time to time. This is never more true than in the Mystic Madness section (the part with 2 rooms with 2 levers and a transparent column in each). There is a logic that drives this infuriating puzzle but I don't think anyone's going to get it without reading the walkthrough or the forums. While I'm on about bad points of the level I may as well mention a certain lack of cameras and worse still a whole load of annoying fixed cameras - always when you don't want them. It must be said that the final level (Underneath the Volcano) has quite a few 'invisible' spike-traps and these are not fun to discover. So like I said don't try these levels if you're new. If you're an 'old hand' then you will still like these levels a lot because for the most part they are a lot of fun and look very nice as well. Oh one last thing. Be careful of the lake at the beginning as it's nothing more than a death-trap. I completed these maps in 3:30 hours and found 8 secrets." - gfd (03-May-2004) |
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| "Those six levels were graphically fantastically rendered. I especially liked the beach. Lara has several tasks to accomplish. She needs to find various keys masks and two gems. Puzzles were nice and diverse - keep your eyes open as it is easy to overlook things. A lot of running jumping and avoiding of traps is required. There are also some timed sequences and Lara gets to drive the Jeep in part 1. The only thing I did not like so much was the graphics in the two rooms in level 4 and 5. Did not fit with the other levels of the set. Enemies were well placed and Lara got treated to all weapons and enough ammunition. Cameras were rather few though so you need a bit of patience as things are well hidden. I can only recommend this. Even back then it was a class of its own and I like it a lot." - Navi (02-May-2004) |
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| "It feels like I should like these levels. Unfortunately I don't. Well not much anyway. Which is a shame because the levels could have been very fun. It starts out okay but there are several small things that add up and make the levels less enjoyable. For one thing where are the cameras? Usually when you pull a lever you get a camera which shows which door has opened. Not in this level though. On some rare occasions you may get a shot of the door the lever opened but mostly you have to search the whole level for the opened door. In the first level you have to collect four masks. Then what? Well when you've picked up all masks a wall has disappeared making it possible to go to the next level. A camera wouldn't have hurt. I also didn't like the placement of some levers. In the last level near the end there is a lever hidden at a wall in complete darkness. I stumbled on this lever by cheer luck. I don't know what it did though (because of the lack of cameras...) and it might just have opened a door to a secret. The texturing is quite unique. The author has mixed textures from Antarctica and the South Pacific (both from Tomb Raider 3) and I just don't think it looks quite right. That's just a matter of taste though. The gameplay is quite consistent when you don't have to search for a hidden lever or a newly opened door but it seldom gets very hard. The atmosphere of being on an island during night-time is one thing the author managed to catch but overall it still doesn't make the levels fun. The thing I disliked the most was a bug near the end. At one place you had to use a key and push one of two levers. If you pushed both levers you could get helplessly stuck. Not amusing. I have to admit that I never finished the last level because of this bug but I read that you just had to pull one more lever and end the level and I refuse to restart the level because of that. All in all... Well I can't help to think that it's just me who doesn't like these levels so you could try to play them. Personally I didn't like them very much." - Magnus (29-Jan-2004) |
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| "What a luscious get your hands on it and give it a big squeeze till you can feel it oozing out of your fingers fantastic set of levels that make up one brilliant game this is. The settings are just glorious special mention to level one and I was transfixed to the chair till I finished it and as it took me over 3 hours in game to finish plus all the extra time we know about reloading and the like I seriously thought about getting a nurse to come in and roll me so I didn't get bed sores eek! Enough babbling here's a run down of what you'll find. Midnight Lagoon: A beautiful setting on the edge of a sandy lagoon with caves and temple areas you have to search for many masks and keys. There are also 7 secrets of which I found 6 and a maze of tunnels where you are given the jeep to make the journey much quicker. If you feel like a bit of a fight then you've got some crocs skeletons demigod tinmen and fire wraiths to go up against. Volcano: Starting in a central room you have to go on four adventures involving lava lots of jumps and at one point a brilliant timed fire pillar jump room made all the harder with skeletons appearing on the upcoming pillars that love to give you a good bump off or make the jump to the next pillar almost impossible. 1 secret found. Mystique Maze: Hard to explain but the mainly outdoor setting is made up of two levels the lower a street like maze that isn't at all hard to get around and the upper level gives you an overview of that maze with two long areas on opposite sides where you have to open doors and large gates with masks. You'll find some skellies and tinmen here as well as about 3 secrets of which I collected 2. There are also some small mazish areas in this level but none that should make you cringe from the experience that cringing element is left for the small time you step into.... Mystique Madness: ....this place! I was almost driven insane trying to work out this level that revolved around one puzzle but that one puzzle is made up of several almost identical rooms that you travel to through a teleporter placed in the middle of the rooms in these rooms you find floor levers you can pull more than once and I found myself running back and forth through rooms not knowing which I'd been to but just throwing levers left right and centre and somehow I solved it though if I were thrown into it today I would just crawl into a ball in the corner of one of the rooms and sob for my mommy! No enemies here but you don't need the added aggravation. Underneath the Volcano: The end of the saga and wouldn't you know there are loads of skeletons tinmen demigods and crocs but hey if you think they are what you need to watch out for here then you are dead wrong. This level has some of the hardest most accurate necessary jumps involving blades coming from the floor and spikes on blocks that give you the bare minimum of time to line up and execute your next to the following block and so on total reload time! These are definitely the types of levels I get totally excited about even if at times the difficulty factor is way up there or you have to ask for a bit of help as long as it isn't too often because they allow the player a challenge without an impossible task. Bravo Emoo tens across the board from me!" - Sash (17-Sep-2003) |
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| "An island with palm trees beach rocks those mountains standing out black against the moonlit sky very South Seas feel to it with those statues. Absolutely beautiful. Lovely flybys. MIDNIGHT LAGOON. You are searching for skeleton + uli keys and oceanic masks and it can be very frustrating and dangerous - floor traps spikes fires (dive in the water and see) swimming climbing and I liked the fixed camera trap and route through the caves. On my mac the game crashed each time I approached a gate type door that was shut so do yourself a favour and don't go near them. After you're first crash you'll know the type of doors to look out for. Treat them like a warning sign - door shut = go somewhere else. When you've found the switch somewhere else to open it you can now approach and go through it safely. Watch out for greenery areas there could be a crawlspace a climbing surface or you can fall through if you're not careful. I liked the room with the tall columns to jump over to a switch I had to save a lot and line those jumps up carefully. Well placed crocodiles bats skeletons demigod and metal knights. VOLCANO. A big room with doors off to different areas all floors are lava and all have some sort of jumping involved. I particularly liked the last enormous room with the rope swings from the ceiling. MYSTIC MAZE. Very beautiful but more like streets with big doors to open and swimming pools than a maze as such especially as you come out high above and look down on it. I liked the rope swinging up here I had to do it so often in my searches that I became quite fond of it. No wait a minute there is a small green maze in here after all. A lot of skeletons here and metal knights. One of the rooms off this area leads to... MYSTIC MADNESS simply put it's a room with a shaft of light in the centre each time you step into the shaft the room alters for you to push floor switches and claim a key. I had to look for the solution on the forum I was totally confused. You find two serpent stones to... UNDERNEATH THE VOLCANO. Lots of skeletons metal men demigod and running over blocks over water and lava. The puzzles in this last level are the hardest. That last room with the spikes shooting up continually was a nightmare but I was determined to do it and felt great when accomplished. I managed to get that last lava room changed to water but then I was stuck because of the bug with the two levers and I ain't goin' to do that spike room again for love nor money. I wish I had read the hints in a couple of the reviews here before I got to that part. Very tough level even for die-hard raiders but very satisfying when finished. I wouldn't recommend this to beginners until they've mastered runs and jumps it's just too hard and it would put them off playing custom levels. It took me 11:24 hours. Although I managed them well there were far too many enemies. I look forward to other levels from Szymon." - CC (11-Aug-2003) |
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| "If this level would be reviewed for looks only it would get an 11 out of 10 from me. Emoo just knows how to make stunning looking levels. As for gameplay and puzzles it is a different story although I can see that some people might love them I don't. There are some rather unfair parts in these levels. It started right in the beginning with those three wraiths maybe it was just my luck but Lara got burned one time too many so I chucked this level for a while. In Vulcano that run over those pillars Emoo must have loved those blades that pop up and the only way to get to the other site for me is to trigger every one of them and that meant swimming back and jumping again (and I meant for every jump I made) not my way of fun. The puzzle in Mystic Madness is so unbelievable hard to solve and last but not least that bloody spike part at the end. Luckily for me I had the revised TOM so I could end the game without going back to a saved game before pulling those two levers almost at the end of the game. Stunning but not a nice gameplay. 01-08-2003" - Gerty (05-Aug-2003) |
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| "This is one of the most visually pleasing groupings of levels I've ever played but it has the added benefit of challenging moves (more on that soon) brain-teasing puzzles and well-spaced enemies. The first installment Midnight Lagoon is probably my favorite of the bunch. There's a lot of going back and forth; but much like Piega's first levels there's only one action you can take after pulling a switch or finding a pickup. The trick is locating the place to go next. Half the fun is soaking in the beautiful surroundings on the way. The next level Volcano is a jarring change of pace but it too provides a fair test of one's raiding skills. The third stage called Mystique Maze returns to the stunning visuals of Midnight Lagoon. There's an interlude repeated once which brings you through four identical rooms via a central teleporter column. Utterly maddening until you either figure out the sequence or someone fills you in then you can do it in your sleep. Much fun. The final level is called Underneath the Volcano which is pretty much what the name implies. This is where I ran out of patience; I stuck with the four ropes going across one way and then returning exhausting my supply of cuss words in the process. But when I got to the lava room with the spike platforms I decided to call it quits and move on to the next project since from the walkthrough I knew I was very near the end. I've said this before and I'll undoubtedly say it again: Level builders feel free to make your creations as challenging as you know how but as a courtesy to those of us who simply want to move on and aren't interested in investing a half hour or so mastering a move that borders on the impossible keep the DOZY cheat enabled. There's little in life more frustrating than knowing what to do to progress in a game of Tomb Raider but being unable to do so because of fumble fingers or delayed puberty or whatever. Notwithstanding this bitter taste at the end I thoroughly enjoyed the gaming experience here and recommend it to everyone." - Phil (13-Mar-2003) |
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| "Bravo! Just about as close to a perfect game as could be built. The ONLY fault I have with Island of the Silver Moon is the Maze Madness and some of the textures which were 'stretched and compacted'. The 'logic' to the switches in Maze Madness was beyond me and I had to resort to the Forum -- thanks guys. The balance of the puzzles were very challenging but doable with sufficient thought. There were enough enemies to keep Lara on her toes at all times and the path she had to follow was never straight enough to be boring! Some of the jumps were VERY TOUGH and forced me to walk away for a time to get my thoughts and reflexes together. I VERY MUCH like that in a game. Bravo bravo bravo. You can't see it but I am giving Emoo a standing ovation. Keep it up. Good story. Tough puzzles. Challenging enemies. What more is there?" - Dougsan (11-Jan-2003) |
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| "One of the most beautiful levels I've played. Since the first part (midnight lagoon) and over all the Midnight maze. The sky with the big moon and the lights and textures gives a great and magic atmosphere. The music from TR3 is an original detail that makes these levels very different from the Egypt levels. I only give a non perfect rate in gameplay because of the extreme difficulty of some parts: the mystique madness the jumps in 'underneath the volcano' and the two levers near the end of the game. All in all is a superb game." - Loupar (22-Dec-2002) |
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| "This is a really beautiful set of levels with perfect lighting and textures. The atmosphere is amazing. I enjoyed the whole game and its clever puzzles mazes wonderful rooms and flybys. Cameras are very well placed. The gameplay is exciting and some areas quite hard. I had great time with the jeep in the maze and the tricky jumps in Volcano. Enemies are crocodiles skeletons bats fire wraiths demigods and looooots of tinmen. Objects are very nice and singular: skeleton keys uli keys keys of silver moon and masks. I found 11 secrets and I specially loved Mystique Madness. It's absolutely brilliant and I think that's impossible to solve without help. Definitely it's an excellent adventure. I'm waiting for the next level." - Cuqui (19-Dec-2002) |
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| "What a wonderful adventure will await you when you'll download this set of levels! It starts out in a beautiful lagoon and through some very beautiful environments takes you to the core of a volcano! This could've been another perfect score from me but some things stopped me from rating it that way. Midnight lagoon: As I said a very beautiful lagoon and parts of a temple await you here. I think it was strange that the bats were sitting at the top of the palms instead of caves and that the current takes you to some boiling points of the ocean I also didn't like to see the jeep maze again in here it was rather pointless but the hunt for the 4 masks was fun and the ending with the fallen in rocks to reveal a secret passage was great! Volcano: Starts out with a great view to a lava pool and mystique effigies of big headed humans very impressive. This is quite a tough level and the first time I started to play 'Island of the Silver Moon' I gave up because of the deadly run on the burning pillars (really brilliant but a bit too tough in my opinion). The use of fog is really great and visually this level is truly stunning but I think it was a bit too short and didn't fulfill my expectations of it. Mystique maze: I was the most afraid of this level - I thought it would be a dark underground level where you can hardly orientate (think Deep darkness from Recon Labs 3) but no(!!!) it turned out to be the best level from this series so far - it is a very very beautiful outside level and the mazes are actually very fun! Some might not like multiple rope swings in one point but otherwise you'll just love it! Actually this is the most beautiful level I've seen since Piega's Sanctuaries! Mystique Madness: Though this level consists only of one puzzle you will truly get mad if you won't use the diagram from the forums! The puzzle is brilliant and for me as a level builder it even took a while to figure out how it was made and I can't really say more than that - brilliant! Underneath the Volcano: The least favorite from the levels - too many blades way too many skeletons and a very unpleasant bug that prevents you from finishing the level! (In the room with the keyhole activate only the left switch!!!) The spike part is mad and I almost rated the gameplay down because of it but once you know how to execute the jumps correctly this is not very hard. All in all my favorite Emoo levels so far and I bet they'll be yours too once you finish them! Can't wait for the sequel!" - eTux (07-Dec-2002) |
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| "This level looks great. The use of textures and most of the rooms are well designed. The maze where the jeep is was a bit square since it looked like it was supposed to be a natural cave because of the textures. It's such a small area it doesn't matter. The game starts out quite easy. Mainly just do a lot of searching to find your way around. That portal puzzle was easy to figure out. Just look by looking at the compass. I found that area a bit tedious running around pushing and pulling levers. Under the volcano is where it gets tough. In this section there are lots of enemies and lots of traps. I prefer levels with a lot less traps. More variety in the enemy types for this level would have been better I think. But then again there really aren't too many enemies to choose from unless you can make your own. Most levels are quite easy to get through. The worst and hardest aspect of this entire level is those spikes going up and down on the tops of those blocks. You get about one second to get Lara off a block before she gets skewered. Hint: Do not push those levers near the key or you will be stuck after making it past the spike room. That's about my only other complaint.. those two levers near the keyhole in this section. There is no clue that those levers should not be pushed. And a fewer enemies always add some suspense to a level. It's a good level with only a few problem areas. Even TR experts will find it exceptionally tough to get over the spikes." - Dave M (23-Nov-2002) |
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| "Throughout this level I thought that there were too many enemies and traps. It is better to have a few well-placed enemies so the enemies give the player a rush when it or they appear. The T-rex from TR1 was a well-placed enemy. One minute Lara was in an empty area and the next an enemy was charging at her. Under the volcano: I really really disliked the spikes which raised and lowered on those blocks in that one lava room. When I saw those spikes for the first time I thought to myself 'You gotta be kidding me'. Then I thought of an episode from Reboot when I saw that room. Dot Bob Enzo and Mike are in a dungeon being chased by a white thing with a skeletal head. It starts to breath fire and Dot says 'Oh sure. It just has to breathe fire.' After I made it through this room and the lava turned to water in the other room I was stuck because I had pushed the two levers that are beside the keyhole. There was no clue that those levers shouldn't be pushed. Another point off for puzzles. So I had to end up going over those spike blocks once again. Lara died about forty times in that room. Having to go across those spike blocks just to pull a lever that would flood a room with water was a bit ridiculous. I found this level to be somewhat repetitive in spots but very very frustrating in other areas. Having those two portal rooms looking identical was a clever puzzle. I did like the design of some of the rooms in this level and I also liked the way the textures and props were used." - Qball (19-Nov-2002) |
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| "If this is the island of the Silver Moon why does the load screen depict a beach with a golden sun. I know you don't care about those small details but they make me stop and think. Alright quite a few of Emoo's levels have been in the Top 50 over the last year but the older they got the lower the scores and all of them eventually dropped out. I hope that the Island of the Silver Moon is going to stay there cause it is a very special adventure that deserves some recognition. The author has a really inventive mind and although he always recycles parts of his older levels (the jeep course looks suspiciously like the one from Arctic Base B9) he usually comes up with very original stuff not seen anywhere else. I was really angry at myself that I didn't get the four room puzzle cause it is so clever and kinda logic at the same time. My only excuse is that I didn't know it was technically possible to put four rooms into one space so to speak. It starts out in a beautifully textured lagoon where you have to explore a lot shoot a few crocodiles avoid the occasional skeleton and collect four masks that you will need later. In the second part things get really interesting with an awesome room with many pillars that you have to hop over as quickly as possible all the while you have to battle the skeletons cleverly placed throughout the room. Great excitement. There are some neat puzzles a really fun jump sequence involving many slopes and finally the spectacular mirror room. On you go to the mystic maze and here things really start to get weird. At one point I really though I was losing it but that's intentionally I reckon. Once you know how it's done it all falls into place and you are admitted to the final part which is the highpoint of the level. A timed run a great many jumps (some timed so to speak) and finally the legendary hop over the pop up spikes near the end. Of course it is manageable it's just a matter of good timing (isn't it always). But beware I got stuck after that because some gates failed to open. When you come to the key hole that is sandwiched between two levers; don't push those levers; just use the key do the hopping over the spikes push the wall lever then return and push the left lever. This finally got me to the end. I think Emoo did everything right here really. The convincing storyline the thoughtful placement of enemies the supportive camerawork the puzzels the gripping atmosphere the professional lighting and I won't complain about the easy to find secrets. Even the maze is kinda fun cause it is not an ordinary maze. Vintage stuff for the true TR connoisseur." - Dimpfelmoser (02-Nov-2002) |
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| "I played this adventure back to back with Recon Labs 3 and after feeling a little bad because I did not enjoy Recon Labs 3 that much I am happy to be able to rate this stunning adventure very high because I liked it a lot. Starting with a great title flyby and a nice load screen this provided me with 3 hours of excellent raiding fun - so here goes step by step: Midnight Lagoon (9/9/10/10 50 min. 6/7 secrets found): If you ever tried to build an outside area with the editor you know how tricky it is to accomplish a believable setting and this level is absolutely awesome in that respect. The lagoon the caves and caverns the greenery the statues the dim lighting and the moon on the horizon - it all fits together into a perfect setting. There are a few nice fixed cameras just for the sake of looks. In terms of gameplay there is quite a bit of exploring to do to find a skeleton key and an Uli key and four Oceanic Masks. The Jeep ride is fun but maybe the maze a little too bare there are well placed bats crocodiles skeletons and three fire wraiths and a tinman. A few blade traps and an easy pushable globes puzzle round up the picture. Watch out for some well hidden switches which often give access to secrets. Volcano (9/8/10/10 40 min. 0/1 secrets found): This starts in a really impressive main room with an overarched stairway and your task is to explore from here in four directions with jumps across lava rope swings platform jumping a great room with pillars on fire and skeletons to shoot off them a mirror room and some more jumping to do all to get again an Uli Key and a skeleton key. Mystique Maze / Mystique Madness (9/8/10/10 55 min. 2/3 secrets found): For once this maze level was a fun level simply because there was a variety of rather small maze like areas which made it entertaining to get through them just because the tasks were varied too and the setting is so beautiful. Maybe a little too many tinmen and skeletons to battle as well as two demigods and a few crocodiles. Very impressive is the way Emoo uses cameras and flipped rooms to give you some illusions of things that aren't actually what they seem. Especially the two 5 minute excurses into the Mystique Madness levels (for yet another Uli Key and Skeleton Key) provide for quite a unique puzzle indeed. You get to use your Oceanic Masks plus find and use another one and a Silver Moon Key and the two Serpent Stones you need back in Volcano which then allows access to the final level. Underneath the Volcano (9/8/10/10 35 min. no secrets): The grande finale of the series indeed. Very spooky cave atmosphere to start with many blade traps in the floor and especially on pillars tinmen very many skeletons demigods and crocodiles as you jump your ways up master a boulder chase and a timed run through swinging chains to get another Silver Moon Key and make it to the short but tricky spikes room which really requires good timing. All in all the way those levels interact is just brilliant and it is one of the few adventures out there that really come across as one adventure and not a set of sequential levels. And actually the series is apparently to be continued - I can hardly wait..." - Michael (01-Nov-2002) |
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| "After playing Recon Labs 3 Emoo's one of my favorite level authors so I was pretty eager to play this when it came out - and I wasn't disappointed. If you've played any of Emoo's other levels you'll know to expect a magnificent looking level with brilliant and often hard puzzles tricky jumps and a very realistic atmosphere. It has everything from beautiful beaches cobweb filled caves a jeep maze multi-rope swings rooms in which you are transported to other rooms lava you change to water deadly blade traps burning pillars over lava and a number of keys and some gems to find as well as several secrets - I found nine. If I had to come up with one complaint it would be that there are just too many tin men to battle and none of them ever dropped anything. I wouldn't have minded a little camera work to show what the switches did either but it was usually easy enough to figure it out - just make sure to look around carefully. My time at the end said 2:39 but I actually spent all day enjoying this series with it's many beautiful rooms and exciting puzzles." - RaiderGirl (28-Oct-2002) |
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| "This is a visually stunning set of levels I don't think I've ever seen such a pretty setting used in a custom TR game. It looks vaguely like the South Pacific and Tinnos levels in TR3 only with much more attention to detail and better use of textures and lighting. Cameras and sound are also used to good effect and overall the atmosphere is amazing. I couldn't fault the game on these points so full marks from me in those categories. Also used well are enemies which are mainly crocs bats skeletons tin men and a few demigods. Nicely placed throughout and never too many. Objects are nice too I had to laugh at the Skeleton Key not only looking like a skull but also being found near a skeleton. However then we start to get into the not-so-good aspects of the game. Firstly secrets. I was amazed that a lot of these secrets are actually in plain view especially during the first level. I would have found them during the course of normal gameplay and the lack of challenge in this area spoiled it a bit for me hence the score I have given isn't a perfect on in this category. Speaking of gameplay I really hate mazes. I can't stress that enough and I think that many TR fans share my hatred of them. Normal mazes are bad enough but there are some mazes here that had me ripping my hair out in clumps due to their sheer complexity. Also I felt that a couple of the puzzles in the last level particularly one evil sequence involving spikes over lava was far too difficult for the average raider. There is also quite a lot of backtracking at times especially in the first level. As such I've had to take a couple of points off for gameplay. Overall though a brilliant adventure and quite long too - I finished in just over four and a half hours having found nine secrets. A 'Must Download' for anyone who enjoys beautiful settings and challenging puzzles. Excellent work and I can't wait for the next level in the series." - Bex (21-Oct-2002) |
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| "This is one of the best custom games I have ever played. In the beginning it's a little bit difficult because of missing camera hints. But that is the only bad thing in these levels I think. It's nearly perfect but no game for beginners. There are some skeleton- and uli-keys to find and some masks which open some doors in the later parts of the game. The levels are well linked together. Especially the jump combinations in the volcano- and underneath the volcano-levels were challenging and stunning. The graphics are beautiful and the atmosphere brilliant and the sounds are well built in. There are lots of enemies mostly skeletons who are always in the way of Lara especially on the high pillars. Good to have explosive weapons. The opponents are very well built in the game often combined with deadly traps for example in the room with the floor knifes or combined with different enemies. The puzzles are challenging and special especially in 'mystic maze' once you have found out the logic of the transporter room it's not so difficult anymore. I recommend this level series to all players who like a big challenge. Can't wait for the next installment!" - Freeman Porter (13-Oct-2002) |
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| "From start to finish I can truthfully say I enjoyed every minute of this breathtaking level. I loved all the statues the settings were opulent and no effort was spared in the visual delight department. Once again I absolutely loved it my kind of level. The only downer being that I was getting tired of skeletons and Bronze Men. If there could have been a bit more variety of enemies this level would have had a perfect score. Also I feel the last spike puzzle was a little too difficult as supported by the requests for savegames on the Forum [myself included] and the Portal rooms with all those levers. If anybody could have worked that one out it would have been a miracle. Please don't be too long in the follow-on as I for one can't wait for it" - Tortoise3 (11-Oct-2002) |
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| "This level has a great deal of good puzzling and jumping but sometimes it just gets too frustrating and sometimes impossible. I'm thinking of this mystic madness puzzle with levers and a portal - I don't know how one would be able to solve this without help what logic steers this puzzle (I couldn't see any). Maybe a little too many tinmen that aren't very hard to kill - just time consuming. Otherwise great surroundings and good camerawork and sound." - G.Croft (08-Oct-2002) |
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| "Wow!!! TR3--It all came back in a flash :) (And BTW- to anyone reading this-click the back button and start downloading this one then read the reviews-it's that good ;) If you enjoyed the India levels the South Pacific levels or the Tinnos levels you'll love this one. It also has some elements from the pretty secret areas of TLA. It all starts with a beautifully made title load screen which was very impressive and one of the first times I ever sat and watched the whole thing for any level. The first level loaded at the end of the scene which was cool too. The first level was much like the South Pacific levels using textures from South Pacific and Tinnos some mixed together for some nice custom ones. Anyway this level was a lagoon/island type and the islands stretched on very far in all directions it must have taken a while to make all of this. The horizon that was used was originally used at the end of TR3 for the Antarctica levels but it looks incredible here. Gameplay was excellent the audio was the ever popular tracks from TR3 objects were mostly from TR3 as well and the jeep was used. The second I boarded it I thought (Uh-oh this is gonna be like Base B-9 again...) but it wasn't that hard till the end...I won't spoil the surprise for anyone...The volcano level was incredible if not too hard at times...There was a rope swing that I couldn't figure out for a long time and some other stuff later on (I took off a point for some of the gameplay because of this and some other parts) but this level was designed very beautifully reminiscent of 'Meteorite Cave' or whatever it was called. I didn't like the mazes - not one bit :( I hate mazes and this kind of ruined it for me...Well this review is getting long I better wrap it up...In general the Gameplay+Puzzles were great but maybe a bit too hard the Enemies Objects and Secrets was well done the Atmosphere Sound and Cameras were also excellent very believable atmosphere...The lighting and the textures were nice...though repetitive it seems the author does not want to let go of this texture set I've played many Tinnos levels by him I think :D Anyway excellent series destined for fame play it now!!" - Chronicles5 (05-Oct-2002) |
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| "What a great game-and so long. To try and describe this level in a few words just doesn't do justice to the author. It has the lot. Great textures-good camera work-varied locations etc etc. I found the jumping over the lava pool in the last part just too much for me and I needed to borrow a save game to complete that bit. In the first part I wasn't sure where to go next as there were a couple of times I got somewhere only to find I had to do something else first. Having said that this level is one of the best (and indeed longest) I have played for some time." - Doug E (02-Oct-2002) |
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| "A level with a great scenery. Lara is completing some of her tasks under the moon light some others in a gloomy spooky atmosphere since there are three levels linked together. The player has to do a lot of searching and keep eyes open because of the lighting. It's not that dark but it is quite good so good that I was running around at some point missing a jump switch in front me. Anyway the puzzles are masks and red gems keys the masks you will get at the first part not all of them plus get a ride with the jeep. The other part is mostly darker with lava rooms and a lot of rope swinging above lava. Some of the difficulties you will encounter are the fire blocks with skeletons on yes both in order to get a key I believe. Another difficult part has to do with blocks again but blades are your enemies this time and spikes in a different room. It's just the kind of obstacles the author uses the style is recognizable. The textures are really nice and colourful giving just the right feeling. The room that gave me trouble was the one with the transparent column in the middle and the many levers which you have to do twice by the way. When you get past it once though it doesn't look too bad anymore. Crocodiles skeletons fire wraiths are the enemies. At some point there were too many doors and switches which is not my taste that was a little boring. Nevertheless one of the best levels we had lately and there were many." - Kristina (28-Sep-2002) |
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| "A grand adventure with superb atmosphere! I've downrated slightly in the area of gameplay only because I think one particular area was a little over the top in difficulty and I like to feel everyone should have the opportunity to play without asking for savegames. This was one of the more difficult levels I've played not in a brainwork sense but in the difficulty of the tasks needed to accomplish deeper penetration into the level. The enemies in the level crocodiles hordes of bats quite a few tin men some skeletons and demigods are very well placed to hinder your already difficult mission. A surplus of levers especially in the maze portion but they are done with such dedication that you don't mind. Some extremely difficult and laborious jumps involving those razor blade things that come up and chop Lara to bits and a grand jump involving spikes and a lava pit. In fact almost the entire 'Under the Volcano' portion is riddled with those blade things even on squares you are jumping on to go higher. There is also an unusual 'transporter' area that had me scratching my head for quite a while (thanks Doc) in two separate rooms involving a switch puzzle and a good multiple rope swing with a skeleton hacking away at you as you try and grab the next rope. I spent just a bit over 5 very enjoyable hours and found 9 secrets which is highly unusual for me LOL. I eagerly await Emoo's next installment and have my saved game safely tucked away. Lots of fun and lots of work and frustration but not impossible." - Momster (27-Sep-2002) |
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| "Now here's a good example of a level WITH darkness but without being annoying: perfect lighting and textures! Gameplay wise everything is there (Midnight=seek and pull levers with a great fire-wraiths escape act with the jeep Volcano=jump-athlon Mystic Maze=3 different kind of mazes one with devious/misleading corridors Mystic Madness=hard puzzle Underneath the Volcano=all of the above but mazes). About that hard puzzle well in my opinion this is Mensa-people stuff so I could only 'solve' it when I read the thread that at the heart of it was really a 'portal' that disorientates you. A few downsides maybe: (1) secrets could hardly be called that certainly in level 1 where 4 out of 5 where too easy to find (2) Enemies: maybe a bit too many knights (first one appearing in level 1 was unintentionally funny with Lara entering and him standing there sideways at the other end of the room waiting: seemed to be puffing from too much smoking or something) and the creator saw a bit too much of 'The Birds' (Hitchcock) for there are flocks of them in level 1 (poor birdies) 3. Cameras: very good ones (disorientating ones in the mazes and portal puzzle) but also unnecessary ones. 4. Could not finish the last level because of double lever bug that the author seems to have fixed though by uploading a new TOM (too late for me because no way will I do that platform-with blades jumping again (it is do-able however!). Anyhow Emoo has made a looker without forgetting the gameplay: classic raiding!" - bERT (27-Sep-2002) |
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| "This game strongly reminded me of the TR3 South Pacific Levels but with a massive improvement. The textures lighting atmosphere and sounds were really impressive from the bright and colourful tropical atmosphere of the first level to the fiery volcano levels this is a level you'll want to play again and again and not just for the challenging tricky puzzles but to catch up on any secrets you might have missed or just to gaze at the lovely scenery. Secrets are ideally placed and not too hard to find if a little tricky but that's half the fun :) At times those puzzles nearly had me cursing in frustration but it's such an enjoyable romp you just can't help but stick with it with help from fellow reviewers and a save game or two from Momster I finally finished the level with a sigh of relief but also a sense of achievement. The reason I graded the puzzles and gameplay at nine is that from my own personal tastes it was just too hard at times and the slightly non-linear gameplay was also frustrating this level is not for the beginner :) Overall an outstanding achievement by Emoo I'm really looking forward to the next installment." - Litepulsar (27-Sep-2002) |
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| "A beautiful set of levels on a Pacific island. A lot of exploration in a lagoon and little temples in the first level to find 4 Oceania masks. Then the course alternates underground areas in caves with lava and outside areas in a mystic town. The textures of the temples are from TR3 (city of Tinnos) with greenery and the architecture of the areas is often awesome. It would be unfair to rate less than 10 in this category. The camera work is excellent and there are also nice touches with the full moon in the twilight and the always welcome music of TR3. Enemies are crocs bats skeletons tinmen and demigods. Some challenging tasks sometimes and some cryptic puzzles in the middle of the game involving flip-map rooms well done but difficult to find the clue (thanks to Doc for the picture on the forum). The end is a little abrupt and for my taste there was not enough to do in the mystic town. Nevertheless this Pacific raid is very pleasant to play in a time where aliens are knocking at the door of the ancient temples and starships or laboratories tend to replace the good old tombs and sanctuaries. If you are already tired of those invaders Emoo's last offering is a great ball of oxygen." - eRIC (26-Sep-2002) |
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