| Reviewer's comments |
"Short, but sadly not particularly sweet, this level is very similar to the builder’s debut. Run through a series of rooms, avoid a few traps and battle a very mixed bag of enemies – teleporting bull, anyone? Well, I certainly didn’t see him coming!" - Jay (06-Feb-2020) |
 |
"Now that this builder’s debut Mystic Caverns can be played as intended, the shocking truth about this follow-up reveals itself: up to the double doors, it is actually the same level as Mystic Caverns—unaltered as far as I could tell, even the faulty lever setup untouched—, except the subsequent section (which could be played in reverse in the debut) was replaced with a roughly equal number of different rooms; although, it being a Serena level, it still plays much the same. The near-synonymous titles might have been a hint.
‘Dream’ is of course code for randomness; so while the start of the level is recognisable as a ‘homage’ to TR1 “Caves” due to the textures used (if for no other reason), it comes as no surprise when this approach is abandoned two or three rooms in, and you find yourself back in the usual garishly wallpapered environment and in the familiar company of the assorted foes and characteristically ineffective traps that Serena likes to throw your way.
Her levels remind me of an angry toddler who tries to beat you to death with a fluffy cushion. The only occasion where she might get one in is the triple attack by a demigod, a harpy and a bull, but even then only if you play by Serena’s rules and bring a feather to a pillowfight. (If you’re smarter than the average toddler, you can ignore the demigod—who remains frozen because another one you simply ran past on an earlier occasion is still active—, kill the harpy from a distance, and then play hopscotch with the bull—who only gets triggered when you approach the lever—at your leisure.)
As this recognised highlight of the level takes place in a box textured à l’Atlantide and concludes a level than began as something vaguely reminiscent of “Caves”, it raises the suspicion that the builder may have thought of it as a remake of the whole of TR1 crammed into a single, not really all that good level. What a perfectly dreadful idea!" - Mulf (02-Nov-2019) |
|
| "I actually thought this was not half bad and quite enjoyed my 15 minute romp with the final battle taking up most of that. Perhaps one should only awaken one enemy at a time rather than drying to defeat the demi god plus the harpy whilst avoiding the bull as well, all at the same time. Certainly gets the blood pumping though." - Torry (07-Oct-2019) |
|
| "I've been playing the vast majority of these 2002 releases from their original releases, so I eventually stubmle into levels with problems the community has fixed since, such as desktop crashes caused by lack of proper scripting. It was the case with this one -- a fresh download has supplied me new script files for my personal archives. The level also lacked (maybe not anymore) certain animations, but it's such a minor detail in comparison to what you see here. It literally throws everything and the kitchen sink at you. All sorts of enemies, all sorts of textures and very out of place objects. I have no idea what this was all about. 10 minutes. 02/18" - Treeble (26-Feb-2018) |
|
| "It seems that the author made a mistake placing Lara at the end of the previous level, and she wanted to rectify this time, but she only loaded the old prj file, situate Lara at the start, add a copule of rooms and delete the last rooms. Personally, I prefer the first level played with the provided savegame. Not worth to play if you've already played "Mystic Caverns"." - Jose (21-Jan-2018) |
|
| ""Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and
welcome to the Dream Caves. A few notices
before we start our journey. Please note that
the textures are wallpapered in various rooms,
so any epilepsy sufferers should look away.
Also, there are unmarked spike and blade traps
so take notice of those as you travel around.
You will also meet a few of our demigods and
other flora and fauna during your visit. For
these reasons, our bookings have decreased, the
last one being three years ago. We hope you
enjoy your visit. Thank you and have a nice
day."" - Ryan (01-Sep-2016) |
|
| "This level is kinda, sorta like a dream...maybe. Weird things
happen, that's for sure. Bugs are prevalent, some even
stopping enemies from working properly. The variety in enemies
is random, without trying to make sense. Texturing and
architecture is flat-out dull, though the level isn't long
enough for it to become tiresome. Traps were much too obvious,
though they weren't horribly placed. I guess if you want a
bunch of rectangular rooms, with similar texturing to TR1,
then here you go. But this one can easily be skipped." - Xela (18-Aug-2013) |
|
| "This level had a lot of great ideas and i enjoyed playing it ,
however the lighting and textures could have been better and
there was a lack of cameras and puzzles. The level was quite
short but i enjoyed playing it none the less :)" - ChrissyDoc (08-Aug-2011) |
|
| "It's not too bad to start with,but quickly shifts itself into 'Serena territory' by ditching all semblance of gameplay and substituting battles with numerous enemies instead.
Texturing suffers the same fate,and progresses from being 'passable' to 'wallpapered' in the space of but a few rooms. 10 minutes of undemanding action." - Orbit Dream (04-Jul-2009) |
|
| "A dozen of minutes are largely enough to get through this straightforward level, mainly featuring TR1 like caves. There is also a few rooms a bit more"dream like" and a huge room with Atlantean textures with floating ledges. The level is a no brainer , a few easy traps , but there is a variety of enemies to deal with, especially when they are combined together. I preferred to ignore fighting demigod and harpy at the end, just concentrating on the lever and the bull, as there was no powerful weapons to deal with them efficiently. The setting is quite average and there is no lighting , but it has its charm in some places with the greenery hanging from the ceilings." - eRIC (15-Feb-2009) |
|
| "The game beggins with the settings from the first level of the very first Tomb Raider game, but as you pass through a few spikes and a sliding blade you find yourself in an Egyptian enviroment. That was too sudden.....And you get attacked by a varriety of enemies wich Lara has to face.And another thing that was disturbing is the fact that the game crashed every time I tried to reload.Nice the room eith the bull though..." - dya1403 (23-May-2006) |
|
| A much better level than the author's first one. Still it lacks a lot of the elements that makes a good tombraider level. A huge plus for the cool room with a bull, a demigod and a harpy! Although a short level it was rather difficult. A huge minus is that the author failed to edit the camera script so you can load if you die or restart.. Anyway, I did enjoy this level. 2005-06-22 - QRS (22-Jun-2005) |
|
| "We have one more short level by Serena here with many enemies and not enough weapons. I didn't find any to be honest; I was so frustrated with the bull that wasn't letting Lara push the lever. There are flying beetles demigods bats and that stupid bull. Two double doors to open and a blue one with levers. It's full of traps spikes blades and collapsing tiles with spikes underneath. I hope in the future we will get longer levels with real puzzles in them." - Kristina (17-Aug-2003) |
|
| "The first thing I wondered about when playing the level was if Serena uses the same wad for all her levels? I haven't played her 1st one (yet as I'm playing them right now from the newest to the oldest) and maybe there was a different one used here since the bull appeared when playing too. I actually didn't mind that the enemies appeared from nowhere the rooms were textured horribly most of the time didn't care about the non-existent gameplay and lighting and that even if the author tried to make your life harder with the traps and enemies but didn't succeed but the missing load screen was not forgivable! Well you might give this a try as well if you are already bored from the good and interesting levels out there." - eTux (31-Mar-2003) |
|
| "It was over almost as it began. One or two bugs made it longer-no reload so game restarted from scratch every time you asked for reload and Lara disappears when she picks up items from the bottom of the pond. Quite a few things to splat but no real thought involved in the gameplay. The atmosphere was rather bland as was the lighting. The only really mildly exciting moment was in the room with the floating islands. Don't like I did think 'Oh here is a different level sounds interesting' it isn't very much." - Whistle (05-Jan-2003) |
|
| "I haven't played any other levels by Serena as yet so no comparisons can be made! I thought the ambience of the original TR1 levels was quite nice and the textures though a little bland quite good. I'm sorry to say that there was no gameplay to this level (if there was I certainly missed it). Enemies were a nice touch but there just seemed to be no purpose to their placement apart from guarding one or two switches. This level was far far too quick. I did think the atmosphere and the architecture was pretty good I really do believe the author can do so much better than this." - Litepulsar (16-Dec-2002) |
|
| "I loved seeing the icy caves and other textures from TR I in this odd little adventure though I didn't like how the Great Pyramid texture was used - a huge room like that should not be covered in one texture only. The enemies were very diverse and included scorpions dogs bats demigods sharks banshees giant flying beetles and finally a bull! Other than that there are few things to drain your health except for the blade traps and the many darts scattered about. No puzzles really - just running from room to room shooting things and pulling a few switches." - RaiderGirl (13-Dec-2002) |
|
| "Starting out as the caves level of TR1 a bit further down the road different textures. Enemies again the fiercest ones like demigods harpy bees a huge scorpion bats and dogs. And out of thin air a bull. He must have been on something as he didn't do anything. The jumping was nice over the black void. 07-12-2002" - Gerty (07-Dec-2002) |
|
| "Okay a slight improvement from the previous debacle at least this one has an ending or should that be a starting position. It still however looks a tad haphazard with a mixture of enemies I think unforeseen before and areas that just don't click together. For the next level I hope enemies aren't made the focus and instead a little puzzling take their place." - Sash (02-Dec-2002) |
|
| "24 rooms and this starts out promising and kind of reminiscent of the TR1 Caves. But of course it turns out to be just a linear run through harmless traps meeting a variety of enemies (bats dogs a giant scorpion wasps a shark demigods a harpy and a bull). Still it's fun for the 12 minutes it lasts and the room near the end with the demigod harpy and bull combined with added blade traps and darts on high ledges was a highlight." - Michael (24-Nov-2002) |
|
| "Well I think this is a HUGE improvement over Serena's last effort. I encountered none of the problems some of the other players had. The level is very linear just a matter of a straight line through with one little side trip to push a lever which opens what appears to be a crowbar door but isn't. I'd say she's quite fond of enemies not just scorpions and dogs but she likes the BIG guys. For me also the highlight was the suspended square room where you had the demigod and harpy firing at you while the bull was trying to gore you. Still though much improvement shown and I expect the next to be even more improved." - Momster (23-Nov-2002) |
|
| "A slight improvement to Serena's first level if only because Lara actually starts this level at the beginning and the textures are applied more carefully. However gameplaywise this is pretty much the same as The mystic Caves. You run through an eclectic mix of rooms kill the assorted enemies (rather a lot) push the occasional lever and exit after 12 minutes. The highpoint is definitely the room with the floating platforms where you have to avoid some blades and poisonous darts and face a demigod a harpy and the bull. There is no load screen and Lara gets sucked into the ground when picking up the Uzi so I dare say that Serena has still a long way to go. The atmosphere in the TR1 inspired area you start out in is quite good actually but it really doesn't come together with what follows." - Dimpfelmoser (21-Nov-2002) |
|
