trle.net ::: Level Reviews

Level:	Dark Skies 8/9
Author(s):	justin

total rating:	8.79	Gameplay & Puzzles	Enemies, Objects & Secrets	Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras	Lighting & Textures
	Akcy	9	8	10	8
	Cuqui	9	9	10	10
	eRIC	9	9	10	9
	eTux	8	8	10	9
	Gerty	8	8	9	8
	Jay	8	8	9	9
	Kristina	7	8	8	8
	MichaelP	8	8	9	9
	Phil	9	10	10	10
	Samu	9	8	9	8
	Sash	8	7	9	9
	Treeble	10	10	10	10
	Yoav	9	8	8	9
	category averages (13 reviews)	8.54	8.38	9.31	8.92

Reviewer's comments

"Couldn’t get this level to run through the download that is presently available, so I was glad I still had the original TOM files somewhere on a CD, so I could finish this saga. Although, floating islands is absolutely not my game-play, but coming this far I had to finish it. I did rename the Script2.dat into script.dat and I had no problem whatsoever. You will go back and from level to level and riding that car was not helping me with my fear of heights. It still can compete with all the newest levels out there, in my humble opinion." - Gerty (11-Mar-2011)

"This latest instalment of Dark Skies series is truly nice work. Mountain areas look very good and this game contains plenty of things to solve and jumping tasks to clear. I think that driving a car in mountains was also very fun and it's good that author has created many puzzles that require some thinking because mere shooting and jumping isn't very interesting. My opinion is that textures could have been used more creatively because the way of using them is a bit messy in some parts of the game. A way to escape from the final area where's a kind of boss enemy is quite hard to figure out. Despite I did the same that was explained in walkthrough I didn't manage to finish the game. I still enjoyed the rest of the game and I recommend this game and all the other Dark Skies level for everyone who haven't played them yet." - Samu (28-Mar-2007)

Basically cave levels, but we can see the Dark Skies many times. It feels that the story is about to reach it's climax. And my only complaint is just about this, namely that it's still not the end, there are two more levels in the new game menu marked as coming soon, but it's been almost two years that Justin published these, his - so far - last levels, and I'm afraid we may not see the conclusion. I really liked this series, These last two levels are really go by the title. Dark and gloomy, and even the relative lack of enemies is fit the atmosphere. Gameplay isn't hard, and we've got plenty of ammunition from the previous levels. After the Porsche, we can drive another car now, even if for just a short time. Usually I don't like fixed cameras because they are for the expanse of playability, but in this case they were superb, especially the one at the beginning of Alabronicus Hall. The added music was great too. Fortunately I haven't encountered any savebug, only the flaming Subaru, but I found that it didn't show up if I didn't save in the tunnels. - Akcy (20-Jul-2005)

“Two excellent levels and like in the level before there is car (Subaru) to drive. Good puzzle to find the key of the car good gameplay and atmosphere make this a nice level.” – Yoav (23-Dec-2003)

“As penman for Justin's walkthroughs since his Atlantis days I've shied away from reviewing his levels. I'm not sure what my reasoning was at the time. However since I've also written walkthroughs for Piega's levels and I haven't hesitated to review HIS levels I suppose the inconsistency is silly. Besides I didn't realize until reading about Michael's little review contest (12/12/03) that only eight reviews (before this one) had been submitted for this great duo of linked levels. Several early reviewers had much to say about some kind of savegame bug but as noted in my walkthrough I never did encounter it. What I DID encounter was the Flaming Subaru bug near the end of the second level which caught Justin completely off guard when I reported the problem to him. However that was the only glitch in an otherwise superb creation one that all TR fans should play. The atmosphere is similar to that in the previous levels in this series; and although the action doesn't take place beneath bright sunny skies it's rarely so dark that flares are required. I understand that Justin has a whole new series in the works and it's mighty comforting to know that we can soon expect more great levels from this talented builder.” – Phil (14-Dec-2003)

“I haven't met bugs in these two levels. I used my savegame from Dark Skies 7 (Crossroads) and I never had any problem. I'm a fan of Justin's levels and I enjoyed these ones. The haunted atmosphere is fantastic and the gameplay always exciting. There are some difficult timed runs torch puzzles lots of switches to pull and huge rooms to explore. I was fascinated by the mysterious surrounding. Play it. It's an enjoyable adventure.” – Cuqui (07-Nov-2003)

“Been some time since I last played a custom level (about a month or so) but I simply had to come back to this one. I started playing this level-set right after it was released but I must admit I didn’t go far - my skills were really spoiled by the time lol - but this time I came and I made it. I must say it was a quite enjoyable adventure! A little dark though but the overall environment was simply jawbreaking on the mountain peeks. Really unusual as unusual as Atlantis III was one older level from this author. The drivable Subaru was great for a change (as the Porsche was in early Dark Skies levels) and the gameplay well the gameplay is at Justin’s standards - good to keep you gripped from beginning to the end and this is more than enough. AND to tap it all I must say those unusual rotating cameras at the beginning of Alabronicus Hall were INCREDIBLE! You could believe you were not playing Tomb Raider at all! In the end you’d free Seth (or some other angry god) and I must say I really was scared - guess I am getting old lol. Running round and round and that damned God right on Lara’s tail! Highly recommended. 3 secrets 1:45 hours.” – Treeble (26-Oct-2003)

“Although warned there was possible savegame bugs in those two levels I used the savegame I made in Crossroads (at the end of Dark skies 5/7) and I am pleased to say that I have met ZERO BUG. Maybe I am lucky or maybe the difference is that I used the scripts of Dark skies 5/7 loaded my savegame saved after entering in Dark skies 8 then used the scripts of Dark skies 8/9 (after renaming script2 in script). I could not tell but I encountered absolutely no problem. That must be said. What I can also say is that this new couple of levels in this series are very pleasant to play with no major difficulty and no frustration. The actions takes place in what seem to be floating mountains with an alternance of outside areas caves and temples where Lara will have to find two infamous artefacts: the hand of Deimos and the eye of Apollo (The shape of these artefacts are completely new) and use them before dealing with the winged evil guy. Do not expect to see the blue sky here what you can expect is sinister places under dark skies and jumping above dark pits. I liked very much the atmosphere the tasks that were at hand the fluency of the gameplay even if I could have done without any vehicle. By the way the keys of the Porsche work to use the Subaru! If unlike me you start or restart the series here many weapons can be found in those two levels to dispose of gunmen giant mosquitos tigers and demigods. I am ready for the next levels of the Dark skies adventure.” – eRIC (22-Sep-2003)

“He's a funny guy this justin. It seems he now got into a rythm of disappearing for a while and then making a quick re-appearance all of of sudden with yet some more proof of his fabulous level building skills. These two parts here take the Dark Skies series further and while you can happily play them stand alone I would highly recommend to play the whole series as they work better as part of the whole package. Ruins of Pindus Mountain (8/8/9/9 45 min. 2 secrets): The level is oozing atmosphere right from the start. Yes a bit dark but I had no troubles and used very few flares throughout. With that early boulder chase with a slicer dicer at the end I thought I would be in for a real tough one but it turns out to be a rather fluent and straight forward adventure moving from lever to lever pull a few blocks two easy torch puzzles and a timed door to finally get the Hand of Deimos. I did have a 'stuck situation' when I did not use the rope first but went into the door on the right because somehow then things did not work the way they should so I had to replay some parts but other than that no troubles with savegame bugs as other reviewers stated. The two secrets are nicely done as well in this part. Enemies are a bit of a non-event with a few baddies tigers (?) and mosquitoes along the way. Alabronicus Hall (8/7/9/8 10+15 min. 1 secret): You come here twice from level 8. First to solve a neat multi-underwater-door timed puzzle and eventually collect the Subaru keys from inside the truck and then again after quickly having collected the Subaru from Level 8. Speaking of the car I think it is brilliantly rendered and a reason by itself to play these levels. You move it around Level 9 interrupted here and there by needs to pull switches to change the roads and finally reach the Hall and pick up the Eye of Apollo and there is also a nice secret to be had. Towards the end there are some nice effects thrown in as well as a few demigods and Seth but you can easily outrun him and finish the adventure. All in all very atmospheric and not too hard levels that fit nicely into the overall and very special mood of the Dark Skies series. Don't miss them.” – Michael (17-Sep-2003)

“The new installments in this fascinating series are up to Justin's usual standards. Extremely atmospheric and eerie. Unfortunately I encountered the savegame bug which did make life somewhat difficult at times. Perhaps in a lesser level I might have abandoned the whole thing but I wasn't going to leave a Dark Skies episode in a hurry. I did find that completing an entire task in between saves helped a lot i.e. don't throw a switch and then save; make sure you complete the whole task connected with that switch. I've never come across the savegame bug before and I must say I hope I never do again. However that aside these two levels are very much in the same vein as previous Dark Skies levels but perhaps somewhat easier than 5/6/7 (and with more medipacks). I had all my inventory items from the previous levels in any case so I never ran short of anything. I would highly recommend that you play the whole series rather than starting with this installment as I think you will definitely appreciate it more that way. There is a quite confusing underwater door puzzle that may slow you down for a while but in general the gameplay is reasonably linear. The jeep has been re-textured as a Subaru which is rather fun and I liked the way the keys were found in the back of a lorry (although I already had a set from previous levels). Not a huge amount of enemies - a few ninjas demigods Tinnos wasps and tigers. I look forward to the next installment. 03.09.2003” – Jay (04-Sep-2003)

“Moody brooding and suspenseful just like the rest in this series Justin sure knows how to make the best of atmosphere. He also has a handle of authentically creating environments of ruin this time set initially inside a temple in a mountain and later in the second level trying to cross from a plateau on the mountain to another temple in another mountain. Thankfully I never had any trouble with bugs as eTux did and also found that this time around the levels were a little more linear in their concept but you nonetheless will get confused at times such as with the small water maze that has closed doors but if you swim around you will trigger one of the doors to open which is timed so swim fast you also will leave the Subaru in the first level but don’t worry as you go retrieve it later after you collect the keys in the second level. Enemies play a small part with a few men dressed in white karate style outfits some white tigers a few giant mosquitoes that didn’t really attack three horned semi-transparent demigods and finally flying Seth but he is easily imprisoned in the same area you unwittingly release him from. For some great atmosphere a really cool environment and a not so bad game at that you should go check out this 75 minute double level and see if you can collect the third secret as I only found 2.” – Sash (03-Sep-2003)

“I had trouble rating these two levels. I say that because the whole atmosphere is great gloomy with some areas quite dark and caves around. The game play though wasn’t very good we have to get two pieces of an artifact place it and exit. I found the levels confusing with enough doors to make you wonder where to go next. I encountered a bug at the end; I saved between pushing two levers and after placing the artifact mentioned above and pushing the other door a door didn’t open. As I understand that is most likely to happen in any time when playing these levels. I was lucky enough to only have that problem once. The Subaru car was a nice touch a cute little thing. There are hardly any enemies some tigers and wasps. I would say play this level but be very careful about the bug mentioned above and better play the entire series to fully understand what these levels are about. They are fun levels no doubt but very dark in my opinion.” – Kristina (01-Sep-2003)

“I wouldn't wonder if these levels won't receive many reviews because of some very annoying bugs that occurred to me in level 8 - so I have to warn you - save in many slots as the savegame bug kicks in and after reloading all doors close and actions you did become undone - basically you have to do the whole level in one go. Ruins of Pindus Mountain - Atmosphere wise this level is fantastic and even if the texturing is a bit chaotic it's done very well in Justin's style. The tasks here like the timed run the torch puzzles (don't know why you had to light the 4 skulls on the sticks though) are fine and very inventive but every fun that I had in the level was spoiled because of the bugs - I tried to save in water and reload - CRASH - I tried to save near a trap so I could reload if Lara dies - CRASH - I saved before the rope so I could reload in case Lara misses it and falls down to die - I reload and the rope is gone - all doors closed all switches unflipped - all enemies reappearing and the burning skeleton is not burning anymore (so you can't light the torch anymore) - well and this happens practically in every spot of the level. All I can do is to hope that you are lucky enough not to encounter them as I was tearing my hair out of frustration when they showed their ugly faces. Alabronicus Hall - luckily Kristina (thank you Krissy!) provided me with a savegame at the start of the level and I could play this one - and luckily without the bugs as in the previous level. The level seemed short to me but the flow was good - and rising the bridge or the Subaru elevator were very creative ideas. Also liked how you sort of entered a different realm of the already wicked but atmospheric surroundings through the stargate trap - nicely done. Escaping the final boss was fun and a bit challenging - and even if all these ideas were fine they didn't make up the frustration I had in the previous level. Before I forget I also have to add that the background music in both levels was very good. Overall - I didn't downrate much because of the bugs but I really have to say that they are real fun-killers. Otherwise the level isn't hard and is rather enjoyable - if you decide to play this pray that you don't get the bugs! Still... can't wait for the next installation in the Dark Skies series!” – eTux (01-Sep-2003)