Level reviews

"The pad puzzle doesn't match the hint, and if you don't notice it, you are more likely to pass lol. A more risky moment is in the metro entrance, which you may not recognize as a puzzle - and you may miss it for long, since the map is open. Otherwise a good level, could look better but plays nicely, and I like how the factions play their assigned roles instead of being random." - DJ Full

"I would classify this level as middle-of- the-road. By that, I mean while the scenery and such isn't anything particularly impressive or attractive, it works in its own way, and the gameplay has its fair share of intriguing puzzles. The most notable aspects are the pools with the trigger tiles (solution can be found nearby, but in a different room), the timed run with a guard trying to reach an attack switch and a puzzle that has Lara following lit lamps to determine the correct sequence (I can see others being caught out without outside help, though). It's too gloomy in spots and I was a bit miffed that guards could attack Lara from enclosed balcony, but I still found thus to be quite involving." - Ryan

"Once again a level flaunting enemies behind gates so they shoot at you from above, while you can't shoot back. I hope this won't be a pattern as I play the rest of BtB2007. In spite of this I would say combat is one of the better aspects of this adventure, especially the part where you have to mow down the enemy before he turns on the fryers at your feet. The decoration is pretty good and reinforced by a few cutscenes. Gameplay is a mixed bag, mostly because of the bizarre puzzles. If you see a bunch of lamps to set aflame, you would think you need to get them all lit to proceed...but not so in this case. After much head-scratching I read in the walkthrough that you just had to follow the flames and pull the corresponding switches until the door randomly opens, with only 5 lit flames. Sure it's a simple solution but it seems counter-intuitive at the same time, and not very satisfying. The electrified pool tiles is another case of unsatisfying puzzle solving (and the clue in the room above it seems rather superfluous). The lighting is dark overall and I ran out of flares very early on (thank goodness for binoculars), and the textures need improvements too, especially with establishing consistently climbable textures (you'll see ladders you can't climb up, and non-ladders that are climbable in very specific places). Still, it was nice to explore the town, sewers and subway sections and it was a decent level overall. 46 minutes." - JesseG

"Another not overly great looking contest level but the gameplay at least makes up for it on several occasions. While the lighting in this level is almost constantly flat or not well worked, the atmosphere still is rather okay, with a decent, but too boxy, city architecture (the flyby was rather impressive). Generally the inside areas don't look quite that nicely but there are exceptions like the cathedral; ladder textures are also very uncoherently used - while some textures that "normally" indicate ladders are not, there are a few ladders which don't have regular ladder textures. I also could've lived with a few flares provided for the slightly darker areas, but it's not that annoying as in The Escape. Enemies are decently used if sometimes a bit strangely working, making your way up the tower while under fire was not so fun actually. Coming to gameplay, it's certainly the best aspect of the game, with quite a few unorthodox tasks presented here, like the tile jumping puzzle and the guard chase, there are also a few not so fun moments but it's rather fluent and enjoyable. The lack of door sounds (as usual) and also camera hints are sometimes creating a bit of confusion, but the game is not that large so that it doesn't matter much. The end is also a bit disappointing and the music does not fit here. All in all a game with not so nice visuals but it's playable and rather fun. Spent 25 minutes in here and found both secrets." - manarch2

"As the story hints this level lets you take on the main two tasks in whatever order you choose, which is a nice way to bring the gameplay and narrative together. Visuals are quite inconsistent; there's some original object uses and geometry ideas along with blank rooms with almost no lighting, which makes it a little tough to judge.
The gameplay is namely based around solving puzzles, they are generally okay to work out, but one or two feel a little obtuse, and I seemingly solved the last switch puzzle by accident. It also feels a bit empty at times, and gameplay outside the puzzle sections isn't especially notable beyond one climbing bit and a creative trap or two. A good enough entry, although it seems to suffer some hallmarks of being by an inexperienced (yet creative) designer." - Mman

"I enjoyed this adventure though, I must admit, I got stuck in a couple of places where the solution to my problem was staring me in the face but I could not see it. Also got held up for a while seeking an unmarked climbable area. But, once found, I got on famously. I loved the pillar in the pool puzzle - in fact, there were several well thought out puzzles in this adventure. Nice one." - Staticon

"Playing wise this one is full of puzzles. They are not that hard to figure out so all you have to do is find the items you need to get out this part of London. There is a nice timed run with a guard and surprisingly I made it the first time around. The climbable metal column that isn't marked as such is still a big NO in my book. But for the rest I had a good time." - Gerty

"A nicely designed small area of London. A couple of streets, a church, office blocks and tall crane. In hindsight this should have been a very short level - a search for keys and plugs, place them and go home. Easier said than done. The puzzles, mainly of the trigger-tile type, took some time to figure out, especially the one in a water room to open two doors. There is a hint upstairs, where we see yellow tiles, but I might as well have been looking into the Thames. Better hint: the forum works! Lara starts in the sewers (surprise, surprise), climbs up to the city streets, then into the subway. This subway is still in tact and we presume functioning normally. We see two rather cute trains. I liked the idea of the kiosk switches, and opening the barriers. It was good fun getting onto the crane, but it took a couple of minutes to discover the metal support frame is climbable!, and an extremely short zipline near the top. It is possible to get up to the very top of the crane and see the end of the world which I'm sure the author never intended. We need four plugs to turn off the propellor and get that key someone let fall into the water. Great idea of stopping the guard before he sets Lara on fire. Two keys open the church. I'm not sure what the author intended with this switch/fire puzzle as the door opened before I had finished! We're here to get a key, which triggers a flyby, that shows us we must go back to the sewers. Hmmm! Maybe tomorrow." - CC

"A rather disappointing and abrupt ending to what was becoming a good level. As with the other BtoB levels played so far a few flares would have come in handy. Lots of thugs SAS to kill and one or two timed runs, the one over the fire tiles was tight, but the only puzzles were of which switches do what type. The one in the church was done almost by accident as I only initially saw the three I move to open the switch room. The graphics were OK, but rather bland and did not for me create a great atmosphere. Sound rather standard and lighting would have been fine if more flares. I know gun flashes work but you do get fed up running round firing at all and sundry or constantly stopping to use the bins. A level worth down loading to play." - Whistle

"Fitting use of the texture supply, all ares look good, with many decorating objects. Enemies are gunners, rats, dogs and those thugs still living in the London underground. Very nice puzzles, especially the where-to-step type, well done. Of course I came to the guard who ignites the floor without revolver yet to shoot the guy, so had to make the nice timed run, to reach the end of the corridor before he does the switch, I liked it. The ending was abrupt, we back at the starting sewer with the Golden Key, and job done." - Akcy

"This is the 2nd BtB07 level I've played and once I got into the swing of it, really enjoyed it. Some perplexing puzzles (well, they were for me), a couple of rats, some dogs and several bad guys to shoot as you go in search of 4 valves and 2 keys which get you into the impressive cathedral. If you've got an hour to kill why not have a go at "An Adventure In The Dark"?" - suzieq51

"It was a long search for some keys and fuses but I found the tasks not worth the trouble for just a key. I just don't like having to do a million things (well I am exaggerating a bit here) in order to get just an item when there is no big reward. I am not sure what the deal with guard was but I am guessing you have to catch him before he passes through and sets the floor on fire. Well I managed at first to pass by jumping in between the last two fires but I also managed it the correct way. The many switches puzzle and the jumping onto certain tiles to open doors were good ideas. To be fair it is a good level but it didn't 'click' for me. I found one secret." - Kristina

"I really liked this game, with its lovely bright cathedral precinct (SO refreshing compared to those darker levels - that loading screen picture was a great encouragement in advance), its architecture that spoke of the grandeur of parts of the real city, and the variety of tasks we had to undertake. In this game the dark areas seemed to have a specific purpose, unlike the 2 games I have just played where darkness seemed, discouragingly, to envelope almost everything. What a shame the author forgot to give us any flares for those dark areas we did encounter, then! I started off with the 'SAS' sequence and because I didn't have the revolver that I would have acquired had I gone the 'station' way first, it took me a long time to despatch one particularly tricky guard. (I had to climb up a tower fly-like and this guard would have been shooting at Lara all the way up, otherwise. I only had pistols but 2 revolver shots would have done it!) Later, we come to an intriguing passage with a timed run, which a guard causes to be lit with flames. Had I realised he was about to set off an alarm and had I had the revolver, all would have been easy! As it was I found I could sprint along and then time a jump at the end to make sure I just missed the final flames. But then I had 2 guards to deal with at close quarters, only having the pistols. A tricky time! (Not to spoil too much but my solution involved opening the door!) I found the several 'logic' puzzles, which I generally liked, a bit hit and miss, as I thought the logic a bit suspect in one or two cases (because there were alternative interpretations on occasion; we had to discover by trial and error which one the author had chosen - the flame sequence in the cathedral at the end being one example). I found the whole station area absorbing (but sorely missed those flares!) and eventually discovered everything there (I think!), a couple of things almost accidentally. As others, I liked the barrier-change idea and quite liked the hiding places of the 4 valves. Knowing we had 4 to find - I missed the way to open the 'switch door' first time through, which was why I went the SAS route first - helped us persevere and look in all the possible hidey-holes. Yes, on top of the train, too! Also as others, I could reach the top of the tower structure in 2 different ways and thence the EoW, unfortunately (and the insides of the iron girders were not textured - oh, and I could climb inside the tower guard's lookout post to engage him in something like real hand-to-hand combat but then not leave it!), but it was an interesting experience on the rooftops, so I didn't mind at all! My favourite game so far of the 5 I have now played." - rjb

"I really liked this London level that made use of the old subway system. There were lots of puzzles here that weren't terribly difficult, but did require a bit of thought. I felt like I had to keep on my toes since right around the corner there would be a group of baddies or a puzzle to solve. This builder used many of the allowed audio selections and that was great, especially when used to tell you to get your butt moving, because you are being timed! This level seemed less dark than the last level, so that was nice, and I really liked the buildings, although there were few." - Shandroid

"This fine level from the BtB07 project has most of its action taking place in and around a train station, which is partly a reminiscent of TR3/Aldwych. As you begin, an amazing flyby offers you glances of the places you have to visit. On first look, it seems like there is a whole lot of areas to explore, but as you move along, you realise that they are not that many. There are, however, many things to locate, including fuses and keys, and searching for some of them can be really frustrating (it took me a long time to locate that very well-hidden opening above the roof of the train, although I was sure that there was something going on with those trains and that they were surely hiding something). The atmosphere is very good, the textures are finely combined and there are some nice puzzles to solve, as for the gameplay, although tough at times it's rather entertaining and well-organized. The temple, which is Lara's final destination, is very well-constructed with great atmosphere. Such a shame you don't get to explore more in there, apart from doing two relatively easy puzzles. The level ends a bit abruptly, with Lara finding a key and arriving back at the sewers from where she started. Although her mission was nothing more or nothing less than finding that key, the end still left me with the feeling that there should be something more to follow - or at least that the ending should have been a bit more spectacular." - Ravenwen

"There are some really nice touches here - hiding something within a lamp; climbing on a train to reach another area; good placement of secrets(2) and having the solution to a puzzle close at hand such as the rope trick. Some puzzles were complex in their simplicity. The trick here is not to over - think. The 'end of the world' was fun but I thought I would find another secret there. Nope, just a place I should not have been. It seems from the ending that the author is thinking of a doing a sequel. I'd enjoy that and will be looking forward to it." - Bene

"Ye gods, I got the shock of my life when a couple of dogs jumped up on a block with me, where I'd fondly imagined I was safe. Are they supposed to do that? Anyway, there's much fun to be had in this version of London and I particularly enjoyed the Underground section. There are some good puzzles and plenty of exploring to do in attractively built areas." - Jay

"Once you know what to do, this level is neither very difficult nor very long, but figuring out what exactly it is that you're supposed to do will be what will take you most of the 30 to 40 minutes you'll be spending here. You start out in sewers, and after you reach the surface world it becomes pretty evident that your main task here is to gain entry to a church, and to do so, you head into quests for 2 keys. Easier said than done, because the author has made sure that your quest here doesn't get too easy. While some means - like the unmarked climbable metal tower are rather unfair, mostly puzzles do have some logic to them - and figuring out the pattern shouldn't be too hard if you pay attention to your surroundings, as the builder provides clues as to which switches need to be activated when you're given a number or them, or which tiles open the door on the other side of the room (the author seemed rather fond of these puzzles especially). As far as the looks go - they're rather ok - there's nothing too special about them, maybe lighting could've been better - but on the whole you won't have doubts where you're located. Found 1 of the 2 secrets. 3rd of the 10 levels I played." - eTux

"This was a pleasent surprise: a level that was not fiendishly tricky nor too simplistic; whose physical design was neatly worked out; whose challenges were entertaining yet not too straightforward; and where 'brain-teaser' puzzles took center stage. Although the external architecture wasn't in the highest echelon of level design,it was pleasing nonetheless; and it was refreshing to run around an Underground Station that was logically deserted (due to it being the middle of the night) rather than simply derelict and run down. The opening of the Ticket Barriers was just one of many clever Gameplay touches (scattered thoughout this level) that had me stumped,but whose solution was actually very logical (although the final switch puzzle in the Church was extremely boring,and didn't seem to follow strict logic as the exit door opened before all the switches had been pulled). Enemy placement was effective (what a lovely use of a baddy as a 'fire-starter'!)and the atmosphere was generally convincing. The placement of ticket barriers was occasionally a little excessive (why place one up against a solid wall?) and the 'railway trains' (although charming and a really brave attempt) didn't particularly work. Nevertheless,this is decent adventure. It probably won't win any prizes,but in its own way it's entirely successful." - Orbit Dream

"Some nicely conceived puzzles and the usual searching before Lara finally does her job. The textures aren't fascinating but they seem to be correct. Try it out, naturally, it's a BtB level." - Jorge22

"My second BtB level. You start this one in the sewer, the very last place I'd like to be in, afew steps ahead and you'll be out in the open air and in a beautiful part of London. After a fight with acouple of enemies you'll be greeted with a flyby showing you the rest of the city...here,the author combined a cathedral,a construction yard, nice alleys and an underground train station all in one level (creative). Your objective is to get two keys to gain access to the cathedral where the last part of the level is. One hour of fun gameplay, walking around the train station to get 4 fuses,our only way to find the first key. Another part is jumping around the construction yard while dodging the bullets of an enemy. Once inside the cathedral,you'll face few puzzles and then you're done. Nice gameplay but I wish the author had paid more attention to the texturing (I noticed some window textures were used for blocks or the floor)...otherwise, the creativity here makes it worth to be played." - Shady Croft

"This is not a level with a great environment, but interesting to play. Architecture is not very good, but correct. Gameplay is half-lineal, you need to find two keys taking two routes and solving not easy puzzles to enter the final fortress (cathedral?). I found a very difficult timed run too. The SAS enemies seems not very clever, you can shoot them from the distance and they stand quiet till they dead. Secrets are easy to find. Although it's a night adventure I couldn't find flares! A level not very nice but it will make you think." - Jose

"This was a fairly pedestrian quest along the streets and subways of London. By night, as the title indicates, which means it's dark. Play this one for the puzzles. Near the beginning you have to pull down three of four switches to open a door, the key to the one you're not to pull being on the tops of the kiosks. A little further on you've got to step on the right tiles to open a door across the way (this happens at least once more in the level, maybe twice), and then you reach a more elaborate puzzle involving the placement of tiles (the solution being found in the tiles laid out in an upper story). There's also a hair-tearing timed run near the end, but since I play in god mode I gave up after a while and simply finished the level in flames. I also found it easier to play by bumping up the gamma on my monitor past 75%. I hate it when I have to do that just so I can see comfortably, because it creates a garish effect on the screen that could easily be avoided by the builder providing sufficient lighting. I know, it's a matter of taste, and my distaste for dark levels is well-known by now. I doubt that this level will win the competition, but it's a pleasant enough gaming experience." - Phil

"This level is quite good but it might have been better. There is a lot of inventive puzzles and clever use of objects but there is also irritating things. I really don't like when ennemies shoot me from behind a barrier and that I can't hit them for example. I advise to begin the level by the subway station where you can pickup the revolver with lasersight. Very useful to kill ennemies who are placed above Lara. The two secrets are really easy to find and just require open eyes. Textures might have been used in a better way even if there is some inventiveness again. A lot are stretched or strangely used. Lightings might have been better too but there are quite good. 02/01/07" - TimJ

"NIce level in underground od London and little attack with dogs and some drifters and sas soldiers. One hour of playing with one time trap and few puzzles not to easy on first time to solve. i not saw the point of soldier on top of structure where is door. I come there and shoted sas, but nowhere after to go. On some momments not to easy level, but for before lunch relaxing not too bad." - Ivan

"Starting from an introductory flyby, this is a rather darkish adventure indeed, as you search for a total of four plugs. There are a few puzzles that rely on texture hints and good use of electricity. Very original idea when you have to be quick enough to shoot a guard or he will set your path on fire. The subway station is well designed and towards the end you reach a cathedral area and get a multilever puzzle and a mirror room. It is quite easy to reach the 'end of the world' in some places, but that is only a minor gripe in an otherwise entertaining level." - MichaelP

"This is the first level of the BtB07 I've played. It starts off in a sewer then goes to a small town area and then to the underground in which you spend most of your time. Basically you're looking for two keys, but to get one of them you'll go on a sidequest after four valves. Gameplay is rather on the simplistic side here, although I'll admit I didn't realize what to do in a couple of puzzles here, but thankfully folks at forum where quick to answer so I could finish this one. Textures could have used more work, some textures just don't match with others and you have the occasional unmarked climbable wall and even upside down "danger" signs; lighting is also very simple. 35 minutes, 2 secrets. 01/07" - Treeble