Level reviews

"Hm. I don't know about this one. Not much really happens here, it's just a puzzle to restore power and while it's totally on-topic, it feels like a fragment of a larger plot which was never told. If you compare this to levels which include chapter segmentation and visual storytelling, it can't really stand strong. But it definitely gives you that isolation mood I was cherishing in Thierry Stoorne's levels - the feeling of solitude and longing for something unspecified far, far away, so if you're playing through the entire package (which I assume), take this one in the middle order, after adventures with great prologues and before those with great finales, and this way you might enjoy it the most." - DJ Full

"This level had a huge amount of potential.It begins with an epic fly-by through a giant spaceship - but then presents us with the uninspiring date "2018".Why not do something extravagant,and set it at an impossibly long time in the future? You begin by exploring the corridors of this giant craft - and soon come to the disappointing conclusion that (despite excellent texturing and imaginative lighting) it all looks profoundly and confusingly similar,no matter where you end up going.There are the foundations of an interesting story- line - which come to nothing by levels end.A huge arsenal is amassed,which appears to point the way to some thrilling alien confrontations - which never happen.The level flowed a little oddly for me;with tasks being achieved without any particular sense of direction. It's something of a wonder,then,that I ended up being as impressed as I was.The authors imagination goes into overdrive on numerous occasions (the strange aliens;the details in the spaceship interiors;the tumbling asteroid;the weird and deadly alien plants on the surface of the planet beneath the spaceship);which,combined with the general ease of each and every task,meant that progression managed to be entertaining and quirky. Not a masterpiece,then;but imaginative,strange and memorable." - Orbit Dream

"Lara must rescue her ship from an alien infestation. The gameplay is mostly exploration, the traps and puzzles that were present were trivial to deal with. The hunt for 3 circuits and 2 batteries unfortunately becomes more of a chore than a challenge, and the level felt like it ended before it really got started. The enemies took a while to start actually engaging Lara, making the combat feel weak overall in this level. More encounters would have helped, especially a couple with multiple enemies at once. The decor is good for the most part and pairs with the lighting well. While the architecture of the ship is decent, there are a lot of rooms that feel like they were clones of each other which makes the environment less immersive. Audio is used effectively, although just a bit sparsely. The cutscenes were well crafted and help convey the story and objective to the player. The textures are a bit wallpapered in the main corridors, which compounds the "cloned room" feel of the level. Otherwise they are functional, with a few exceptions on the planet surface where you can see a number of squished natural textures. Colored lighting is used effectively and looks good across the different sets of areas, contrasting the ship to the planet surface. Overall there are repeating elements in each aspect of the level, making it a decent but somewhat tiring raid. 53 minutes." - JesseG

"This is the first level I play from this years' back to basics and I had lots of fun with it. I like the simple and clean gameplay style, you go through different rooms in order to find some missing puzzle items that you need to progress further. It could be a big confusing and times, especially when you have to backtrack - you can get lost in the corridors because most of them look very much alike. Otherwise, a very entertaining adventure which captures the alien type atmosphere perfectly." - misho98

"Since the competition is now behind us, I've decided to play these BtB levels in reverse order of their current ratings. That way my playing enjoyment will almost certainly increase with each succeeding download. The long opening flyby in this level was a fitting introduction to the visual feast to follow. If it had been presented in an Egyptian setting, I suppose I would have found it quite ordinary. However, the ambiance and special effects made possible by the alien/space motif does far more for me than merely putting lipstick on a pig. I find myself constrained to reward the builder's efforts with high scores because of the theme's freshness and eye-pleasing qualities. On the other hand, meaning no disrespect to Kitkat, I must leave room in my scores for the higher rated levels still to come. We've never seen anything like this in custom levels, and my hat is off to the team that put it all together. I spent just under an hour here, and the excellent lighting showed off the exquisite spaceship textures in all their glory so that I never once felt the need to use a flare. If Edge of Forever is the lowest rated level in the competition, I've got quite a treat in store for me." - Phil

"After unearthing all of Earth's ancient hidden treasures, Lara turns her sights on space in this year's Back to Basics competition. Starting with this level, named after - hang on, let me Google that - an old Star Trek episode? Well, I guess that's appropriate. Anyway, the computer on Lara's spaceship suffers a failure due to aliens, and I must admit that I like how the author just casually calls Lara an "interstellar archeologist." Sure, why not! I'm still not completely sold on the space theme for this year's competition, but the people who created the objects did an excellent job. Initially, I was dazzled by all the pretty sci-fi objects, but I soon realized that there's not much to this level. The gameplay consists almost exclusively of running through doors and pulling switches. The layout of the spaceship is a bit confusing, and there are doors and near-identical hallways everywhere. Once you make it out of the first area, your main problem will simply be finding which door to start with. Once you've found the right door, it's just a matter of pulling a switch, going to the next room, picking up a key and going to the next room. Most of the level plays out like that - you're just running from one room to the next. There's barely any platforming, no real puzzles and - despite the fact that you get roughly five dozen large medipacks - almost no enemies. It's not nearly as exciting as the story would lead you to believe. The level is a bit gray and drab for my tastes - surely a spaceship can look more interesting than this? - but I did appreciate the smaller touches, like having some other crew members hanging around, and rooms that served different purposes. It made the place feel a bit more realistic. Assuming you don't get lost (but you will), the level ends after roughly thirty minutes, with Lara reaching the bridge and - I assume - piloting the ship to a safe location. None of which solves the alien problem that caused all of this to begin with, but hey - no one ever said Lara was an interstellar exterminator." - Magnus

"The gameplay in this level is pretty straightforward – a little too straightforward at times, as there's practically no challenge. There are hardly any timed runs, traps, difficult jumps or puzzles. The only real challenge is in keeping track of which rooms you have already visited from the nine nearly identical doors radiating out from a hub area. I'm not even sure what Lara was trying to achieve in this level. Near the beginning, she gets an LCD tablet that says - Bring back life form. Priority one', but never does bring back any life form from the planet she visits. The planet's surface is underused – a bit more exploration there would have been quite interesting, especially with those deadly plants around.
There are practically no enemies – just a couple of guards and an alien creature. The guards don't even shoot at Lara unless she shoots at anything else (such as crates or a switch cover) in their vicinity. There are some scorpion-like bugs that follow Lara around in certain areas, but it's easy to get rid of them by standing over a grate. The sole secret is not hard to find, but does require a bit of a leap of faith.
The visuals are not bad – the space ship is nicely built, and the large windows and skylights provide good views of the lovely sky outside. However, the lighting is somewhat bland and dark, the rooms are overly large and mostly empty, and there's no single area that stands out, especially given that nearly all the rooms and corridors look the same. I did like the science lab where Lara's colleagues are studying alien flora and fauna. I assumed, given the story, Lara would return there at the end, but she never did.
Overall: A rather short and simple level – not that there's anything wrong with that (especially the - short' part, considering that BtB builders often have a tendency to build ultra-long levels). But it didn't really leave much of an impression on me." - Mytly

"I had taken a longer break from playing custom levels and this first BtB2018 level was a great way to return to the fun. Right from the long intro flyby I thought this adventure had a great sense of place. The setting is very atmospheric, even if it has many dark corners (usually not my favourite) and many rooms are quite bare and square and seem to look the same, but somehow this helped giving the impression of being on a desolate speaceship. Gameplay flows nicely and easily and is maybe almost too simplistic in terms of making your way from switch to door to switch to door by and large. Any hint at a puzzle is so obvious that you can hardly call it such and thus my main challenge was to find the one room again where I had forgotten to complete a task - as the hallways all look very similar indeed. The poison plants room was therefore a very welcome. albeit short, change of setting. Once you find the three circuits and two batteries you are off to a quite sudden ending, so this is a very enjoyable and not very taking raid in which you really will feel as if you were there yourself. Well done!" - MichaelP

"Like a lot of classic stories within sci-fi, we start off with things going immediately awry. A generator's been destroyed, the ship storage's area been flooded & mysterious alien lifeforms now newly inhabit many previously populated areas of the ship, being determined to take control of their new home & unwilling to give it up without a fight. So in layman's terms, a very typical Tuesday within the vastness of outer space. And what a promising start to 2018's Back to Basics contest this level is! Gameplay is very straightforward from beginning to end, relying on a lot of backtracking between areas to obtain necessary key items required to progress, such as a security card or circuit boards(with very few but appropriately brief voiceovers from Lara provided by Greenkey2, depending on the situation). Its all complimented well by good utilization of lighting, texturing & assets provided to the builder for the contest, combining to create an atmosphere that leaves the player feeling almost unwelcome within their surroundings, but all the more captivated to press on and see what lies ahead, in spite of the unnerving situation. And while backtracking quickly became confusing in no time flat for me personally, on top of the ending occurring a little too abruptly & leaving the plot point of Lara searching for an important lifeform unresolved, I still had a fun time with this one. Greatly recommend this to players looking for something a bit more laid-back." - Ceamonks890

"A level without difficulties, eminently playable, very satisfactory and recommended. Its design is refreshingly clean, without lots and lots of ornamentation as in the majority of the levels of this Btb series – a clear sign of good taste. As to enemies, there are few, but there is an unusual one in the series, the herd of little deadly critters, and I enjoyed very much the solution for getting rid of them! The story plot is not very understandable, for what was the life form that Lara had to bring back? And by the way, why the captains were found dead? But at least, there is only one complaint referring the gameplay: I don't know why there were so much shipquakes in certain areas, not related to explosions. The action, as such, proceeds logically and without much space for being stuck – a good point. The finding of the secret required some imagination: who would deduce those transparent ledges? But judging from the distance between visible ledges… perhaps this could be guessed. I also found plenty of ammo and medipacks, and I considered the camera hints very fairly placed. A good, sound, enjoyable level, without doubt." - Josey

"What a lovely introduction this is to the setting of BtB-Space. After spending nearly two months to get through HyperSquare, I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a relaxing and somewhat linear raid. Enemies are few and far inbetween and there are a few puzzles spread out through this base as you make your way to collect three circuit boards and two batteries. Nothing particularly revolutionary but still, like I said, a solid and well crafted level. 45 minutes, 1 secret. 06/18" - Treeble

"This level is really interesting and really designed well, you had to find 3 curcits and 2 batteries, There weren't too many enemys but the puzzles were really well though out." - JoeTheCrazyGamer

"This is both quite a clever idea and more than a little confusing. I was initially convinced I was galloping through the game far too fast and missing lots of stuff along the way. However, by dint of trying to search in a logical pattern (not exactly my default setting) I managed to negotiate all the look alike areas without too much trouble. I'd say this year's B2B is off to a reasonably good start." - Jay

"Playing this year's BtB levels in order (as I always do, yes I am one of those people), this was a pleasant introduction to the contest. The gameplay is nothing difficult and there aren't really any thinking puzzles has such, but I liked the mostly linear flow (there are a couple of occasions where you can choose which path you want to do first) that takes you from one task to another with few stuck moments. There are a couple friendly guards dotted around, but they do turn a bit hostile later on once you start shooting. The environments, atmosphere and objects are all well assembled and whoever was in charge of these deserves a round of applause. I'm looking forward to the rest of them now." - Ryan

"While not a bad level in any regard, I think this will probably be my least favourite level of the competition. The gameplay has a few moments, but is generally rather simplistic and mostly based around finding levers and items and solving a few basic puzzles. The looks are solid and I liked some pretty nice glimpses into other areas or outside, but still most rooms are not very complicated, the visuals are also not that strong as well. Although there are rooms where the lighting is worked out fairly decently, I found most areas to look quite repetitive and the sole change of setting, the desert area, also wasn't utterly convincing, with oddly used fog, fairly wallpapered textures and also some texturing mistakes. Occasionally charming, but not really strong usage of objects here; the enemies also play a minor role given all that ammo you can find here, but I liked the alien critters and how to avoid them. Recommended overall for half an hour of uncomplicated and exploration based gameplay but, as said, not among my top contenders this year. Found the sole, in a way "half-hidden" secret." - manarch2

"This is mostly set in a spaceship, outside of a small segment in an alien cave. The architecture and design is generally okay with an atmospheric general lighting style, but it's kind of monotone with most of the main areas having a very similar (albeit competent) design and texturing. The object use also varies between good and the occasional area where it feel like objects were added for the sake of it rather than to convey something setting-wise. The gameplay is quite straightforward, the somewhat similar areas makes it slightly more confusing than it actually is, but the level is small enough for that to not be a major problem. The individual tasks are decent, but there's nothing especially complex, and the tasks are quite compartmentalised, which avoids frustration but also makes the layout a somewhat disconnected series of challenges (with one or two exceptions) rather than something more intricate. A decent level but doesn't have anything stand-out." - Mman

"Summary: Seemingly significantly inspired by Alien, Lara must contend with extraterrestrial terrors of multiple sizes on this short, straightforward level. A good introduction to the otherworldly objects and textures of space, with plentiful pickups and few enemies, the level was easy without too much gameplay beyond correct switches. Although it lacked spectacle or any challenging puzzles, the level succeeds in making tasks clear and the atmosphere intriguing. Details: Like other reviewers I played this level first in 2018's BtB, and I'm glad I did since while it was simple, the architecture and pleasant lighting and textures made the level fun to explore. What a great, cinematic beginning to the level, with a necessarily timed swim to fix the problem. I found the small aliens to be not only a good nod to the 1979 film, but also fairly easy to avoid after the scare whenever I accidentally awakened them. Health was never an issue, particularly because of the very cool healing pods. A good deal of the level was a similar-looking base station, and in fact some of it was so similar looking as to be confusing or even monotonous to navigate, but the brief visit to the surface of an alien planet was really fun. I would have enjoyed more time dodging toxic areas and fighting the large aliens on that red, dusty world, which reminded me of the fish level in Ocarina of Time. The level did not finish with as clear a story as it seemed to begin with, but I would happily play it again and would recommend others interested in BtB 2018 to play this level first. 1 hour 20 minutes on first play-through." - Cbl

"Smooth, pleasant and quite easy - which is not a bad thing. I call this level "Holidays in space". Lots of running and some uncomplicated puzzles, a bit of exotic alien exploration with poisonous plants that I liked. Overall - the balanced gameplay. There was a bit of shooting, yet I never had a reason to somehow spend my collection of medkits. During short time the scenery switches few times and there is even one outherworldly encounter with extraterrestials. I've got lost a few times cause dark corridors looked quite similar, but I believe something like that would happen on a real ship. Enjoyable, relaxing level." - Alien Autopsy

"This is a good level to open up the BTB2018 competition. It provides a fluid gameplay with easy and simple tasks, but fun nonetheless. Still, I think it's too basic for the standards of the competition. There are very few enemies as well, with only one weapon besides the pistols (which makes you miss the combat). Traps are scarse and not so threatening. What this level deffinitely accomplishes is the atmosphere, it is also the good care for lighting and textures that makes the charm. Suitable for every player." - Feder

"I rather liked the textures that the builder applied, a well done job, I think. It's quite a simple level, with few enemies and no traps that I can remember, consisting more of exploration inside a space vessel, with the odd teleportation scene and a promising beginning in which there's an explosion aboard and Lara starts underwater. The atmosphere and sounds were ok, everything looked pretty solid to me. I liked the worms that occasionally came out of wherever and the simple, ingenious way in which one could get rid of them. Nice. I don't think I found the secret." - Jorge22

"A nice little level with fluent and straightforward gameplay. Find a switch to open a door or raise a block to reach higher areas, find some circuits and batteries, push some buttons, that's approximately a short summary of the gameplay. Not at all hard to play, this level is perfect for beginners and also perfect as an introductory level for the series. I gave a lower review for the second category, because there are just a couple of enemies here and there, and only one secret, which is not so hard to figure out. Also traps are scarce, one laser trap, one burner trap, and poisonous plants, that's about it. Conveyor belt trap, however, was very nicely developed, but it is also very easy to avoid. What I particularly did not like is a longer push-pull sequence with really nasty bugs sucking Lara's blood, but that's just something I personally don't like (the bugs in any form). This should not be understood as a necessarily bad thing, it's just the matter of my own taste. I didn't like those bugs in the original game either! The last two categories are definitely the best part of this level. The builder created really a nice atmosphere, excellent texturing, lighting really great and realistic, camera works also nice, the initial flyby also well developed and adjusted. A nice and easy level to play, for a change. Well done!" - Nina Croft

"The first BtB level I play this year and the first nice surprise. I liked the objects and the musics, but I couldn't see too many enemies or traps. The gameplay is simple and easy, only pull some switches/levers and look for several objects; not difficult tasks, correct use of sounds and cameras to show the triggered objects, few backtracking... The best were the well applied textures and the lighting. Really a level nice to play suitable for everybody, and also a good introduction to this BtB set of levels. Good work!" - Jose