| Reviewer's comments |
"This final part mixes things up a little thematically; it's still mostly Peru-based, but there's some new elements such as some mines. The visuals here feel slightly disappointing though; it's consistently good looking with no major issues, but it feels like there's less big set-piece rooms (although there are still a few impressive ones) and a lot of it is corridors and maze-like labyrinths of rooms that lose the feel of being part of a greater whole. Towards the end I also felt the visuals in general fell off a little and the lighting verged towards monotone without the highlighting that most of the set uses. Certain enemies also use more outdated meshes and effects, but I guess the better versions weren't available back then. The same applies to the gameplay, which is fine and provides more of challenges and exploration of the rest, but it's a lot of corridors and maze-like environments with big standout moments being rare despite being generally well-designed. Like the visuals I felt the gameplay also lost steam towards the end, and I was kind of ready for it be over in the last couple of areas (and it ends pretty anti-climatically). Still very strong in most areas, but also somewhat disappointing, and the slightly lower score it has feels justified." - Mman (17-Jun-2022) |
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| "As this series wraps up, I can't help but feel a bit fatigued at this point. The same pushblock tricks (ie. moving them through a number of different tiles as you disable spike traps to grant access to other tiles) definitely outstayed their welcome. Don't get me wrong, the levels are still good fun and the atmosphere is spot on: I was quite entranced by the use of TR1 textures for the most of these levels and I also loved how Atlantean elements started popping in as we went deeper into the levels. The remeshed demigods worked pretty well as a proud sort of Atlantean warrior (don't remember seeing them anywhere else) and I also liked the hammer demigod with the silver textures as opposed to the usual bronze ones. I also might have softlocked myself when going after the fifth star in the last level by standing on the break-away floor tile too soon, but it was only a minor setback as we all have learned to go through different slots a long time ago. All in all, this was a fairly entertaining series that kept me engaged for nearly a week, but due to it's nonlinear design I wouldn't have made it to the end had I not followed the walkthrough closely — and doing so, my final stats screen was a few minutes short of eight whole hours of gameplay. 3h45min, 6 secrets. 07/20" - Treeble (19-Jul-2020) |
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| "Cleaning up my HD I found this one. Couldn’t get the savedgames that were provided to work (my PC froze) so I played the series from the start. That was not so bad as this South America series is still a treat to do. But as I found out my savedgames didn’t work either. So from level 4 I started from the start and I had to add through TRsgEditor the so needed crowbar and something that is needed for some of the precision shooting one has to do. The same goes for level 5-7. For the rest you better have some free time, as this is a huge adventure. Have to admit that some parts are a bit tedious mainly in the back and fro department but all in all it oozes Tomb Raider." - Gerty (16-Dec-2017) |
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| "The last in the South America series and
as good as ever. Harder but fun. Classic
gameplay, hard enemies and well done
architecture. Another great series from
Jedi Master and a shame that he has ceased
building." - Ryan (05-Jun-2016) |
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| "Having played the previous levels from this series, I expected another great creation, but this time was not the kind of levels I like. First level is very complex, with all those underwater passages making a real huge labyrinth where you go around and around a lot of times through the same places. Second level was a bit better, more lineal and entertaining. Third level was really a torture, with very huge rooms where I had to do the same jumps and tasks a lot of times looking for excessive switches to pull; really bored. Even so, the levels are not bad, again the same style from the previous: a lot of gymnastics, slides with deadly pits at the end, pushable blocks puzzles, lava rooms, many burners and lots of enemies to shoot. A lot of hours of hard gameplay." - Jose (06-Sep-2010) |
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| "This is truly an epic release, worthy of its place in the Hall of Fame. I was rather surprised, however, to note that its average rating score is slightly lower than those of the earlier levels in this series. To me the seventh and final level was best of all. The others had too much crawling around in cramped spaces, but the finale boasted not one but two enormous rooms requiring many tasks to be performed. Gameplay is fairly challenging throughout, without being frustrating to the average player. Still, there were more than enough "slide, jump or die" routines here, and I flew past some (but by no means all) of these just to keep the game moving along. I enjoyed the many exhilerating puzzles, a number of which involved complicated pushblock maneuvers to turn off spikes. I spent something over four hours of net gaming time here, and it was time well spent. Recommended for a brisk workout." - Phil (18-Mar-2009) |
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| "I love the way of Jedi's levelbuilding, he keeps us on the edge as there are barely a few places where we can run around undisturbed, there are always some obstacles to overcome, mainly traps and jumps. Some enemies are very well placed as well, for instance the little spiders attacking in a crawlspace. Well done. The Water Kingdom was my favorite of the series, but I liked it all, thanks for the 15hours of great raiding, finished with 15secrets." - Akcy (26-Nov-2006) |
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| "Jedi Master has impressed me again with his levelbuilding skills. These
three levels were good looking and also fun to play through. To my taste
there's nothing bad in these levels but few things which could have been
done a liitle better. The levels this game include are very same kind of
levels and it would have been funnier if the variation between levels had
been wider. Added to this the ending of the final level was slightly boring
because it's very easy and not very memorable. However, this is very
impressive work and I enjoyed when playing this game." - Samu (26-Nov-2006) |
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| "Although these three levels are almost as good as the rest of the SA levels I will not give them full scores. The last stage was buggy and sent me back to desktop like 30 times. I had to save every minute or so. No problems with the first two levels though. I felt like It was a lot of repeating the same procedures during these levels and that's why there will not be a full score from me. I did not like the enemies as much as in the previous levels. The secrets was also easier this time. Don't take me wrong though.. these levels are top class but compared to other levels by Luis Martins they don't reach the first spot so to speak. Although very close!" - QRS (11-Apr-2005) |
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| "Once again just more of the same but these three levels were still enjoyable. Though I never finished the last one because it kept crashing every few steps when I had reached a certain point. I didn't want to have to give up when I had got that far but when I couldn't open a door because the level crashed every time the flyby showed the door opening I didn't have any other choice. Other than that though I enjoyed these three levels. Even though I couldn't finish the last level I still played for two hours and twenty-five minutes. But this time around I didn't get bored. Well not much anyway. The texturing is once again nice the levels are still too dark and the gameplay is still quite enjoyable. If you liked the first four levels you'll like these levels too. Especially if they don't crash for you." - Magnus (29-Jan-2004) |
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| "On the fifth level of this series (9/9/8/8) and a slight lack of cameras did not spoil some masterful traps and elegant puzzles. However the water maze at the start was slightly annoying not to mention pretty confusing. Enemies were good though: crocs bats rats mosquitoes and a group of tigers. A lot of satisfaction is to be had in playing and getting through this level. It took me over three hours! But at least I found 2 secrets. The sixth level (9/8/9/8) seemed easier than the 5th (thankfully!). Well apart from the final 'trap run' which was very difficult indeed and would require even the best player to practically wear out his 'load game' button. It must be said that this level had a couple of bad points: the first being the crawl spaces where you are attacked by baby spiders and should you be too slow to draw they will trap and kill you every single time. Also there was a handful of (practically) 'invisible' boulder traps. Don't be put off though because this was still a very good level with fluid play nice secrets and good enemies (big spiders demigods bats and those horrible baby spiders!). I completed this in about 2 hours and found 2 secrets. The seventh and final level (10/10/9/9) of this excellent series opens up with a rather annoying water maze. Then to make matters worse I encountered the dreaded crash bug that the older version of this level had. Luckily with a bit of help from the author I managed to grab the updated version. So after an unfortunate start I soon realised that this is certainly the largest and longest of all the SA levels and that it's also almost certainly the best! I just couldn't believe how many traps jumps and puzzles Luis managed to squeeze into this level - and they were mostly interspaced between undead soldiers and demigods! Some of the rooms here were just gigantic giving the level a truly epic feel. The atmosphere was practically unrivaled and really help set up a sense of intimidation. A brilliant final to a brilliant series then! This level took me about 3 hours and I found 2 secrets. The series as a whole took me about 19 hours and I found a total of 15 secrets :) " - gfd (06-Dec-2003) |
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| "Again three fantastic challenging levels with some places really difficult to go through tricky and hard jumps timed runs and traps here and there. Excellent the whole game. I must say one more time that it's a great great job to build these long and complex levels. Enjoy it. Be sure that you'll have a great time." - Cuqui (16-Oct-2003) |
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| "This is really the further adventures through the South American miasma and if you have played the first four levels what you will get here is realistically more of the same. I must say that the beginning of the Water Kingdom was a very confusing and time consuming level just to get a toe hold with the plethora of underwater tunnels leading mostly to a watery demise. If you persist and follow the tunnels systematically you will eventually be rewarded with piecing together the maze and getting your now quite soggy and wrinkly butt out of there. Unfortunately I think the author ran out of ideas and what was new and fresh in the initial levels became worrisome and tedious in these. That is not to say that these are not fine levels quite the contrary but they are really just more of the same. Still if you are masochistic and enjoy watery depths than the first level is for you." - Torry (01-Jul-2003) |
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| "This is gonna be a short and sweet review. If you've played the other levels in this series then in a nutshell they are the same though I thought most of the rooms weren't as overwhelming as the ones in the previous levels and a bit more straightforward. Just don't let the start of number 5 make you want to shelve it like it did for me for quite a while the watery maze of ways to swim aren't as intricate as they seem. I really had a lot of fun in this great looking just over 4 hour trap filled odyssey where I found only 4 secrets 3 in the first and 1 in the last. Geez I guess this review wasn't really that short or that sweet!" - Sash (18-May-2003) |
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| "One more round of tens to this final set of levels in the South American saga. When you get to this point you're already used to Luís' traps and puzzles so you get on a little better. Unless you have the kind of problem I started having as I got to the last level - crashes to the desktop followed by crashes to the desktop - making it a lot harder to play. It all started in the big room with an entrance to the left (lava room) and another to the right (stairs leading to the upper part)... and it kept going from then on! I emailed Luís and he was very nice and tried to solve the problem as best as he could. It could have been the bug in level 7 which I knew nothing about but it wasn't. After several tries he sent me a link to his savegames for the last level. That way I was able to finish the game not without several crashes and without being able to save. Ok I'm guessing there might be something wrong with my LE! Still the game itself apart from my own LE problems is still greatly thought of wonderfully designed in a word as fantastic as the previous. And not too complicated when you get the hang of it - very much like the original TR unlike several custom levels some of my preference some not. A lot of enemies in this last part too: Atlanteans soldiers not forgetting the creepy poisonous spiders the huge and the small alike. Sometimes you have to wander a while until you find out what you have to do where you have to go but then it runs smoothly... Anyway one of the best and once again many thanks to its author of whom I'm anxiously awaiting the next greco-roman series!" - Jorge22 (16-Apr-2003) |
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| "The last levels of 'South America' are the less innovative of the series. They would have been a little different from the first since after four levels (great levels indeed) in the same kind of scene to add three more is a bit boring. I had a little problem at the beginning because I lost my savegames of the levels before and I couldn't find any crowbar to take the stars and go on with the game. If there were a crowbar I didn't find it and this is a serious problem for the people that wants to play 'South America 5-7' as a standalone game. In spite of this South America 5-7 is technically a good game with a medium difficulty and in some parts very confusing. Play it if you like to explore swimming." - Loupar (03-Mar-2003) |
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| "This is the most beautiful levels I ever played. The textures are perfect in all three levels. In this level you find all things a tomb raider player likes. You must do a lot of very hard jumps (in level 5+6 are the hardest jumps). You must jump over fire and through knifes and you must escape from the rolling balls. And all ambushes are in one place. The enemies were some new aliens little and big spiders. The spiders look very great. They have poison. You see bats and soldies crocodiles-baby-dinosaur. And in the end of the level you must escape from a hammer-man. There are a lot objects to find. You must find some keys snake-rings and many stars. The switches you must seek. And a lot of timed-doors you must absolve. The secrets were good. You must find a lever and this lever is open a door on another place. You must flood some rooms and later you must re-flood. This adventures are very hard. But I had a lot of fun. South America is the best adventure I ever played. I was playing 16:45 hours for these seven levels and I found seven secrets. A wonderful adventure for all hardcore-raiders. I hope more levels will come from this author." - Andi Croft (28-Feb-2003) |
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| "I don't know why South America 4 has a better rating than these three levels. They are at least as good and the architecture of the rooms are even better in some places. In my opinion these 3 levels are less difficult that the first ones in this series you don't really need a walkthrough. The Water Kingdom (10/9/9/9) is one of my favourites I like a lot to swim. The puzzles are very logical and the gameplay fluent. In The Secret Gold Mine (9/10/9/9) more enemies to deal with Atlantean demigods and giant spiders some of them really dangerous for Lara's health. Lara finds the treasure she was looking for in The Wyraqocha Myth (10/9/9/9) a golden skull but good jumps are required. The whole gameplay is top quality and classic as we like in Tombraider. I have only one regret in this great adventure: There is no outside areas except a couple of rooms at the end." - eRIC (23-Feb-2003) |
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| "Wow once again Luis Martin has developed some extremely tough fun levels. One thing is for sure though after Egyptian mythology and the South America levels I have the level building style memorized and I automatically always know what to look for. The new characters were ok but I wish the Atlanteans exploded all over. The Water Kingdom: This level was extremely disorienting at first but turned out to be quite a nice level. Not too many crocs around and some different ideas with the rising blocks. The rats from 1 were quite abundant but not threatening and gameplay seemed to go pretty smooth. The Secret Gold Mine: I liked this level quite a bit because the atmosphere was so dreary. This definitely deserves a 10 for atmosphere and the spiders sneaking up on you was just as unnerving. A little bit too much use of the poison but it was ok to handle. I can definitely say I became an expert at tricking and dodging flame emitters. It was tough but by the end I would never really get burnt. The Wyraqocha Myth: This level was mainly huge as it took a couple of hours of really fast gameplay to beat it on the correct route the whole time. Not really as challenging as former levels but it was really linear and satisfying to beat. The hammergod at the end is always cool with his music but maybe there should have been 2 because they were easily in the dust. This was a masterpiece of a series and I wonder what Luis Martin will do in the future." - JRaider66 (07-Feb-2003) |
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| "Despite having played almost 800 levels by now I still found this latest set of levels by Luis to be a challenge. They aren't impossible though and the hardest parts are usually the obstacle courses with the spikes lava boulders - maybe a little fire thrown in for fun. What makes these so long to get through is the large confusing areas because usually there are many well hidden switches and pushable blocks to find before you can progress any further - some of them have useful camera work and some don't. What's needed though is a great deal of time and patience to find everything and figure out the order to do things in. As with his other work the atmosphere here is what makes the levels ones that should be played by every Tomb Raider fan. Luis is truly an artist and is very talented at building levels that you can truly lose yourself in." - RaiderGirl (05-Feb-2003) |
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| "The Water Kingdom (10/8/9/9 1:15 hours 1 secret): Starting in water this time you need to collect two stars for progression and the Golden Silver and Bronce Key as well as a Golden Serpent which you will use in the next level. You get all the ingredients you are used to if you played part 1-4: a few short timed sequences switches spikes collapsible tiles movable blocks (again a nice puzzle variation) flooding and draining water tricky action with slopes burners lava and the trademark flybys in the bigger rooms. Also two simple torch puzzles and a zip line. I thought that the 30 big rats were maybe a little overdone even though of course a suitable enemy in the damp environment. You also get a few bats crocodiles mosquitoes and a room with a bunch of white tigers on steroids. It is 'more of the same' but it still manages to keep the interest through excellent and diverse gameplay. The Secret Gold Mine (8/8/9/9 1:15 hours no secret): Again truly in style with all the above listed ingredients but somehow this was the level in the series that I enjoyed the least. Maybe it was because the environment looked similar to the previous levels and not like a goldmine at all (the few carts and short rail track seemed oddly out of place). But more likely it was because the gameplay was rather tedious for me in maneuvering your way around many of those burners which seriously interferes with the flow of the game. The move to get the star was kind of cool and you find another Golden Serpent and get to use all the keys from the previous level. I also thought the Atlantean demigods were often rather unfairly placed and did not belong here and while I always think the small and the giant spiders are cool I simply hate it when those little buggers stalk you in crawlspaces and inadvertently poison you to death. The flooding of the lava rooms was still impressive and yet again movable blocks were well used. The backtracking with the torch was also a little long and tedious. Still of course a very solid adventure and the end with a blades burners and a nice timed run over raising blocks. The Wiraqocha Myth (9/9/10/9 1:45 hours 1 secret): The grande finale of the series and indeed it is huge. After an action packed start with the usual suspects you reach a big room which you need to explore around to eventually get five stars. You make use of a torch twice there are a few burners again and later you get to a very high lava room and a smart but a little tedious movable block puzzle. When you think you get closer to the ending you are reaching yet another room where you need to work for Gold Silver and Bronze keys that give you access to your prize: the golden skull and you have a little encounter with a hammergod at the very end. Again the choice of enemies did not work too well for me as the many guards seemed as much out of place as the Atlantean demigods and the fire wraiths are annoying as they make you repeat long trips. A nice touch though to throw in a few of the cute little dinos from part 4. So all in all I have to say that Luis has provided me with two series to play which both took around 10 hours of net gaming time to complete and to keep things interesting over such a long period of playing time is quite an achievement. I sure hope he is already working on a new series in a different location in which we can lose ourselves soon." - Michael (14-Jan-2003) |
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| "Great adventures continue in better and more powerful atmosphere. With very big pleasure I played these levels. Lots of improved puzzles better traps. A lot of swimming and swimming in very good atmosphere of water empire of Master Jedi!" - Ivan (05-Jan-2003) |
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| "Its difficult to know where to start reviewing this game. It consists of 3 parts and they are all very long and full of adventures. To do justice to the author there should have been 3 reviews in my opinion. The Water Kingdom The Secret Gold Mines and The Wiraqocha Myth make up this level and when they are blended together the results are brilliant. Great flybys that make you feel you are actually there. Damp green slimy walls and floors where water has been and so on are so realistic. As you get near the end of each bit I found myself thinking there surely can't be any more - but the surprises and many traps just kept on coming! I loved the spider babies and especially liked the mini dinosaurs. They made a satisfying sound when shot at - great stuff. The whole level is a tribute to a great author and in my opinion exceeds the quality of Eidos' offerings. Load it up now and it will keep you amused for hours." - Doug E (22-Dec-2002) |
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| "A long set of three levels each containing different features and baddies the worst of which were evil spiders but the three levels do contain a wide range of enemies. Start in the Water Kingdom tunnels collect the snake first disable the spikes and then empty and refill the caverns to get to various switches as well as moving blocks around to plates on the floor to disable floor spikes. The second level the Gold Mine leads you through tunnels with nasty toothed doors to a large cavern with several doors and exit you need to investigate. The last level is the most exacting as you have to find 5 stars some of which are very well concealed others rather obvious. Once the stars are found you exit the large room area through one of two ornate doors (I had trouble here and various times further on in the level with it crashing to the desk top when Lara looked in certain places). On then although you think you have finished to another set of problems and a rather weak finish. Beware through out of the frequent lava pits. The puzzles are mainly of the 'find your route' type and working out how to shove blocks around. There is however enough of these to really keep the interest. The textures tend to repeat throughout each level and could be confusing at time as your immediate reaction is 'I have been here before' but also adds to the fact you need to be observant. The lighting etc fits the mood and atmosphere of each section and were well constructed and thought out. Definitely a set of levels to play and enjoy." - Whistle (18-Dec-2002) |
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| "Another really really good set of levels in the South America series. Again lots and lots of puzzles and traps and exploring to do often following the previous pattern; a large central room and smaller adventures off to the sides where you have to find items or/and levers to be able to proceed. A very good concept that Luis has used with all his skills. It's no easy gameplay but a real challenge (and even so not impossible) and I think that makes it a lot of fun!" - G.Croft (12-Dec-2002) |
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| "Three more levels of this wonderful adventure. I admit looking at the screenshots at first I thought well it looks like the previous levels. I was right in general the idea is still the same and the atmosphere is the same but you don't feel like everything is repeated. If you know the author's style you can progress through most of the levels but it's not going to be easy even if you are a fan of this series. Moving blocks flooded areas that need to be drained and the opposite are the elements used again. The stars keys and the fire spike traps are also present. Some of the stars are well hidden especially one behind a block it's easy to miss it with the switch making you believe that you revealed what you had to. I will not spoil the fun by saying too much these levels are highly recommended." - Kristina (10-Dec-2002) |
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| "Still wonderful adventures but a little tedious in some ways this time around. You know there are going to be the moving block puzzles. You know there will be firetraps sliding jumps collapsible tiles etc. But this time I feel that Luis has sacrificed gameplay for opponents and in my estimation there were far too many and sometimes unfairly appearing. I also thought the placement of guards in last part was a bit mundane after the innovative enemies in levels 5 and 6. I just became bored and played several other levels in between times and consequently lost my train of though and became hopelessly lost in part 7 and had to resort to a savegame (thank you FG) to continue." - Momster (10-Dec-2002) |
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| "17 hours 38 minutes needed to reach the end nearly 72 kilometers traveled 13600 rounds of Ammo 10 medi packs used and 12 secrets found. It is a fabulous adventure from beginning to end and up there with the big series like the Hidden Garden Tarragona and The Rescue. Although the last batch of levels is of the same quality as the rest there were a few things I found slightly annoying but that didn't really spoil the overall picture. For once I really didn't like the troops of SAS guards you meet in the last part. There were so many new and mystic enemies throughout the whole adventure that those most common foes seem far too ordinary for the big final. It's not Luis' fault but I've played so many mediocre level's with SAS guards lately that I associate this type of enemy with a rather tedious gameplay. Furthermore there was an unnecessary lever feast in the big room near the end and I thought the final pushable block puzzle you have to solve in order to get one of the keys was a bit time consuming. Finally after all the excitement you live through in the course of this series the easy to outrun hammergod at the end seems a bit of an anti climax especially since the end comes really abrupt. But it is understood that you can't please everyone and that there are bound to be a few things that are not perfect in such huge project. If you have played part one to four you know what to expect atmosphere- and gameplaywise. There are a few new brilliant enemies (like the rather cute muskrat) and the Secret Goldmine offers a slight variation of the Aztec style that you get in all the other levels. You have to push a lot of blocks do some tricky timed runs find many levers solve three torch puzzles flood and drain a few areas and make it past all those flame emitters with the help of the collapsible tiles. There are no more things to shoot though. Only one set of bones and one sphere if I remember correctly. I liked the fact that you always get helpful cut scenes when you need them as some parts of the game are rather non-linear. So if you observe carefully you won't get stuck. The enemies are placed well there are some great jumps to perform and I like the overall flow and the mix of different tasks. All in all a great series that is a definite must play for every TR addict." - Dimpfelmoser (05-Dec-2002) |
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| "Some people are going to tell you that these new offerings from Luis are just the same in terms of look and feel to the previous South America levels and they're right but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Generally speaking booting up new South America levels by Luis is almost like stepping into a pair of well-loved and comfortable slippers - you know exactly how they're going to feel and you look forward to getting into them after a hard day at work. Throughout these three new ones the difficulty level is extremely high in some places and your reload key will be getting quite a lot of attention during the 6-7 hours you'll be playing. You get all of Luis' devious trademarks here in the form of collapsible tiles fire lava spikes moveable blocks raising blocks and timed runs. As with his previous levels these nasty traps are often combined; for example there is one hellish sequence involving crossing a lava pit only to reach a room containing a multi-spiked floor and a really evil boulder gauntlet. All in all it's another good set of levels from Luis; however I must admit that I didn't enjoy these as much as the previous South America levels. As I've already said they look and feel wonderful in a nice familiar way but the gameplay suffers this time around in my opinion. To highlight a few annoyances which explain my low rating in this area: Firstly there were far too many moveable blocks for me this time around and I started to tire of these rather early on. Admittedly Luis knows how to make those boring block puzzles quite interesting but they were too numerous here as far as I was concerned. Secondly firetraps began to rate very highly on the frustration scale for me especially during level 6 ('The Secret Gold Mine'). I lost count of how many times Lara turned into a crispy critter. Thirdly there are many more enemies to tackle here than there were in Luis' previous levels. Original and inventive though these enemies are (giant rats spiders white tigers Atlanteans compies and so on) there were just too many of them for my taste. Also many were placed pretty unfairly I thought such as rats and spiders in tight crawlspaces and so on. Finally and most importantly my game crashed continuously towards the end of the final level and this prevented me from finishing the game. Don't get me wrong these levels are still great fun but the novelty seems to be wearing off a little now. Perhaps it is finally time for Lara to consider quitting her South American adventuring and letting Luis build her a brand new world in which to wander." - Bex (05-Dec-2002) |
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