Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Late CTF Level Review Number 04: Temple of darknes

(Against my better judgment, I will review this level offline. I may later on adjust the rating when I finally get around to hosting this online.)

GAMEPLAY:

The layout is a lot better than I thought it would be. Of course, one could imagine I had very low expectations when I saw the name “Temple of darknes.” The level is symmetrical, or at least it’s suppose to be (I found a missing spring), so I can’t complain about balance too much. The layout is bumpy here and there, and it looks Jazz unfriendly. It’s also too cramp in a lot of places, and some of the dead-ends are annoying. If the dead-ends around the bouncer powerup were shorter, I wouldn’t mind them as much. There are probably too many dead-ends (however small they may be) overall. I can see why most of the layout is the way it is, but I don’t see the point for making those areas with the horizontal springs; they just look pointless to me. From what I can tell, there are a lot of pointless events in this level like springs that could be avoided. In general, spring placement is horrendous. And for the biggest problem of all, there are some missing borders at the top areas which we all know can allow for the flag bug to appear. A two-tile (three-tile recommended) border at the edges of the level would fix this problem.

EYE CANDY:

It could be a lot better in many places. The huge areas of the same tiles look awfully bland. Another thing I dislike about the eye candy is the lighting. The lighting looks horrible outside of the temple, so some “Set Light” events would have been useful here. While I’m on the subject of “outside of the temple,” let me point out that the background is incredibly boring. The last time I checked, EvilMike did include BG tiles in his temple set, so I advise using them. The only thing that makes this eye candy any good at all is the usage of the small brick tiles. Granted it’s a little annoying in the 3rd layer (as it could be confusing), it makes a few areas in the level look a lot less dull. But I have to say, a found a few tiling areas with those bricks.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

I suppose for the size of the level a few extra carrots would be a good idea, but some of them are too close to one another. In regards to the carrot placed above the green-red-green spring combo and to the other carrot near the bouncer powerup, I suggest removing at least one of them (preferably the latter). The ammo could have been distributed better, such as with more ammo in the top and center areas and a little less at the bottom. I should mention that TNT can be slightly useful, such as for getting the bouncer powerup through the wall, but I feel it’s in too large of a quantity and should be closer to the bottom to where that powerup is. As for the ice, I see no use for it unless there’s some secret area somewhere (which I doubt). Also, I wouldn’t advise on multiple powerups of the same weapon.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Nope. I’m thinking 5.7 for my rating.

PS: I don’t know why this is called “Desert Storm” on J2O while its name is “Temple of darknes” in the actually level itself. Some continuity would be nice.

Oopsie :) the found level :P now the revieuw, a avarage level, not to big not to small try next time a tillte bit harder![This review has been edited by Lutijn]

Bleh.
Bad eyecandy, awful gameplay, a lot of bugs, you are prone to getting stuck, bad layout, bad flow, bad everything. No download reccomendation, but, nice try. You shouldn’t make a CTF level unless you have a lot of experience making levels. I tell everyone this. They don’t listen. When they don’t listen, they get 5.0’s.
Overall: Bad
Download reccomendation: No
Host this often: No

Nice level!

1-Great eyecandy!
2-great ammo placed.
3-great base placed!

an 7.7 from me!

Lets start:

1.bad backround only 1 color
2.no eyecandy on layer 7 and 6
3.tiles on layer3 okay/nice
4.Eyecandy can better
5.layer5 is nice
6.that beldright is nice
7.ammo placement can better/good
8.the bouncer can you get with TNT and normal

Overall a 6.5 from me
to play this online? : nah
To download: Yes