EvilMike’s “Marshland of Evil” has long been one of my favorite levels of all time, and Agamas “Swamps” tileset is probably my favorite tileset of all time, so I finally decided that I should rate this level. And I have to say, it’s even better than I remembered.
EYECANDY
Tileset Use: It is very hard to use Swamps really badly, but it is even harder to use it very well. And this level definitely uses it very well. The lush greenery, which is lacking in many levels using this tileset, adds great atmosphere to the level, as does the shadows cast upon the leaves in different parts of the level. Eyecandy is nothing amazing, but certainally looks as good as this tileset allows. The spider webs are well-placed. In fact, this is pretty much a perfect level eyecandy-wise.
Creativity in Tileset Use: Creativity in Agama tilesets is not that flexible. After all, if you use it too different from the original intended use, it ends up looking pretty derned bad. Still, this level uses it as creatively as possible without making everything look horrible. The interesting placement of the different pieces of eyecandy does not interfier with level flow, nor does it make the level look bad. In fact, it is not very easy to make eyecandy that does not at least slightly interfier with gameplay using this tileset, but EvilMike managed to make eyecandy that even helps level flow, such as the sighing (sleeping) jaguar with the float up.
Tile Errors: If you look really really really closely, you can see a few things in the leaves that are not exactly completely accurate. Regardless of this, the level still does not have as many tile errors as you would expect for a level using this challenging but rewarding tileset. There were no errors in the ground tiles, and the shadows that were casted by the various objects were as near to flawless as you can possibly get. EvilMike did an excellent job with eyecandy especially in this level, and definitely this is the best level eyecandy-wise using this tileset that I have ever laid eyes upon.
PLACEMENT OF STUFF
Carrots: This is a big level. What I am trying to get at here is that I may miss one or two things in the next few paragraphs, but feel a hundered percent free to correct me. I could only find two carrots in this level. Both of them were full energies and located about equal distances from the perspective bases (one was right of the blue base, the other below the red.) They are placed fairly out in the open, and are both about equally as easy to get. This is good placement, and while most EvilMike levels do tend to have a lot of carrots, this one seems to lack a bit. Maybe one more carrot would have done it. This may be because the level is so big or it may not be, but there was sometimes times of carrot drain. However, the generator time was fair, so this was not that much of a problem. Overall, carrot placement was very good.
Powerups: This is the area where I will probably miss something. From what I could find there were powerups for the following weapons: bouncy, seeker, pepper spray, and RF. The bouncy powerup was located in an area that requires some skill in jumping to get to, which is fair placement. The seeker was hidden in an area that can only be reached by use of the warp in the upper right corner of this level. The pepper spray was pretty much out in the open, being that it is a somewhat underpowered weapon. The RF was more out in the open than I expected, but for a level so big, the RF placement was fair. Overall, weapon placement was quite good, but the sheer number of powerups sometimes made me wish that there was another full energy carrot in the level.
Basic Weapons: Basic weapon placement was all-around very good. The variaty of basic weapons was enough to make them so they were not useless in the face of so many powerups. Still, there was nothing that detered the player from using powerups instead of basic weapons, and players that decide to only use basic weapons in this level will probably end up being toasted. Still, it is obvious a lot of thought was put into the placement of them, and points are due where points are due.
GAMEPLAY AND FLOW
Flow/Navigation: Flow was very good, though there are a few annoyances that make the level a little worse flow-wise. The trees, while they do provide good access to the different parts of this level, can be annoying to those who take a run-and-jump approach to playing. This level does not seem as adaptive to different types of play as some other EvilMike levels, but still is no slouch in this area. The more I played it, the more natural it felt. The level, which may seem a bit overwhelming at first, really is not that hard with enough practice. There seems to be several planned routes to follow, but going out of them did not really cause much damage.
Layout: This level feels large. I am not sure whether it is actually large or not, but while playing, it really feels like it. This could be attributed to the tileset, but in reality the level is actually only a managable 150×70 tiles (Distopia, in contrast, is 115×60 tiles.) Still, layout was all-around excellent. On paper, the layout even looks better than during play. Still, it is obvious to see that this level was well planned out beforehand. Certain “touches” like the sucker tube trees add to the overall layout and mask some problems that could have made this level be much worse layout-wise. An excellent layout.
CTF SPECIFICS
Balance: Balance, as expected, was quite good. The seeker powerup is still slightly nearer to the blue base, but it seemed that both teams took equal time to access it. It is a bit hard to get out of the blue base area sometimes because it is in a bit of a ditch, but still is not much to Mr. Crow about. Balance was uniformally good, though a few small things seemed like they could be adjusted in order to make the balance a tad bit more equal.
COMPATIBILITY/STABILITY: Naturally, this level, like anyone made since early 2002, lacks the flag bug completely. The real question of levels of this day and age is whether it is easy to get stuck or not. It took some effort to get stuck in this level, but since the tileset has a very good mask, it is not common during normal gameplay. There was no crashing during play, though some of this level does use moderate amounts of animations. Nothing in this category to worry about.
SUMMARY
This is probably one of the most underappreciate levels of all time. I do not see it hosted often, but it really should be. There are no big flaws to this level. Sure, it may not have extremely flashy eyecandy, but everything is still good. There is not much to say about it other than it is a great example of levelmaking at its best. Do not download this expecting amazingly flashy looks or some new gameplay type that you have never heard of. However, this level definitely makes the best use of the tileset that it uses that is possible and also pours on the gameplay value. A definite classic and a must-download.
+ PROS: No major flaws at all. Eyecandy, gameplay, balance – everything is very good. Jazz 2 at its best.
- CONS: None that really stand out. There are a few small errors, but those are forgivable. The real shame is that this level is so underhosted.
VERDICT: What more is there to say about this level other than download now? This level, while it may not be anything new, is JCS at its best. Everything about it is near-perfect. Yes, there are Capture the Flag levels that are better than it in certain areas, but overall you really can not beat this level overall. It looks good, it plays good, and best of all – it is not overhosted. Download this. Now. My verdict is a 9 and a download recommendation.
Capture the flag, by 
