Battle, by 
Bloodlust is finaly released in a 1.23 compatible version: so on occasion of this, here’s the first review I’ve written in probably well over two years. It’s been a long time, but here goes…
Bloodlust is a quite old (I believe it was first released in 2002) battle level, made using the Death Metal tileset by our favorite German tileset artist, Skulg. This medium to large sized battle level is probably one of White Rabbit’s finest creations, and as he is already one of the more talented mapers around, that should acount for something. I remember beta testing this level before it was released and loving it, and two years later I still think it’s a great level.
The level, as I mentioned before, uses the Death Metal tileset by Skulg, which is basically a combination of often blood-stained looking metal bars, and a lot of eerie looking skulls and bones. The tileset has a somewhat dismal and creepy look, and the same holds true for the level. Tileset use was basically flawless; I couldn’t discover any tiling errors, and even if I’d examine the level more closely in JCS I’m not sure if I would. The eyecandy, though offering nothing different from what you’d ordinairily expect from the tileset (which is ok, as this was one of the first levels to use it), looks great; the dark red sky, the mountains in the background, the skulls and bones and bloody pieces of metal give this level an enjoyable eerie atmosphere. The music, Shutdown by Teque and Trauma, is a rather old mod from the year 1997. It fits the level nicely, adding to the well-made atmosphere.
The level’s layout is quite good, not spectacular. The level consists of a number of platforms floating freely in the crimson sky. There is no aparent intended structure to the platforms that I could find, but that’s allright. The flow is generaly good, though not perfected; at times I find myself bumping my head against walls or narowly missing ledges. This is actualy somewhat of a good thing though; lots of levels lately are so well polished that, using suckertubes, slopes, spring and float-ups that sometimes the only thing people have to do to get from one place to another is change direction once in a while. This level’s platformy design style promotes a lot more jumping and overall conscious playing, which is a nice break from what most levels have been like lately. The free, open layout also makes for some Jazz-friendlyness, which is something that is always good to have.
Event placement is also well done. Most useful powerups (as in RF, seekers, bouncers) are present in the level. This isn’t really a bad thing; the level is large enough, and battle games have you start with five hearts in contrast to CTF’s three hearts, which warents a larger powerup arsenal. The powerups are scatered nicely across the level and all require you to have electro blasters to reach them, so it’s all good. The two carrots are both positioned at the left part of the level; it would have probably been better to put them at the left and right sides respectively, but with the large amount of powerups and easy to navigate layout I guess it isn’t too much of a problem. General amunition is scatered well throughout the level, not too severely clumped together but also not too sparce.
There’s not really anything more I can say about this level. It’s simply a good, enjoyable battle level you should certainly add to your collection. This level gets the rather high rating of 8.5 and a download recommendation from me!
