Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

A fairly good CTF level, it just needs some more eyecandy. Isn’t pier47 a
clothing store?

No. That’s probably Pier 1. I wouldn’t name a level after a store.

A pretty nice CTF level, except for the background, which makes it look like you’re inside a giant, poorly built cabin flooded with sand. Aside from bad eyecandy, it’s pretty good. Download if you don’t mind the background.

Pier 47 is a decent ctf level using the beach tileset. It’s a definate improvement over bulldog’s previously released level, but has some major problems which could have been easily avoided with some pre-release testing by various people.

Contrary to the previous reviewer’s opinions, I think this level looks pretty good. While the background is rather bland, the decorations on layers 5 through 2 are well-done. The level has it’s own look; you cannot easily confuse it with another CTF level using the beach tileset. The level looks distinct, and that is something creative eyecandy should be used for. This is certainly not an ugly level.

The layout of Pier 47 is good and unique. The “main” area of the level is a rather wide-open top area, which contains the bases: the red base in the top left and the blue base in the top right. Underneath that is a more enclosed section of the level, which contains all of the powerups and most of the ammo. There is one large dead end down there, containing a bouncer powerup. The dead end is not badly placed, and is not useless, but it is very big. This makes getting the bouncer powerup a bit too dangerous, considering that it’s not the most valuable weapon in the level. The rest of the layout is pretty good, and that one bad spot does not ruin it. There is a rather strange empty room in the bottom-left regeon of the level, but it is useful to hide in. It does not detract from the gameplay.

Other powerups are toasters, blaster, and RF. All of them are well-located. Floating ammo is sparse, but there are several barrels and crates scattered throughout the lower-interior. These provide a good supply of ammunition, although they may create framerate-lag after half an hour of playing or so. There is virturally no ammo in the upper area of the level, and there is none near the start positions. This is especially true for the area of the blue base, which is totally devoid of any pickup. Ammo placement in this level needs work, and would be the worst aspect of the level if not for one other thing…

There is no carrot in this level! That just doesn’t work for CTF. An injured player might as well just rejoin to gain health, as that is the only way to do it in this level, aside from death. Flag holders cannot hope to live long, and players can’t hope to get the flag without standing a very high chance of living more than 2 seconds. I am all for intense gameplay, but having four powerups in a level and not even a 1h carrot is just absurd. If this level could be redesigned with a carrot somewhere, the score of this review may improve by a whole point. This is a very significant problem, and when I found out that there was no carrot, I was quite startled.

There are also a few other flaws. There is one area near the bottom-left which is easy to get stuck in, and there is a single player level start near the red base. Single player starts are used by both teams, so sometimes I found myself (a member of the blue team), spawning right at the red base. That is a very unfair advantage. Another “bug” in the level is a semi-invisible platform which can only be accessed by jazz or a skilled spaz player with powered up RFs. This could possibly be an intended platform, but I do not like it.

Moving around in this level is faily easy, but there are a few difficult spots, such as near the red base. It is easy to unintentionally go into a certain tube near there, which is frustrating because it carries you a few seconds away from the red base. A few springs don’t carry you high enough, and it is a little difficult to reach the location of the blaster powerup. In terms of playability and flow, this level is average.

Overall, this is a level that could have been great, but failed to provide a few key things. It has a good layout, looks good, but the rest is just average — and it has no carrot. I’ll give this level a 7.0, which means I think that it is above-average, but not good enough to host in my server or use in JDC.

Keep making levels, because I can see a serious potential in you. Your levels continue to improve with each of your releases, and I look forward to seeing your next one.