Bleached Diamondus, a rather obvious title for a level with such a tileset. Let’s start with my usual, lengthy review.
Eyecandy: The tileset used in this level is of course, Diamondus. Yet it is overused, that is not an issue due to the quality of the level. There was a nice backround with trees, the usual. Not much to say about that. There was a good creativeness used in layer 5, or whatever layer was used for those patches of blue whatever they’re called. That made the eyecandy look rather nice. There was a good use of trees and flowers and such, not too little yet not too crowded so you can’t see what you’re doing. I didn’t notice any eyecandy mistakes, although at the time I wasn’t looking very hard at that aspect. What gave the eyecandy that extra zip of pleasure was the fact that it’s bleached. Very nice. I’m sure every layer was used in this level, or at least pretty close.
Gameplay: The gameplay in this level was unique in certain ways, and common in others. Either way you look at it, the gameplay was pretty good, especially for a CTF level. Good use of one-way events, used where nessessary. Good use of springs, also. When you enter the blue or red base, you’ll notice you can go left or right, which go in two opposite directions. Very useful, because you don’t want your opponent camping at the spot where you’re always going to end up. There was many ups and downs, curves and sharp spots. A good variety of gameplay. When you reach the carrot warp, you fall into the carrot, then descending down to a warp. The really interesting this about this is that by the warp is water, so you can stay in that carrot room if you think your opponent is going to try to get it. An interesting camping technique used.
Weapons\Placement: The number of weapons used in this level was perfect, since the level is a bit smaller than most CTF levels there wasn’t too much. There was a good variety of ammo, they weren’t all clustered up into a rectangle. They were spread out into many patterns which makes the level fun. There were only two powerups, which is perfect for a level that size. Good choice on powerups, too. Seekers and bouncers are used often in CTF levels. I didn’t have any problem with the use of weapons.
Overall, Bleached Diamondus is a good CTF level, good for as little as 1vs1 duels, or as much as 3vs3. I didn’t really see any flaws in the level at all… It’s above average in my opinion, but it’s still missing something. Something to give it that extra zip of tenderness.. So overall, this level gets a 7.7. Good job, FS!