Single player, by 
Whether or not it is a horrible sign of horribility that I am lazy and have not reviewed anything up to this point is either an omen or a coincidence. Going for the less poetic stance, I’d go for coincidence. Or at least because these ratings confuse me. And, as any great reviewer should (which begs the question why I do), I disagree with all of the above reviews. Labrat’s and dx dc’s overrate this, primarily because it is hard, while mikeejimbo underrates it, probably for the same reason. However, difficulty should be balanced. This goes beyond just difficult and more to something along the lines of trying to kill the player. Being dumped onto spikes and enemies does not make this a good pack, although it nonetheless is one. The fairly good level design and decent eyecandy make this a good pack, while the unbalanced difficulty hurts it severely. This pack is overall flawed in many ways; the eyecandy is riddiled with inconsistincies and just plain is not great, while the gameplay suffers from hiccoughs and dead ends. A good pack, but certainly not a 9. Read on.
GAMEPLAY/DESIGN: First of all, dropping into enemies is simply something that is not supposed to happen and is considered taboo in levelmaking because most players would rather not have to buttstomp whenever they fall into somewhere offscreen. The first level in this pack, the capitalization-challenged “on the beach” features decent gameplay at the beginning with obvious and clear paths, but then quickly begins to deteriorate as the level goes on. There is an area with a pole that oftentimes sends the player in the reverse, away from the target. Additionally, you can back up in this level to basically the start if you have ice, which is a definite no-no. The secrets are placed creatively, but for the most part are far too minor to prove worth your time. What can easily be noticed the first play of this level is that it is miles from easy. This is not a compliment in this case for several reasons. You tend to find yourself dumped upon enemies or with too many chasing you to do much about it. This is too hard, simply put. Besides, simple shoot ‘em style game play grows old, and this level lacks any puzzle elements to back its action elements up. Finally, if you are hoping for save spots or a good amount of ammo, you will be disappointed. No save spots are to be found, making this level go from questionably hard to trying-too-hard-to-be-hard. When you add on a nearly impossible to find exit to the formula, you have yourself a disapointment. “Carrot land” continues the proud tradition of poor naming but at least improves the capitalization rate fifty percent. The start of the level features what has to be the biggest mistake in levels like these you can make: spike pits. Ah, yes. Spike pits. The scourge of levelmaking. Of course, as Carrotus lacks spikes, those spiky plant things are used. As if once was not bad enough, the most difficult part of this level is based on doing it again. While bouncing off springs. While trying to climb using those springs. While fending off enemies. Get the idea? This is just another way in which this pack tries too hard to be too hard. And, above it all, all of the signs in this level begin with “sign”. Uh-huh. Thanks for clarifying that. At least there are save positions in this level.
PROS: Challenging and generally high-quality.
CONS: Has some indiscrepencies throughout the levels. The difficulty oftentimes is too strained.
RATING: 7.0
TILESET/TILESET USE: The pack’s starting level, “on the beach”, is an example of utilitarian eyecandy at its best. While there is in fact eyecandy, most of the visual treats that are to be found are simply required elements of any decent level using the Beach tileset. Beach is not at all the easiest tileset to use, but the wood in this level is far too wooden and not creatively used. For those about to complain that I am being unjust in demanding more out of the Beach tileset, I recommend you take a peak at FireSworD’s excellent “Termite Haven” CTF level, which manages to make Beach look great – and using only the wooden tiles, too! The second level, “Carrot land”, follows a similar path to “on the beach”, although there are a few less masking-related errors. Carrotus is indeed a really boring tileset, and despite levels attempting to make it better, most mainstream use continues to center upon the same boring old formula. If you are going to use the formula in question, though, at least it should look fairly spiffy. This does not. Because of the spiky pits, or whatever you call them, which require tall, one-tile squares, much of this level’s eyecandy looks pedestrian and a bit off. Which is disappointing, especially considering that Carrotus is infamously easy to use. And regarding that lightning: since when do random areas of caves become pitch black while the rest is light as the outside day?
PROS: Good looking in some parts.
CONS: Dull. Not much more than the base requirements.
RATING: 7.0
WEAPON/ITEM/ENEMY PLACEMENT: I can’t complain that a level has bad ammo placement because it is hard? Just watch me. While playing “on the beach”, I found myself thinking “thank God that there are at least carrots in this level.” In fact, I was initially glad that there was ammo, however little of it there is. Ice and TNT, perhaps the two most useless ammunition types for this level, are naturally the two most common ammunition times for this level. There are a few creates and miscellaneous other things that contain ammo such as bouncers, but for the most part you will have to rely on your trusty blaster unless you want to suffer through the slow TNT and fast-melting ice when attempting to defend against some very hungry fish. “Carrot land”, the second level, is a bit more liberal in the distribution of healing items, and perhaps a bit too much. At one point, there are three carrots right next to eachother. Additionally, it was before – not after – a hard part, and most players really trying to play well in this level would already have plenty of lives at that point. Besides, carrots together in such great quantities look amateurish and one has to wonder why they were not distributed throughout the level in the first place.
PROS: It gets better as the pack goes on.
CONS: Little ammo. Little thought to how the ammo would work in the specific levels.
RATING: 6.5
REPLAY/FUN FACTOR/ORIGINALITY: This category was obviously going to be trouble. “on the beach”, which I really, really want to capitalize, at least gives you a short period to recover before falling into some hungry piranah. There is some enjoyability to it, but some is definitely the word. The fact is, this is little more than a difficult and bland level with various defects that make it tedious. After being off reviewing levels so long, I am surprised to find perfectly sane people rating this so high. Perhaps that’s why I am going to avoid rating much else for a while (if I can control myself, that is). This level is nothing extraordinary, and due to lack of puzzles, it is simply too carbon-copied to hold interest. “Carrot land” has a good concept going, sort of, but is maddeningly irrelevant. It requires you to wade through several key-finding missions before finding the correct warp that leads to a key. This is not a puzzle as much as complete and total random luck, and does not count as a puzzle in my book as much as a really annoying obstacle. Calling this level fun would be a lie. The spiky pits and key puzzles certainly make this level longer, but at the expense of the player’s enjoyment and interest.
PROS: Hard, which can be fun.
CONS: Hard, which can be annoying.
RATING: 6.5
OVERALL: I am sorry for not providing good reviews for the remaining levels, but I do not think that I can say much more. They pretty much follow a similar prototype and template. This pack – despite what I have said – is good, and I am mainly being a bit mean in the review because it is overrated. It has some good ideas and is difficult, but really, really needs better enemy placement and perhaps a bit of a tone-down on the difficulty. After all, you can make it so there are many enemies only on hard mode. Then even neophytes can play, and us reviewers can sleep at night!
PROS: Hard…
CONS: …unnecessarily hard.
RATING: 7.2
DOWNLOAD RECOMMENDATION: For single player fans and obsessives and for level obsessives. An okay play when bored.
GAMEPLAY: B+
Flow: B+
Layout: B
Creativity: B
Bugs: B+
EYECANDY: B+
Tileset use: A -
Eyecandy Look: B+
Creativity: B
Bugs: B+
PLACEMENT: B
Weapons: B
Enemies: B -
~ Traft
