Battle, by 
The Unnamed Battle Pack Volume 2
I Thought you were uploading the XLM Contest level? Ah well, the Unnamed Battle pack Level 2 will also be fine. Yes, I heard the rumours that there was a really good battle pack called UB1, also made by Snooz aka NiQ aka The chair aka Blue Chair etc. Well, let’s see if this pack is worth the same score as pack 1… What?! 6 Levels? Ah man, I guess I have to point them all out. Well, hold on, this is going to be a very long review, I guess my longest, and perhaps one of the longest on J2O… Sigh… I didn’t made my comments on the levels as long as I do in normal reviews, but because this is a pack, it will be sufficient I guess. Here we go:
Carrotus Clash
I wonder why the Carrotus tileset is getting so popular last time in battle levels? I wonder, Dx made a battle level with this set too a week or two ago and now Snooz uses it again in his UB-pack 2… Well, let’s check it out:
EYECANDY: 2.0 out of 2.5
Yep, this is good. With this eyecandy, you can see the Carrotus tileset at it’s best! Many different layers are used, and with the foreground and background it gives it a nice 3D look… In the game itself, you won’t find any bugs with the eyecandy, but if you look good in JCS you can see that some of the roof tiles don’t mix with the tiles above… Ah well, these are just small problems and don’t distract much from the score.
AMMO: 1.75 out of 2.5
Most of the ammo is placed fine, there are three PU’s which is perhaps a little bit too much for a level of this size, maybe 1 or 2 PU’s would have been enough. The smaller types of ammo are placed really good, very diverse and at good te reach spots. One problem about the placement: there isn’t any form of a carrot available in the level, which makes this level probably good for fun games and instagib, but less for serious duels… I don’t say I don’t like it, because battle3 also hasn’t carrots and it is still my favourite battle level, but it takes away a bit of the strategy.
LEVEL STRUCTURE: 1.75 out of 2.0
This is good… The structure of the level is very nice, there are many types of movement and there are some sucker tubes which transport you secretly to other parts of the level. Everything is good te reach ands there is quite a good amount of diversity available. The structure is good, perhaps the level is a little bit too small sometimes, but this is also easy because you can access to every spot in no-time, and this adds speed to the level.
GAMEPLAY: 2.5 out of 3.0
I liked playing this level and I enjoyed the diversity of the gameplay. The music file used is standard, but of course it fits nicely to this level. The flow is most of the time OK and there is a good balance in the placement, every Powerup is placed on a different spot in the level so you need to walk around to get it. The speed is OK, because you can’t stay long at one place and you will have many encounters with enemies because of the small size (opposite to B3, which is too large so you never meet your enemies) This is a battle level with not really much strategy but surely a lot of fun!
RATINGS:
As you can see I liked this level most of the time, and it would be a good idea to host this online. Eyecandy is good, placement could be better sometimes but it’s OK and the structure and the gameplay are OK. This level gets a 8.0, up to the next one.
Score: 2.0+1.75+1.75+2.5 = 8.0
Host: Yeah, if you like battle this is a very good choice if you get sick of the old B# crap.
Woodland Warfields
Now we move on to the second level in the pack. Carrotus Clash was a really good opener, and now I will see if this level, called Woodland Warfields, is just as good as the first level in the pack.
EYECANDY: 1.75 out of 2.5
If you play the level for the first time, the first thing you will think is: Hey, the eyecandy used here is worse then in the first level. That’s a bad point. But, when you will play It a few minutes, you will see that it still looks very cool. If you open the level in JCS, you will see that this level is completely translucent and you can see through everything, which has a nice effect. The backgrounds are also good, standard thing, but they look really nice. Also, the background layer in layer 5 doesn’t move right along with layer 4, and this gives the level a very nice 3D look. So, this level gets the same score as the first level. Nice job.
AMMO: 2.25 out of 2.5
There is very good ammo placement in this level… Much better then in level 1. Just as in the first level of the pack, there are three PU’s placed here, but the placement itself here is better. The Toaster and Bouncer can this time only be get with the Electro blaster, so you need to use more skillz to get it. I’m glad that this level DOES contain carrots, in fact two +1 carrots. This is better, because you now need to use more strategy to achieve them. Other small ammo is all fine, good placement and not too hard, not too easy to reach.
LEVEL STRUCTURE: 1.5 out of 2.0
I guess this is the only part in which the level is worse then in Carrotus Clash, because the structure isn’t that great. It is good, though, but not great. The level has an original shape, it is totally made of invisible wood but sometimes the sucker tubes and other points are hard to reach. But overall, the structure is more then OK, the ammo is well divided and it has a good flow and balance.
GAMEPLAY: 2.25 out of 3.0
I thought the gameplay would be just as good as in the other level, until I found a big bug which takes away 0.5 points of the score: there is no music file attached to this level. Unfortunately, this takes a lot of fun away. For the rest I don’t have to say much bad about the gameplay, there is a good flow almost everywhere (except the places with the sucker tubes perhaps) and the eyecandy isn’t annoying and there’s a good ammo balance and other things…
RATINGS:
This level could probably get a higher score then the other one if it had music in it, now it has the same. Eyecandy is good, perhaps some more eyecandy next time would be fine but I guess you couldn’t have done more with the tileset. Ammo placement is very good, and the structure is also pretty nice. Gameplay could have been very good if it had music in it, now it’s just good. Counted up everything this level also gets a 8.0
Score: 2.0+2.25+1.5+2.25 = 8.0
Host: Yes, see the comment at Carrotus Clash.
Evil Realms
Let’s move on to the third. This review is now already the biggest I ever made, and I have still 4 more levels to go! Let’s check out a new level, called “Evil Realms”…
EYECANDY: 2.0 out of 2.5
Considering the limited size of the tileset, and the eyecandy used here, I can say that the eyecandy in this level is almost perfect! The tileset doesn’t offer really much, but what I can say here is really good. The light settings give the level a dark atmosphere, and the background with the eyes in it give me the creeps… Just as was meant to be. I don’t got to see any bugs in the level, it’s just fine. The only little bug about the eyecandy is that you don’t see that much because of the darkness, and so you might bump up to some things sometimes. No comment further.
AMMO: 2.0 out of 2.5
NiQ did a nice job with the placement in this level. Just like the eyecandy was original, the placement is also original. About the powerups, there’s a strange combination of them. In usual levels you very often get to see a combination of Seeker-Bounce-Toast and RF, but here you see a combination of Pepper Spray and Electro Blaster. This is original, but an upgraded EB doesn’t really more damage then a normal one. Also the carrots could be divided a little bit better, because they are both in the upper side of the level now. Overall, the ammo is nice, and the other placement too.
LEVEL STRUCTURE: 1.75 out of 2.0
There is a good structure in this level, better then in Woodland and just as good I guess as in Carrotus. Most of the time you can get around without problems, except you sometimes might bump up to a wall or something (because of the darkness merely) The level is quite open and you have lots of moving space.
GAMEPLAY: 2.25 out of 3.0
First, I must say that there’s again no music in this level ,which distracts a few points. You can say that most players have the music already, but I just reinstalled JJ2 and I have nothing. So, this is not really an argument. The flow in this level is most of the time good (thanks to the open structure mentioned above) and everything is OK. Despite the fact that there’s no music around, it still has a quite good gameplay.
RATINGS:
Probably this is the best level of the pack till so far, perhaps thanks to the open structure and the original placement and excellent eyecandy for a tileset of this use. No music, which is a bug, but still a quite good level. This gets a 8.0 too.
Score: 2.0+2.0+1.75+2.25 = 8.0
Host: Yes, see the comment at Carrotus Clash.
The Food Facility
This level name reminds me of The Food Factory, where have I seen that level before? Ah well, let us check out the fourth like in the good Unnamed Battle Pack. I wonder if it is just as good as the other ones…
EYECANDY: 2.25 out of 2.5
The eyecandy in this level is really owning… If you open the level in JCS, you will directly be swallowed by the beautiful eyecandy used and you can see that Snooz really has put a lot of work in the eyecandy to get it this beautiful as it is now… The background layers are truly terrific, just as the foreground layers. The only reason that I don’t give as much points for the eye candy as the maximum is the fact that you can’t always see what’s a platform because the background layers almost have the same colour as the sprite layer.
AMMO: 1.75 out of 2.5
Another example of good placement you can see in this level, and it truly honours the level name. There is a semi-usual combination of Powerups, with 3 Powerups (Toast, Bouncy and EB) You’ll get the EB directly when you start the level, in a isolated room where you can’t to normally. The rest of the ammo is placed fine, sometimes it’s a little bit hard to see where it is because of the huge amounts of food spread over the level. Another point of criticism: no carrot in the whole level. It could have been placed on a ideal spot at the point where the suckers cross each other, but it isn’t. For the rest the placement is just fine.
LEVEL STRUCTURE: 1.75 out of 2.0
About the structure of this level I really don’t have much to say, it’s just good, sometimes very good. There is a huge diversity in moving around, just look at the sucker tubes and other original things (ropes, water blocks, sucker tubes, springs, etc.) perhaps a little less springs could have been used.
GAMEPLAY: 2.0 out of 3.0
The points above were very good, but after I all I didn’t like this level as much as the previous 3. There are just as fine, but there are a few problems that swallow away points from the gameplay rating. Again there is no music used, which again distracts 0.25 from the gameplay score. The flow in this level is OK, not as good as in the first 3 levels, but it’s decent. Just like the balance.
RATINGS:
I didn’t like this level as much as the other levels in the pack, but it’s still a good level. I wouldn’t prefer to host it above the three other level in the pack, but it’s at least better then numerous crap we see every day.
Score: 2.25+1.75+1.75+2.0 = 7.75
Host: Perhaps, not as good as the other three in the pack, but it’s nice. Host a a few times as battle level.
The Space Fortress
We are reaching the end of the pack, only two more levels to go! Now let’s check out the Space Fortress, the fifth level of the pack.
EYECANDY: 2.0 out of 2.5
I don’t really know what I have to think of the eyecandy here… Let me say I just give it 2 points. There’s lots of animation and movement visible and the starts background is nice work, but the space ships in the front layers are really annoying and the only disturb the gameplay. But, there are no errors and almost everything is worked out fine, so I will give 2 points for this.
AMMO: 2.25 out of 2.5
As you can see in the score there’s some very good placement in this level. This time a two PU strategy was used, which is more then enough for a level this size. The ammo that has been placed is probably the best so far, but sometimes there are too huge blocks around. I’m very glad that there’s a carrot in this level, this is really godo for the strategy.
LEVEL STRUCTURE: 1.75 out of 2.0
The structure here goes back to level 1 and 2 of the pack, because it’s not too big and easy to navigate. You can get around easily and all places are good to reach. The level is quite open and there are some sucker tubes which lead you around through the level. A good structure, in other words.
GAMEPLAY: 2.5 out of 3.0
In gameplay, this level is possibly the best level in the pack so far, because it offers lots of good things. Again, no music, and I will distract again 0.25 points for it. For the rest, there are almost no problems with the gameplay in this level. It’s just good. The level is open and thanks to this the flow is really good. The balance is fine
RATINGS:
Thanks to the open structure, the good eyecandy, the speedy gameplay and the nice placement I can say that this is the best level in the pack in my opinion, even with the very annoying spaceships floating over your screen. This level would really get higher scores when you left them. Now, the level is (very) good, the best level in this pack so far. It gets a 8.5 form me for that reason.
Score: 2.0+2.25+1.75+2.5 = 8.5
Host: Yeah, this probably is the best level in the pack.
Crystal Mania
Finally, the last level in the pack! I’m getting really tired now, so I’ll keep this a short one. Here it comes, will this be a climax or an anticlimax of the UB-pack 2?
EYECANDY: 1.75 out of 2.5
I guess this is the only level that has a visible parallaxing starts background, but this is only a good point, because otherwise this level would be nearly invisible. I don’t like the tileset of this level, because it’s too plain and hurting my eyes. Moreover, I don’t like the eyecandy that much in this level as in the other levels in the pack, in my opinion it’s the worst of all, but it’s still OK.
AMMO: 1.75 out of 2.5
This level has some weird placement, due to the annoying level structure which I will point out in later parts of the review. There’s a usual combination of powerups in this pack (Seeker, RF and Bouncy) and there are all placed in the upper side of it. The ammo ammo is allright, but it’s spread in an unlogical way so it’s hard to collect it.
LEVEL STRUCTURE: 1.5 out of 2.0
I really didn’t like the structure used in this level; it’s really hard to navigate because of all the sucker tubes and the eyecandy makes it even harder to navigate. Perhaps you could have deleted some eyecandy in this level to make the paths more clear, or you could have deleted some sucker tubes to make the level a bit more open.
GAMEPLAY: 2.0 out of 3.0
As described in the point above, this level has worse gameplay then in the other level in the pack, mostly because of some bad points in the level structure and other problems, like the confusing eyecandy and unlogical placement at some places.
RATINGS:
As you can read in the points above I didn’t really like this level as much as I did like the other levels in the pack, because of the all the 4 elements of the level weren’t just as good as the other levels in the pack. I could say that the level pack UB ended in a anticlimax, because this level is the worst (however this is just in the order I played them, you also could have started with this level and ended with level 5, which is the best)
Score: 1.75+1.75+1.5+2.0 = 7.0
Host: There are better levels in this pack, but if this was a standalone level, then perhaps one or two times.
FINAL RATING (finally)
Oof, that was a heck of a review. I spent more then three hours on it, but it was really the worth. Overall I can say that this is a level pack with a lot of ups and downs, it has certain really good sides and also a few less good sides, but overall; this is really a battle pack you can’t miss. I didn’t play UB1, but I’m sure this pack is a good sequel. Perhaps not as good as his prequel, but it will be surely just as funny! If I count all the scores of the levels up and divide them by 6, then you will get the final score of 47.25 / 6 = 7.875, which I will round up to an 8.0. Good job. Now, I’m going to drink some coffee. Goodbye.
Score: 8.0+8.0+8.0+8.5+7.75+7.0 = 47.25 / 6 = 7.875 = 8.0
Download: Yes, it’s a good battle pack and something else then the ordinary.
Host: Yes, it’s a good battle pack and something else then the ordinary.
Greetings,
- ChippieBW of XSÐ, CC and XLM
