Hidden Savanna

  • Rating: 7.5

Reviews and comments

    cooba 24 Aug 2006, 10:43

    7Recommended:

    Visual Appeal – 3 out of 5

    First of all, I never liked this tileset too much. Mainly because it’s nearly the least flexible set in existance, since it’s so heavily based on style rather on functionality, which roughly translates to “every level using this tileset will look the same”. And this level is no exception to this non-written rule: it looks exactly the same as the whole buckets of Swamps levels. There’s nothing original about the eyecandy, and after having seen so many of visually the same Swamps levels, it just stopped being anyhow appealing to me. There are no annoying tile errors in this level at least. Overall, use a different tileset next time.

    Playability – 4 out of 5

    For starters, I’m not too fond of the layout. Some places were clearly inspired by other Swamps levels, and while it’s not a bad thing, it can get annoying sometimes. For example, the two tubes in the middle of the level placed JUST by the FastFires can get really annoying, and the Seeker powerup box just encourages camping, since it’s so close to the bases. There are also Bouncer and Toaster powerups, which make up a fairly good balance, seeing as this level is mostly enclosed. The Toaster powerup has to be accessed by passing through a hole in a tree, which makes it a dead end, unless one uses logic and shoots it with an Electroblaster, avoiding being trapped in the cramped room. It doesn’t seem to fair seeing as the Bouncer PU is just placed between two vines, which doesn’t create a situation seen in the Toaster PU.

    Summary
    • Well balanced
    • Flows decent
    • The overused and boring tileset
    • Some of the layout is.. questionable

    Overall
    A decent level by Quickz. Doesn’t have anything original nor outstanding, but still should play well in an occasional 2on2. Definitely Qz’s best level, but also definitely not an 8.

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    White Rabbit 25 Aug 2006, 18:51 (edited 1 Sep 06, 14:23)

    7Recommended:

    You won’t know that Hidden Savanna is a very small level when you first play in it, but you’ll certainly feel cramped the moment you set foot in it. There is virtually not a single place where you can’t see a wall or a ceiling in this 105×80 CTF level.

    I’ve played a little 1v1, some 2v1, and a 2v2 game to 4 points here…excluding the 2v1 game, I think it’s easy to camp at the carrot and the seeker PU in duels, since you have no team mate to attack the camper in your place. You’re a bit more at danger if you camp with just one or two hearts, but as long as you’ve got the ammunition (and the gung-ho attitude), you’ll give your opponent a hard time.

    The flow is fast and smooth, which is fun, although the symmetry, size, and tileset choice of the level leans too heavily towards gameplay. There hasn’t been much attempt at breaking new ground anywhere, and there’s not much eyecandy either. It’s as simple as the level.

    One thing worth mentioning about Hidden Savanna is its predictability. This level doesn’t require you to memorise much. It’s got a basic platform layout, and the suckertubes and warps are all easily accessible. The flag arrows really do count here, and you can deduce where your opponent is going just by the direction he’s heading for (honestly, many levels aren’t like this at all!). Tensions can run high when two or more players stalk each other, trying to guess where the other is going and getting there before them.

    Long story short: Nice, small CTF level.

    Rating: 7.2, and a download recommendation.

    Oh, and Unknownfile betatested too (but he won’t mind).

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    Yasco 16 Sep 2006, 14:56

    8Recommended:

    I’ll start with the eyecandy. I saw that you used almost all aspects of this tileset(which is a very good tileset for the level) and thus you used this tileset very well. Another thing I noticed is that the layer5 had very good eyecandy , I like the variety you used in this layer. As you can see , I haven’t really something bad to say about the eyecandy. Next , the gameplay. This level aint 100% symmetrical and that absolutely improves the gameplay a lot. And it’s still not biased ,good job there. The flow in this level is good too , I can see you’ve been working on this. There’s one bad thing I’d like to say : the seeker PU is placed on a tiny floor , this floor should have one-way IMO. But that’s only a detail. Let’s continue with the placement. The carrot might be a bit campy , but the tubes in the middle can make you cross the level without your opponent knowing it. The Seek Pu is placed in the middle of the level so that’s fair , the bouncy and toaster PU aren’t paced symmetrical , but that’s fine as it’s still well placed , just like the other ammo : not too much , neither too less. Perhaps the 2 toaster boxes at the left side of the level will make this floor be full of toaster ammo as people will shot the boxes without taking the ammo. Again , this is only a detail.
    Good job , Quickz , I really like this one;)

    Rating : 7.5 (+0.2 for the music which fits this level well)

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