I did not enjoy this pack whatsoever. No wait scratch that, I enjoyed it, but disliked parts of it which were major enough for me to not enjoy it in the aftermath.
Unlike Ischa, who’s name is now pratically a synonym with “Bad Packs” to me, I always enter Gus’s packs hoping for the best.
Which is why I feel so terrible I left with the worst. I’ll start with something positive, but it probably won’t be too long until I start delving into everything negative (not that it matters, Gus doesn’t listen to the parlent users, I take it)
Interesting Buttstomp technique used at the end. Too bad it’s A) Poorly done and B) The name “Homing Attack” sounds retarded.
It’s a stomp you do with your butt, ergo “Buttstomp”. How the hell does “Homing Attack” relate to that in any way shape or form? It doesn’t even sound all that cool of a name anyways. You ask “Who cares about Buttstomp?”, I ask “Who the hell are you to say the attack needed a namechange in the first place?”
Thats like me all of a sudden going “Who cares about ‘walking’, from now on I’m gonna call ‘Super Hydrosonic Gremwarp’” and expect everyone to follow.
Next, The general idea of the plot is very imaginitive and unique, but the problem with it is that it’s not well thought out.
“Team Jazz” are all written like they’re bored to even be there (what a coincidence, so was I). Devan is also poorly written, and it’s hard for me to suspend my belief into thinking that Devan knew his plan would fail. Why would he leave signs saying “I’ve had enough of you meddling! NOW TO SEE THE REAL POWER OF THE PHANTOM!!!”
Looks like even Devan is falling into a routine, which is what’s making SP packs so boring lately.
It’s just not enough to play Situation Madlibs, you have to make the characters
act like they want to be there as well.
Level design isn’t too terrible, but it’s not amazing either. The only real mediocre level in the pack is the last one, where Gus shows he doesn’t know the difference between “Difficult” and “Frustrating”. Listen, just because you toss in a bunch of bees doesn’t mean the level is automatically difficult, it means most players are going to hate your level and will not even attempt to finish it without cheating.
Another frustrating aspect is one puzzle that forces you to type in JJK to redo it.
I’m sick of these. Next time you level makers out there make a puzzle ask yourself “Is there a way I can make this work without making them press JJK?” If not, don’t put that puzzle in. It’s overkill to expect the player to get rid of a whole life just because they couldn’t solve a puzzle. At least use the CTF Base thing, that doesn’t remove a life at all.
There were also a few instances where I asked “Did Gus even test this blasted thing to see if all the rabbits could get through it?” Like in the first level, theres a cliff only Spaz can jump up to. Too bad for Jazz and Lori that the cliff is the only way to continue the level. Maybe Gus should start calling the group “Team Spaz” isntead.
Oh, and I had no clue what was going on at the boss fight with the phantom. Can you people please start giving some instructions on how to fight these “Dodge respawning enemies and do something” bosses? I have no clue what the hell I’m supposed to do, and they’re ussually just JJNEXT fodder.
All in all, the level design is decently average but theres plenty of things I didn’t like about it. These things knocked the score from a 6 to a 4.8.
Personally, I would reccomend downloading it because maybe you happen to like some of the things I dislike (and apparently there are people that do), and generally, the level design isn’t all that bad (but not all that good either). For me however, the cons outweigh the pros, and this is just another forgettable pack I’ll probably never touch again.
Of course, this review is more for everyone else than it is for Gus. No matter what I write here, Gus will find it “offensive” if I don’t give him anything above a 7, and probably wouldn’t take any advice on what he did wrong or knowledge of what he did right I’d put in here.