Review: Oculynth - Avatar of Chaos

Review by kit07
This is a review for the level Oculynth by creator Avatar of Chaos
PROS:
This is the second level i have reviewed by Avatar. And I must say I enjoyed it a lot more then his first entry (Pete's Great Glass Tower) Not to say I didn't enjoy the challenge of his first level (which is very difficult) but this one is much better laid out. The material he uses fits the level better and from what I remember I don't think I saw an ounce of Dark Matter. All the puzzles and obstacles work exactly like they are suppose to and from I could tell there were no glitches. My favorite puzzles were probably the ones involving the conveyor belt. The difficult is much more for the casual player. There is some tricky areas (which is good) but Avatar is a nice guy and usually gives the gamer double checkpoints. I think you really have to because the level is long. Very long.
CONS:
But maybe a touch to long. There was a point where I thought I was done but the level just kept going. It got to be kinda tiring after awhile and for some players if they get stuck they will more then likely just quit. There was some pointless obstacles here and there. The lightning spider things (i think thats what they were) were really too easy. The pyramid piano was a nice touch but it did feel slightly out of place. And just to nit pick there was a rotating x lightning thing (i think near the end) which was only on the back two layers. Meaning I could just run in front of it and not ever get hit.
ADVICE:
Maybe make the pacing of the difficulty a little more consistent. What I mean is at the beginning have the easy stuff and then get progressively harder. But that's just what I think. The lay out of the whole level was really well done and I liked how you kept going behind the final elevator thru out the level.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
In the end I enjoyed this much more then your first entry. The longness may scare some folk so maybe in the future shorten them just a touch. The difficulty should be just right for most players, and I kinda enjoy your creating style.(tons of obstacles) I hearted the level and yourself. Congrats cuz thats a first.
Length: Super Long make some time for it.
Difficulty: Medium the use of the double checkpoints really helps
Replayability: Cuz of the length I probably wont check it out anytime soon but more then likely will give it another go in the future.
Funness: Had a smile the whole time. Until I died.
Score: 8/10

Review by Chazosulls
In the same style as his previous level, Pete's Great Glass Tower, Avatar of Chaos has created another straight up, simple yet adequetly challenging platforming romp.

The most noteworthy thing about this level is it's length. This level is long. I mean, REALLY long. It took me around 15 to 20 minutes at least to finish the whole thing alone and I didn't even locate all of the prize bubbles. The thing is, due to the great amount of variety in the many, many sections of platforming challenges, I was entertained throughout. There never was a moment where I felt like just giving up and quitting. I wanted to see it through to the end.

Visually, this level is not exactly a sight to behold. It features just the most basic of materials and shapes with nary a decoration in sight. It cuts out decoration, plot, dialouge, characters and enemies in favour of a ton of very well crafted platforming sections involving some relatively basic mechanics. The result of this is a very addictive, challenging and surprisingly worthwhile level.

Something quite refreshing, is that I didn't come across a single design fault across the entire level. Everything worked how it was supposed to. Because I played in single player, it's hard to say whether or not the solid action would hold up as well with more players but I'd imagine that it would still hold up nicely.

My favourite parts were definetly the numerous instances of riding on moving platforms. I found them pretty tricky and it was a real sense of acheivment to overcome them. All of the platforming sections are nicely done and I can't think of any that I particularly disliked.

In conclusion, whilst the level is almost entirely "by the books" and doesn't stretch much imagination, what is there is crafted exceedingly well making it an easy recommendation for anyone looking for some challenging platforming. It only falls short of being great due to the complete lack of asthetics and overall charm.

Score: 7.5/10