Winter Wonderland Review

You’ll no doubt already have seen Michael’s post listing the ten entries for our Winter Wonderland LBP competition, and until the poll pops up asking for your vote, why not see what our reader Sitron_NO thinks of each level.  We’d love to hear from you with your own thoughts too, but try not to let anyone else influence your decisions – check the post, fire up LBP and play all the levels yourselves – there’s still time!  Over to you, Sitron_NO.

Thanks. Well, one thing is for sure, all of the good people who have made a level for the TSA LBP Level Competition deserve a proper review. But since that doesn’t exist yet, I will now play through every level and write down what I think about them.  But what does a good level include? Well, we all know it’s about winter. Moreover, it should be fun, have nice visuals, music and sounds that fits and it have some twist and turns. It should make good use of all the three levels of depth in the game, and there should be items/objects that are self made. And finally it should be a little bit difficult and challenging. Or, it can just be something completely different, and still be a blast!

So, lets go!

“A sackman came travelling” by XDeadlyWhispersX

This is a nice level, has good visuals and the music and sounds fits. It even has some snow :-) The level is based on one of the funniest levels in LBP, the explosive-level with Uncle Jalapeño! Some of the items in the level are made by the XDeadlyWhispersX, some are from the LBP library. The level is not linear, and thats a good thing. You get small challenges all the way, and there are some rewards. You will probably not get every point and all the items the first time around. And for those of us who will not, we should get some hints here and there. Overall a good level with the right mix of visuals, music, length and difficulty.

“Freezing Fog” by Ghost5

This is a challenge-level made by Ghost5. You start off and have to run and jump before the freezing fog catches you. To start off with the good: The visuals are ok, while you run and jump you see some familiar objects and some nice homemade trees. However, things are repetitive. When it comes to music, I would have chosen a something faster, since you have to run and are on the edge all the time. However, my biggest problem with this level is that you have to run and jump perfectly throughout the whole level. If not, the fog (running as the same speed as your Sackboy) will catch you and you die. And if you die, you have to start the whole level all over again. So after 15 tries, I gave up and never finished the level. So, Ghost5, if you are listening: at the moment this level is not quite there, but you just have to make some minor adjustments, and it will much better!

“Linear Winterland” by Sitron_NO

My own level. And this is my first LBP level. First of I think it’s OK. I did try my best to make the visuals look good, and some of them do, but not much details to look at. It also has most of the usual stuff: flames, electricity, explosions, hidden price-bubbles. But it is linear and does not have many puzzles, so it’s not great. A nice try though.

“Sackboy’s Search 4 Santa” by jensen86

A long and nice level, although I had some problems with this one too. Maybe it’s just me, I don’t know. Anyway, visuals and music is good in this one, the puzzles are fun, although sometimes it’s hard to know how to avoid getting killed. That may be the point, but it’s frustrating to die without a warning. And, at one point I came to a belt of electricity and sharp edges to kill me, without any way of getting further. So I had to quit. However, with these minor issues, the level was great and fun while it lasted!

“Snowman Business” by mcphatty / ron_mcphatty

My favorite level so far! It’s not big, but it’s different and fun. Music is perfect, the visuals are great! The whole idea behind this level is to race thru the snowman to the top as fast as you can, and collect prize bubbles on the way. The level start of by you driving a snowmobile made by mcphatty, and this you can win in a prize bubble. He also has made some nice snowflakes you can win too. This level shows that you do not need a lot of details and not a long level to have fun! A great level indeed!

“Welcome to the Antarctic” by XIIITI

Another short level with a nice.. ehh.. dog? Nevertheless, the author has created a dog you can ride on thru most of the level and you can also jump off to get some points and prizes. And who does not like free prizes? :-) The challenges/puzzles are few, but some are difficult. The music, visuals are not bad, there is even snow. But you need the MGS Levelpack to play this level. Overall, it’s short, difficult but not frustrating. Good fun, nevertheless.

“Wild Renowned Rant” by hannes_truce

Another challenge, and this level is very small. It fits your screen perfectly. And when the levels are of this type and size, you want it to be really good. And this level is good, but sometimes frustrating because you have to be so quick. And since you die soon in this level it’s all over way too fast. But other than those issues, this level is a great minigame, has a nice winter-theme and the visuals you expect.

“Winter Wonderland” by BioEye

This level is something different. It has a story, cut-scenes, good visuals, music, puzzles and humor! Everybody visiting TSA should play this level! I do not know if I should say any more, but BioEye has truly made a level for THIS competition! Play it, and you will see what I mean. As for a score from me, this is one of the best levels so far, if not the best. The only level that made me laugh!

“Winter Wonderland” by joeybamboo

The first thing you notice about this level is the music. The hammering at the piano to make a tune that matches the level. And it does, but before you are finished with this level, you just want it to stop! Other then the music, the level is good. It’s a bit short, but has some puzzles that are a bit challenging and fun. the visuals are not only Winter Wonderland, but it matches. It also has some snow, but that’s it. Fun and challenging!

“Winter Wonderland: TSA” by Spotter5

A themed level from Spotter5. It’s all about the Eco-mentalist and his view on them! The level is a bit short and straight-forward, just simply just walk for left to right and listen to the people, collect some bubbles and drive a card, and that’s it. So there is not much more to say about this level.

So, this is what I think about the levels. I might have focused more on the bad things then the good, but I did have a good time playing all these levels. Everybody has done a good job and I am very glad to be in this competition! Some levels just needs some few tweaks and adjustments, and they will be great! There is two levels that stand out as they are now, just because they are somewhat different and very fun to play: Winter Wonderland by BioEye and Snowman Business by mcphatty. They was the levels I want to play again, and recommend to friends.

Good luck to you all, may the best level win!