I cant believe robotchief finally figured out how to make good interesting levels

I've known robotchief for a while now, for so long now that I've been always aware and proven by their skill of creating extremely polished levels whenever they decide to do so. this level, more specifically, has been an on & off project since May 6th and I've seen previews of it every now and ever throughout that time frame. I'm so happy for the final product, and for being offered up to improve & playtest this level further.

now, in regards to HAVOC: this is up to par in outstanding quality with some of robotchief's previous works, more notably levels like "Circuitry", "TURN BACK" & "Solar Wind", where robotchief excels in attention to detail across all elements of their level & great song representation throughout, and with great consistency — and this level isn't the exception.

in the first few parts, the level introduces a "broken" section with some masking effects atop of it, giving a general idea of what to expect in this level. the general quality of the first few parts before the ship is very neat, albeit lacking in quality in contrast to the following parts. the effects definitely fit the design choice for this part — that, and the general song execution for such! there's definitely some great attention to detail in regards to song representation in this level.

moving onward, the level itself improves massively as you play through: I couldn't help but feel that this part is one of the most mesmerizing of the whole level, due to the attention of detail in each element this part has to specifically offer. I really love the implementation of crumbled down portals after some of the guillotine-looking structures fall downwards, leaving remnants of the aforementioned. it's also worth noting that there are details over details in this level that don't inherently ruin the playing & visual experience: the particles coming upwards as the same falling down structures actually hit the bottom half, the warping airdeco elements (more notably in the 3rd part), the mixed background effects that just end up working, etc., this level has some amazing charm to it!

lastly, the last part is what sells the general "broken / shattered" theme, with glass structures that crack as soon as the player lands on them and fully break right after the player leaves — same with the orbs too, as they act like broken ornaments as soon as the player hits them. this part of the level was the one that sold me the most and defined the general quality of the level, as I personally believe that the execution of the "shattered" theme is excellently laid out, with tasteful color choices throughout & a song that ends up being smoothly looped further past the second part. there were some ideas for this level, and robotchief greatly implemented those ideas with great attention to polish, detail & execution.

briefly, I believe that the gameplay of this level isn't nothing unique outside of your general 7* level, since it's fairly straight-forward and tends to get rather stale if you focus on the gameplay aspect of it, but I personally believe that the general decoration quality makes up for the lack thereof with great success. overall, this is definitely one of robotchief's better works, with a great attention to all aspects a level may have to offer without hindering the general experience of such. for the quality this goes for, this is easily an epic worthy level without a doubt. unfortunately, RobTop rated this level fairly quickly before I had time to record the showcase, and he ended up rating this level as a featured. worse is nothing, though!