I always felt that the real Dark Carnival was… “finished just in time”, if that makes any sense, especially given how glaringly unfinished some of the areas look. For example, you look over a treeline and see it’s obviously the edge of the map.
I digress. I enjoyed that it expanded on some areas that put it on the same level as Dead Center. That said, the things that could’ve earned it three stars (above “Valve quality”) is counteracted with its quirks.
It’s Dark Carnival with a different flavor, in some good and some bad ways. It’s not the better Dark Carnival, it’s simply Dark Carnival… remixed.
Many of the horde onslaughts I felt were confusing and overwhelming on higher difficulties, especially the finale. A lot of new players end up getting pummeled on this section if they don’t know what to expect.
The dialog is strange - most of it done via playing the sound effects directly rather than having the characters speak them.
I liked it. Not something I’d play over normal Dark Carnival, but it is what it is.