Space Viking 2 - GrandmasterJ

 

    Space Viking 2 is the classic sequel to the classic map Space Viking 1. While the first map takes place in space a majority of the time this one takes us to a space port, filled with scum and villainy.

SCMapDB page

Author: Salamander

Date of final release: 2006

Maps in package: 1

Map review of Space Viking 2

(originally posted on SCMapDB) 

by GrandmasterJ | December 12, 2021 | 7132 characters

    Space Viking 2 captures the same great look and feel of the first map, only slightly less well. I had an absolute blast playing this map.

    The map starts off similarly to the first one, walking out of the spawn (no weapon this time except a crowbar on the floor) to the bridge and witnessing a scene that sets up the map. This time our tentacled host teleports over to a spaceport in order to talk trade before getting kidnapped and the ship is boarded.

    The opening fight is hard with crowbars only and with just one person could get frustrating. Thankfully it doesn't last long before the players are given uzis. I played this with three people and the ammunition and HEV charge near the uzis was a contentious place. The respawn time for these things is uncomfortably long (probably the default respawn values) and there is only one instance of each. I would spend quite some time here just to walk away with more than one magazine of uzi ammo, I was less inclined to wait in line for HEV, which is probably why I died a lot. The limited availability of these things in the early game dampened the mood a bit, especially since the only alternative to uzis is the crowbar.

    There was this one room in the power core with bright teal coolant that damages the player. The way the room is laid out it is very difficult to enter without stepping in this goo and getting hurt. Plus there are catwalks above the player full of enemies as well as enemies at ground level. But the enemies can shoot through the catwalks and would be very hard to hit in return. Trying to navigate the goo room while being shot from above by hard to see enemies made this part of the game my second least favorite part of the map.

    After the ship is secure we walked down the ramp and into the area below where the ship is parked, a wide courtyard. It was very fun and impressive to see the whole Space Viking from the outside. Out here there are a lot of enemies and it is somewhat unclear how to progress, as soon as you exit the ship turn left and walk to the rear of the ship. In the far corner of the courtyard this is a button that lowers the shield over the front gate. After the shield is down get in the nose gun and blow it up. If another player runs in the gate they can lure out a swarm of enemies and the nose gunner can freely slaughter them all, its a really fun sequence.

    The next area is my least favorite part of the map. You have to use a button to launch yourself up a shaft using a see-saw. It's finicky and I can only do it because I had a lot of practice. Then you enter a room filled with lava and have to jump over to two moving pistons controlled by a button. I don't actually know how to move the path to the next area down to our level because I haven't been able to progress past here, my teammates did the rest without me each time I've played this map and not for my lack of trying.

    Eventually you will enter a big lobby area, this part is somewhat confusing. There are a lot of respawning enemies, and a few areas to go. You want to find the sliding doors on the side of the room that looks like the floor is covered in water. There are some wet floor signs around but I don't really think that explains why the entire area has a thin layer of water everywhere. This area will fill up with loud mechanical spiders fast so move fast. The goal of this part is to use every computer mainframe, there are 10 in total and they are only in three rooms so if you keep moving and don't backtrack you should be done fast. To the right of the entrance to this room (left when you fist walk in) there is a teleporter, press the button to turn on the teleporter between the ship and this room. I don't think this room is a great choice for teleporter room, but hey, at least its a shortcut.

    Of important note is at about this time the teleporter room on the ship should open up. It has plenty of HEV and ammo and from this point on my HEV and ammo woes were pretty much solved.

    Leave the awful clickety clacking spiders in the water room and go back to the lobby and sprint up the stairs. There will eventually be another, much better, teleporter right outside a fortress with rocket launcher robots and tons of enemies. This is probably my favorite part of the map, I don't quite understand how all the robots get turned off, some have buttons, some appear to be destroyed, there might be a separate gimmick for all of them. But I really enjoy the frantic gunfighting and then running away and trying not to die once a mech turns the corner. The nearby teleporter from spawn and helpful ammo cache soften the frustration from this part.

    At the top of this fortress jump onto the conveyor belt, travel over your ship (and note the route to get here from spawn, its a 'shortcut' but is the longest distance to action from spawn in the whole series), go through the long dull brown hallway and into the hangar with the enemy ship. There are snipers here and turrets with small windows where you can see the operators within (and kill them to turn the turret off). To get to the enemy ship you have to jump off a cliff and take damage, a baffling level design choice, and then jump into a series of teleporters before being teleported directly under the enemy ship. You will appear in the middle of enemies so act fast, then step into the finicky beam. My teammate was not able to get beamed up and I was able to do it twice, I'm not sure how the beam works but just know it might not at first. After this all you have to do is kill a couple enemies and press a button.

    Space Viking 1 and 2 are both incredible maps and it is such a shame we only have two of them. The second one definitely tripped up more than the first but it also feels more like Sven than the first. I could probably beat the first map alone, but I could never beat the second map by myself. If there was more ammo and HEV in the early part of the map I would say this is perfect for a big group of players. Having more people would mean you don't have to solve the awful lava room yourself and the respawning enemies would be far less annoying. Overall, more problems than the first but also more fun too.

Pros:

• Fun story and fun opening cutscene
• Great aesthetic, level design really sold the story
• Great turret sequence
• good action, dual uzis are a real fun weapon to use
• Shortcuts open up and teleporters appear, plus a well stocked equipment room
• I enjoyed the rocket mechs even if I didn't really understand how to kill them.

Cons:

• The blue coolant room that hurts you is a major drag
• Objectives were vague at times and room layout was not helpful
• The orange lava room was a wall for me, if I were alone I would have ended the map
• Scarce ammo and HEV in the early game for multiple people, crowbar was the only alternative
• The map could benefit from one more teleporter and the first teleporter is not well placed

Score: 9 / 10