Caget - GrandmasterJ

 

    Caget is the prototype for another map called CAGED, which if I understand correctly was prototyped in Sven Co-op, made into a mod, and then ported back into Sven Co-op. Regardless of the journey this map has taken, CAGED is now out and is a more complete version of Caget.

SCMapDB page

Authors: Cayle George, Trempler

Date of release: 2003

Maps in package: 1

Map review of Caget

(originally posted on SCMapDB)

by GrandmasterJ | June 17, 2023 | 4044 characters

    This map is some sort of beta for another map, which is a conversion of a mod, by the name Caged. I rather liked that map and I can definitely see the evolution of this idea. Although it does have a rough draft's rough edges and since the finished product is released I don't see much of a reason to play this besides study.

    Players start out in a jail cell and have to break out via turning a valve that should probably not be in a jail cell. Then we plummet down a hole and either bounce off pipes perfectly or take fall damage into a room with the wrench. We fight annoying headcrabs and platform to a tight hallway where we have to fight a gonome. I was sure this was the end of our playthrough as we only had wrenches, there was no avoiding the gonome, and when we both die he would eat us for full health. But instead my teammate found a small piece of debris on the ground totally stymied it and we could jump back and forth whacking it and healing up before repeating the process.

    After this there are three ways to go, a turret room with a pistol, a turret control room with tons of enemies, and the way forward with tons of enemies with turrets. I don't really get how we are supposed to proceed here. We decided we needed a gun so we suicidally charged into the turret closet to get the pistol. Then we plinked away at the swarm of human and robo grunts awaiting us. My teammate grabbed a keycard and tried to open an armory door to no avail, I deactivated the turrets and accidentally turned on the alarm, but we couldn't figure out a way forward. We spent a lot of time searching around before I restarted the map and cheated to where we were and I feared that perhaps turning on the alarm made the map unwinnable. The second time around I got the keycard and opened the armory no problem, which in turn also opened up the way to go. Why did this not activate before? There are other keycards slots in the map but I don't think either of us ever found another keycard, we still managed to open a few of them so I think they become unlockable at certain points and we just have to guess when.

    Near the end we have to turn two keys in guard towers to unlock the gate unlocking button before escaping through said gate. My teammate jumped out of the guard tower immediately and I followed and we both got trapped and had to noclip back to the towers. But then we opened the gate and still had to jump off the tower to progress (there was a keycard door that we could have used instead but it didn't unlock). It's very unclear when things are able to be unlocked sometimes and we can easily get trapped because of it.

    I should also mention the respawning, in the early map platforming there are a couple tricky jumps and the annoying headcrabs are there just to throw players off. Respawning, taking fall damage, and then dying in the platform section for the fifth time in a row is awful. There is a shortcut teleporter that appears right after we unlock the armory and that is amazingly helpful, but I already started using noclip to skip the platforming.

    The map is fine, it has some issues but still delivers a good experience. It plays very much like the map that came after it but is very clearly the inferior version. The keycard readers are very confusing, progression can be unclear, and players can get trapped easily in unwinnable situations and be forced to cheat or restart. It's a fine map, but go play Caged because it is literally this but better.

Pros:

  • Has a nice teleporter

Cons:

  • It is rendered obsolete by the newest version, go play that instead
  • unclear progression at some points
  • players can get stuck in unwinnable situations
  • players must fight a gonome in tight quarters with just a wrench
  • respawning and going through the platforming section over and over again was hell
Score: 4.5 / 10

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