Space2 - GrandmasterJ

 

    Welcome to Space, the second one. According to the map description this is part of a larger planned series and would have been lost to time if a certain user didn't save it. It's a kind of NASA flavored space, far more realistic than your Star Treks or whatever.

SCMapDB page

Author: Richman

Date of release: 2009

Maps in package: 1

Map review of Space2

(originally posted on SCMapDB)

by GrandmasterJ | September 26, 2026 | 3420 characters

    This is a map about soldiers invading a space station. This space station is more grounded in reality, resembling the current NASA aesthetic instead something more over the top. There are quite a few xen aliens in big glass tubes though.

    The map looks really good. There are a lot of areas where players can look out the windows and see parts of the station. There is a big space shuttle and a fun planet Earth skybox to look at. The interiors are done really well with lots of fun space station textures. The map does dip into a weird Black Mesa office aesthetic every now and then and definitely has some of the labs. But overall the map really sells the idea of being on a NASA space station.

    The map is a space station that opens up as players complete objectives. The objectives are very helpfully laid out via text that comes on-screen at fixed intervals. It states very clear instructions that really helps whenever we lose track of what we are supposed to be doing, which happens a lot. The help text refers to rooms by name and the rooms have big name plaques on them so there is no confusion about which room is which. The buttons are also all labelled and most glow either red or green depending on if they are locked or whatever. There's a lot of backtracking in this map so all of the labels and hints are incredibly helpful.

    There are a few 'puzzles' that require two players to cooperate, most are just pressing buttons at the same time. In this map, players need to really work together to press the buttons at the same time, my teammate and I routinely did not press them close enough together. There is one great puzzle that required us to lure out an enemy with a million health into an airlock and then shoot him out into space. That was extremely satisfying.

    The map gave us some weapons and armor but when the spawn updated to be inside the space station armory was when things really picked up. We might not have always been topped off but we always had something.

    There is one thing that you should be aware of before playing this map. There is a big battery in a room with a dead Barney that players have to push out. My teammate and I spent a lot of time trying to get it out the door but couldn't. The solution was to gib the Barney corpse. If you're having trouble with that battery, gib the corpses.

    The map was a blast. Right from the very beginning I was drawn in by the textures and architecture and then I was solving puzzles and kicking ass. I knew where I was and what I was doing from the signs on the walls and the objectives. There were some very cool moments like when I opened the airlock and sucked that guy out. This is a great map and you should try it out.

Pros:

• Beautiful map
• Well signposted, buttons and rooms were all labelled
• omnipresent objectives always told us what to do next
• that airlock sequence was phenomenal
• pretty good HEV and weapons about

Cons:

• Multiple puzzles were just two buttons players had to press together in a really small window
• the Barney corpse blocked the battery we needed and caused us great stress
• As beautiful as the map is, I can't help but fault it for having ugly chunks of Black Mesa stuck in it

Score: 8.5 / 10