You find yourself in a large cell. Time to break out me thinks!
Then, work your way through the prison complex and eliminate anybody that stands in your way.
Smart works more than run and gun in this place, so look around, you never know what you might see.
Basic Details
- Title: Caged
- File Name: hl1-sp-caged.exe
- Original File Name: caged.exe
- Size : 6.71Mb
- Author: Cayle George
- Date Released: 13 June 2002
PlanetPhillip Download Servers
Installation Instructions
- Run the executable file
- Select your Half-Life folder
- Restart or start Steam.
- Caged should now be listed in your Library tab.
If you require more help, please visit the Help page.
Screenshots
Click on the thumbnails below to open a 1024 pixel wide image.
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.
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The following review contains explicit spoilers.
Two great maps in two days, the 100SDoN is on a roll! This is another very polished map with new textures but due to the setting don’t jump out at you as being fresh. That said, they do fit the theme very well, so no complaints there.
The start is well done and it’s nice to escape a cell without some outside influence or explosion. From the cell you find yourself in some service corridors which lead to a beautiful vertical section. In many aspects this was my favourite are and if it had been a little bigger, with the occasional headcrab I might have given this map a WOW recommendation.
The combat is quite interesting, in that in the beginning you need to really check your environment rather than rushing around. One word of advice: in the section with multiple paths, make sure you look carefully before committing yourself, otherwise you will just have to reload.
Talking about reloading, the map comes with some autosaves and the placement seems sensible, I did find that a couple of times I would have preferred it not to have saved.
I finished the map with more or less plenty of ammo and died enough times to make it fun. Image 21 shows me with just 1 health point, which I kinda of enjoy for short periods.
The last section was very nice but getting out of the tower could have been a little bit easier. It felt a little shy of a serious end of level battle but was certainly the most challenging section I remember.
Some players may not like not having the HEV for a while but that didn’t bother me at all.
All in all a fantastic map, with a coherent theme and structure. It’s clear why Cayle now works a Valve Software – or at least seemed to have been credited on Portal 2, like some other mappers he focuses on detail and quality with strict design limits.
Download it and play it now!
it’s a good one, but I’m having problems with it…get back to you.
Aha…yep, worth playing.
Really good and enjoyable map with some challenging but fair firefights. I ran through it on medium and really had to conserve my crossbow ammo and 9mm since you have to sneak and take down the marines from a distance in order to have a fighting chance. Health packs are scattered around in areas that you’re most likely to find them so you have to explore the map which I personally prefer over run and gun.
Some criticism would be pointed at the dated visual aspect of the map; more specifically there’s not a lot of details and most of the map consists of gray steel and concrete corridors with security booths, medical stations and shower rooms that at least somewhat break up the monotonic architecture. There are also areas that have an unrealistically over-sized scale especially the cell areas and the part that you start in that makes it all look almost too comical.
Another map from the project quantum leap series. Not surprising it’s another high score map.
It’s a classic jailbreak scenario, I think it’s done pretty well. Admittedly getting past the beginning was really tricky but I think it’s doable. Other than that, the textures get complaints but I think it’s kinda appropriate for the setting, boring as it looks. But the signs make up for it, they were really interesting to say the least. The soldiers were a bit hard to deal with in the beginning with no ammo but once that’s past the gameplay is pretty good, although a bit easy to me it seemed. Especially with the crossbow, the soldiers outside didn’t stand much of a chance. Overall I think it’s a really large, comprehensive and great map, and like Radix I recommend you to play it right now. team fortress can wait.
I was like.. “hmm, this feels so familiar??” Ah, i’ve played this in Svencoop several times. Maybe few too many times, didnt feel so fresh and new now.
Few good puzzles, not enough health kits for my rusty skills, good jailstyle mapping. There was just one armor shard? Or did I miss something, lol!
Quite enjoyable to play, and I really liked the Training Room piece as well! The only issue I have with it is that it came in the form of an exe file which I never like. I always prefer a zip file so I know exactly what it is doing to my computer. Nevertheless the exe file didn’t seem to install anything bad and doesn’t require an “uninstall” later.
Well, let me tell you if there would be a NOVA PROSPECT PRISSON in HL1 this would be for sure!, I loved the design in here, really cared and polished, i’m putting the highest rate, because I think at least this short mods are kind of clasic really must play it!, if you’re looking for a good hl1 mod, I think Project Quantum Leap 1 and PQL2 or also called REISSUES, hold really pretty master pieces inside, I mean really well done and cared, so yes at least Radix, and this Caged Mod should be into the honors mentions chart.
Another map with cliche “Escape from the prison”.
The puzzles are done well. Mostly they are just standard “press the button” or “move the crate”, but the progression is interesting. The one where you need to figure out how to get through the ventilator is worth noting. Never seen anything like this before.
The design is original and stylish. The start room is a nice example of good design – it’s just a boxy room filled with props, but their excellent placement makes it look good.
The gameplay balance is bad: medkits are too scarce and there’s only one battery.
Mixed feelings about this one, it’s tough in places with an air of uncertainty as you make your way through puzzling layouts without your suit. I have never liked jumps to broken ladders, I either get them right first time or give up with frustration after endless attempts.
The design and layout produced the intended forbidding of a prison complex, but for me the all grey textures wore a bit thin, also the open sequence with the exploding pipe work appeared odd. The cell was fair too large with proportion unbalanced, making the cell inmates appear lost and dwarf. Also the guard just keeps on parading up and down outside the cell apparently both deaf and blind to the explosion.
The climbing puzzle sequence is well constructed and there is a certain feeling of satisfaction when reaching the top, however, the sequence of ducts prior to getting the suit, is not so well thought out. it’s possible to spend and waste a lot of unnecessary effort and frustration if you don’t follow the entered route, which you can only work out through trial and error.
I enjoyed the second half of the mod once you get the suit, the action increases and the game becomes balanced between Grunt combat and finding your way through the complex.
I had few issues with light levels and crashes but both were fixed by adjusting the visuals.
Mixed feelings, frustrating in parts, challenging in places, with some enjoyable sequences. I don’t remember ever having 100% health in this game.
Caged was always a fun map for me. I think the design is solid and it’s a great take on the jailbreak theme. I like the escape route you have to take, it’s clever and varied enough and the jumping puzzles are not overdone. Throw in some grunt combat later on and it’s a decent challenge, especially with scant health packs.
The puzzles are fairly well-done once you escape, though the crates in unusual places bugged me a bit. The combat is fairly well-designed (especially those rappelling grunts that surprised me) but unfortunately more than one grunt in the side control rooms blew himself up with explosives which is of course common in HL.
Although it is a prison, some of the wall texturing is bland and I thought could be improved. I did really like the custom signs and panels though.
One thing that really bothered me about this solo release was that you didn’t get an HEV suit until you’re a little while in. Although this time it’s not really because of the difficult weapon switching (as you’ll really only have the crowbar early on), but because you can’t see your health. Leaving the first room (cell) I took a little damage, but without an HEV I couldn’t see how much. I kept getting shredded by the first grunt in the control room. I finally checked my health with a cheat, and it turns out I was all the way down to 47 health! Had I known I was that low I would have restarted from the first room! This didn’t bug me when it was part of PQL because one of our rules was that you couldn’t take the HEV suit away in any of the maps.
Another great puzzle/action mod.
Unfortunately for me, I had already played this mod many times on Sven Co-op and so it was too easy. However this is one of the best in the 100SDoN and is definitely worth a play even if you did, like me, play it on Sven Co-op.
First thing is first, the textures. Every person that has mentioned them has said that it is boring in some way or another, but people have to remember that prison is like that, and so therefore I think it was a success. It may have been a little bland, but I think it suited the dullness of the prison well.
Game play wise this was also enjoyable and also where I think it excelled. Since you only have a crowbar for the early game you have to find the right way of killing the first guard and shutting off the turret. Also your outnumbered in nearly every fight and so you obviously need to be careful. So far I think this has been the best for game play in the 100SDoN since every fight requires you to shoot, hide and think, otherwise you’ll be killed easily.
It’s already been pointed out, but one huge flaw in this mod was the loss of health without a HEV suit at the start. Two things I hate about mods are ones that require you to take fall damage to proceed (such as in The Hill map pack) and ones that you start without a HEV suit (such as in the Total Evasion map). Personally I think having to gain your HEV suit in this worked, but the fall damage didn’t. There was no need for it and was the only flaw in the mod.
“Play it Now”, easily one of the best so far.
I played this a while ago as part of the PQL maps and playing it again, I’m still in two minds about it. Some of the jumps to ladders were a pain and the laser gates, whilst OK in Quake 2, got on my nerves after a while. Overall I have to say although the game looked good I can’t say I really enjoyed it as much as it looked it deserved.
There was enough ammo and health to make this not impossible however I still found it a little hard in places (but then I’m not the worlds greatest player). Maybe I’ve got fed up with games that start in a prison cell because to me it seems Gordon spends more time behind bars than the Bird-man of Alcatraz.
I’m Confused on how I felt about this map. I don’t think I can give it a review.
Hmm.. this one’s weird, I can’t decide if it’s terribly bad or worth playing because..
Pro’s:
-Prison break is mostly interesting (and no clich, lol?), like an adventure
-Challenging firefights
-A few, but standard puzzles
-The levelarchitecture is pretty good but…
-Funny “hazard course”
Con’s:
-…boring-looking, not much detailed map, except for a few exceptions like monitors, shafts
-Almost no health, weapons until you collect from soldiers if you didn’t died already leading to..
-…bad balanced gameplay
-No HEV at start – bad mistake!
-Short playtime
I don’t get it why quite lot of people are liking level this very much, in conclusion it isn’t special, does only a tiny good-structured prison with some decent combat make it great?
No, I say.. sorry
Caged by CayleGeorge was previously “released” as part of Project: Quantum Leap, one of the more interesting maps in the set. As the screenshots indicate, this is literally named. It’s a prison-type setting with a cold concrete feel, and in that aspect it’s a little too convincing. One might be initially inclined to criticize the plain, simplistic architecture & design, but obviously, simplicity is the order of the day. It’s clearly fully intentional.
Yes, Caged follows the rules of reality and of course, this is both a positive and negative thing – positive because it has a realistic edge (certainly unexpected), but negative because it means boring visuals and a lack of detail. Other than this point, level design is sharp the way the author intended it. Label textures are loaded with eye-popping neon colors, giving a great contrast to the gray concrete walls, and there are some nice touches that add to the look, like specially designed sub-areas (like a medical room, or showers), empty cages, concrete tables, and more. The sub-areas add to what might have otherwise been a strictly linear experience. Finally, there’s some definite attention to variation in the architecture that successfully averts the design cramping its own style. If everything had looked the same…the horror!…
Gameplay turns out to be a gruntfest, but what else were you expecting? (Another clever ploy by the author?) Fortunately the author does as much with the Marines as possible, and this includes the gamut. In one scene you’ll have take quick potshots at Marines from behind a vent grating (not as bad as it sounds, but still quite tricky), in the next a couple of them rappel down from the ceiling. In others, only a (breakable) sheet of glass gets between you and them, so when the glass goes out, it’s firefight time! Or strategizing time, depending on how you play.
The only real flaws here are that you don’t get the HEV suit for a while, and some fights are particularly hard on Difficult. Medium is recommended as usual. As for the HEV suit issue…how does fighting without it for about five minutes sound? These issues aside, Caged is a great play, for a gruntfest and for what it does. In the context of Project: Quantum Leap it didn’t make sense, but standalone, it really does stand on its own.
Notes
This review is republished here by permission and was originally published Wednesday, 24th September, 2003 by Calyst.
This review was originally posted on the Ten Four Website, which is now offline. Permission has been granted to republish the full review and more details can be found on the About page.