Affliction - Dunkelschwamm

  

    Affliction is a standalone mod converted to Sven Co-op set in Black Mesa. There are a lot of maps for Sven with the same story, this one is fairly standard.

SCMapDB page

Original mod authors: Toni Hiltunen

Conversion authors: Outerbeast

Date of original mod release: 2002

Date of final Sven Map release: 2021

Maps in package: 2

Map review of Affliction

(originally posted on SCMapDB)

by dunkelschwamm | February 19, 2022 | 3871 characters

    Affliction is a Half-Life mod which was converted and updated, here, for Sven Co-op. This conversion features two maps which seem to combine the maps of the original mod at teleport points. The maps still feel mostly balanced for a single player, with fire fights coming in short, easy bursts often. The levels, for taking place almost entirely in interior settings, feel open and breezy, with breakable glass partitions allowing the interior spaces to breathe even more. Mix in some scripted peaceful NPC interactions and a cinematic opening sequence and you have the makings for a great Sven Co-op experience. Is that the final verdict?

    Well, I would say that the Affliction conversion for Sven Co-op manages to be a mostly bland experience. The peaceful NPC interactions actually did a lot for me to create some memorable moments, but the brushwork often felt barren and nondescript. I really appreciated how open everything felt, while still providing enough cover to always feel safe, but the entirety of the map's visuals feel like less visually memorable versions of Half-Life vignettes. The battles were often won quickly before they could make much of a lasting impression, and late in the game there was what felt like a distinct lack of good utility weapons. The map's progression felt like the two of us crawling all over hallways and rooms, punching holes in hapless enemies before they have much of a chance to react, and then moving forward. It's satisfying in a way, but it's a hollow satisfaction, like eating salt flavored potato chips. None of the map looks bad per se, it's just very bland and never does much to make any location stand out. Even locations with striking concepts, like a collapsed suspended walkway in a large utility room, were executed in completely adequate ways which do nothing to grab the eye.

    While I'm complaining, the last checkpoint kinda screwed us for ammo and HEV. My teammate managed to run through the toxic waterfall before I could close it off, and I died. The checkpoint was on the other side, but there was no HEV going into the next (basically final) big firefight, and without HEV I definitely could not backtrack through the toxic waterfall. This kinda cramped the experience, and left things on a dubious note for us.

    The map has a couple puzzle elements, like an NPC door puzzle, eletrified water draining puzzle, turn on the generator next to the tank puzzle. You know the type. A basic switch interaction opens the way forward or makes an impossible obstacle explode. The kind that have been a part of the FPS genre since build engine games like Duke Nukem 3D.

    Overall, I'd say Affliction is a fine experience that does everything it's supposed to do, and then it vanishes into the night without leaving a trace that it was there. I can't fault it for that, and I can't say I wasn't having fun throughout. For that, I'd give it a recommendation. If you're playing with friends or running an action server, Affliction would work just great.

Pros:

• Pretty squishy, if easy and simple, combat
• Fun peaceful NPC interactions
• While I find "press switch over here to open door over there" boring on its own, this map dolls it up every time with a different creative excuse and I think that's commendable
• The conversion adds a kingpin and tor and I think they're very well placed additions
• I liked that I was able to cheese the tank boss by standing on top of it
• I rarely found myself running out of ammo or HEV

Cons:

• The map is just kind of bland a lot of the time in a way that's hard to explain.
• The combat is a bit too easy
• There's not a very interesting variety of weapons

Score: 6.9 / 10