Sven Co-op Map Reviews

       Case Closed is one of the many singleplayer Half-Life mods ported over to Sven Co-op. We go around and see all the familiar sights around Black Mesa, especially the sewers, and eventually we are able to get out. SCMapDB page Original map author: EraSerx Conversion author: Hezus Date of original mod release: 2001 Date of final Sven Map release: 2005 Maps in package: 10 Map review of Case Closed (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | July 9, 2023 | 3163 characters      Case Closed is a conversion of a singleplayer mod called Case Closed. Play a singleplayer walkthrough which journeys players through funky testing labs, maintenance rooms, sewers, funky testing labs, maintenance rooms, and sewers!      Most of what is on display is standard Half-Life action stuff, but it plays decently well in Sven Co-op. I'd say I think some maps could stand to be stitched together for the sake of this, as they often end right after ...

      Case Closed is one of the many singleplayer Half-Life mods ported over to Sven Co-op. We go around and see all the familiar sights around Black Mesa, especially the sewers, and eventually we are able to get out. SCMapDB page Original map author: EraSerx Conversion author: Hezus Date of original mod release: 2001 Date of final Sven Map release: 2005 Maps in package: 10 Map review of Case Closed (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | July 9, 2023 | 4977 characters      We return back to Black Mesa once again in a port of a single player mod that puts us in the shoes of a janitor. We wander through familiar sights, mostly sewers, fight familiar enemies and eventually we hit a cutscene of our extraction and the map just kind of lingers there forcing me to end the map manually.      As soon as we start the map I notice something, I am lagging. My teammate doesn't have the same problem and I am hosting, it gets better in some ...

      The 2k version of Bridge (both were made in 2001) is lengthier with a whole complex to be explored after the bridge section. It is much more in line with traditional walkthrough maps and has far less respawning enemies. SCMapDB page Author: Hezus Date of release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bridge 2k (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 21, 2023 | 3420 characters      Bridge 2k is a sequel or reimagining of sorts of Bridge, which is a map that I think wasn't terribly good. Bridge 2k honors that by also not being terribly good, and I'll go into why I think that here.      Bridge 2k's design philosophy is thus: take an obtusely long path to a blocky, flatly lit chamber, and then become inundated with respawning grunts until you are no longer inundated by respawning grunts.      I've gone to great lengths to describe what I think is bad about fighting respawning grunts in this fashi...

      The 2k version of Bridge (both were made in 2001) is lengthier with a whole complex to be explored after the bridge section. It is much more in line with traditional walkthrough maps and has far less respawning enemies. SCMapDB page Author: Hezus Date of release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bridge 2k (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 21, 2023 | 3166 characters      So I played Bridge which was a bridge with a bajillion respawning enemies and a paucity of ammo. The sequel/remake promised more, but did it deliver?      So my teammate spawns above, on top of the bridge, and I spawn under the bridge. This split up of spawn points really hampers any attempt we make at cooperating against the respawning grunts. While my teammate struggles with respawning human grunts and an apache up top I am throwing myself against about six turrets with respawning grunts below. It takes a while but I get the turrets...

    The map is a bridge covered in turrets and infinitely repsawning human grunts. There is a target at the far end we have to shoot in order to end the map. That's about it for the map description. SCMapDB page Author: Hezus Date of release: 2001 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bridge (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 18, 2023 | 4227 characters      Bridge follows the same simple conventions which gave us the Icon of Sin bossfight in Doom 2 back in the '90s: make a target you must shoot at an inconvenient angle, and guard that angle with infinitely respawning enemies. Ladies and gentlemen: Bridge.      The Bridge features a high road and a low road: both are inundated by turrets and respawning grunts. The low road has some unobvious routes to the higher route, but offers many more advantageous points from which players can deftly remove the turrets from the equation (the only enemies which do not respawn). The...

      The map is a bridge covered in turrets and infinitely repsawning human grunts. There is a target at the far end we have to shoot in order to end the map. That's about it for the map description. SCMapDB page Author: Hezus Date of release: 2001 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bridge (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 18, 2023 | 3065 characters      The goal of Bridge is to cross the bridge. A whole swarm of human grunts, a plethora of turrets both sentry and ceiling mounted, and an apache stand in our way and all but the turrets respawn endlessly. Players have a shotgun and mp5 in addition to standard crowbar, glock, and medkit. It's a simple concept that I spent about 30 seconds in before deciding it sucked and turning cheats on.      I first spawn in and I am getting shot. The map has an upper part where we cross the top of the bridge and a lower part where we can climb up some rocks to the other side. E...

       BMTCoop, a cooperative map (hence the coop) made by BMT (hence the BMT). It's a rather short shooty experience in good ol' Black Mesa. SCMapDB page Author: BMT Date of release: 2001 Maps in package: 1 Map review of BMTCoop (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 13, 2023 | 3690 characters      BMTCoop is an old silly Sven Co-op walkthrough action map. If you're looking for oldschool Sven Co-op action, this really houses it. An obtuse switch puzzle toward the beginning, enemies spawning in over and over again in oddly stilted timeframes as you hope the waves will eventually end and a door will open (don't worry, it will!), a bizarre choice of weaponry borne of 2001 naivete when approaching the Half-Life arsenal, and an absolute cluster of enemies thrown at the players with little thought of the balancing whatsoever.      In some ways, BMTCoop plays almost like a late Serious Sam map shortly after (an...

       BMTCoop, a cooperative map (hence the coop) made by BMT (hence the BMT). It's a rather short shooty experience in good ol' Black Mesa. SCMapDB page Author: BMT Date of release: 2001 Maps in package: 1 Map review of BMTCoop (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 13, 2023 | 1930 characters      This was a quick walkthrough map where we fight waves of monsters in a very Black Mesa environment. We even get a cutscene at the end of G-man giving us the credits. It took us less than ten minutes to beat it and we had some fun.      We start off in a room with a revolver, health, and HEV chargers, players only spawn with medkits. There are plenty of supplies and we are always topped off, I think we died once due to monsters spawning on top of us. Which they do very often, the combat is almost entirely wave based with enemies dropping out of xen effects.      We pick up the shotgun later and shot...

       How the tables have turned! Play as a captured alien and escape the human holding facility. This short walkthrough map leads players through holding pens to freedom. SCMapDB page Author: John Cable Date of release: 2001 Maps in package:1 Map review of Blastcorpse (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 25, 2023 | 4584 characters      Blastcorpse is an action walkthrough map for Sven Co-op which takes players through an outdoor skirmish with soldiers.      Players begin in a strange xen-like spawn area, presumedly the "alien preserve" from the description, where they can get uzis which they use to mow down the soldiers just outside. Break out and cross a bridge which is immediately bombed, navigate some ichthyosaurs and a friendly vortigaunt, fight a bunch of teleporting-in soldiers, blow up some equipment to open doors, blow up an apache. Make your escape!      Much of the map revolves aro...

       How the tables have turned! Play as a captured alien and escape the human holding facility. This short walkthrough map leads players through holding pens to freedom. SCMapDB page Author: John Cable Date of release: 2001 Maps in package:1 Map review of Blastcorpse (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 25, 2023 | 3058 characters      Here we have an inversion of the typical Sven Co-op map, we are the aliens (in story, no custom models, although we do lack flashlights so is that alien?) fighting our way out of a military installation to freedom. We do this by using all human weapons, mostly uzis.      We start off in a cell where our military overlords have handed us a pile of uzis, single uzis so players have to wait 15 seconds to get a second one. There is a ladder to a room full of ammo. Also of note here are these weird blue rectangles on the walls next to the health chargers, those are HEV chargers. ...

      The whole map is a skatepark, with one half indoors in what one would call a big room, and the other half is outdoors. There is a drivable skateboard but it is on a track and does not go outside. SCMapDB page Author: Unknown Date of release: 2001 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Big Room Guy 3 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | February 11, 2023 | 2477 characters      Big Room Guy 3 is a hangout map for Sven Co-op featuring two skateparks and one skateboard between them- and NO they may not share. Skate around inside of an indoor skatepark, becoming the envy of your friends and enemies alike. Walk around in an outdoor skatepark, wistfully wishing you either could bring the skateboard outside or at least open any of the doors out here.      The indoor skatepark includes the basic accoutrement one may expect: rails, quarterpipes ramps, the works. There's also a bar with taps which make funny sounds. This int...

      The whole map is a skatepark, with one half indoors in what one would call a big room, and the other half is outdoors. There is a drivable skateboard but it is on a track and does not go outside. SCMapDB page Author: Unknown Date of release: 2001 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Big Room Guy 3 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | February 11, 2023 | 1750 characters      This map is a pretty cool skate park. There are two areas, an indoor park complete with bar area and rideable skateboard, and an outdoor park with no interactive things but it does have enticing doors that to not go anywhere.      The rideable skateboard is pretty cool, it's stuck to a track and rides around the level, going up and down ramps. It will absolute splatter anybody who gets in the way. The rest of the map is just half-pipes, rails, and other constructions that aren't really fun to interact with in the goldsrc engine. That skateboard i...

      This map is a series of battlefields, some more annoying than others, that players must fight through. The big 'CK' in the above picture indicates the author's clan. SCMapDB page Author: Havok Date of final release: 2001 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Battlefield (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | November 13, 2022 | 4334 characters      Battlefield is a creative sequence of battles for Sven Co-op. Each battle gives you a different set of weapons to overcome overwhelming odds.      The rundown is simple: players respawn in a hallway with doors to teleporters to each arena. The first arena is the letters "CK" floating in xen-space where players must battle aliens using alien weapons to reach a button and continue. The second arena is a darkened cargo hold where players must fire on respawning soldiers and assassins until they find the button. The third is a big reservoir full of ichthyosaurs which players must na...

      This map is a series of battlefields, some more annoying than others, that players must fight through. The big 'CK' in the above picture indicates the author's clan. SCMapDB page Author: Havok Date of final release: 2001 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Battlefield (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | November 13, 2022 | 3699 characters      The map is very straightforward, players go to various themed battlefields and fight limited respawning enemies and pressing a button at the end to open up the next battlefield. The final battlefield involves a big spinning platform with a crystal that we have to destroy.      Spawn area is a long hallway with five doors on one side and a long window overlooking the first battlefield. At the far end are some mundane Black Mesa prefabs and NPCs milling about. There is a button for a mission briefing, a button for anti-blocking measures, and a button that I think unlocked a door in th...

       Azure Sheep is a Half-Life mod made a long time ago in 2001 with an 8.5 on moddb. It introduces new characters while also showing us old favorites with Gordon Freeman, Adrian Shepard, and the original Barney which is a bit hard to tell since pretty much every other NPC in the mod/map set is Barney. SCMapDB page Original map author: DAVLevels Conversion author: Chocolate IceCream Date of original mod release: 2001 Date of final Sven Map release: 2020 Maps in package: 45 Map review of Azure Sheep (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | September 8, 2022 | 5343 characters      Azure Sheep is a prolific Half-Life modification known for having a shitload of maps, decent visual quality, a few new actors, and a very fanficy alternative take on the Black Mesa incident from Barney's eyes.      Before Episode 1 introduced players to leading your NPC handgun toting wisecracking waifu through alien and military infested indust...

      Azure Sheep is a Half-Life mod made a long time ago in 2001 with an 8.5 on moddb. It introduces new characters while also showing us old favorites with Gordon Freeman, Adrian Shepard, and the original Barney which is a bit hard to tell since pretty much every other NPC in the mod/map set is Barney. SCMapDB page Original map author: DAVLevels Conversion author: Chocolate IceCream Date of original mod release: 2001 Date of final Sven Map release: 2020 Maps in package: 45 Map review of Azure Sheep (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | September 8, 2022 | 5918 characters      Azure Sheep is a long mod converted for Sven Co-op. I did not expect it to be this bad. The almighty Hallway is a staple of any video game, but I feel like lately I've been playing a spate of Sven maps that are comprised mainly of hallways. Hallways are not interesting. Azure Sheep is about 90% hallways.      Azure Sheep has 45 maps in it. That's a lot...

       Welcome to the surreal pool. This map has some trippy dimensions and overall weird construction, giving the map a surreal and liminal feel to it.  SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2001 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Poolarea (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 30, 2022 | 3725 characters      Poolarea is a very interesting map by notorious mapper robootto. The map features a large pool area liberally seasoned with aliens, grunts, assassins, and a gargantua. The fun doesn't stop there, as secrets unveil more battles in side areas and more weapons to take the map with.      I guess Poolarea is meant as a hangout map where the secrets and objectives of taking out the enemies are tertiary to the main RP-style hangout spot Gldsrc tourism aspect. I get that. As a matter of fact, I'd say it's one of robootto's more successful accomplishments in that realm. The diving boards are all there, all r...

      Welcome to the surreal pool. This map has some trippy dimensions and overall weird construction, giving the map a surreal and liminal feel to it.  SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2001 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Poolarea (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 30, 2022 | 5513 characters      At this point in my map reviewing career I've played a lot of maps. I'm still not even 15% of the way done yet. But I have played a LOT of maps by this mapper, Robootto. I've come to expect a certain caliber of map from him. Maybe its the fact that I've just played two maps in a row that weren't actively malicious to the player, but this map is different than what he usually creates.      The map starts off in a strange room with a weird line in the wall, some weird tile blocks on either side of a steep staircase, and a bunch of ammo for weapons we don't have. There is a door here that is breakable and par...

       Mega Monster Massacre is a monster hunt type of map where the monsters have weird custom models and weird names. This map was one of, if not the, first map to implement the gameplay of having a large wide open area and only a handful of high-powered monsters. SCMapDB page Author: DeathBog Date of final release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Mega Monster Massacre (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | February 19, 2022 | 5146 characters      Mega Monster Massacre is a classic Sven Co-op map that I remember finding a bit of a tedious grind and not very fun. As of my recent playthrough with a friend, however, of V3, I would say that Mega Monster Massacre is actually a really fun experience full of fantastic set pieces.      The concept is simple: you are given an MP5 and a Shotgun, both with tons of ammo, and are thrust into an alien planet where locations open up as you clear out hostile "mega monsters" from inter...