Sven Co-op Map Reviews

       This is a nice looking map with a mixture of combat, platforming, and puzzles. A lot of the map looks well done and then there are some spots where enemies just get dumped in the level and one terrible platforming section. SCMapDB page Author: Headz Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Crood Coop (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | August 19, 2023 | 3791 characters      Crood Coop is, apparently, in its fifth alpha as of 20 years ago if the splash screen is to be believed. I wonder if Headz'll ever finish it. It's a walkthrough action/puzzle map, with a heavy emphasis on action.      Rooms are shaped in large, nonsensical ways, which interacts well with the lighting and textures. However, I can't help but wonder if these interesting textures and scrolling electricity brushes and sprites are doing heavy lifting for what feels like mostly room after room of big-open spaces full of monsters. Most of the combat in the map is just in big cu

      This is a nice looking map with a mixture of combat, platforming, and puzzles. A lot of the map looks well done and then there are some spots where enemies just get dumped in the level and one terrible platforming section. SCMapDB page Author: Headz Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Crood Coop (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | August 19, 2023 | 4582 characters      This is a fun map with really nice visuals, lots of explosives, and monsters with a lot of health. There are also some interesting puzzles and lots and lots of walking.      We start in a room with a turret, the map slowly fades in and we get to hear the turret deploy and target us. We are shot before we can really see or do anything and if I was alone that fight would have been ten times harder and more frustrating. We get a shotgun here and enough shells and 9mm to supply one player fully, leaving one of us to wait for it to all respawn. Then we have to fall down a shaft and take f

       We've been Captured! Now we must escape the prison with the help of Otis and go to Black Mesa I guess? The map is pretty simple and straightfoward with a storyline that screams 'early Sven map'. SCMapDB page Author: pcgamer58 Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Captured (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | June 22, 2023 | 2742 characters      Captured is a pretty simple and functional walkthrough action map. Players fight from a cell through some wacky N64ish-surreal landscapes against soldiers using some pretty boilerplate weapons.      There isn't much to say here. The map doesn't look great, doing the bare minimum to evoke each environment. The indoor areas benefit best from this, but the more natural environments, as mentioned early, really come across as surreal and wacky. Structures exist with little purpose, with wacky random hazards strewn about. It all serves the function of the gameplay.      To that end, the map isn&

      We've been Captured! Now we must escape the prison with the help of Otis and go to Black Mesa I guess? The map is pretty simple and straightfoward with a storyline that screams 'early Sven map'. SCMapDB page Author: pcgamer58 Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Captured (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 22, 2023 | 3006 characters      So we are in a jail near Black Mesa, Otis comes over and helps us break out and we go on an adventure to freedom. We start with nothing but a medkit and find a crowbar in the jail cell with us and in the next few rooms we find our first enemy, a human grunt, and a pistol with one magazine.      Then we go to the next room with more enemies and more weapons. Right after this room we get our first respawning enemies, I think there are 15 in total but it was really worrying when we didn't know if they were going to end. Right afterwards we have to go up a ladder and when they kept respawning they w

       This is a beautiful map inspired by the famous mod (and map set ported to Sven Co-op) They Hunger. It takes place in a forest filled with derelict buildings, now that I think about it I don't think there is a campfire in this map. SCMapDB page Author: cyberdaemon Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Campfire (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | June 19, 2023 | 3387 characters      Campfire is a zombie (and occasionally baby garg) walkthrough map wherein players use limited firearms and mostly crowbars to maneuver through a rural forested area. Explore abandoned houses, rock mines, explosive minefields (??????), and forest while being ambushed by suddenly spawned zombies, headcrabs, gonomes, and baby gargs.      There is a curve to campfire. Early on, players have a handgun with very limited ammo and so spend much of their time crowbarring zombies and, unfortunately, gonomes. In worst case scenarios, you need to crowbar a baby garg. This is espe

      This is a beautiful map inspired by the famous mod (and map set ported to Sven Co-op) They Hunger. It takes place in a forest filled with derelict buildings, now that I think about it I don't think there is a campfire in this map. SCMapDB page Author: cyberdaemon Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Campfire (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 19, 2023 | 4517 characters      Campfire is a map inspired by The Hunger that puts us in a wilderness with some dilapidated buildings, a minefield, and eventually into a mine. It has no story and ends abruptly with no real resolution when a player walks into a wall of tofu. But it maintains this really atmospheric gritty forest vibe that works really well. Enemies are tons of zombies with the occasional gonome and baby garg.      My teammate an I spawn inside each other inside a burned out house. This map feels pretty big and the house has rooms bigger than what we spawned in, so it feels weird to me

      A walkthrough map that is mostly hallways through various rooms. Enemies spawn in big wads right in front of players and we have to chip away at them with revolvers. SCMapDB page Author: Trempler Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bunker Fight (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | June 12, 2023 | 4164 characters      Bunker Fight is a walkthrough action map with one principle: player vs buff npcs in corridor. I wouldn't say the monsters in this map are overpowered to a gross degree (especially with other maps I've played) but I would certainly call them buff. Maybe even "buff AF".      First of all, this map looks pretty nice. You move through corridors painted as various environments, and I didn't really track the narrative of it as we moved, but it catches the usual Black Mesa bunkery affair with some fun lighting at times. The lighting is an issue at other times, but I'll get to that. The environment does cha

    A walkthrough map that is mostly hallways through various rooms. Enemies spawn in big wads right in front of players and we have to chip away at them with revolvers. SCMapDB page Author: Trempler Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bunker Fight (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 12, 2023 | 3983 characters      This is one of those maps where outside the first door is a swarm of enemies. It is a fairly straightforward walkthrough map with lots of enemies with a lot of health. There are some HEV chargers with lots of charge but later in the map there are snipers that kill us in one hit no matter how much armor we have.      We start off by falling through the level in what I think is a pretty cool effect, at least until I started taking fall damage. The spawn area has two health and HEV charger pairs and both have lots of charge to give. My teammate and I had our armor drained very fast and we were able to suckle at the chargers for most

            Building is a short jaunt through what seems to be some sort of skyscraper filled with human grunts. It's not too difficult and will be over very fast. SCMapDB page Author: Jouko Lehtonen Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Building (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 29, 2023 | 2784 characters      Building is a straight-forward walkthrough map which pits players against HECU in an office building. It begins with players taking heavy opposition in a lobby while using only pistols, the miniguns the players pick off of the HW grunts from that battle will last them the rest of the map as they ascend to the roof. Pressing the button at the roof's door ends the map.      Most of this map is very standard stuff: wipe out HECU which occupy office floors. They're relentless, which makes the initial battle very difficult. However, the immediate upgrade in weapons trivializes most threats from then on. The map proceeds to

          Building is a short jaunt through what seems to be some sort of skyscraper filled with human grunts. It's not too difficult and will be over very fast. SCMapDB page Author: Jouko Lehtonen Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Building (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 29, 2023 | 2374 characters      This is a fairly standard walkthrough map and it takes place in a sort of bland office environment instead of Black Mesa. It played very straightforward with human grunts filling rooms. At first we have pistols but we eventually pistol two heavy weapons grunts down and take their miniguns which made most of the rest of the map much easier. There were shotguns, revolvers, and uzis around but when I ran out of minigun ammo another heavy weapons grunt appeared and I just got another one. I went from pistol to minigun.      The gameplay is interspersed with sections where we have to press a button to continue. At one point we had to bl

             We travel back to Black Mesa to travel through the deteriorating facility and make our escape. The map is a fairly straightforward walkthrough map with some hazardous platforming areas to break up the combat. SCMapDB page Author: The-Real-Game Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bridge 2k (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 25, 2023 | 2966 characters      Broken Path is a short walkthrough map, apparently repurposed cut content from another series. The description says that it didn't really fit anywhere, and I'm sure that was a valid reason. I'll get into why in a moment!      The progress of the map revolves largely around taking out gonomes and zombies (occasionally other xenians) on your way through what I would call a liminal backrooms style area where function have no meaning. The architecture feels a lot like the corridors were found as they are and then attempts were made to make use of it. Navigating this

             We travel back to Black Mesa to travel through the deteriorating facility and make our escape. The map is a fairly straightforward walkthrough map with some hazardous platforming areas to break up the combat. SCMapDB page Author: The-Real-Game Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bridge 2k (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 25, 2023 | 2636 characters      Broken Path is a very straightforward and simple walkthrough map with some very bare hallways, some attempts at detail, and respawning enemies. When I first started reviewing maps I figured the majority of them would be something like this.      We start in a big room with a pipe bursting out of the ceiling. The space beyond the pipe is just a closed off void in the ceiling, as if the only thing in there was the pipe just laying there. When we move out of spawn a bunch of zombies and a gonome appear. This is the gameplay really, walking forward and getting enemies spawned right

    Explore a massive bedroom and office and find a bunch of secrets. Players get lots of weapons and low gravity to make navigation much easier.  SCMapDB page Author: Fourth Letter Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of DBJR (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 30, 2023 | 2719 characters      DBJR is a rats map which takes place inside of a bedroom and an inconsistently proportioned hoarder's office. There are a handful of silly little secrets and a room wherein players can spawn waves of enemies to fight in the main bedroom. The description said these waves happen periodically, but in many dozens of minutes playing we never saw this happen outside of our direct involvement.      The visuals of the map itself are a treat. There's a really cute textured brush for the outside perspective instead of a skybox. There's the obligatory computer running hammer working on the map itself. There's a bed you can run under for cover fro

      Explore a massive bedroom and office and find a bunch of secrets. Players get lots of weapons and low gravity to make navigation much easier.  SCMapDB page Author: Fourth Letter Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of DBJR (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 30, 2023 | 4136 characters      I'm a big fan of rats maps, maps where the map is so big the players feel like they are very small. This rats map has the gravity turned down low and longjump given to players on map start, so it's pretty easy to get around.      We start off in a big room and begin to explore. I guess I am just naturally suicidal because the first place I checked out was the fan cord plugged into an outlet, which will gib players if they get near it. Right next to that is a teleporter to the top of a computer from where we can survey the room. A paper airplane makes loops in mid-air, the long jump really helps in getting on top of that airplane. There is a po

      Fight a tiny city, then fight robots in the tiny city. The map is small, practically a box, and sized to make players feel huge. SCMapDB page Author: Lymphoid Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Gundam City (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 18, 2023 | 2394 characters      Gundam is a map for Sven Co-op which takes place in a destructible "city" made of gridded boxes in a big rockwall-surrounded area. A UFO drops infinite baby headcrabs, and after some time a squad of robogrunts attack and need some killing. Destroying one of the buildings yields a shotgun and MP5, which are crucial for surviving the robogrunts. Another building reveals some snarks, which are also extremely useful in dealing with the issue. As the robogrunts spawn in, players can find themselves spawnkilled to oblivion by a half-dozen robogrunts just sauntering around an outdoor area where the players spawn, but with some grit you can run to the weapo

      Fight a tiny city, then fight robots in the tiny city. The map is small, practically a box, and sized to make players feel huge. SCMapDB page Author: Lymphoid Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Gundam City (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | November 29, 2021 | 2276 characters      This is a short and simple map with a fun gimmick. I love maps with a single focused gimmick and I think this one does it pretty well. I originally reviewed this map at the listed date, but have since edited it on 3/18/2023.      So you are in a map with a small city and enemies spawn in to attack you. The map description says 'you may choose to destroy the city' but let me tell you, if you are not destroying the city you are playing this map wrong. It's incredible fun blowing skyscrapers up and smashing things. Whenever an enemy would destroy a building I would get offended because that is what I am there to do.      The enemies are robo grunt

      Welcome to a store that sells toilets. There are no enemies, but there are plenty of weapons, scientists, and toilets to play with. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Toilet Store (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 23, 2023 | 1621 characters      Toilet Store is a hangout map that takes place in a madcap surrealist toilet store. Players spawn outside, can work their way in by breaking a glass door, and then find themselves in a toilet store populated by scientists and a G-man. The toilets are silly, have breakable glass lids. Some of them elevate, some of them go into the ground. Some are raised up. Some are in kiosks with wacky textures. There's an indestructible front door. There's a cash register. There's a rocket launcher on a bizarre grate wall outside. There's weapons just kinda laying around, some ammo laying on top of toilet seats.      If it sounds like I'm just listing

      Welcome to a store that sells toilets. There are no enemies, but there are plenty of weapons, scientists, and toilets to play with. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Toilet Store (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 12, 2023 | 1655 characters    So we start off in what looks like an alley. There are some huge cardboard boxes here that we can use to jump on and grab a rocket launcher that balances precariously on the edge of sanity and reason. Then we break down the glass and enter the toilet store.      The first thing we discover is that the toilet lids are destructible and sometimes they hide supplies in the toilet bowls. I start on breaking those while my teammate discovers that some toilets sink down into the ground. We both find a toilet that floats up.      After we finish examining all the toilets we turn our attention to the scientists wandering the aisles. There are plenty of weapons strewn

      It's a fairly standard kill box map. There are a bunch of monsters in a pit, safely away from players, and players get to pour death down the hole at their leisure. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Splatter (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 11, 2023 | 2038 characters      Splatter is a gimmick map for Sven Co-op. Some hatches in the floor allow easy access for players to drop explosives and other armaments down upon infinitely respawning aliens. That'll teach them to be aliens!      Players are supplied with rockets, satchel charges, grenades, a gauss rifle (necessary for catapulting one's self up into an upper area), under barrel grenades, and some other weapons. What matters is the explosives you can drop on the enemies. This is surprisingly fun, and the small area through which you can shoot at the enemies can make for some fun games of trying to get your explosive in the hole from

      It's a fairly standard kill box map. There are a bunch of monsters in a pit, safely away from players, and players get to pour death down the hole at their leisure. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Splatter (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 11, 2023 | 2032 characters      Spawn in a safe room filled with weapons and take a peek through some holes in the floor to a pit filled with monsters. Drop a satchel charge in, launch a rocket, perhaps lob an underbarrel grenade. The monsters respawn near instantly.      That's about it for interactivity. There are some interesting things to look at, some checkerboard missing textures, a stack of unbreakable boxes, and a weird booth behind some chain link with a bunch of satchel charges in front of it. The map description says that's an admin room, and it certainly had a bunch of buttons that did some stuff. But there is no discernable way in or out,