Sven Co-op Map Reviews

       Artifact is a custom map converted to Sven from Team Fortress Classic. It's a hard as nails platforming map that has me questioning if there is an important change in player movement across games that makes the map harder than it should be. SCMapDB page Original map author: Kami Conversion authors: AdamR Date of original mod release: 2003 Date of final Sven Map release: 2020 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Artifact (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | July 24, 2022 | 4815 characters      Artifact is a map that, much like the hidden temples in Indiana Jones, hides peril lurking beneath great beauty. The foliage, the textures for the stone reliefs, the models for the key objects, the waterfalls and giant trees- they all look fantastic. But within, trap brushes swiftly kill players and require hard jumps back to spawn and the backtracking that comes with that.      Let me just be up front: I didn't beat a single one of these puzzles wherein death was a threat

      Artifact is a custom map converted to Sven from Team Fortress Classic. It's a hard as nails platforming map that has me questioning if there is an important change in player movement across games that makes the map harder than it should be. SCMapDB page Original map author: Kami Conversion authors: AdamR Date of original mod release: 2003 Date of final Sven Map release: 2020 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Artifact (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | July 24, 2022 | 8431 characters      I feel like every part of this map is engineered to be the most absolute bullshit. This is one of those maps where five minutes into playing it I look at the time limit, see that we have 70 minutes left, and think to myself "we're not going to beat this". My teammate and I used noclip the entire map, there was not one section that we did not cheat to get through. This map was originally made for Team Fortress Classic, I have to think to myself, is there some moveme

       Pink is a brightly colored and garish map with a short platforming section and then a boss fight around a big cup of water. It's very short and has no ending, there is an inaccessible hallway in the last room that does nothing. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Pink (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 30, 2022 | 3159 characters      Pink is a map by robootto which uses xeno.wad to make an experience comparable to being gummed by a toothless giant with halitosis.      The players begin in a platforming segment over nonlethal pizzalava. The pizzalava is not lethal, thankfully, but it is shameful to fall in. Almost the entire platforming segment can be bypassed by just falling into the pizzalava and walking to the penultimate platform, jumping onto that, and then jumping onto the platform which leads to the exit.      What follows is the hallway of breakable transparent brushes and headcrabs. From there

      Pink is a brightly colored and garish map with a short platforming section and then a boss fight around a big cup of water. It's very short and has no ending, there is an inaccessible hallway in the last room that does nothing. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Pink (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 30, 2022 | 2257 characters      Pink is a gross looking map that uses a lot of the uncommonly used alien textures. The map looks pretty gross. It starts off with a pretty bad platforming section, there are grenades here you definitely want and some shotgun shells on other platforms, the water here doesn't hurt at all so swimming is harmless. Thankfully the whole section is skippable, I swam to the end of the sequence, climbed onto the last platform and jumped to the end.      After the platforming players go through a hallway, over a shotgun, past three zombies, down a short slip-n-slide, down a long d

       I'm always happy to see a map take place other than Black Mesa, arctic areas and the middle east seem like popular thematic alternative. This arctic map is a simple and quick walkthrough map series in three parts. SCMapDB page Author: Hunter Alpha Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 3 Map review of Arctic Base (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 29, 2022 | 3856 characters      Arctic Base is an interesting 3-map set which explores an arctic base, an arctic cave, and the first map again but with a couple enemies and an ending. You spend this map using shotgun shells to put down zombies and gonomes, in what is briefly touted as a mystery in the MOTD. I think that's a bit of a misnomer- there's not much mystery, as much as an open-style map where players can gain some atmosphere by looking at silly arctic base stuff before getting into the linear zombie shooting. There's no shame in that, but don't be fooled into thinking this'll b

      I'm always happy to see a map take place other than Black Mesa, arctic areas and the middle east seem like popular thematic alternative. This arctic map is a simple and quick walkthrough map series in three parts. SCMapDB page Author: Hunter Alpha Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 3 Map review of Arctic Base (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 28, 2022 | 4835 characters      There are a few 'arctic' themed maps on the database, and this one is one of the earliest. It definitely feels like an early Sven Co-op map, a lot of simple and blocky level design. There are three maps in this series but they fly by real fast, there really isn't all that much going on here.      The first map starts off with us in a big room and a patch of slippery ice. At first I was wary of the ice because I thought this map was going to lean heavily on slippery floor gimmicks. I was wrong, that is the only slippery patch of ice in these maps (we do come back her

      The point of this map is to drive an APC through a linear map blowing up obstacles and enemies along the way. The map certainly looks rough and the vehicles in Sven are very deadly to the occupants, but the map still delivers a fun experience. SCMapDB page Author: JJ45 Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of APC Rally (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 24, 2022 | 4599 characters      APC Rally is an older walkthrough action map. At a glance, the map looks pretty hastily brushed together and lit for an outdoor canyon, but the gameplay at front and center shines through.      The conceit of APC Rally is that players maneuver a large drivable APC through obstacles, intermittently abandoning it to complete an objective which clears up a roadblock. Func_vehicles are notoriously chunky and easily kill players, but APC Rally designs around this by making the map about absurd action and weapons. While playing, my teammate said something along the

      The point of this map is to drive an APC through a linear map blowing up obstacles and enemies along the way. The map certainly looks rough and the vehicles in Sven are very deadly to the occupants, but the map still delivers a fun experience. SCMapDB page Author: JJ45 Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of APC Rally (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 24, 2022 | 4927 characters      APC Rally is a map about riding an APC through enemies in crazy fun combat. The map description sold me on the idea and I was excited to play. The map is pretty old and it can be pretty rough at times, but I think it did manage to deliver on its promise. The combat is exactly the kind of stuff I remember seeing in Sven maps back in the day, dense high health enemies that players chew through using tons of weapons.      The first thing that needs to be addressed is the APC. Yes, there is a drivable APC that needs to be driven through obstacles to unlock the way

       Only Fun contains zombies and a Big Momma and has little, if any, fun. The spawn points are also placed poorly causing players to die on spawn quite a lot. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Only Fun (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 23, 2022 | 2011 characters      Only Fun is a quintessentially Robootto Robootto map. It hits all of the hallmarks: it's not fun, when you realize what the gimmick is you question whether Robootto legitimately hates the players, it's painfully ugly to look at, and the overall feeling when you're done is that you have wasted your precious time which can never ever be returned.      Players begin in a chamber which connects to a winding same-textured corridor maze full of Barneys. At the opposite end of this corridor is the secondary spawnpoint, which supplies players with tripmines and a gauss rifle. Back at the other chamber, breaking the floor drops the player

      Only Fun contains zombies and a Big Momma and has little, if any, fun. The spawn points are also placed poorly causing players to die on spawn quite a lot. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Only Fun (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 23, 2022 | 2002 characters      Only Fun promises much, but delivers little.      There are three spawn areas in the map. At first my teammate and I both spawned in the top one, there was no indication on how to get out so we ran around hitting everything with our crowbars. Eventually the floor gave out and we fell to the level below, which happens to be where our second spawn point was. Here was a doorway to a green room with many headcrab zombies and a gonarch. The only weapons in the level are at the third spawn point, which is far above the elevator past a twisting passageway full of passive Barneys. The end of this hallway terminates at the top of the room the other two

       Ambush 2 is a fun little map based on a GI Joe toy set. There isn't really anything ambush related here, clear the map of enemies, there is no end level trigger. SCMapDB page Author: Lymphoid Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Ambush 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 26, 2022 | 2846 characters      Despite being an unfinished map with grating combat and unclear objectives, Ambush 2 is a marked improvement on Ambush 1. First of all: kudos to the massive upgrade in mapping skill. The brushwork evoked a very interesting architecture which I would instantly recognize as this map's if I were to see it again. There is also working lighting, which does wonders for a map's aesthetic (the first Ambush was fullbright).      The first thing to understand going into Ambush 2 is that there are no rules and the map ends when it ends. Progression is less about where the right place to go is, and more about where you CAN go. Break do

      Ambush 2 is a fun little map based on a GI Joe toy set. There isn't really anything ambush related here, clear the map of enemies, there is no end level trigger. SCMapDB page Author: Lymphoid Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Ambush 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 26, 2022 | 2903 characters      I played this map right after playing the first Ambush, which I thought was pretty bad. The sequel is much better but still has much room for improvement. The map description says this is a beta, and it shows. The level end is behind a wall that looks like it is rigged to explode but does not seem able to do so. There are underbarrel grenades here that spawn in fours and they got me through the level.      Right out of spawn there is a respawning swarm of houndeyes. My teammate and I were killing them and with no end to them in sight he decided to use wonky level geometry to hop a fence and trigger the next area. Worried that we mess

       Another Unit is an official Sven Co-op map release, it's flavored in typical Black Mesa aesthetic and presented from the HECU perspective. SCMapDB page Author: B-dama Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Another Unit (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 26, 2022 | 4594 characters      Another Unit is a map by B-dama which comes default with Sven Co-op. It is a standard walkthrough map, with lots of mixed alien combat and fighting with Barnies, turrets, and robogrunts.      First thing you'll notice when playing this map is that it looks rather good. It has a lot of the same aesthetic that Black Mesa style maps usually do- industrial, mostly subterranean concrete brutalist corporatism. However, it also has that look that's a little past the generation of Half-Life's original graphics, with more ambitious brushwork and scale. Everything in this map looks good, is decently well lit, and every location in the first half of t

      Another Unit is an official Sven Co-op map release, it's flavored in typical Black Mesa aesthetic and presented from the HECU perspective. SCMapDB page Author: B-dama Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Another Unit (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 26, 2022 | 4129 characters      Another Unit is an official map and it shows. The level architecture is beautiful. Everything is detailed and would look at home right alongside levels in the original Half-Life.      Players spawn right off the bat with a shotgun, mp5, full ammo for both, and 40 armor. This means players don't have to rearm when respawning. The map starts off with two long hallways side by side with turrets everywhere. You have to toss a grenade in the booth with the evil Barney to open the door, then you can use the big unlock machine to open up the doors at the far end of the hallway. Going through the hologram walls triggers barricades to rise up and robo grunts

       This map is supposedly set on an alien planet but starts off in some brutalist YMCA and never really looks too alien. There are parts where players can see through cracks in the level. SCMapDP page Author: DeathBog Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Alien Planet (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 11, 2022 | 3682 characters      Alien Planet is one of those maps that shakes you to your very core. Something happened to this map. Something about it ain't right. It's sloppy in ways that I cannot fathom stumbling upon accidentally. Rooms are made out of patches of similarly textured brushes which overlap, fail to match on axis, leave gaping holes into clearly padded-in skybox brushes to prevent leaking. It's so bad in some places that it feels like you're in a house made out falling cards frozen in time mid-fall. If you managed to conjure that image to your head, add copious z-fighting to it as well.      Walls are paper

      This map is supposedly set on an alien planet but starts off in some brutalist YMCA and never really looks too alien. There are parts where players can see through cracks in the level. SCMapDP page Author: DeathBog Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Alien Planet (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 11, 2022 | 3636 characters      That was a rough map. The walls were paper thin and didn't always line up with each other. He had a noob box around the whole thing, I could see skybox through the gaps of the level.      Players get thrown into the map already taking damage from enemies. The map starts on a fade in so you can't even see what you are doing and you have to take hits. The room you start in looks like a plain swimming pool, I started a map called 'Alien Planet' and started in a swimming pool. If you stand at the water's edge and jump you can see parts of the map through the skybox. The pool is absolutely filled

       Alien Defense is a simple arena with infinitely spawning aliens. Players start out in a fort with some friendly soldiers and the aliens continuously run in. SCMapDB page Author: Wildcat Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Alien Defense (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 6, 2022 | 1591 characters      Alien Defense is a map wherein players team up with respawning grunts in a moderately sized fortress to hold back respawning shock troopers, alien controllers, and pit drones. There is a healthy selection of weapons so players can choose how they want to endlessly battle their foes.      The mapping is serviceable, boilerplate. It doesn't really evoke a real location as much as the impression of an understandable location: a fortress in some sort of desert valley at night. It's easy to understand that much.      Overall, there's very little to say about it. The map is fine, and the encounter seems balanced enough that we coul

      Alien Defense is a simple arena with infinitely spawning aliens. Players start out in a fort with some friendly soldiers and the aliens continuously run in. SCMapDB page Author: Wildcat Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Alien Defense (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 6, 2022 | 2485 characters      Alien defense is really just an arena with infinitely respawning alien enemies. There are friendly human grunts here to help out, although they died a lot and did little more than be effective distractions.      The map layout is simple, players spawn next to some shelves that hold some weapons and ammo. Around a corner is a small courtyard in which aliens are coming through. There is a wall here with an arch where the aliens are coming through. Up a ladder onto the wall allows access to a room with plenty of HEV and explosives. From here the map is on easy mode, stay on the wall and rain down explosive death on these poor aliens. I gibbed

       There really isn't much of anything for players to do but watch baby gargs play football. They do play it, they play slow and stupid, but they are still actually playing the game, its amazing! SCMapDB page Author: Mad Jonesy Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Garg Football (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 5, 2022 | 2006 characters      Garg Football is a map that asks not what a good Half-Life or Sven Co-op level could be, but what MORE could be done with the mechanics and tools provided by these devkits? The answer is obvious: gambling on big beefy aliens playing footie.      Two gargs bat around a "ball" with their tremendous feets and two goalies attempt to also kick the "ball" and their positioning via clever clipping makes their kicks look aimed and intentional. Whenever the ball passes through the goal post a scoreboard is updated to reflect the point.      If I recall correctly (and I probably don

      There really isn't much of anything for players to do but watch baby gargs play football. They do play it, they play slow and stupid, but they are still actually playing the game, its amazing! SCMapDB page Author: Mad Jonesy Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Garg Football (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 5, 2022 | 2316 characters      Garg football is a fun and charming game of football, the soccer kind of football, between two two-garg teams. It's amazing how well it works. It's definitely not perfect, but the gargs do try to kick the ball and more often than not, it goes towards the goal. The gargs do have a tendency to kick the ball as soon as they run up to it, usually towards their own goal and in one instance a garg in my server did score a goal for the opposing team, but they also have an equal chance of running past the ball and coming at it from the correct direction. The fact that it worked at all amazes me. T