Sven Co-op Map Reviews

      Drop into a blocky city and start killing hordes of monsters. Eventually through some arcane invocations (breaking the right stuff) the enemies will cease to appear. SCMapDB page Authors: Agent Zero the Koraa Hunter Date of release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of City Rush (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | October 16, 2023 | 4583 characters      City Rush is a horde map set in a modestly mapped block town. Much of the map is spent wandering around wondering whether you're doing the right thing to make the map proceed.      You could say the map is broken up into two acts: the first is getting to know the map as it is desolate save for players. There are three buildings of interest at any given time: a building at the start with your starting weapons and a small table full of ammo (impossible to not be a greedy grabber here on more populated maps), an armory with extremely durable windows which must be shattered to enter, and a skyscraper at the edge of

    Drop into a blocky city and start killing hordes of monsters. Eventually through some arcane invocations (breaking the right stuff) the enemies will cease to appear. SCMapDB page Authors: Agent Zero the Koraa Hunter Date of release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of City Rush (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | October 16, 2023 | 3543 characters      City Rush is a map that focuses heavily on a zombie horde, of the too-much-health variety. The map explicitly tells us to break a window and it takes a lot of damage and we were doubting what the map was telling us. But an early word of advice, keep hitting those windows. After that we faced a huge swarm of enemies that eventually petered out.      On map start my teammate and I ran in different directions, he tripped a cutscene that I had to watch and then shortly after I tripped a cutscene that he had to watch. I'm glad these scenes are over quickly and before zombies get here because that would be the worst duri

      This map is characterized by l ong twisty hallways filled with swarms of enemies that have high amounts of health. The gameplay is straightforward but takes forever to get through. SCMapDB page Author: Agent Zero the Koraa Hunter Date of release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Breakdown Heist (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 15, 2023 | 5662 characters      Breakdown Heist is a walkthrough map for Sven Co-op that really encapsulates the feeling of a battle of attrition. Enemies with tons of health bottleneck players in co-op unfriendly hallways while respawning repeatedly after the entire squad is taken down. The end result is a map that looks semi-decent, occasionally has satisfying moments of hammering enemies together with players, but is otherwise overstuffed with the monotony of dumping ammo into evergreen supplies of enemy forces. They barely flinch as bullets wash over them like water. It's bad enough early on with swarms of 500 hp

      This map is characterized by l ong twisty hallways filled with swarms of enemies that have high amounts of health. The gameplay is straightforward but takes forever to get through. SCMapDB page Author: Agent Zero the Koraa Hunter Date of release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Breakdown Heist (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 15, 2023 | 4315 characters      I was a bit nervous to play this map because some of the comments mentioned a lot of enemies with tons of health and lack of ammo. That does not sound like a fun combination. Well, having played the map I can tell you that this map is a slog against tons of enemies with high health.      We start in a hallway with basically enough HEV and armor to equip one player. The first obstacle is a hallway with a dip and sandbags protecting female assassins at the end. We snipe them dead and jump over the sandbags, only to be sandbagged ourselves by a veritable swarm of human grunts just around the cor

      The original Half-Life: Echoes mod was released in 2018, and one year later the Sven Co-op conversion came out. It's a more modern conversion of a more modern mod. It's got striking visuals and great sequences and the converter did a great job making it ready for cooperative play. SCMapDB page Original map author: James Coburn Conversion author: kmkz Date of original mod release: 2018 Date of final Sven Map release: 2019 Maps in package: 15 Map review of Echoes (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | April 21, 2023 | 5248 characters      Half Life Echoes is a mod for Half-Life which is ported here to Sven. Having just played through it, I think this whole 14-map extravaganza can be broken down into the following: set-pieces, environmental art, gameplay, and story.      The set-pieces of Half Life Echoes are mostly pretty good. There's long-form puzzles, like a giant grinder that needs multiple explosives shoved into it, or leading enemies into one

      The original Half-Life: Echoes mod was released in 2018, and one year later the Sven Co-op conversion came out. It's a more modern conversion of a more modern mod. It's got striking visuals and great sequences and the converter did a great job making it ready for cooperative play. SCMapDB page Original map author: James Coburn Conversion author: kmkz Date of original mod release: 2018 Date of final Sven Map release: 2019 Maps in package: 15 Map review of Echoes (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | April 21, 2023 | 4696 characters      Buckle up for a long cinematic adventure, we have a highly praised Half-Life mod converted for Sven Co-op and it has been lovingly ported. This mod has some great production and we start off strong with a cutscene and voiceover that all players can see! Cutscenes often leave players out but that doesn't happen here and that indicates the quality level of pretty much the whole map series.      I can see right in the fir

    Based on a level in Gex by the same name, this map features a rooftop battle in a wacky city that players traverse through platforming and ladders. There is good music but also constant annoying sound effects. SCMapDB page Author: Agent Zero the Koraa Hunter Date of release: 2018 Maps in package:1 Map review of Dial "A" for "Arson" (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 23, 2023 | 5630 characters      Dial "A" For Arson is a Sven Co-op map aiming to recreate a map from Gex. I have not played Gex, but am sorta aware of it, and knowledge that wall-climbing is a major element of Gex was crucial in figuring out the way forward.      The theme is rooftops in an urban skyline at night. Players battle snipers, bodyguards, "city rats" (baby voltigores), "mutants" (baby gargs), and robogrunts. To do this, they use pistols and then MP5, crossbow, sniper, hivehand, SAW, and spore launcher once they're found in

      Based on a level in Gex by the same name, this map features a rooftop battle in a wacky city that players traverse through platforming and ladders. There is good music but also constant annoying sound effects. SCMapDB page Author: Agent Zero the Koraa Hunter Date of release: 2018 Maps in package:1 Map review of Dial "A" for "Arson" (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 23, 2023 | 5903 characters      I played this map and reviewed it a long time ago. I remember it was late at night and my teammate was falling asleep, neither of us had fun and I tore the map to shreds. My teammate didn't review because he remembered none of it. Well, after a revisit I can say that I was wrong. Playing this map while awake was definitely the way to go.      The map starts with a sweet camera flyover of the level, it's based on Gex, a platformer, so there is a lot of platforming showcased. Players pop into existence in a little room above a pile of HEV a

       Well it looks like you ran out of gas inside of a computer. Fight off waves of enemies and survive. SCMapDB page Author: El_Zurdo Date of final release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Arena Synthwave (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | July 16, 2022 | 3445 characters      Arena Synthwave is a map with exceeding output for such low ambition. Fight your way through respawning baby gargs and a handful of enemies in wacky synthwavey displacement-like terrain that's hard to climb with a cute car in the middle where you spawn. On paper it sounds like nonsense, but I promise in practice it's a lot of fun.      At the beginning, players are faced with respawning baby gargs and one garg while the players are equipped with only an uzi and sit at the bottom of a geometric terrain bowl of sorts. Ascending the sides to the cusp of this bowl is a bit of a chore at first, but it's something you get used to over time. Once you're at the top, you find explosi

      Well it looks like you ran out of gas inside of a computer. Fight off waves of enemies and survive. SCMapDB page Author: El_Zurdo Date of final release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Arena Synthwave (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 16, 2022 | 2777 characters      Arena Synthwave is a short and sweet map with some nice background music, a very retro 80's look, and some decent combat. Players start out in a small spawn room with some hard to read (neon green against neon purple) credits and a low poly and low resolution portrait of a counter-strike model. Two buttons on opposite ends of the room must be pressed at the same time to open up a wall and reveal a large neon sun. Walking through the sun spits players out in the arena.      The arena itself is very simple. It's a big bowl of uneven terrain, the raised areas around the sides vary in width and all looks very asymmetric and uneven. The ground texture is the same purple grid as in the spaw

       Step into a world of bright colors and synthesized music. Fight colorful enemies with beams of light. Relax amid a horde of enemies. SCMapDB page Author: Dr.Abc Date of final release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Arena Retrowave (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | July 9, 2022 | 3107 characters      Arena Retrowave is a slick, stylistic arena map with crazy jump pads, teleports, high health, high armor, high ammo, heavy duty weaponry, and high action. Enemies and weapons are skinned to appear like glowing wireframes. This is all to the benefit of a retrowave aesthetic, accompanied by some synth music by Rain Sword (thumbs up, good shit).      The aesthetic is, frankly, the most characteristic aspect of this map. So, let's talk about it. The brushwork, skybox, prop entities, enemies, and weapons all blend together to create a seamless, cohesive aesthetic where even outlandish player models do little to break the atmosphere. I especially like the wirefra

      Step into a world of bright colors and synthesized music. Fight colorful enemies with beams of light. Relax amid a horde of enemies. SCMapDB page Author: Dr.Abc Date of final release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Arena Retrowave (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | November 27, 2021 | 3166 characters      This was the first arena map I've played so I didn't really know what to expect going into it. This was probably the best map for my first arena, it is dripping with style and I spent a good portion of the time playing just exploring the many areas of the map.      I much prefer walkthrough maps or anything where I can make visible progress, which arena maps aren't really good for. This map in particular has a lot going on. In the beginning I was fighting on top of the central building under the mistaken assumption there was some linear path to follow. Eventually I realized I was going in circles and chasing my tail. Later I found out the glowing

       This great looking map is made to look just like the game Borderlands. I'm not sure if this is a recreation of a Borderlands map or just inspired by the game, but it looks truly unique. SCMapDB page Author: Dr.Abc Date of final release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Arena Hyperion Preserve (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | June 19, 2022 | 5330 characters      Hyperion Preserve is an arena map for Sven Co-op with very ambitious presentation and some wacky ideas. From the brushwork to the textures to the scripted weapons to the silly progression systems, this map tried a lot. Does it all come through?      First thing you'll notice is that the map looks very good, and quite a bit like Borderlands. The environment looks great for Sven Co-op, and is lit, textured, and brushed very well. Even the buttons glow and read very clearly as interactable, fun decorations litter walls- everything looks great.      The gameplay itself is an arena wave defense wh

      This great looking map is made to look just like the game Borderlands. I'm not sure if this is a recreation of a Borderlands map or just inspired by the game, but it looks truly unique. SCMapDB page Author: Dr.Abc Date of final release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Arena Hyperion Preserve (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 19, 2022 | 6533 characters      This map uses a lot of Borderlands 2 models and textures to recreate, what I assume to be, a location in Borderlands 2 of a big arena. The map looks great, everything really sells the idea of an arena fight on another planet against waves of aliens.      The map starts off with players in a black room and a big floating button, pressing it opens the wall up to a short hall and an elevator up to the arena. Once inside the area, which is rolling hills dotted with shipping containers, pipes, tree things, some small streams, and a simple structure. There is a platform with a button and a big symbol ove

       Alien Shooter is a top down run and gun game where players shoot large amounts of aliens. This recreation in Sven does a fairly good job copying the original game in both gameplay and presentation. SCMapDB page Author: Dr.Abc Date of final release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Alien Shooter 1 Demo (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 12, 2022 | 4665 characters      Alien Shooter was an old game I remember playing using the shockwave player on AOL back in the day. Top-down running and gunning game. When I saw there was a map based on it I was extremely excited.      This map is an attempt to recreate Alien Shooter in Sven, and I have to say it's far better than I would have expected. The setup is pretty simple: fight a bunch of melee-only pitdrones as they swarm out of every room you open- in green-yellow-red ranking order of toughness. The players are given dual handguns for infinite ammo firing, then later a shotgun and minigun. There was ammo fo

      Alien Shooter is a top down run and gun game where players shoot large amounts of aliens. This recreation in Sven does a fairly good job copying the original game in both gameplay and presentation. SCMapDB page Author: Dr.Abc Date of final release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Alien Shooter 1 Demo (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 12, 2022 | 3986 characters      I've played a bit of Alien Shooter back in the day, so I sort of knew what to expect going into this map. That game has a ton of running backwards down corridors shooting a massive swarm of enemies, and that is exactly what this map has.      Right off the bat the game forces players into third person mode. This is probably my least favorite part of the map, but I get why the author did it. Gunning down aliens in third person really felt like a 3D Alien Shooter. The enemies are pit drones with the projectile attack removed and recolored to green and brown to serve as the game's main e

       Access Point is a standalone mod converted to work in Sven Co-op. The whole goal of the map is to escape from Black Mesa. SCMapDB page Original mod authors: Dr. Orange Conversion authors: Mikk Date of original mod release: 2018 Date of final Sven Map release: 2021 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Access Point (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | January 16, 2022 | 4920 characters      Access Point is a singleplayer mod that I have never played by (the, I'm presuming, mysterious) Dr Orange. Access Point for Sven Co-op is a port of that singleplayer mod by mikk. And boy, what a port it is.      Access Point is a fast-paced singleplayer map which acts as a vertical slice of all of the action in the first half-dozen-or-so chapters of Half-Life. There are headcrabs, houndeyes, barnacles, vortigaunts, and grunts battled through fast and satisfying mini-battles throughout the exploration of the locale. Said locale is one of those Black Mesa industrial areas, fit with