Sven Co-op Map Reviews

       Hang out and wait in a lobby and amuse yourself with a giant sound system with lots of different music. This map is meant to be a waiting room so there isn't much else to do here. SCMapDB page Author: Sence Date of release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Chillplace v1337 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | July 6, 2023 | 2054 characters      Chillplace v1337 is a reconfiguration of the ideas in Chillplace v2 for a more streamlined presentation. Gone is the island with the tiny buttons on a boombox, and here now is the day of a bizarre structure which controls music, and beautiful mountain scenery. Some nicely utilized models for mountains give the impression of displacement.      For those unaware, Chillplace is a hangout map where players can vibe to music. Kinda like a virtual club. To that end, I think Chillplace offers a decently sized venue with enough of a fun vibe to hang out with friends. I also think the invisible walls make moving around a litt

      Hang out and wait in a lobby and amuse yourself with a giant sound system with lots of different music. This map is meant to be a waiting room so there isn't much else to do here. SCMapDB page Author: Sence Date of release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Chillplace v1337 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 6, 2023 | 1509 characters      This is sort of a sequel to Chillplace v2 or maybe a remake. The goal is the same, as a sort of lobby or waiting room map. Besides pressing buttons on a massive sound system to play a staggering number of music tracks there is no gameplay. I noclipped around and saw nothing hidden either.      The scenery is pretty good looking though. We have some majestic mountains with incredibly stretched out textures. It looked pretty bad close up but it also gave the map a warped sense of scale that worked well with the scenery and dim blue lighting. There's also a chilling horrible monster man with a big clarification that t

      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

      Here is a beautiful map with a really well done intro sequence. According to the map description it is abandoned which is a shame since what has been completed is pretty good and well polished. SCMapDB page Author: Vector-T (now known as I-ka) Date of release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Black Mesa: Getaway (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 10, 2023 | 6990 characters      Black Mesa Getaway is a seemingly abandoned map by I-ka, or VectorT. To save time off the wall of the text that's about to unravel, I will begin with my summarized thoughts: Black Mesa Getaway, while unfinished, offers a slice of tense, simple, beautiful gameplay that utilizes many decisions which I principally disagree with in ways which I subjectively agree with. If you're uninterested in deeper analysis, I'll see you at the bottom paragraph.      Let's unpack that: first, Black Mesa Getaway is unfinished. Indeed, Black Mesa Getaway is a map which con

    Here is a beautiful map with a really well done intro sequence. According to the map description it is abandoned which is a shame since what has been completed is pretty good and well polished. SCMapDB page Author: Vector-T (now known as I-ka) Date of release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Black Mesa: Getaway (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 10, 2023 | 5419 characters      When we started this map I was convinced it was a converted Half-Life mod. We start in an incredibly dark room and press a button to begin the map proper, after which we are treated to some very nice cutscenes. We have a great pan down a hallway with a fight between human grunts and alien slaves frozen in time, electrical arcs and bullets frozen in the air. Then I actually decide to read the map description and I find out that this is the author's first ever map.      After the intro (complete with some G-man voice lines!) we start in a small room, we both head right int

    Climb down into a cave system with a lot of science hallways and industrial rooms. The cave itself certainly is big and the map ends once it is explored in a linear fashion. SCMapDB page Author: amckern Date of release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Big Cave 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | February 13, 2023 | 5354 characters      Big Cave 2 is an action walkthrough map for Sven Co-op featuring immense scale, impressive brushwork and textures, and some hit-or-miss gameplay.      The idea is that there's a huge base built into the side of a cave. The map is very vertical, with players descending deeper and deeper into the big cave and the base which burrows throughout. The cave is of truly immense scale, and the brush and texture work are fantastic. Not only are the natural structures some of the finest I've seen in the goldsrc engine, but the interiors of the base really manage to make industrial, grungy, brutalist subterranean complex

      Climb down into a cave system with a lot of science hallways and industrial rooms. The cave itself certainly is big and the map ends once it is explored in a linear fashion. SCMapDB page Author: amckern Date of release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Big Cave 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | February 13, 2023 | 6782 characters      As advertised, this map has a BIG CAVE. The story isn't real clear, but we traverse the cave and get to a small door to end the level. It's sort of a beautiful and confusing experience.      Players start in a small camp with a tent, big fan thing, and some ladders down into the BIG CAVE. The tent has a clear window and we can see that it's got a teleporter, but the door doesn't open. We can climb on top of the tent and see that there is no texture on top, so we can see through the level and see a huge vertical climb down ahead of us. The CAVE is at the bottom of a very long shaft with the ladders. The

      Don't let the fancy title screen that looks like the X-Files fool you, this is a Black Mesa adventure. Players take on the role of scientists trying to escape the disaster, unsuccessfully. SCMapDB page Original map author:LetKyx Team Conversion author: Outerbeast Date of original mod release:2004 Date of final Sven Map release: 2019 Maps in package:4 Map review of Unholy (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | February 11, 2023 | 3117 characters      Unholy is a Half-Life mod converted to Sven Co-op. The mod is a short 4-map walkthrough starring two scientists discussing the story of their daring escapades through the Black Mesa complex as the resonance cascade wreaks havoc.      Throughout the story, players can expect to very slowly gain weaponry, only ever achieving as much as a basic boilerplate loadout of an MP5, pistol, revolver, and shotgun, with some hand grenades to round out the very final encounters. Most of the map involves battling xen creat

      Don't let the fancy title screen that looks like the X-Files fool you, this is a Black Mesa adventure. Players take on the role of scientists trying to escape the disaster, unsuccessfully. SCMapDB page Original map author:LetKyx Team Conversion author: Outerbeast Date of original mod release:2004 Date of final Sven Map release: 2019 Maps in package:4 Map review of Unholy (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | February 11, 2023 | 2613 characters      Unholy is a Half-Life mod that takes place back in Black Mesa, this time we play as a scientist and the twist is we aren't as cool as Gordon Freeman. Honestly the whole thing is mostly vents and is mercifully short.      We start off with a cutscene, I get to see it but my teammate who joins after the map starts does gets to watch a wall. After turning off survival mode we get into the map proper and its a lot of vents. There are some rooms, some hallways, tons of vents, and it is all Black Mesa themed so it

       Imagine a large expanse of white and black tiles floating in the void. Fight enemies in one big leak. There is a secret area and the entrance there is invisible and out of the way. SCMapDB page Author: Pastacake Date of final release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Battle Mania (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | October 22, 2022 | 1673 characters      Battle Mania is an arena map where you battle waves of enemies on a checkerboard brush in the void. Not a void, *the* void. There is no lighting, as the entire map is a leak.      Press a button, open a door, battle alongside a gorilla against zombies, a robot with too much health, two invincible headcrabs, a xenomorph (with too much health), and Richard Boderman (with an amount of health I think might be excessive). Players are equipped to deal with this via a shotgun, mp5, handgun, 357, crowbar, and medkit with nowhere near enough ammo. As the gonome enemies began appearing my teammate and I would hop off th

      Imagine a large expanse of white and black tiles floating in the void. Fight enemies in one big leak. There is a secret area and the entrance there is invisible and out of the way. SCMapDB page Author: Pastacake Date of final release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Battle Mania (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | October 22, 2022 | 1774 characters      Battle Mania is a big checkerboard flat plane filled with zombies. A large friendly Ape spins around in an invisible breakable enclosure. As the game goes on and we kill enemies, more and more powerful enemies appear. It culminates in a fight against Richard Boderman and the map ends as soon as he is dead. The map is fullbright and my teammate surmised it was because there is nothing between players and the void. Falling off the side of the checkerboard will result in falling forever without death. That's kind of a cool feature.      Except there is also extra stuff below the map that we can see as we fall f

       Converted from a standalone mod of the same name, this map series takes players to an underground base that looks suspiciously like Black Mesa to liquidate some obsolete personnel. There is only one map here and it has its ups and downs. SCMapDB page Original map author: DAVLevels Conversion author: Outerbeast Date of original mod release: 1999 Date of final Sven Map release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Base Attack (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | October 1, 2022 | 2451 characters      Base Attack is a pretty well made walkthrough action military map with lots of gunplay, some really interesting architecture I haven't seen since, and a lot of content for one map.      Players assume the role of some infiltrating force making their way into a military base and blowing up their coolant system. To do that, you must shoot everybody many times. The map starts with some cramped entrance areas. There's some fun destructibles, and the map introduces p

      Converted from a standalone mod of the same name, this map series takes players to an underground base that looks suspiciously like Black Mesa to liquidate some obsolete personnel. There is only one map here and it has its ups and downs. SCMapDB page Original map author: DAVLevels Conversion author: Outerbeast Date of original mod release: 1999 Date of final Sven Map release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Base Attack (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | October 1, 2022 | 5749 characters      The story behind this map is invading a top secret research facility in the very classy Area 69 and killing everybody inside due to some vague clandestine reasons. Since it was originally a singleplayer mod ported over to Sven Co-op it has survival mode on by default, like all mod ports seem to have.      The map starts off and its looking a little blocky. This is to be expected, the original mod was released in 1999, there is a lot of effort put into level details but th

       Shrink down extra small and fight for control of the bedroom as tiny green men. This map is highly reminiscent of old classic Army Men games like Sarge's Heroes. SCMapDB page Author: RaptorSKA Date of final release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Toysoldiers (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | September 11, 2022 | 5154 characters      Toy Soldiers is an action walkthrough map wherein players take on the role of toy soldiers in a room which has been freshly conquered by enemy toy soldiers. We get the benefits of a rats map and the charm of playing as colorful plastic soldiers smashed together. How does it work?      Well, Toy Soldiers is one of the highest rated maps on Sven Co-op Map Database for good reason. The map is a perfect length, follows good practices of moving spawnpoints forward and keeping players stocked with quickly restocking ammo/HEV/health depots. The health and HEV wall generators seem to never run out. Pickups regenerate instantly. The

      Shrink down extra small and fight for control of the bedroom as tiny green men. This map is highly reminiscent of old classic Army Men games like Sarge's Heroes. SCMapDB page Author: RaptorSKA Date of final release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Toysoldiers (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | September 11, 2022 | 6153 characters      Toy Soldiers is a rats map with the army man theme. I love rats maps, something about being small and fighting to the death in a huge room really appeals to me. With the extra effort of custom models (reskins to be either green, tan, grey, or blue) the map is even more charming.      Before we get to the fighting players get to spawn inside the house at normal size. We can look outside at the lawn, the car parked in the driveway, some impressive bushes that most people probably won't notice. It's a fun start to the map, using the play set with the glow sprite will start the map properly. The family is out on vacation,

       Diego Land is an unfinished and abandoned project meant for somebody, I believe it's a youtuber named Diego. The map description says there is supposed to be comedy but I can attest the mapper hasn't added anything like that before abandoning it. SCMapDB page Author: Galy Raffo Date of final release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Diego Land (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | June 19, 2022 | 4300 characters      Diego Land is an action map which paints in huge, broad strokes. Segments of the map are separated into huge cube rooms filled with scattered, strewn about as enemies ranging from bullet sponge levels of HP to full-metal bullet sponge levels of HP attack the player from multiple vantage points. Entrances into these arenas are always through blocky hallways with big vertically sliding doors, so the only way for a player to engage is head-on or by kiting in the doorway.      Thankfully, Diego Land is stocked heavily with lots of weapons- namel

      Diego Land is an unfinished and abandoned project meant for somebody, I believe it's a youtuber named Diego. The map description says there is supposed to be comedy but I can attest the mapper hasn't added anything like that before abandoning it. SCMapDB page Author: Galy Raffo Date of final release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Diego Land (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 19, 2022 | 6156 characters      This map is abandoned, so it's unfinished and never will be finished. What is here is very clearly unfinished. The level design is incredibly simple and blocky, and combat encounters are wads of enemies in hallways. There are some cool fire effects that don't hurt and some custom models like stretched out scientists and weird cartoon pit drones. There were a lot of 3d models of bodies laying around which looked good but they were also solid and would constantly block me. It's an interesting map and it definitely would have been bet