Sven Co-op Map Reviews

      Lobby maps are for players to pick their next map. The Single Player Campaign Portal map is a really well done example and its mere existence pretty much makes this map obsolete. SCMapDB page Author: Unknown Date of release: 2017 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Choose Campaign (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 2, 2023 | 2347 characters      I feel weird reviewing maps that have been made obsolete by newer maps. It doesn't really matter how good this map is, players probably won't play it because the successor is an upgrade. I'm a bit relieved that this map is obviously inferior, it's split up into two maps, the first one (helpfully named '2') lets us choose between chapters in the big three, Half-Life, Blue Shift, and Opposing Force. The second map is a much smaller single room affair that starts the same campaigns plus They Hunger, Half-Life Instinct, and I think two others that I didn't recognize and did not care about.  ...

      As the title suggests we fight a gargantua in this map. The level is very small and consists of only one small arena dotted with some obstacles and a couple of supplies. The garg respawns when killed and there is no end. SCMapDB page Author: Socrates Date of release: 1999 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Garg Hunt (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 18, 2023 | 1335 characters      Fresh from the year 1999 we have a very simple arena map dedicated to fighting a single garg (at a time). This was an official map from the first version of Sven Co-op. It's light on the gameplay, very unpolished, and somewhat annoying to play.      We have a few weapons scattered around the arena like a revolver, mp5, gauss gun, satchel charges, and a rocket launcher on a ledge next to a bullsquid. Rush the rocket launcher and then the garg is easy to take down, map over. But it is an arena horde map so the garg just comes back f...

      There is only a single room in this map and after a while enemies start spawning in it. There are supplies around but not much else. The map ends in less than four minutes. SCMapDB page Author: Keen Date of release: 1999 Maps in package:1 Map review of Bypass (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 15, 2023 | 995 characters      The map description and pictures really encapsulate this entire map experience. The room is a hexagon, the outside area is raised and has a shotgun and mp5 and the lower area is sunken in and has ammo and health and ammo chargers. Human grunts spawn in at set times. Then the map ends since it only lasts for 3 minutes and 40 seconds.      This map feels like a waiting room. Like an elaborate level transition that just dumps enemies on players in tight confines while we wait for a door to open. There is so little here to experience, so little on offer. Pros: there were supplies the ma...

    The map description says 'jump around on steel beams' and it certainly looks like that in the screenshot, but there is a minimum of jumping. Walk up the beams to the top, explore dead end hallways, and maybe jump to your doom. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Splatter of Matter (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | February 11, 2023 | 1224 characters      Splatter-of-matter (or SOM for short) is a Sven-Coop map experience by robootto. It features a four-way symmetrical layout (or, as my buddy pointed out, "rotational symmetry") and a spiral ascent with branching hallways. One hallway leads to a shotgun shell room. The rest lead to dead ends, though some of those dead ends also have ammo. There's a ring of every weapon at the bottom where the players spawn. If you jump from the highest point down to the middle, you will gib and splatter. I have to imagine that is the intent of the...

      The map description says 'jump around on steel beams' and it certainly looks like that in the screenshot, but there is a minimum of jumping. Walk up the beams to the top, explore dead end hallways, and maybe jump to your doom. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Splatter of Matter (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | February 11, 2023 | 1370 characters      I was afraid this was going to be a hardcore climbing map, but it's really not. The whole map is one big room with a series of metal bars connecting platforms in the corners. There is no jumping around needed, just balancing on the bars is enough.      The way the map is laid out, there is a hallway at each corner of each landing, enticing the player with no less than 12 dead ends. At the top there are actual rooms down these hallways but only one door opened and it only had shotgun shells. One other room had sh...

      Get angry! Wrath is a very simple level, in fact the included screenshot shows about half the level. Also the map description says the vortigaunts are endless but after about ten they stopped spawning in. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Wrath (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 28, 2023 | 1734 characters     This is a very short map with no game end. Players spawn in a red room with a vortigaunt spawner. It does hurt players the moment they spawn and it does respawn vortigaunts but there is a limit, probably ten or around there. So after we killed all the vortigaunts we tried in vain to break into the window of the room in the middle of the room. I decided to head through what looked to be a doorway and fell down a rainbow colored shaft, then hit a teleporter at the bottom and fell through another shaft. Four shafts in total and then I landed inside the room in the middle o...

      Don't jump down! Or do because besides hunting for hidden weapons all the gameplay is at the bottom of a pit. There is no end game trigger so this map is best for sightseeing.  SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2006 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Splatter 3 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | January 1, 2023 | 2260 characters      Robootto does it again with another Sven Co-op map. Relax, sit back, fire weapons endlessly into the pit of despair. Is there anything worthwhile at the bottom of the pit? If you find finding the answers to questions its own reward, then possibly!      Explore the above-pit world, which is a semi-decently brushed and not-decently textured cave interior filled with tau-or-tripmine-only reachable ledges. Don't worry- you get both! By crawling the cave, players can nearly complete their arsenal: a tau gun, snarks, tripmines, machineguns, grenades- the works.  ...

      Welcome to a place of secrets. This map is a heaping pile of secrets and sometimes they actually work. The map works best when you are simply wandering around looking at the sights. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Secret Place (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | November 13, 2022 | 2780 characters      I'm always uneasy with secret maps for the sole reason that it is hard for me to tell if I've found everything, I'm pretty bad at finding secrets so I'm usually missing like half the map. To add to my difficulty the author for this map is Robootto, who is known for off the wall and barely functional (and sometimes completely nonfunctional) maps. So a secret map where the secrets might not even work, great.      So the map starts and I start breaking through an obvious breakable wall. We go through a few of these, picking up the odd weapon and some ammo, my teamma...

       This map has three rooms and two combat encounters, it is insanely short. After fighting through generic Half-Life hallways players enter a vent and end the map, that is it. SCMapDB page Author: Unknown Date of final release: Unknown Maps in package: 1 Map review of Battle (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | October 2, 2022 | 2107 characters      Battle (or 2battle) is a very, very brief walkthrough map wherein players must face two ambushes with heavy resistance. It's somewhat noobish in brushwork design, evoking a blocky and janky Black Mesa lab corridor with uneven and unnaturally thin surfaces. Hgrunts break in through a skylight in a paper-thin ceiling. It's ambitious for what the quality of map would suggest the mapper is capable of.      As mentioned, the first ambush involves rappelling HECU, but it also includes about four turrets. This is a heavy battle with lots of resistance for two players, but it is pos...

       I don't know why the author thought it was necessary to make this map some weird fanfiction about Barney's family. But I will say none of that matters, simply kill aliens in the map and you win. SCMapDB page Author: Tigan Date of final release: 2006 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Barney The Great (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | October 1, 2022 | 2208 characters      Barney The Great is a baffling map for how straight forward it is. Navigate 3 poorly brushed, blocky floors in a self-contained building, fighting annoying enemies in cramped spaces with the bare minimum weaponry to do so.      In the first floor you fight zombies and baby headcrabs in cramped living quarters. According to the story, these are Barney The Great's family members trying to avenge him. This makes absolutely zero sense to me. I don't get this angle at all. It's an annoying battle in an ugly, mostly dark area that you must navigate with o...

      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...

       There are a lot of Resident Evil maps for Sven Co-op and they mostly follow the same formula of exploring a mansion. The 'Aftermath' part of the title implies this map is a sequel but it is unclear what the previous map could be. SCMapDB page Author: James Smith Date of final release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Resident Evil: The Aftermath (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | September 1, 2022 | 3777 characters      Resident Evil: The Aftermath is an attempt at a Resident Evil map that barely replicates the broad strokes of what one might think Resident Evil is from vague memories of having played up to the the first zombie in the first Resident Evil, not figuring out what to do, turning the game off, and then later seeing art of Nemesis and looked up some Resident Evil art and thought it was cool. I know that's oddly specific, but it just really gives me that impression.      The spawn area requires player...

      There are nine r's. This is a very short map that feels more like a tech demo than anything else. Players fly through arches, throw grenades in holes, and make a face spin, and that's it. SCMapDB page Author: CryoKeen (aka Keen) Date of final release: Unknown Maps in package: 1 Map review of rrrrrrrrr (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 19, 2022 | 1475 characters      This is a very short map, seemingly unfinished and very light on details. Other than knowing there are nine r's all I can say is that the map starts in a sewer, players activate a sign to get a Stargate SG-1 jumpscare before being launched through a bunch of arches and into a weird alien room with water and grenades. In the wall here are holes, throw the grenades in to reveal a teleport. The teleporter will cause players to telefrag so watch out. After the teleporter press two buttons to make the lady's face spin, it will explode so watch out again. Then at the end the ...

      Apache Battle 2 is a slightly improved version of Apache Battle. The arena has been revamped, there are weapons now that still aren't very useful, and the helicopters don't respawn forever. SCMapDB page Author: Mad Jonesy Date of final release: 2000 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Apache Battle 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 23, 2022 | 2446 characters      I played Apache Battle right before playing this one and I thought it was terrible. The sequel was an official map way back in the Sven Co-op 1.3 release so I thought it would be much improved. Instead, it has only marginally improved.      My major complaint about the first map is the lack of weapons to deal with the threats, this is a trend that continues in the officially released sequel. There are grenades in the spawn area, a shotgun on the roof and in full view of the eponymous Apache, and some HEV chargers on the wall in addition to the HEV batteries....

       Apache Battle is an arena map where players are expected to take down an Apache Helicopter. There is nothing else to the map, take down the helicopter and another appears, forever. SCMapDB page Author: Mad Jonesy Date of final release: 1999 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Apache Battle (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 23, 2022 | 1978 characters      Apache Battle is one of those earliest maps that remind you that there was a point in time where every aspect of Half-Life was extremely novel. Players spawn in a room which gives basic equipment. If there's meant to be some extra weaponry given, it no longer is. The player gets a pistol clip and is jutted into the a world of respawning grunts and apaches. The goal seems to be to run across the battlefield using sheer numbers and the trickle-fed HEV batteries to survive gunfire from the apaches to reach a large mounted gun which is then used by the players to engage the apache...

      ApacheCo is a symmetrical map with two sides, a day side and a night side. Each side has its own Apache and the map will end and declare that one side is the winner once one of the Apaches go down. This gimmick would work better if the map had weapons. SCMapDB page Author: Fourth Letter Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of ApacheCo (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 17, 2022 | 1846 characters      Apacheco is a Sven Co-op map that's as gimmicky as they come. Players enter the arena through one of two portals, choosing a team- night or day. In each, they meet with friendly Barneys and attempt to push through waves of grunts using only pistols with a clip's worth of ammo. If they manage to push through, they get to an arena that is in either night time or day time, and face an apache helicopter with way too much health for how no weapons everybody has. Eventually one of the helicopters is destroyed and the "d...

       Another Day At The Office is set in laboratories made by the same company who built Black Mesa because even though we are not in Black Mesa it looks just like Black Mesa. SCMapDB page Author: BonkTurnip Date of final release: 2021 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Another Day At The Office (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 2, 2022 | 9868 characters      Another Day at the Office is two walkthrough maps with a focus on backtracking, action set pieces, and regathering ammo after gruelingly punishing firefights that feel designed by somebody who doesn't participate in many firefights in Sven.      The first map is a collection of loosely strung together action vignettes. After making a choice between an egon room and a room with a scientist who will give you access to a sniper, a spore gun, and a displacer- the latter is far more preferable, without it you'll lack any decent ranged during the map's first sniper f...

       Alien fight is a map about fighting xenomorphs, the aliens from the famous movie franchise Alien. Players go from room to room fighting them in waves. SCMapDB page Author: Original Prankster Date of final release: 2002 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Alien Fight (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 11, 2022 | 3864 characters      Alien Fight is a map which lives up to its name: the players fight aliens in it. They fight aliens a lot in it. When you hear "fight aliens" you might be thinking of a lot of games with aliens stalking interesting settings for you to fight in. But: have you ever fight a bunch of alien xenomorph bullsquids in a smallish box room coming out of a spawner until you find your way out into another smallish box room with respawning xenomorph bullsquids by finding the z-fighting on a breakable wall? What about if you did that… four times?!      I feel like it's very rare that I play an unoffic...

       This map's name is a mouthful. It is essentially a monster hunt map. The arena uses the de_dust textures to create a new area highly reminiscent of de_dust. Four monsters with high health and interesting models from Counter-Strike: Nexon are scattered around for players to hunt. SCMapDB page Author: Patrick Date of final release: 2017 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Zombie Darkness-4 Dust Survive Map-1 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | January 28, 2022 | 4714 characters      Zombie Darkness 4 Dust Survival, or Z4_Dust for short, is a megamonster map wherein you play as trendy chicks using wacky guns to invest large quantities of lead in zombie flesh. The map is in the style of a dust map, though the layout is generally unfamiliar to me. The map takes place at night and the objective is to kill a megazombie called "Hide". There are three other zombies, though they are technically superfluous to the map's success.    ...

      The map author, Robootto, has a tendency to make nonsense maps. This map has a nonsense name (or at least I could not figure out the meaning) and is a simple objectiveless rats style map. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Karpaselamaa (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 22, 2022 | 2591 characters I really like rats maps. I love being small in a big world and running in and out of everyday items. I feel like the approach the author took to making a rats map is to make things as inconvenient and frustrating as possible.      Players spawn on top of a potted plant thing. There are branches below that look like they can be platformed, this is a trap, players bounce off and fall to their deaths. There is a thin slice of elevator floating right next to spawn, players who don't want to die should jump on top and ride the slow elevator all the way down where it will sink into the gr...