Sven Co-op Map Reviews

    The title gets us ready for boss after boss in some sort of a rush, but instead we have a bunch of teleporters to arenas filled with normal enemies with lots of health. There is also a button that needs two people to press it and that completely neuters the map. SCMapDB page Author: enuze Date of release: 2017 Maps in package:2 Map review of Bossrush (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 17, 2023 | 4119 characters      Bossrush is two maps: the bonus map, and the map that is not the bonus map.      The map that is not the bonus map gives the player 10 boss battles: 8 to choose from a grid of portals in any sequence, and two at the end. These boss battles take the form of enemies with extremely high HP in cube rooms fought with shotguns, MP5s, pistol, and revolver. Sometimes a clever spin is put on the battle, such as some invincible enemies aiding the main target enemies. For the most part, though, fighting comprised of running backwards from enemies wh

      Players get dropped, quite literally, into a wreck building and must kill hundreds of zombies with a lot of health. New areas open up at certain milestones and then there is a boss. SCMapDB page Author: Ice Box Date of release: 2011 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Black Haze (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 12, 2023 | 3209 characters      Both the map description and the message of the day is somewhat vague on what is expected of the players. This map is a wave defense map where players have to kill a set number of zombies to unlock the next stage. This particular map has three areas and ends after a boss.      I played this with one other person and it was slow and boring. The zombies have 1000 health each and are extremely fast. With a lot of players I can see fun gameplay with people gunning down zombie swarms but all the weapons were scattered around and there was a shortage of ammo. Most of the time when I would spawn in I would run to the nea

      This map is a series of battlefields, some more annoying than others, that players must fight through. The big 'CK' in the above picture indicates the author's clan. SCMapDB page Author: Havok Date of final release: 2001 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Battlefield (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | November 13, 2022 | 3699 characters      The map is very straightforward, players go to various themed battlefields and fight limited respawning enemies and pressing a button at the end to open up the next battlefield. The final battlefield involves a big spinning platform with a crystal that we have to destroy.      Spawn area is a long hallway with five doors on one side and a long window overlooking the first battlefield. At the far end are some mundane Black Mesa prefabs and NPCs milling about. There is a button for a mission briefing, a button for anti-blocking measures, and a button that I think unlocked a door in the hallway to another button that does

      I'll give you ten guesses as to what this map is about. After breaking the progressively stronger glass panes a scientist and his two friends is revealed. SCMapDB page Author: Shinkichi Date of final release: 2009 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Break The Glass (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | October 27, 2022 | 1287 characters      In Break the Glass we break some glass. The map is one big room with the same brick texture on all sides and many glass panes separating players from Otis, Kliener, and Barney. The glass panes get progressively stronger and players are only armed with a crowbar. With two players it took about ten minutes to break through, kill the scientist, thus instantly ending the map.      We restarted again, this time cheating to get SAWs, and blazed through about 1400 rounds each before breaking all the panes and killing Otis and Barney and letting the scientist live. He ran in terror as we shot at his feet. I traced a nice cowering scientis

      Welcome to the most evil map of Sven Co-op. Enter the big chompy mouth and then attempt to explore. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Satanic Dark Wrath Castle (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | October 9, 2022 | 3237 characters      This is a satanic map, I can tell because at one point I opened a room that had the word 'Hell' written out in very long 3D block lettering and above it, on the back wall, was the phrase 'satanic map'. This is definitely the most evil map of all Sven, only a monster would place player weapons individually in vats of opaque water.      Players spawn in a small courtyard, with the aforementioned vats of water each containing a weapon. There are two doors here, one is locked and I don't know how to open it. The other is a mouth with sharp spikes that absolutely will chomp on players attempted to get past it. Fret not because there is a small hole we can reach with

       I don't see a lot of maps really use the barnacle to it's full potential, so I was very excited when I saw this map. Then I read the map description, it is abandoned because the author didn't think it was fun, oh well. SCMapDB page Author: TruckStopSantaClaus Date of final release: 2020 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Barnacle Course (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | September 17, 2022 | 2768 characters      Barnacle Course is an unfinished obstacle course map based around the Barnacle. It was supposedly unfinished because the author did not believe the concept was proving to be fun.      The map is themed like the Half-Life Black Mesa Hazard Course, but with a bit more flare with their use of burning lava in their barnacle test course. Along there way there's some fleshy growths with sideways xen grass which is a lot of fun. None of it really adds up to a good feeling whole, but everything is fine as individual separates. Nothing in this map fee

      I don't see a lot of maps really use the barnacle to it's full potential, so I was very excited when I saw this map. Then I read the map description, it is abandoned because the author didn't think it was fun, oh well. SCMapDB page Author: TruckStopSantaClaus Date of final release: 2020 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Barnacle Course (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | September 17, 2022 | 2818 characters      This map was abandoned due to the author not thinking it was very fun. That is not a very promising sign and after playing the map I have to agree.      The whole map is set up around the barnacle, pretty obvious from the name of the map. The map is pretty standard wide Black Mesa hallways with barnacle grapple points, the first 'puzzles' of the map are just barnacling to platforms in lava down a hallway. The most difficult parts are the vertical sections because if you barnacle straight up then chances are you will just fall straight down

      The map description describes most of what happens in this map, I don't know what to say. In the screenshots there is a picture of the car moving and the green windshield staying behind, floating in mid-air. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Robo's Disco (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | August 21, 2022 | 2626 characters      There is a big car on some rails. I'm pretty sure the car is set to go forward only when somebody jumps off it, although my teammate swears there is a button angled weird around the front of the car. At the end of the rail there is a door, players can walk up and open the door themselves, but this will play the Jurassic Park music mentioned and ruin the whole moment like my teammate did. The song will not play again so I have to restart the map and run my teammate over (push him along harmlessly) to get the whole experience. Doors open, music blares, I glide over the disco fl

      This map only has one room, or two if you count unreachable rooms, with a giant pyramid and a bunch of weapons and ammo scattered around. The only enemies are zombies that fall out of the sky forever. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2006 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Red Pyramide (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 21, 2022 | 2335 characters      There is a red pyramid. Like many of the author's (the author is Robootto) other maps this one is avant garde, strange, and somewhat poorly put together. It has an area that players can't reach, clashing textures not meant to be on walls, and true to the map description there is an unsettling sound playing in the background at all times.      The map layout itself is a large room dominated by a red pyramid in the middle. Players spawn on top of a walkway that goes around the perimeter of the room and has a bridge in the middle to a platform on top of the red pyramid. Zombies fall down fro

       The map name doesn't seem to really describe what is going on in the map. There is a very small and simple maze, followed by a large area with shipping containers, female assassins are everywhere. SCMapDB page Author: Keen Date of final release: 2000 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Army (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | July 16, 2022 | 1483 characters      Army is a a clearly very early map from a mapper who would go on to be quite prolific. Follow corridors to a cargo hold, fighting female assassins throughout using an assortment of weapons (just use the exploding crossbow bolts- it's the best). Once they're all dead there's nothing else to do other than climb a ladder to traverse a tiny strip of brush above the cargo hold.      For how unfinished the map is, it plays fine. Taking an arsenal to corridors full of ninjas doesn't get old fast, especially if you've got a good HEV charge on you. The environments, while boilerplate and boring,

      Jump up a lot of precarious platforms to get to the top. There is no end to this map and sometimes players will spawn at the top, negating the need to platform at all. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2006 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Trash Xprase Arena (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 10, 2022 | 1554 characters      I never know how to review platforming maps because I am not a fan of platforming in general. My teammate however is well versed in the arts of first person jumping onto things. He has assured me the climb is probably doable but very difficult. This is already a huge step up for the author, Robootto, whose maps are usually all nonsense.      The map looks real bad, it has misaligned textures that are not meant to be tiled on the walls, all thrown together haphazardly. The platforms come in all shapes and sizes and later there are rails. Half way up the climb there is an elevator designed to be bullshit and it succeeds at t

      The map description simply reads " The average sven player cannot beat this." The map is a room with a box and a button, what mysteries does this map hold? SCMapDB page Author: GAMESABA Date of final release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Area 491 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 5, 2022 | 1591 characters      This is a Japanese troll map consisting of a big room with a button on one wall and a box in a corner. There is some stuff on the wall but that's all texture, none of it does anything. Running to the button will trigger an explosion that will kill you instantly and a message in Japanese (romanji) that my teammate is hard at work Google translating as I write this. It means something like "hey pretty good, it takes guts" if Google translate is any good.      The secret to beating the map is destroying the box, which has a ton of health, and that will stop the explosions. When the explosions are off you can run up and press

      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

        Kozmic  Chenbox is a small box with piles of crowbars (reskinned to be katanas) and PVP. Large pictures of an anime catgirl line the walls and there is some music as well. SCMapDBPage Author: Gruntzz Date of final release: 2022 Maps in package: 1 Map review of  Kozmic  Chenbox (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 8, 2022 | 2339 characters      I'm not a fan of PVP in Sven Co-op, I just don't think that's what the game is about. I'm a fan of sometimes having friendly fire on though. This map is a box with friendly fire on it, there is some art of an anime character I don't know the name of (I would guess Kozmic?), some music, and some respawning crowbars reskinned to look like katanas.      The level design is minimal, the decoration doesn't appeal to me and also the pictures will disappear if you get to close to them, it's weird. Its not inspired and its not a great arena. But after stabbing my teammate to death he respawned and start

      Apache Battle 3 is the third and final part (remake?) or the Apache Battle series. This version boasts a canyon, multi-story spawn area, and a turret that is actually useful. SCMapDB page Author: Mad Jonesy Date of final release: 1999 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Apache Battle 3 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 24, 2022 | 2349 characters      The Apache Battle maps are the same concept, killing respawning apache helicopters in an arena. The arena is somewhat similar between maps with this version having the most complex arena. There is a chasm in the middle, a narrow intact bridge and a broken wide bridge are the only ways across. On the other side is a platform with a missile turret on it, this is almost mandatory to have any chance against the apache.      The spawn area has been expanded but still has pretty much the same supplies as the first two maps, grenades, shotguns and shells, and HEV. The HEV is immensely useful but the shotgun is no help agai

      Nuclear Poison is a small map made by the infamous mapper Roboootto. Players spawn at the top of a shaft and fall through a green goo teleport and either hit the tiny patch of water at the bottom or die and explode on impact with the floor. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Nuclear Poison (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 17, 2022 | 1817 characters      Players spawn at the top of a tall dark shaft, at the bottom is green goo that teleports players to an adjacent shaft that is green and has the word 'nuclear' spelled out vertically in huge letters. While falling down the green shaft players can angle themselves to land on the letters in 'nuclear', some of parts of some letters have grenades. The bottom of the shaft is a sure death unless you can angle towards a tiny square of water in one corner.      The only real gameplay in this map consists of trying to survive the fall from spawn an

      In this map player's get attacked right away by a wave of enemies, I guess players get ambushed. SCMapDB page Author: Lymphoid Date of final release: 2002 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Ambush (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 26, 2022 | 5244 characters      To quote my teammate, "there was an ambush."      Right off the bat the spawn area was hit by a squad of HECU and a heavy weapons grunt. The spawn area is a tunnel with a truck parked in it, players can spawn to the side of the truck with the ammo or inside with the some guns. A wonky jump over the car leads to two batteries and a climb to the top and back of the truck has snarks. Under the truck is a revolver. This sounds like a nice selection of guns but with the waves of enemies hitting spawn meant I had to basically navigate an obstacle course while under fire just to have a chance of fighting back. I opted to jump over the truck hood to get some cover, the truck's hood is destruct

       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

       Alien Battle is a simple arena map. Players start in some sort of fort and fight off infinite waves of alien slaves. The map is based off of Starship Troopers according to the map description but it's hard to tell from the map itself. SCMapDB page Author: Ttam Date of final release: 1999 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Alien Battle (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 5, 2022 | 1602 characters      Alien Battle is a tiny little infinite-wave vortigaunt fight in a tiny little fort map. The fort looks like something like a ruins, but it has cover in a lot of the right places. Atop desert dunes ahead of the base, vortigaunts spawn 3-4 at a time, On the front battlement of the fort there is a mounted gun which can instagib the vortigaunts and is perfectly lined up with how they spawn in. You can easily kill all of them immediately when they spawn using this gun.      There's not much else to this map. The brushwork is pretty spartan, and there's so li

      After Gordon Freeman finishes up his work at Black Mesa he goes home to his rental. His neighborhood is quite terrible and mobs of police, alien, and criminal wake him up. SCMapDB page Author: Mr_InSaNe Date of final release: 2002 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Mostwanted (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 23, 2022 | 3284 characters      Most Wanted is an old map, made circa 2003, and it has no reviews, no stars, and no comments. I feel like I have unearthed a forgotten relic. One of the main reasons I wanted to play this particular map is that the description states that "After surviving the ordeal at Black Mesa, Gordon returns to his rental for a night of sleep." I found it incredibly funny that after the end of Half-Life 1 Gordon just goes on home. "Oh man, what a day at work, time to go home and sleep."      The map opens up with players spawning in Gordon's rental, a claustrophobic two story house with barely enough room for pl