Sven Co-op Map Reviews

       The follow up to Svencoop 1, the sequel continues showing off things that can be done with Sven maps. Be warned, the map can be rendered unwinnable if you aren't paying attention. SCMapDB page Author: Sven Viking Date of final release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Svencoop 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | July 17, 2022 | 9968 characters      200 map special wooooo      Sven Coop 2 is the continuation of Sven Coop. It's a mostly linear walkthrough map with a couple puzzles, some combat, a crazy action setpiece at the end, and some wacky design decisions. Here I'll discuss them.      So, what is Sven Coop 2 trying to do with its design? I think it's trying to experiment- show interesting things that can be done in Sven Coop and spur creativity. Design is problem solving, and Sven Coop seeks very much to solve the problem of "How do we broaden what coop gameplay can be when applied to Half-Life's sensibilities?" Sven Coop 2

       This map is a series of arenas that players fight enemies in. It really lives up to its name, there isn't a whole lot left to describe. SCMapDB page Author: eMTeG Date of final release: 2002 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Arena Fights (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | July 1, 2022 | 5554 characters      Arena Fights is a map which promises fights in arenas, and it delivers some of those. There's some stuff in-between that is what I would call "goldsrc fluff": button puzzles, arbitrarily raising water puzzles, getting around lasers to access teleports- whatever. That's not what we're here for. We're here for some Arena Fights!      Arena Fights delivers three Arena Fights brand arena fights. The first arena fight of the three arena fights is an arena fight fought in an arena rather plain- players file in through a fire door (the only of two in the spawn which respond to touch- though both are identical) into a rectangular prism of a

      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

       This is yet another Black Mesa map, taking place in the facility with parts of Xen merged in places. The map set is fairly difficult but short. SCMapDB page Author: The Fox Date of final release: 2005 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Area Zero (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | June 12, 2022 | 6357 characters      Area Zero is an old pair of maps by The fox. The first is Black Mesa themed, the second Xen themed. The genre is straight-forward run-n-gun action and the brushwork is mediocre. Let's go over it.      First off, the presentation. Players will be struck right away by the flat, boring lighting, the bland brushwork and blocky architecture. Some rooms are outclassed by Wolfenstein 3D in atmosphere. The environment feels unbelievable, a series of Doom-like corridors which vaguely imply function. Effects are lazily and haphazardly thrown around with little fanfare. Some environments, especially in the first map, do manage to be effective- some corridors ev

           Piha is a façade of what appears to be an apartment building, the map description claims this to be the author, Robootto's, house. There isn't much interactivity or stuff to do in this map. SCMapDP page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Piha (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 28, 2022 | 2627 characters      Piha is a map by Robootto, crafter of extreme woes and enigmas, but contains neither woe nor enigmas— a fact which left me uneasy through my experience. Instead, Piha is a fairly passable façade of a home, facing some bushes, and with a brutalist blocky backend with ladders to climb all over it. There's not a lot of interactivity to comment on, so instead I'll judge it by its presentation.      Piha reminds me in some ways of the castle in Mario 64, by displaying a magnificent façade in front which develops atmosphere, but leaving everything around it simple or plain. I think of this kind of de

      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

      Ally starts players in a tent with a crowd of friendly grunts. It took me too long to figure out these grunts are the allies. SCMapDB page Author: yulo Date of final release: 2010 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Ally (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 25, 2022 | 3271 characters      Ally is a short map that starts players behind a wad of friendly soldiers that pits players against increasing swarms of robo grunts. The level consists of a spawn area and a hallway divided by a series of security doors opened in a separate room, at the end of the hallway is a wide open outdoor room with a final large swarm of robots.      The spawn area has an mp5 with two boxes of ammo and four underbarrel grenades with an M16. Ammo was scarce with two players, near the end my teammate had to go without any ammo because I took both boxes. As the last robo grunt fell he had one bullet left. The underbarrel grenades are the most useful for clearing out the resilient robo grunt cr

      This is one of those maps that is meant for fun, the whole map consists of monsters in traps. While some monsters do wander out of the traps overall it's not dangerous. SCMapDB page Author: LordSlayer Date of final release: 1999 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Alien Die (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 11, 2022 | 2620 characters      Alien Die is a short and simple map where you kill aliens. Most of them are trapped in glass boxes so players can kill them at their leisure. Two zombies and a headcrab spawn on traps that don't trap them in a glass box and they walk right off and can be very annoying wandering around the map slapping me when I am not paying attention to it. There were also three scientists walking around the map but they died real fast to wandering monsters, there may have been more who died before I saw them.      I like the idea this map had, but I'm not so sure about the execution. There was one box with a houndeye and vortigaun

       This map is a series of rooms with two doors to choose. One path leads to death and the other leads to the next room. There are 5 rooms. SCMapDB Page Original mod authors: The Hunter Conversion authors: CubicVirtuoso Date of original mod release: 2005 Date of final Sven Map release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of 5 Ways to Die (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | December 4, 2021 | 1514 characters      I'm not sure I understood the intent of this level. I think it was like, you had a coin-flip chance each room to die depending on your choice. I just happened to choose right each time and survived to the end- left, left, right, left- then you throw a grenade at a barney surrounded by trip mines, jump behind a blast shield, and the level is over. That was the extent of my experience. I believe my friend who made different choices than the ones I made as I went forward was killed by level geometry or something.      Was very short, very fast. I don't hav

      SV Mountain is a map about platforming up to different rooms in a big boxy mountain. The remake is a walkthrough map rooms connected by corridors. SCMapDB page Author: FoxPlays Date of final release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of SV Mountain Remake (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 6, 2022 | 3355 characters      This map is supposedly a remake of another map, also called SV Mountain. I don't really get it, that map was all about platforming with some action, and this remake is a walkthrough map with no platforming. The original story was literally 'bla bla bla" so I don't see any connection storywise. There is a crystal at the end of both of them so that's one thing in common.. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for drawing inspiration and making a new thing, I'm glad this map exists but I don't see much of a connection between the original and the remake.      The map starts off and players only have a desert eagle and a

       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 dunkelschwamm | January 23, 2022 | 3872 characters      Most Wanted is an older map going back roughly 20 years ago. It features a small city block where Gordon lives in a crummy rental place when everything attacks.      I can't tell if my comrade and I finished this map or not. We certainly did everything that we can tell we can interact with and killed enemies until they stopped respawning. Best we can figure the map is just kinda over at some point but never actually ends. We spent a long time chasing wild geese if that's the case, and I'm compelled to believe that it is the case.      The crux of the map is built on pushing against respawning hordes of enemie

      This is a map based on Everquest, something I have zero experience with. At the very least the map is dripping in fantasy aesthetic, from the level design to the custom models, the map reminds me of playing Dungeons and Dragons. SCMapDB page Author: Sword666 Date of final release: 2021 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Nagafens Lair (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 15, 2022 | 4195 characters      The screenshots for this map look very promising. I had really high hopes for this map and I was disappointed. Now, to be fair, apparently this is the mappers first map. For somebody's first map ever, it could definitely be worse.      Overall, the map is short. It starts the player off in an area with some NPCs with custom models in a corner that my teammate killed immediately. I don't really know what was going on with those. On the other side of the room are holes with symbols above them. This map is based on Everquest, and I don't know shit about Ev

       Deth is a very early Half-Life mod made in 1999. The map description states this is the author's first map and it shows. It's also got a highly topical picture of Bill Clinton with Monica Lewinsky. SCMapDB page Original mod authors: DETH Conversion authors: w00tguy123 Date of original mod release: 1999 Date of final Sven Map release: 2019 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Deth (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | December 30, 2021 | 1860 characters      Deth is a very early map for Sven and apparently the first by its author. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it isn't obvious from the result that this map is by a beginner, but I will say that for a beginner's map it's not terrible. Worth playing, though? Well, let's hash that out.      The map begins with a series of rooms which are oddly proportioned and lightly sprinkled with some push-over enemies. Poor brushwork and misaligned textures barely convey a real world environment. It'

      SEXR is a rats map set in the author's bedroom. It's not meant to have linear progression, the map description clearly states it is meant to be a lobby map. Despite this there are areas that act very much like a linear sequence of objectives. SCMapDB page Author: SharkMan Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of SEXR (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | December 12, 2021 | 3114 characters      I sometimes think that making Sven Co-op maps might have the same appeal as making model railroads- creating a tiny little world and journeying through it. It's this combination of concepts in my mind that makes me a big fan of rats style maps in Counter-Strike and Sven Co-op. Maps in which you play as tiny soldiers in a gigantic version of mundane locations, turning everyday household items into tactical positions for going to war, are just endlessly charming to me. So, how do you mess it up?      Firstly, SEXR misses the mark by throwing spawnp

      Are you ready for Halloween in a Hospital? This map uses the typical scary map formula, respawning zombies, a maze, and players must go on a scavenger hunt to figure out how to progress. SCMapDB page Author: GreenTea MiaoMiaoLe Date of final release: 2017 Maps in package: 1 Map review of High Rise (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | November 28, 2021 | 4835 characters      I don't have good experiences with halloween themed maps. Usually they are mazes filled with respawning enemies (typically Afraid of Monsters zombies) and I don't have a lot of fun playing them. This map is exactly all that but I actually managed to play to the end and beat it and didn't have a terrible time doing it.      The map is a big hospital with most of its doors locked. You can peek in through windows and see future areas, there is a lot of teasing of future areas which is nice because you know where to look when doors open and things unlock. Getting into the hospital was kind

      Inflight is a small map with a simple concept. Players spawn in a destructible plane and alien controllers surround the plane and attack the players, damaging the plane in the process. Defend the plane until time runs out. SCMapDB page Author: Unknown Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Inflight (originally posted on SCMapDB)   by dunkelschwamm | November 28, 2021 | 2643 characters      Defend a destructible plane from an alien onslaught for as long as you can!      What a map. I feel like this was created with the goal of defending the plane as an after-thought to a destructible brushwork plane being made for shits and giggles. You know, I respect that. I have nothing but love for somebody deciding to make a fun toy and then deciding at the last minute to turn it into a game.      Unfortunately, the game itself isn't great. The destructible brushes of the plane are in wildly varying proportions, so attacks from enemies have an insane variety of conse