Sven Co-op Map Reviews

      This is a very good example of a walkthrough map, it's got lots of action and changes up the gameplay just enough to keep from being repetitive. It is very old though and uses a lot of the standard Half-Life assets. SCMapDB page Author: Hezus Date of release: 2002 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Central Assault (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 20, 2023 | 4244 characters      This is a pretty old map, over two decades old at the time of this writing, and if the Best of Map Showcase tag means anything then people thought it was pretty good. I think so too, it's a good map and it is a really good example of a fairly straightforward walkthrough map.      The story is that we are clearing aliens out from an ordinance facility, the first enemies we fight are HECU so I don't get it but whatever. This is told to us via exposition dump game text in a briefing room, after which we go through a teleporter, press a button to go through a door, and finally pi

      Defend a castle! This is one of those times where the map name absolute describes exactly what is happening here. Defend a nuke for a set amount of time, which is apparently broken so just go until enemies stop appearing. SCMapDB page Author: generic Date of release: 2010 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Castle Defence (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 10, 2023 | 4115 characters      This defense map could have been really good, but it appears that it currently doesn't have a game end and just continues forever, there may also be map events that do not trigger. It's unfortunate because I think this map does defense really well and I would like to see it working.      So we start in a big tower and we are informed the power is out, now I didn't really know this at the time, but the main power is our basic stuff like doors and turrets and the auxiliary power is our advanced stuff like reinforcements. I found the main power and turned what I thought w

      What else is there to say? We can now play chess in a Sven Co-op map. Of course the rules are not enforced so it's mostly anarchy. But still, pretty cool stuff! SCMapDB page Author: Streamfox Date of release: 2015 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Chess (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 1, 2023 | 1492 characters      Chess is chess! The whole map is a big room with a big chessboard in the center with helpful tips on the walls. I was very very impressed by the map until we found out that the rules are all on the honor system. We could move every piece whereever we want, even outside of the game. Then I dropped down to very impressed by this map, it is still functional chess after all.      One big issue I find is that it is actually pretty hard to put pieces down where we want them. My first piece went askew and sometimes the map just refuses to place a piece. Joining the game doesn't assign us pieces, we can access each others pieces freely. It's no

      Ride off into the perpetual sunset with some chill tunes. There is no time limit, no objectives, no secrets, or any goals other than chilling out.  SCMapDB page Author: Gruntzz Date of release: 2022 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Chill Ride (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 1, 2023 | 2062 characters      This is indeed a very chill map. It's a big circular track with a ton of cars that players can drive around in a big loop. The skybox is a delightful outrun style sun and there is some chill synthwave in the background. The track and car color is all brown which is a confusing contrast to the bright sky.      My teammate decided to splatter me so we drove head on and I disintegrated at the molecular level on contact. We did this a few more times with the same result before we eventually both died from the impact. I don't know how the impact on func_vehicle works so be careful of the lucky few with splatter powers.      Also at one point my teammate j

      In this mod conversion we hunt down a button that will raise a bridge so we can cross some sort of divide, a crevasse if you will. The download includes the original mod and a 2.0 rework with massive visual changes but very little difference in gameplay. SCMapDB page Original map author: UrbaNebula Conversion author: Mikk Date of original mod release: 2020 Date of final Sven Map release: 2021 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Bridge the Gap (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | May 21, 2023 | 4790 characters      We have two versions of the same level, the original and a 2.0 rework. The bsp files are differentiated via underscores but nowhere on the map page does it say which one is which. So let me tell you right now the one with the underscores is the 2.0 rework and I can tell by the motd that comes with it. We played the 2.0 rework seriously and then came back and quickly cheated through the original to compare the two.      The map itself is a pretty standard

      A remake of the map by the same name, there are only slight differences between this map and the original. We must defend against waves of enemies both in and out of our base and protect the random dumb scientists who flood the area periodically. SCMapDB page Author: GiGaBiTe Date of release: 2016 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Between a Rock and a Hard Place Remake (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 1, 2023 | 3678 characters      So this map is a remake, and it's really close to being the exact same map as before. Check out the review of the original if you want, here's a quick recap. The level is divided into two sides by a chasm and players have to defend one side, enemies usually come across the bridge but there is also a narrow tram line across. Players fight both aliens and humans coming out from doors across the way, and even a couple inside our base, until a helicopter arrives and we leave. Periodically a scientist will come and we ha

      The map is split into a base and across a chasm is a road where aliens come from. Defend what I assume is the rock from the aliens coming from what I assume is a place that lacks softness. SCMapDB page Author: Elvis Date of release: 2004 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Between a Rock and a Hard Place (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 27, 2023 | 4688 characters      Here we have a defense map across a chasm with a bridge. Players have to defend something or other against waves of enemies, both alien and human, and there are some scientists. There are two versions of the map, normal and large, we played both once through, winning on the large one and failing on the normal one.      The first thing that happens is I spawn upstairs and start poking around, my teammate spawns downstairs where the action happens and starts exploring that direction. Two things that I didn't find out despite looking around and hitting the windows is that there is a sho

      Whenever a map comes to a close and transitions to the next map we have a good chance of that next map being Black Mesa EPF. It's a well made if not boilerplate Black Mesa adventure easily accessible to all players. I don't know what EPF stands for. SCMapDB page Author: Mutant Date of release: 2011 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Black Mesa EPF (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 19, 2023 | 4060 characters      Here we have a classic, and official, Sven Co-op map where we teleport to Black Mesa and then escape. We fight plenty of aliens, mostly the ones from Opposing Force like pit drones and shock troopers.      Players spawn in on teleport pads and then cross a bridge to a supply room. Weapons and ammo are on big shelves and we have to crouch in them to suck up all the good stuff. Then we go downstairs and fight some stuff. Across the hall is a room that has a security office with an HEV station and a sniper rifle. The map opens up aroun

      Despite the name this map is a Shadow Warrior themed map, no Black Hawks around, bird or helicopter. It's got both key hunt elements just like games in the old days and its got plenty of combat as well.  SCMapDB page Author: Lt.JC Date of release: 2006 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Black Hawk (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 16, 2023 | 7587 characters      I haven't played much Shadow Warrior and as a result I suck at it. This map is a lot like its source material, at least according to my teammate who saw the inspiration right away, it has challenging combat in some areas and a lot of annoying key hunt elements. There are three maps in total, the first and second are walkthrough maps that pick up right after the other and are built very similar to levels in Shadow Warrior. Then there was the bonus map that was a brutal platforming co-op journey.      We spawn in a street, for various reasons my teammate and I went afk for a bit and I ca

      The map is Doom, the classic first person shooter is Doom. The map design and layout is very reminiscent of Doom, there are some pretty good new models and others that are not so good. SCMapDB page Author: BlueFeena Date of final release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Classic Arcade First Person Shooter (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | November 3, 2022 | 4472 characters      This map is fast. This is the very first thing that grabs my attention because trying to walk forward slingshots me into the far wall. I'm going to tell you right now this is my biggest problem with the map, the uncontrolled speed. Everything else is pretty good looking Doom inspired stuff.      There are a couple ways to do Doom in a 3D engine like goldsrc, this map opted to make recolors of standard Sven Co-op enemies and renamed them. Vortigaunts stand in for imps and human grunts take the role of the zombies. Headcrab zombies and bullsquids also show up, I think the bullsquids

    Featuring 15 authors, 7 years of development (or 12 depending on how you define 'development time'), and 7 individual maps, The Community Map Project is a beast of a map set. Somewhat unrelated, but this post taught me that Blogger has limits to how many labels a post can have, a max of 20, when I was tagging this post I was forced to leave out 'series' and 'Black Mesa'. SCMapDB page Authors: al_peggio, Amckern, Aurora, BMT, Dan200, eMTeG, Fortune2, Hezus, Koelzk, Morgan, Nih, PD-KC, Penguin, The_6th_monkey, The-Real-Game (Due to the number of authors and the page tag limit of 20, not all authors are tagged) Date of final release: 2009, updated version 2015 Maps in package: 7 Map review of The Community Map Project (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | August 14, 2022 | 6073 characters      This is an interesting map pack and presents somewhat of a problem to review. It's got about 15 authors and according to the map description it did not ha

      The second map of Ascii Art is not quite a sequel and not quite a remake. The whole gameplay flow has been changed and a new area has been added, not to mention the whole map is now at night. SCMapDB page Author: enuze Date of final release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Ascii Art 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 21, 2022 | 3147 characters      This map is a lot like the first, the description says it is a nighttime version but that is not the whole truth. A lot of the map is the same architecture, but the spawn point and sequence of events is all different plus there is a new area and some new enemies. The terrible elevator is still there but now players have to deal with it at the end of the map and it is a lot more palatable now. But hey, there is only one elevator instead of two! That's big progress!      Players start in underground cells, this was about halfway through the first map. There are uboa zombies with tons of health and powerful

      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

      Relax on white sand texture, take a swim in the ichthyosaur infested waters, explore the bungalows, sacrifice yourself or a friend to the volcano. Fox's Island is a chill hang-out map with some fun features to explore and a very nice view. SCMapDB page Author: The Fox Date of final release: 2021 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Fox's Island (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 12, 2022 | 2941 characters      This is a map made to just hang out. There isn't much combat, no puzzles that I could find, just things to explore and fun things to look at. There are a bunch of ichthyosaurs in the water though and some barnacles under the docks so there is some combat.      The map is a very nice looking island with a small group of huts on stilts connected by walkways on stilts. There is a hot spring with a func_monitor (a feature that only works in windowed mode), a campfire which will burn you, and a stereo that needs batteries to play music all right by spa

      This map is a work in progress and may change drastically in the future. That said, it's really only missing a proper game end and everything else looks good and works well. SCMapDB page Author: Gruntzz Date of final release: 2022 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bounty (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 10, 2022 | 5352 characters      I know this map is a work in progress and when it updates I will revisit this review. The map is a brutally hard search and destroy/assassination mission where one shot will literally kill you, oh and survival mode is on. The first thing we did was turn survival mode right off, the map was playable after that. The respawn timer was very long, I think that is a totally acceptable alternative to survival mode.      Players start in the street, with a nice looking but eerily empty beach and beach chairs immaculately lined up in columns and rows. Players can swim in the water and drown which gives a custom death announcement, whi

      Apprehension is a map that looks like Black Mesa but the story is about terrorists capturing scientists. There are also aliens here so if you ignore the story completely this map plays like yet another Black Mesa map. SCMapDB page Author: HeAdCrAb KILLA Date of final release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Apprehension (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 5, 2022 | 5000 characters      I played the first half of this map quite a few times, there was a door that we just couldn't seem to open. But we revisited the map and tried again and it seems the map opens via a computer console in a security office. I know I've used that console many times in the past, why did it work now suddenly? I restarted the map and did some testing. You have to hit the button three times to open the door. Granted, there are three red lights that switch to green when you use it, but also I didn't notice that until my fourth playthrough of the map and only after I was s

      Let me just say right off the bat that this map has nothing to do with arcades. It's really just another Black Mesa map style-wise and a scavenger hunt gameplay-wise.  SCMapDB page Authors: Streamfox and RNG Date of final release: 2010 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Arcad (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 14, 2022 | 4824 characters      On the surface Arcad looks like a very generic map that looks like Black Mesa. For the most part, that aesthetic pervades the whole first map but the second map is much more visually interesting. This leads to making the rooms all look the same, but objectives are well marked for the most part so players always know where to go, for the most part. There were definitely times where the means of progression was hard to find and led to a lot of jumping around and poking heads into dark corners.      The first map starts off looking pretty bland and stays that way the whole time. At first players will just plow forward but the

      The point of this map is to drive an APC through a linear map blowing up obstacles and enemies along the way. The map certainly looks rough and the vehicles in Sven are very deadly to the occupants, but the map still delivers a fun experience. SCMapDB page Author: JJ45 Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of APC Rally (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 24, 2022 | 4599 characters      APC Rally is an older walkthrough action map. At a glance, the map looks pretty hastily brushed together and lit for an outdoor canyon, but the gameplay at front and center shines through.      The conceit of APC Rally is that players maneuver a large drivable APC through obstacles, intermittently abandoning it to complete an objective which clears up a roadblock. Func_vehicles are notoriously chunky and easily kill players, but APC Rally designs around this by making the map about absurd action and weapons. While playing, my teammate said something along the