Sven Co-op Map Reviews

       Neptune Labs is a map set in space orbiting Neptune, not under the ocean as the blue tint may imply. The map is unfinished and abandoned but has been updated to end properly and give the full walkthrough map experience, even if it is somewhat short. SCMapDB page Author: Keen Date of final release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Neptune Labs (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 15, 2022 | 3602 characters      Neptune Labs is a medium-length walkthrough map by prolific mapper Keen. It showcases a lot of creativity, a decent amount of ingenuity, and an overall enjoyable experience.      The most striking and charming aspect of the map is its art style. Details are brushed in very interesting and uncommon ways, and the textures are made with this semi-abstract cartoony style that's hard to explain but really evokes a certain atmosphere. It passively oozes personality up the wazoo, in technical terms. The brushwork for the outside of the Neptune lap is a

       There really isn't much of anything for players to do but watch baby gargs play football. They do play it, they play slow and stupid, but they are still actually playing the game, its amazing! SCMapDB page Author: Mad Jonesy Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Garg Football (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 5, 2022 | 2006 characters      Garg Football is a map that asks not what a good Half-Life or Sven Co-op level could be, but what MORE could be done with the mechanics and tools provided by these devkits? The answer is obvious: gambling on big beefy aliens playing footie.      Two gargs bat around a "ball" with their tremendous feets and two goalies attempt to also kick the "ball" and their positioning via clever clipping makes their kicks look aimed and intentional. Whenever the ball passes through the goal post a scoreboard is updated to reflect the point.      If I recall correctly (and I probably don

      This map is a fortress facing another fortress with infinitely spawning snipers. The player fortress has crossbows and sniper rifles along with plenty of ammo for both. There is no end to the map, just snipe the snipers. SCMapDB page Author: tweak Date of final release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Baron Of Snipe (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | February 19, 2022 | 2388 characters      Baron of Snipe is a very simple sniping horde map. Players start in a fortress and on the other side of the map is a building with plenty of windows that is just oozing snipers. There is a large dump of sniper rifles, crossbows, and plenty of ammo for both. Players start with pistols and medkits but there is nothing else in the map, no pistol ammo, no health, no HEV.      My biggest complaint would probably be that male assassins routinely run forward, open the door to the player base, and waltz right in. I think we need to constantly snipe them to prevent that from happeni

      Svencoop is THE eponymous Sven Co-op map. It is the first map ever created for the mod, it was the only map included when Sven first came out, and it's been included in every single release since then. SCMapDB page Author: Sven Viking Date of final release: 1999 (updated a lot, last in 2010) Maps in package: 1 (but there is a separate Svencoop 2 map) Map review of Svencoop 1 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | February 5, 2022 | 4279 characters      I've reviewed quite a few maps on this site, for my 100th map I decided I wanted to try out the original map, the eponymous svencoop1. Don't actually fact check if this review is my 100th, just take my word for it. I didn't quite know what to expect.      To get straight to the point, overall, its good but not amazing. But I'm playing this in 2022, more than 20 years after its release, well past the point where talented mappers have flooded the market with high quality maps. That other review written b

      Big Lolly is a conversion of a standalone mod made for the author's brother's birthday. It's short and sweet, pun intended . SCMapDB page Original mod authors: Cayle George Conversion authors: Royal-soldier Date of original mod release: 2003 Date of final Sven Map release: 2009 Maps in package: 6 Map review of Biglolly Coop (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 30, 2022 | 1854 characters      Biglolly is a map that looks really good. The textures are nice, the level design is interesting, and the candyland concept is really fun. The map series may consist of 5 maps but each one is so short the whole thing just flies by. Enemies are zombies reskinned to be gingerbread men, headcrabs reskinned to be red gummy bears, and cockroaches reskinned to be tiny sour patch kids. There are also some nice butterflies flying around the maps and players can pick up snarks which are green gummy bears. The crowbar was a lollipop and the pistol was a banana, there wer

       In this map players take on the role of activists and attempt to free animals from being experimented on. One of the objectives states "DON'T release a deadly plague" but you can ignore that since it's required to complete the map. SCMapDB page Author: Frel Date of final release: 2008 Maps in package: 3 Map review of Activist (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | January 21, 2022 | 4491 characters      Activist is a very well made action mapset by Frel. It features a story which works as a very loose context for what's happening, but it isn't really necessary for the full enjoyment of the map. That is because the map itself is very straight-forward.      Fight your way through a biogenetics(?) laboratory in order to free the animals- and then kill the animals! Play as the worst animal rights activist ecoterrorists on the face of the planet as you murder your way into the complex, release biotoxins, fight and kill the very mutated animals you

      Access Point is a standalone mod converted to work in Sven Co-op. The whole goal of the map is to escape from Black Mesa. SCMapDB page Original mod authors: Dr. Orange Conversion authors: Mikk Date of original mod release: 2018 Date of final Sven Map release: 2021 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Access Point (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | January 16, 2022 | 3376 characters      This map I another port of a stand alone Half-Life mod. Unlike most other ports of mods this one is very short. At the beginning of the map it gives players a vote on a hard or medium difficulty. It's so short that my teammate and I played the map twice, on both difficulties.      The first problem with the map is that since it's a port of a singleplayer mod there is a shortage of ammo. There are only two underbarrel grenades for the M16 in the whole level and not much M16 ammo either. Shotgun and magnum rounds were plentiful, but seemed stretched thin across two people and didn

      USS Darkstar is not a Star Trek themed map, let me get that out of the way now. It is an original setting with a massive space ship filled with a bunch of biological specimens that closely resembles a zoo. SCMapDB page Original mod authors: Neil Manke Conversion authors: Lymphoid first and later Lossy Date of original mod release: 1999 Date of final Sven Map release: 2017 Maps in package: 18 Map review of USS Darkstar (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | December 29, 2021 | 3259 characters      This map is one of the oldest maps on scmapdb that are not official releases. It's actually a conversion of a single player mod from way back when that I never played. It's got a lot of maps in the campaign but the first section is a lot of nice scenery, practically showing off the areas you will be fighting in later. I don't think you even see enemies or weapons until map 5 (out of around 16). The last map itself is just a cutscene and credits.      I loved the en

      Dark Island is a maze with useful landmarks to navigate by and a lot of scavenger hunting. Players start out woefully weak and underprepared but thanks to an amazing spawn and weapon unlock system as the map goes on players are more and more empowered. SCMapDB page Author: NIPPER Date of final release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 (originally posted on SCMapDB)  Map review of Dark Island by GrandmasterJ | December 12, 2021 | 2989 characters      I played Dark Island a lot way back in the day. I played it the way it was meant to be played, with loads of people. I remember it fondly back them but I also don't remember how to beat it because most the time other people were actually progressing and I was just wandering around, lost.      Now that I've played it with three people and we tried to stick together and beat it together the rose tinted glasses have come off. I still think it is a great map, but it's a big maze with multiple scavenger hunts and tons of respawning enem

      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 GrandmasterJ | November 28, 2021 | 1166 characters      I had no expectations going in and all of them were met. This map is a fun little gimmick where the entire level is destructible and you have to survive and protect the airplane.      It was a little frustrating at first but then we started to experiment with climbing outside the plane and blowing out windows and it we got really into it. My teammate found the winning strategy, suicide immediately and stay dead and the alien controllers won't shoot at you. I'm reviewing this as I play, laying dead on the floor watching the timer count up. The game lasts for 8 minutes.

      This map has Halloween in the name, but unlike other Halloween map it isn't obvious. The map sure is dark and spooky but the author has made other maps that are more Halloweeny. SCMapDB page Author: GreenTea MiaoMiaoLe Date of final release: 2013 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Halloween Construction (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | November 28, 2021 | 1479 characters      Halloween Construction was a fun and short map. The map is straightforward, its got good enemy balance, nice weapon selection, and can be finished quite fast.      There is only one thing I didn't like about the map and that was that enemies appear in the player spawn after a certain point in the game. They are not difficult to kill but I just don't understand why it was necessary to put them there. It just means that when I spawn I have to fight the same enemies over and over again. It's not a good design choice to spawn in next to enemies.      On thing of particular note is t

    Swars is a map about some sort of war set somewhere in space. We have these soldiers in white armor that from the above picture we know are called Stroopers. They should make a movie or two out of this map. SCMapDB page Author: Dr.Strangelove Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 3 Map review of Swars Installation (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | November 28, 2021 | 2075 characters     I really want to like this map series, it looks amazing but has many technical issues that bogged down my experience.     Every map looks great. The architecture is really nice looking and looks just like an Imperial installation, there were some parts where I could believe I was in/on the Death Star. The enemies are reskinned to be stormtrooper and the gauss cannon was a blaster. It felt like Star Wars Dark Forces.     But what bogged the game down was a questionable choice to include a maze in the first level, that did not start the game off on the right foot. Then I got trapped in