Sven Co-op Map Reviews

      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 dunkelschwamm | March 19, 2023 | 5067 characters      Black Mesa EPF is one of the maps that comes with Sven Co-op. It's a very competently made Black Mesa corridor hub action-walkthrough map with a mission system. What does it do that other Black Mesa maps don't? Does it stand out enough to be a default map?      Well, the aforementioned mission system is a sign of where I think this map excels. Even when progress isn't clear, progress is clear enough to find fast. The mission texts and some cutaway scenes help convey what needs to be done next. The hub structure of the m

      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

    Rise up brother, and let us flee this lab! Players are regular human beings trapped in a laboratory and trying to escape. We fight what I assume are our fellow prisoners to escape. SCMapDB page Author: eMTeG Date of release: 2002 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Lab Flee (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 19, 2023 | 3138 characters      Labflee is a Sven Co-op walkthrough map with a blackmesa-type setting. In many ways it is a typical walkthrough map, but in many others it is what I would consider very *extra*.      The main basis of this map revolves around this central kiosk wherein a scientist is safely (and anxiously) locked behind bulletproof windows and surrounded by doors. By following these doors, players can access a storage area with an egon gun, an elevator to a heavily turret-guarded power generator area, and ultimately teleporters to the exterior. While backtracking through these areas, enemies often repopulate to keep things inter

      Rise up brother, and let us flee this lab! Players are regular human beings trapped in a laboratory and trying to escape. We fight what I assume are our fellow prisoners to escape. SCMapDB page Author: eMTeG Date of release: 2002 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Lab Flee (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 19, 2023 | 2966 characters      In Labflee we flee a lab. There isn't a story attached so I like to assume we're aliens, but not xen aliens since they are out sole enemy. The map is a walkthrough map with a central hub providing access to the different areas. Doors to new areas open up as we clear other areas out.      Players spawn inside the spawn exit sprites, it can be disorienting. There is a table with an mp5 and one magazine for it, shotgun and one box of shells, and crossbow with one magazine. I sucked it all up in front of my teammate's eyes and since the weapons don't stay he had to wait for them all of that to respawn b

      Welcome back to Black Mesa where the scientists are now extra big! This is a very short mod that's been dropped into Sven Co-op to fend for itself. SCMapDB page Original map author: Wil5on Conversion author: Newbai1045 Date of original mod release: 2003 Date of final Sven Map release: 2017 Maps in package:10 Map review of Big Scientists (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | February 19, 2023 | 5015 characters      Big Scientists is a meta mod conversion, because it's an experimental mod about an experiment gone wrong gone wrong. There are 9 maps, yet combined they are barely as much gameplay as many single maps offer. However, for what is there, Big Scientists is an action walkthrough map with a couple cute ideas spread among an otherwise uninspired, unloved project.      The conceit is that you're at one of those fucky science bases where fucky scientists do fucky science, and this time their particular brand of fuckery is making the scientists

      Welcome back to Black Mesa where the scientists are now extra big! This is a very short mod that's been dropped into Sven Co-op to fend for itself. SCMapDB page Original map author: Wil5on Conversion author: Newbai1045 Date of original mod release: 2003 Date of final Sven Map release: 2017 Maps in package:10 Map review of Big Scientists (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | February 19, 2023 | 5248 characters      By now I've played a lot of maps. I've played plenty of conversions as well. Most conversions have a minimum of care put in place to ensure a smoother experience for more players, this one does not. It has all the problems of a Half-Life mod being dropped into Sven Co-op as-is on top of the problem of not being a very good mod in the first place.      We start off in a helicopter with a bunch of scientists. These are normal sized scientists, very disappointing. We can look out the door of the helicopter and see a big rectangle textured lik

      Between Two Worlds is a Half-Life 1 mod that, as best I can tell, was released in 1999. What we have on the Sven Co-op map database is the first three levels just dropped right into the map folder with zero work done on converting it to actually work. It's playable at the very least. SCMapDB page Author:Andreas Bauer Date of release:1999 Maps in package: 3 Map review of Between Two Worlds (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | February 16, 2023 | 5175 characters      Between Two Worlds is a Half-Life modification by Andreas "Widowmaker" Bauer. You can learn more about it here: https://www.runthinkshootlive.com/posts/between-two-worlds/      Hosted here on Sven Co-op Map Database is the first three maps of this 9 map mod. It's odd that the rest of the maps aren't included, as my buddy and I threw the last 6 maps into Sven Co-op and they worked about as well as these maps do- which is to say they're abrupt, poorly optimized for co-op pl

      Between Two Worlds is a Half-Life 1 mod that, as best I can tell, was released in 1999. What we have on the Sven Co-op map database is the first three levels just dropped right into the map folder with zero work done on converting it to actually work. It's playable at the very least. SCMapDB page Author:Andreas Bauer Date of release:1999 Maps in package: 3 Map review of Between Two Worlds (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | February 16, 2023 | 4758 characters      From what I can gather, this is an unfinished mod for Half-Life that got dropped into Sven Co-op wholesale with zero modification to adjust it for cooperative multiplayer. What we get off the map database is the first three maps of a mod that really isn't all that good.      We start off in a glass dome with a scientist walking over to a button. He presses the button and I guess that button just sets off resonance cascades because that's what happened. My teammate broke out of the glass a

    Climb down into a cave system with a lot of science hallways and industrial rooms. The cave itself certainly is big and the map ends once it is explored in a linear fashion. SCMapDB page Author: amckern Date of release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Big Cave 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | February 13, 2023 | 5354 characters      Big Cave 2 is an action walkthrough map for Sven Co-op featuring immense scale, impressive brushwork and textures, and some hit-or-miss gameplay.      The idea is that there's a huge base built into the side of a cave. The map is very vertical, with players descending deeper and deeper into the big cave and the base which burrows throughout. The cave is of truly immense scale, and the brush and texture work are fantastic. Not only are the natural structures some of the finest I've seen in the goldsrc engine, but the interiors of the base really manage to make industrial, grungy, brutalist subterranean complex

      Climb down into a cave system with a lot of science hallways and industrial rooms. The cave itself certainly is big and the map ends once it is explored in a linear fashion. SCMapDB page Author: amckern Date of release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Big Cave 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | February 13, 2023 | 6782 characters      As advertised, this map has a BIG CAVE. The story isn't real clear, but we traverse the cave and get to a small door to end the level. It's sort of a beautiful and confusing experience.      Players start in a small camp with a tent, big fan thing, and some ladders down into the BIG CAVE. The tent has a clear window and we can see that it's got a teleporter, but the door doesn't open. We can climb on top of the tent and see that there is no texture on top, so we can see through the level and see a huge vertical climb down ahead of us. The CAVE is at the bottom of a very long shaft with the ladders. The

      Don't let the fancy title screen that looks like the X-Files fool you, this is a Black Mesa adventure. Players take on the role of scientists trying to escape the disaster, unsuccessfully. SCMapDB page Original map author:LetKyx Team Conversion author: Outerbeast Date of original mod release:2004 Date of final Sven Map release: 2019 Maps in package:4 Map review of Unholy (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | February 11, 2023 | 3117 characters      Unholy is a Half-Life mod converted to Sven Co-op. The mod is a short 4-map walkthrough starring two scientists discussing the story of their daring escapades through the Black Mesa complex as the resonance cascade wreaks havoc.      Throughout the story, players can expect to very slowly gain weaponry, only ever achieving as much as a basic boilerplate loadout of an MP5, pistol, revolver, and shotgun, with some hand grenades to round out the very final encounters. Most of the map involves battling xen creat

      Don't let the fancy title screen that looks like the X-Files fool you, this is a Black Mesa adventure. Players take on the role of scientists trying to escape the disaster, unsuccessfully. SCMapDB page Original map author:LetKyx Team Conversion author: Outerbeast Date of original mod release:2004 Date of final Sven Map release: 2019 Maps in package:4 Map review of Unholy (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | February 11, 2023 | 2613 characters      Unholy is a Half-Life mod that takes place back in Black Mesa, this time we play as a scientist and the twist is we aren't as cool as Gordon Freeman. Honestly the whole thing is mostly vents and is mercifully short.      We start off with a cutscene, I get to see it but my teammate who joins after the map starts does gets to watch a wall. After turning off survival mode we get into the map proper and its a lot of vents. There are some rooms, some hallways, tons of vents, and it is all Black Mesa themed so it

    We go back to Black Mesa to fill the shoes of a naive scientist who thinks the military is here to save everybody. We go back to Lambda core to get our revenge for some reason. SCMapDB page Author:Zorbos Date of release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Betrayed (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | February 2, 2023 | 6730 characters      Betrayed is an action walkthrough map for Sven Co-op. It features a very Black Mesa (specifically Lambda Core) aesthetic, though with even more hallways.      Players begin with a handgun and not much else, but quickly move their way up to grenades, uzis, an MP5, snarks, a shotgun, a SAW, and a gauss gun. There's a lot of ammo given, but it's given in backpacks or otherwise out-of-the-way pickups, so until the players get an arsenal in the checkpoint spawn, there's a lot of backtracking around slowly for weapons. The snarks in particular are the most egregious example, as they require a lengthy crawl throug

      We go back to Black Mesa to fill the shoes of a naive scientist who thinks the military is here to save everybody. We go back to Lambda core to get our revenge for some reason. SCMapDB page Author:Zorbos Date of release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Betrayed (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | February 2, 2023 | 5242 characters      In this map we go back to Lambda Core. This is pretty much what the map description says and what the level is. Lambda Core already exists so I am not sure why we are redoing it, this map is certainly not better than it.      Players start off by infiltrating the facility from the outside, down an elevator and into a series of hallways. There are a lot of enemies and they usually have really high health, occasionally there is a glowing monster with really really high health. After about three different kinds of hallways we come to a room with forcefields blocking doors. This map is an abandoned beta so only two of th

      With a name like Black Mesa Space Basement this map had better be a wacky adventure! It certainly has a lot of wacky custom models and a crazy map layout! SCMapDB page Author: Forastero Date of final release: 2010 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Black Mesa Space Basement (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | January 1, 2023 | 3175 characters      Black Mesa Space Basement is a short walkthrough map that makes the most of each encounter by making each enemy's health bar as dense as a neutron star. Most of the charm comes from the spectacle of the enemies faced, and they are faced in mostly simple succession.      First, we fought some zombie skeletons with what we thought was too much health, then some vortigaunts led by a vortigaunt with too much health, then some xenomorphs with probably a bit much health, and the process continued like that. Eventually, the map culminates in a battle with an apache with waaaaaay too much health.      To accommodate for these

      With a name like Black Mesa Space Basement this map had better be a wacky adventure! It certainly has a lot of wacky custom models and a crazy map layout! SCMapDB page Author: Forastero Date of final release: 2010 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Black Mesa Space Basement (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 1, 2023 | 3133 characters      Black Mesa Space Basement sounds like wacky hijinks, and it kind of is. The level itself is nothing special, some standard Black Mesa hallways, computer rooms, and textures, with tons of props and furniture cluttering everything up. The main feature of the map is the heavy use of new models for the various enemies players must fight. Some models where red skeletons, some were Half-Life 2 antlions, there was a couple of xenomorphs, and even the yellow robot lifter seen once in the opening scene of Half-Life.      Players start out in a room filled with weapons and ammo. This is a pretty good room with plenty of supplies for my