Sven Co-op Map Reviews

     I'm starting to think the third L in the title is a typo. Icon of Hell(l?) is a conversion of a mod with a lot of futuristic and archaic visuals all thrown together in an interesting linear experience. It's also got custom models and scripted weapons which really help sell that this is as a new experience. SCMapDB page Original map author: Lefront Conversion author: Reuniclus-579 Date of original mod release: 2013 Date of final Sven Map release: 2024 Maps in package: 7 Map review of Icon of Helll (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | April 29, 2026 | 4593 characters      Let's start with an obligatory 'I have not played the original mod' for this conversion so I don't know how the original plays. There are a few areas where a checkpoint would not have been unnoticed and some places where it seems players are expected to just die. But beyond those points this is a very competently done conversion.      The first thing tha...

      A fairly standard horde map with an Osprey, not the monster that drops off endless supplies of soldiers but a big driveable func_vehicle Osprey. Fly around the battlefield and shoot soldiers. SCMapDB page Authors: CkDead Date of release: ???? Maps in package: 1 Map review of Ck Osprey (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 7, 2024 | 1797 characters      This is a fairly simple horde map, players get a little fortress with plenty of supplies and a big drivable Osprey we can use to fly over a battlefield of infinite human grunts. There is a sentry gun that overlooks spawn and it will absolutely shoot players the moment they appear, but there's only one and it had a reasonable amount of health. Underbarrel grenades with M16s, crossbows, grenades, and an mp5 lay on the ground to help players kill the grunts. I much prefer the crossbow. There was also a turret on top of a tower but I didn't interact with it much.      The r...

      Kill a bunch of soldiers and aliens in some generic warehouses and offices somewhere in a red brick city. It's a pretty straightforward map that requires at least two people. SCMapDB page Authors: Daniel Plant Date of release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Civil Defence (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 7, 2024 | 1418 characters      Players fight their way out of an high rise, onto the streets, through some sewers, then back onto the streets. It's soldiers at first but then suddenly aliens start to appear. Progressing in the map is rewarded with enemies spawning in already cleared out areas, so respawning is fun.      Combat sections typically consist of arenas or hallways that enemies can flood into. They don't have crazy high amounts of health and we can generally gun them down pretty fast, but when we have to fight male assassins with snipers and M16s with grenades it gets tricky. There is HEV scattere...

      Inspired by 'I am Legend' players fight the eponymous Dark Seekers in an abandoned city. Solve puzzles, find a way to escape, and beware the large amounts of high health enemies! SCMapDB page Authors: Goanna Date of release: 2008 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Dark Seekers (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 7, 2024 | 3574 characters      The short version is that we fight a bunch of fast zombies in spooky derelict city and subway levels. The eponymous Dark Seekers are inspired by the vampire things in I Am Legend and they definitely do resemble the things I saw in the movie, bald, pale, and fast. A big list of objectives is at the start of each map and it is immensely helpful as both maps are pretty big and it can be a pain figuring out where to go.      We start off in a city and on our first steps forward we find the dark seekers, all sitting on the ground and as one they turn their heads and rise to their feet...

      There are not a whole lot of options for Christmas themed Sven maps. Step into the shoes of Santa and drop presents (grenades) down the chimneys of the good children. SCMapDB page Authors: CubicVirtuoso Date of release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Sveney Christmas (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | December 17, 2023 | 1642 characters      Well it's that time of year again, at least it was when I wrote this, and that means it's time for Christmas. This fun holiday map has us riding around in Saint Nick's little cart thing and delivering presents to the children, and by that I mean grenades. The map description says it was made in only two hours and the result is a very short and fun map.      When we were almost at the end of blowing these poor children to kingdom come my teammate suddenly realized that we weren't getting any score for this, I feel like that would have been a big improvement and give the map more ...

      Welcome to the Tomb of Death, where you will die a lot. The map has a heavy emphasis on traps and each trap is a unique delight, which is not usually how trap themed Sven maps usually feel. SCMapDB page Authors: generic Date of release: 2008 Maps in package: 6 Map review of The Tomb of Death (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | December 16, 2023 | 5082 characters      The Tomb of Death is a very fun and cheeky map where players go through lots and lots of hallways. We get a token story attached and told through the messages of the day, there are six maps by the way. We encounter some really faint beams of light that trigger traps and at first we were doing our best to avoid them, but then we hit a point where we see a trap that has already been sprung and we try springing a trap ourselves. The vast majority of traps are one time only, we get to see a brick in the wall dissolve and then projectiles fly out and get stuck in the wall. It is r...

    Drop into a blocky city and start killing hordes of monsters. Eventually through some arcane invocations (breaking the right stuff) the enemies will cease to appear. SCMapDB page Authors: Agent Zero the Koraa Hunter Date of release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of City Rush (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | October 16, 2023 | 3543 characters      City Rush is a map that focuses heavily on a zombie horde, of the too-much-health variety. The map explicitly tells us to break a window and it takes a lot of damage and we were doubting what the map was telling us. But an early word of advice, keep hitting those windows. After that we faced a huge swarm of enemies that eventually petered out.      On map start my teammate and I ran in different directions, he tripped a cutscene that I had to watch and then shortly after I tripped a cutscene that he had to watch. I'm glad these scenes are over quickly and before zombies get here b...

      Fight waves of zombies in a city themed arena. The map description makes it seem like fighting waves of zombies is all that happens but there is a nice exploration aspect as well. SCMapDB page Authors: Searanger, EdisLeado Date of release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of City of the Dead (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | October 16, 2023 | 3192 characters      I wanted to play a scary map for October and I thought a zombie horde would fit the bill. Instead of meeting a brain dead map with a wad of zombies in an arena I was met with a small facsimile of a town with strategically placed weapons and ammo. In the second half of the map I was really scared of running out of ammo, that is the true horror.      The game starts us off in a pure white hallway that is really blinding. Then we have white text that tells us how many seconds until the round starts, it is almost impossible to see. Go through a doorway to end up i...

      This is, of course, a remake of another map by the same name. While it does offer many improvements over the original it also has an unfortunate area that we had to cheat past. SCMapDB page Author: GiGaBiTe Date of release: 2016 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Central Bunker Remake (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | October 9, 2023 | 1537 characters      The remake of the original Central Bunker does indeed offer much improved optimization and visuals. The map looks great. I didn't see a whole lot of difference in the gameplay, but I did see a much better offering of supplies. I liked the original but rated it a 5 mostly because I thought this one would make it obsolete. But unfortunately there was a section in this map where we had to get past a fan that would inevitably pull us in and turn us to paste. My teammate even looked up a review where the player eventually noclipped past that point, something we had to resort to as well. ...

      This is a nice looking map with a mixture of combat, platforming, and puzzles. A lot of the map looks well done and then there are some spots where enemies just get dumped in the level and one terrible platforming section. SCMapDB page Author: Headz Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Crood Coop (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | August 19, 2023 | 4582 characters      This is a fun map with really nice visuals, lots of explosives, and monsters with a lot of health. There are also some interesting puzzles and lots and lots of walking.      We start in a room with a turret, the map slowly fades in and we get to hear the turret deploy and target us. We are shot before we can really see or do anything and if I was alone that fight would have been ten times harder and more frustrating. We get a shotgun here and enough shells and 9mm to supply one player fully, leaving one of us to wait for it to all respawn. ...

      The main feature of Coldburn is that it is so cold it burns and players will take environmental damage in certain areas. I didn't think this mechanic would be fun but the author definitely put a lot of thought into it and made it work really well. SCMapDB page Author: Keen Date of release: 2014 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Coldburn (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | August 14, 2023 | 3187 characters      The screenshots for this map look very intriguing, and the name is mysterious too. A big part of the map is taking damage from extremely cold temperatures and I thought I would hate that mechanic but I thought it was well implemented. It's kind of like Mario games when he's underwater and eats coins to regain oxygen. Although I can't imagine more than two players having a good time on this map with the limited supply or air coins.      We start off in a room where we have to uncover the start button. There is also a se...

      Aliens have invaded a city and it is up to YOU to repel them! There is one part that needs two players to complete but a community tweak that removes that part, the map does seem balanced for two people. SCMapDB page Author: Foofinoo Date of release: 2017 Maps in package: 1 Map review of City Invasion (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | August 6, 2023 | 3892 characters      The city has been invaded by aliens! Fight your way through a factory, make some friends along the way, and have a boss battle in the sewers. The map is a straightforward walkthrough map that delivers a good looking and well done experience.      We start out with a shotgun and mp5 in addition to our usual loadout as well as armor. This is enough to take on the rest of the map and there are other weapons we can find as well like the revolver and uzi. The SAW and rpg make an appearance but they are exclusive weapons that you have to drop before changing t...

      The map description really says it all: " Nobody knows what this map is about, or why it is called g-man". It's a strange, early map made by an unknown author that found its way onto the map database and now it's getting reviewed. SCMapDB page Author: Unknown Date of release: 2000 Maps in package: 1 Map review of G-man (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 27, 2023 | 1248 characters      The map description sums up this map pretty well. We start off in some sort of canyon with a tunnel in front of us, there are weapons on the ground including an rpg. We go through a bend and fight some human grunts as we cross a bridge past a room with a ton of supplies. Then we fight female assassins and turrets. The map has no end.      I started noclipping around just to see if there was anything else I should see, there is a lot of Z-fighting when seen from above and I also saw a wall stretched to infinity, something happened to this...

      Fight tons of chumtoads in this very short map. Watch fun cutscenes where scientists mess up (who could have seen that coming!), fight a bunch of chumtoads, kill a boss, and celebrate victory. SCMapDB page Author: the-middleman Date of release: 2014 Maps in package: 2 (includes another map we didn't play or review) Map review of Chubby Mess (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 23, 2023 | 1077 characters      The map starts on a lengthy and cute cutscene where we see scientists messing around with chumtoads. One thing leads to another and we are forced to flee to the other end of the map where we find weapons and armor. We get another quick cutscene before running through a rain of giant chumtoads, it is indeed a Chubby Mess.      The goal of the map is to run back to spawn and then kill the biggest chumtoad, which takes exactly all our explosives so that worked out well. It's short, sweet and incredibly cute and endeari...

      We descend into the eponymous bunker and fight aliens and soldiers in our quest to turn off the power. The map is nice enough but there is a supposedly better remake that exists which sort of makes this version obsolete. SCMapDB page Author: Max Helbig Date of release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Central Bunker (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 23, 2023 | 3129 characters      This map is action packed and ammo starved. We fight our way to the bottom of a big bunker complex past an odd assortment of enemies until we kill a garg and complete the map. There are a lot of areas that connect with each other and the map opens up in a cool way, but it never gives us enough ammo.      We start outside, be careful trying to jump down the hole or go through a door, the big door explodes and it took me with it. The hole is a shortcut that currently kills you. After the door is blown open we can go through an adjacent d...

      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 g...

      Suit up squad, it's time to go fight human grunts that this map calls zombies. This map is a horde map taking place in a burned out urban block, supposedly there are points to capture but I didn't see any. SCMapDB page Author: cyberdaemon Date of release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Zombie Squad (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 17, 2023 | 3342 characters      Fight a never-ending horde or human grunts in a really well made destroyed dense urban section. Did I say human grunts? I meant zombies, but all the zombies have guns and I think the included models have to overwrite the default human grunt models and I didn't do that so most of the enemies I fought were default HECU soldiers. So this map did not feel like a zombie map in the slightest.      My teammate and I spawn in different areas, I start in a closet and walk out to find batteries. I exchange gunfire through a window and pick up a crossbow and sat...

      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 p...

      This is a variety map, walk through a teleporter to be dropped off in a fun room. There is an arena, control room, maze, armory, crusher, and a very saucy place. SCMapDB page Author: halo4life Date of release: 2006 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Choose (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 9, 2023 | 1452 characters      The simply named Choose is a sort of variety map where players start in a room with teleporters to various attractions. We have a room labelled Crusher, OMG Free Pr0n, Control Room, Arena, Maze, and Armory. There was also a dancing gonome.      The Crusher room has some buttons that trigger traps to kill scientists. They kind of just run around and it can be tough to actually get them into the traps. There is also a conveyor that dumps scientists into a spike. The promise of free pornography is worth it and players should definitely check it out. The control room is a bit of gameplay to access a menu of...

      Welcome to not Black Mesa where we do science that is really similar to what goes on over there but we're totally different, I promise. According to the description we are a secret organization sending scientists over to another dimension via resonance cascades, that sounds safe. SCMapDB page Author: HeAdCrAb KILLA Date of release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Catalyst (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 9, 2023 | 2142 characters      This map starts out with a very Black Mesa flavor with a big fancy science lab and a room with portals that triggers a bunch of aliens. The goal is to destroy a power source which is on the other side of the teleport past a bunch of soldiers in another science place. At the end we have to fight past respawning aliens so that one player can open a vent and another can toss grenades in, this map requires two people!      We start off in a place that I guess is not Black Mesa and ha...