Sven Co-op Map Reviews

    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

      Welcome to the wonderful world of colors. There are ten doorways to ten different color coded puzzle/fights and one final boss room. This map has outstanding visuals. SCMapDB page Author: Lemonsoda Date of final release: 2010 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Psyko (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | November 20, 2022 | 4504 characters      Psyko is a psychedelic map for Sven Co-op. It is a contest-winning Sven Co-op 5 official map. Is all this prestige deserved? Let's talk about it!      First off, the gameflow is like this: you begin in a square hub area. On each wall is two doors, as well as two hatches on the floor. These doors open to worlds themed after their corresponding color, and after facing some trials you collect the door's symbol. Collecting the symbol unlocks the next door until every symbol is unlocked and the players proceed to the final arena and win the map.      Combat happens in segmented chambers, often involving wave spawners to wai

      Welcome to the wonderful world of colors. There are ten doorways to ten different color coded puzzle/fights and one final boss room. This map has outstanding visuals. SCMapDB page Author: Lemonsoda Date of final release: 2010 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Psyko (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | November 20, 2022 | 3917 characters      Psyko is a colorful map with ten separate areas with a color theme (green for slime, pink for pigs, light blue for clouds, dark blue for water, etc.) and a final boss battle against the color master. The visuals are striking and really make the themes pop. From start to finish the map is an absolute charm to play and although there is a lot of combat that gets repetitive at times there are also fun puzzles to solve so the gameplay is not one note.      The map is pretty simply designed, players spawn in a room with two doors on each wall and two trap doors in the floor. One door will randomly unlock and players will then clear that

      Auspice (ôspəs), noun, a divine or prophetic token. This is an officially released map for Sven Co-op 3.0 taking place somewhere in Black Mesa with good variety of combat, puzzles, and exploration. Author: Seraph Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Auspices (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | August 18, 2022 | 5266 characters      Auspices is a map that I always dread playing but everybody else seems excited to play. I never protest, because I can never remember why I dread playing Auspices. I usually don't remember much of this map at all.      I was excited, this time, to explore why that may be, as I played to review this map. I think I've figured some things out along the way. Let's cover basics.      First of all, Auspices is not necessarily a map anybody should dread- it's full of fun ideas, a great arsenal, some really action-packed combat, very well brushed and textured, and has some great checkpoints. Before I delve

    Auspice (ôspəs), noun, a divine or prophetic token.  This is an officially released map for Sven Co-op 3.0 taking place somewhere in Black Mesa with good variety of combat, puzzles, and exploration. Author: Seraph Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Auspices (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | August 18, 2022 | 5249 characters      This is yet another Black Mesa map. At this point I'm kind of over Black Mesa themed maps, but the difference with this one is that it is done extremely well and offers pretty good variety.      The map starts players off outside at night, in a military themed area with bunkers, tanks, snipers, and soldiers. The map goes through some Black Mesa themed areas pretty quick, starting with the military exterior, moving to a lab complex of tight hallways, gonomes, alien grunts, and shock troopers, ending in a big fight in a wide open room with soldiers storming in from above. It moves on to some pipes and vents (this m

       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

      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 GrandmasterJ | July 17, 2022 | 7913 characters      I couldn't really give an honest review of the first map in this series. It was really a demonstration and a bar setter for the rest of the maps for Sven Co-op. To be honest, I didn't much like it, but I'm spoiled with over 20 years of not only improved mapping resources but also fewer limits and more functionality of the engine. Svencoop2 comes right on the heels of the first map, just one year later. It keeps on demonstrating gameplay mechanics and has very fun cutscenes but it definitely wears on me a lot more than the first game.      The map starts off where the last one ended, a flooded room. T

       Another Unit is an official Sven Co-op map release, it's flavored in typical Black Mesa aesthetic and presented from the HECU perspective. SCMapDB page Author: B-dama Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Another Unit (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 26, 2022 | 4594 characters      Another Unit is a map by B-dama which comes default with Sven Co-op. It is a standard walkthrough map, with lots of mixed alien combat and fighting with Barnies, turrets, and robogrunts.      First thing you'll notice when playing this map is that it looks rather good. It has a lot of the same aesthetic that Black Mesa style maps usually do- industrial, mostly subterranean concrete brutalist corporatism. However, it also has that look that's a little past the generation of Half-Life's original graphics, with more ambitious brushwork and scale. Everything in this map looks good, is decently well lit, and every location in the first half of t

      Another Unit is an official Sven Co-op map release, it's flavored in typical Black Mesa aesthetic and presented from the HECU perspective. SCMapDB page Author: B-dama Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Another Unit (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 26, 2022 | 4129 characters      Another Unit is an official map and it shows. The level architecture is beautiful. Everything is detailed and would look at home right alongside levels in the original Half-Life.      Players spawn right off the bat with a shotgun, mp5, full ammo for both, and 40 armor. This means players don't have to rearm when respawning. The map starts off with two long hallways side by side with turrets everywhere. You have to toss a grenade in the booth with the evil Barney to open the door, then you can use the big unlock machine to open up the doors at the far end of the hallway. Going through the hologram walls triggers barricades to rise up and robo grunts

       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 dunkelschwamm | February 5, 2021 | 2906 characters      SvenCoop 1 is a charming and simple cooperative map from a simpler time that is largely overshadowed by the maps which have since followed.      Throughout it makes many attempts at fun cooperative activities. A couple times this involves two guys pressing buttons at once, there's this one puzzle where you have to lower these blocks which slowly raise back up which each have buttons behind them to press at the same time but while you're trying to lower these baby gargs spawn in. There's this one puzzle w

      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

       Persia is a walkthrough map set in a Middle Eastern city with tons of snipers around. There are a lot of enemies on rooftops and hiding around corners making progression tough and tense. SCMapDB page Author: Skacky Date of final release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Persia (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | January 23, 2022 | 4972 characters      Persia has been a Sven Co-op staple going on almost 15 years as of writing this. Does it hold up?      The first thing that you'll notice about Persia is that it's a striking map. There's a very specific theme and atmosphere that is set up early in the map and really manages to maintain until the very end. Along the way there's lots of implied scale, subtle details which enrich the environment without drawing attention, seamless flow from indoor to outdoor scenes, shocking verticality, and some very fun set pieces which do unexpected things with the theme. The textures are all very evocative and t

      Persia is a walkthrough map set in a Middle Eastern city with tons of snipers around. There are a lot of enemies on rooftops and hiding around corners making progression tough and tense. SCMapDB page Author: Skacky Date of final release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Persia (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 23, 2022 | 4567 characters      Persia is a great looking map with solid combat and a lot of platforming. There are no new spawn points so all the good parts of the map are interrupted on death with the same platforming sequence again and again.     The map is supposed to look middle eastern and it totally does. I feel like in some maps set in the middle east it always looks like a warzone but this map felt more like Prince of Persia. The buildings were large and imposing with those fun stylized windows like you see in Aladdin. There was a really nicely made tank in the beginning and lots of sandbags, but I never felt like I was in a warzone, mor

       There are a lot of really cool and interesting things done in this map that are not found in other maps like having an open world, player classes, and non-linear objectives. Some mechanics work better than others but it all comes together to make a truly unique map. SCMapDB page Author: Hezus Date of final release: 2020 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Search N Destroy (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | January 8, 2022 | 6589 characters      Search n Destroy is an objective based control point map which takes place in a desert-y setting reminiscent of Counter Strike's Dust maps with Opposing Forces grunts as the main enemies. To complete the map the players must plant C4 on several enemy weapons caches, find weapons throughout the map and return them to the base, conquer and defend 4 control points, and finally defend the spawn base from an enemy attack. During the offense portion of this you must also contend with grunts being dropped off by respawning Osprey