Sven Co-op Map Reviews

      Black Operations (not to be confused with Blackops, a different map) is a Half-Life mod converted over to Sven Co-op. It uses many new textures along with impressive detail to tell the unnecessary story of how the United States acquired the nuke used to destroy Black Mesa. SCMapDB page Original map author: Little_Otis Conversion author: Shinkichi Date of original mod release: 2005 Date of final Sven Map release: 2010 Maps in package: 13 Map review of Black Operations: Special Forces (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 26, 2023 | 5947 characters      This map series is a conversion of a standalone mod by the same name. We follow a Black Ops soldier named Declan Walker whose job is to plant the nuclear bomb that takes out Black Mesa. The map description says we're getting back a mysterious briefcase from a Black Mesa scientist. Spoilers, but that briefcase is the nuke. We're also in Metro City but manage to plant the bomb in Black Mesa anyway, the story

       Converted from a standalone mod of the same name, this map series takes players to an underground base that looks suspiciously like Black Mesa to liquidate some obsolete personnel. There is only one map here and it has its ups and downs. SCMapDB page Original map author: DAVLevels Conversion author: Outerbeast Date of original mod release: 1999 Date of final Sven Map release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Base Attack (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | October 1, 2022 | 2451 characters      Base Attack is a pretty well made walkthrough action military map with lots of gunplay, some really interesting architecture I haven't seen since, and a lot of content for one map.      Players assume the role of some infiltrating force making their way into a military base and blowing up their coolant system. To do that, you must shoot everybody many times. The map starts with some cramped entrance areas. There's some fun destructibles, and the map introduces p

      Converted from a standalone mod of the same name, this map series takes players to an underground base that looks suspiciously like Black Mesa to liquidate some obsolete personnel. There is only one map here and it has its ups and downs. SCMapDB page Original map author: DAVLevels Conversion author: Outerbeast Date of original mod release: 1999 Date of final Sven Map release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Base Attack (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | October 1, 2022 | 5749 characters      The story behind this map is invading a top secret research facility in the very classy Area 69 and killing everybody inside due to some vague clandestine reasons. Since it was originally a singleplayer mod ported over to Sven Co-op it has survival mode on by default, like all mod ports seem to have.      The map starts off and its looking a little blocky. This is to be expected, the original mod was released in 1999, there is a lot of effort put into level details but th

       This small slice of map is a recreation of the World War 2 beach landings at Normandy. It was converted from the 'War in Europe' and renamed to 'Barney Beach' for some reason, there are no Barneys here at all. SCMapDB page Original map author: Rob Lutz Conversion author: Unknown Date of original mod release: 2000 (estimated) Date of final Sven Map release: 2000 (estimated) Maps in package: 1 Map review of Barney Beach (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | September 25, 2022 | 2798 characters      Barney Beach is a map where players endlessly throw themselves at a beachhead where enemies spawn in over and over over again. I'm not sure what the goal is, or if there is one. It really seems like the goal is to endlessly throw yourself at respawning soldiers.      It's cute. It's a little beachhead map with boats players spawn in before hopping into the water and storming the beachhead.      Players are given MP5s and Crossbows, the latter of

      This small slice of map is a recreation of the World War 2 beach landings at Normandy. It was converted from the 'War in Europe' and renamed to 'Barney Beach' for some reason, there are no Barneys here at all. SCMapDB page Original map author: Rob Lutz Conversion author: Unknown Date of original mod release: 2000 (estimated) Date of final Sven Map release: 2000 (estimated) Maps in package: 1 Map review of Barney Beach (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | September 25, 2022 | 2150 characters      This is a conversion of a World War II map, specifically the Normandy beach landings, I don't know why it is called Barney Beach since there are no Barneys in the map. Are players supposed to be the Barneys? I have questions.      Players spawn in landing boats, the water here is really choppy, it has been put together in chunks and each block's waves don't match up with the waves of the adjacent blocks, it just looks incredibly bad. Players run ou

       Azure Sheep is a Half-Life mod made a long time ago in 2001 with an 8.5 on moddb. It introduces new characters while also showing us old favorites with Gordon Freeman, Adrian Shepard, and the original Barney which is a bit hard to tell since pretty much every other NPC in the mod/map set is Barney. SCMapDB page Original map author: DAVLevels Conversion author: Chocolate IceCream Date of original mod release: 2001 Date of final Sven Map release: 2020 Maps in package: 45 Map review of Azure Sheep (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | September 8, 2022 | 5343 characters      Azure Sheep is a prolific Half-Life modification known for having a shitload of maps, decent visual quality, a few new actors, and a very fanficy alternative take on the Black Mesa incident from Barney's eyes.      Before Episode 1 introduced players to leading your NPC handgun toting wisecracking waifu through alien and military infested industrial and urban ruins, Azure Sheep introduced playe

      Azure Sheep is a Half-Life mod made a long time ago in 2001 with an 8.5 on moddb. It introduces new characters while also showing us old favorites with Gordon Freeman, Adrian Shepard, and the original Barney which is a bit hard to tell since pretty much every other NPC in the mod/map set is Barney. SCMapDB page Original map author: DAVLevels Conversion author: Chocolate IceCream Date of original mod release: 2001 Date of final Sven Map release: 2020 Maps in package: 45 Map review of Azure Sheep (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | September 8, 2022 | 5918 characters      Azure Sheep is a long mod converted for Sven Co-op. I did not expect it to be this bad. The almighty Hallway is a staple of any video game, but I feel like lately I've been playing a spate of Sven maps that are comprised mainly of hallways. Hallways are not interesting. Azure Sheep is about 90% hallways.      Azure Sheep has 45 maps in it. That's a lot of game for so little to actually see. T

      I am a big fan of Counter-Strike maps ported to Sven Co-op and filled with enemies, which is exactly what this map is. Players must empty the map of hostiles to win. SCMapDB page Author: KiLLeR Date of final release: 2012 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Assault Co-op (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | August 4, 2022 | 2958 characters      Assault Co-op is essentially cs_assault but with a ton of blackops grunts. Is it good? Sure!      The map starts out a bit rough, with just a chaotic smattering of blackops snipers, grunts, and assassins firing on us right out of spawn. A ways from spawn, there's a weapons restock point. It's good that you can get a ton of ammo for the M16, Shotgun, and MP5 here, because there are no melee weapons should you run out of bullets. That really shouldn't ever be an issue in this map, thanks to this never-ending cornucopia of ammo. That said, the cornucopia is a bit off the beaten path and hard to find. Also there's no

      I am a big fan of Counter-Strike maps ported to Sven Co-op and filled with enemies, which is exactly what this map is. Players must empty the map of hostiles to win. SCMapDB page Author: KiLLeR Date of final release: 2012 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Assault Co-op (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | August 4, 2022 | 3300 characters      Assault Co-op is the Counter-Strike map cs_assault with changes made to turn it into a Sven Co-op experience. I think it does this well with the appropriate amounts of high damage enemies, weapon and ammo stations, and even a some fun cutscenes, music, and story elements.      The map starts off and I'm getting shot while the map fades in. There are enemies directly in front of me but I'm actually getting shot from a sniper half the map away. Players start with just a pistol, I did not realize the green weapon crates near spawn actually contained weapons and ammo. There is nothing to indicate this, except maybe a single or

       Remember the Simpsons episode about tomacco? Well this map is based on the store where Homer went to buy tobacco and tomato seeds in that one episode. SCMapDB page Original map author: Garfield (super163) Conversion authors: Zorik Date of original mod release: 2022 Date of final Sven Map release: 2022 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Sneed's Seed & Feed (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | July 28, 2022 | 2591 characters      Sneed's Seed n' Feed is a map converted to Sven Co-op which meticulously recreates its eponymous farming supply shop from The Simpsons and holds a couple fun easter eggs.      First off, this is easily one of the most meticulously brushed maps I've seen in Goldsrc. There's lots of individually crafted store items, farm props, tiny distant details over the mountains- each with defining characteristics baked into the brush detail, like pill bottles with caps, or a pitchfork with individually brushed tines. Doors have cyli

      Remember the Simpsons episode about tomacco? Well this map is based on the store where Homer went to buy tobacco and tomato seeds in that one episode. SCMapDB page Original map author: Garfield (super163) Conversion authors: Zorik Date of original mod release: 2022 Date of final Sven Map release: 2022 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Sneed's Seed & Feed (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | July 28, 2022 | 3214 characters      Sneed's Feed and Seed (Formerly Chuck's) is a location from the Simpsons, it's a store nearby the old Simpson Farm and pictures of two locals can be found by jumping out of the map and walking around the big noob box.      The map itself doesn't have much to do, but it does have a lot to look at. There is an NPC (not really Barney although the model is based off of him) that kind of wanders around the front and a scientist manning the register. Neither can be killed. The store has a lot of brushwork commodities on the she

       Artifact is a custom map converted to Sven from Team Fortress Classic. It's a hard as nails platforming map that has me questioning if there is an important change in player movement across games that makes the map harder than it should be. SCMapDB page Original map author: Kami Conversion authors: AdamR Date of original mod release: 2003 Date of final Sven Map release: 2020 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Artifact (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | July 24, 2022 | 4815 characters      Artifact is a map that, much like the hidden temples in Indiana Jones, hides peril lurking beneath great beauty. The foliage, the textures for the stone reliefs, the models for the key objects, the waterfalls and giant trees- they all look fantastic. But within, trap brushes swiftly kill players and require hard jumps back to spawn and the backtracking that comes with that.      Let me just be up front: I didn't beat a single one of these puzzles wherein death was a threat

      Artifact is a custom map converted to Sven from Team Fortress Classic. It's a hard as nails platforming map that has me questioning if there is an important change in player movement across games that makes the map harder than it should be. SCMapDB page Original map author: Kami Conversion authors: AdamR Date of original mod release: 2003 Date of final Sven Map release: 2020 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Artifact (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | July 24, 2022 | 8431 characters      I feel like every part of this map is engineered to be the most absolute bullshit. This is one of those maps where five minutes into playing it I look at the time limit, see that we have 70 minutes left, and think to myself "we're not going to beat this". My teammate and I used noclip the entire map, there was not one section that we did not cheat to get through. This map was originally made for Team Fortress Classic, I have to think to myself, is there some moveme

          Arctic Incident is a conversion of a single player mod of the same name. Some conversions are just singleplayer experiences dropped into Sven Co-op, but this map has been updated to be more co-op friendly. SCMapDB page Original mod authors: XF-Alien Conversion authors: AlexCorruptor, Outerbeast, and Tunac Date of original mod release: 2015 Date of final Sven Map release: 2021 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Arctic Incident (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | June 5, 2022 | 4278 characters      There is an incident in the arctic, strange arctic creatures have invaded an arctic scientific research base, the arctic military is there to kill both the arctic creatures and the arctic scientists, and you have to escape. It's arctic Black Mesa. This two map set is a conversion of a mod by the same name, so it definitely sits on the easy side even if my teammate and I did die a couple of times each. Despite being a conversion of a single player experience, the conve

          Arctic Incident is a conversion of a single player mod of the same name. Some conversions are just singleplayer experiences dropped into Sven Co-op, but this map has been updated to be more co-op friendly. SCMapDB page Original mod authors: XF-Alien Conversion authors: AlexCorruptor, Outerbeast, and Tunac Date of original mod release: 2015 Date of final Sven Map release: 2021 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Arctic Incident (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | June 5, 2022 | 4448 characters      Arctic Incident is a Half-Life mod which this mapset aims to port to Sven Co-op. Does it do this faithfully? I don't know, as I haven't played the original. However, my understanding is that some maps were consolidated and the weapons have been changed. If that's the case, then this is a very solid port which made some good decisions, as both the maps and weapons work great.      The maps are arctic themed, and mostly revolve around a research base in the

       This map is a series of rooms with two doors to choose. One path leads to death and the other leads to the next room. There are 5 rooms. SCMapDB Page Original mod authors: The Hunter Conversion authors: CubicVirtuoso Date of original mod release: 2005 Date of final Sven Map release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of 5 Ways to Die (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | December 4, 2021 | 1514 characters      I'm not sure I understood the intent of this level. I think it was like, you had a coin-flip chance each room to die depending on your choice. I just happened to choose right each time and survived to the end- left, left, right, left- then you throw a grenade at a barney surrounded by trip mines, jump behind a blast shield, and the level is over. That was the extent of my experience. I believe my friend who made different choices than the ones I made as I went forward was killed by level geometry or something.      Was very short, very fast. I don't hav

      This map is a series of rooms with two doors to choose. One path leads to death and the other leads to the next room. There are 5 rooms. SCMapDB Page Original mod authors: The Hunter Conversion authors: CubicVirtuoso Date of original mod release: 2005 Date of final Sven Map release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of 5 Ways to Die (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | December 4, 2021 | 1171 characters      The idea behind this map is not very good. You have a series of five binary choices (left or right) and choosing wrong kills you. The map description is accurate, it's pure luck, unless you go left, left, right, left, right, then you've cheated to the end. The puzzle at the end is throwing a grenade at Barney.      Overall, I didn't like it. Living or dying is arbitrary and the final puzzle is finding a way to detonate explosives, something Half-life and Sven players should know how to do at this point. The map ends after that and I ended up in the ca

            Aggregate Pain is another conversion of a standalone Half-Life mod. It takes place in Black Mesa and players fight both soldiers and aliens. SCMapDB page Original mod authors: Michael Sisk Conversion authors: Garompa Date of original mod release: 1999 Date of final Sven Map release: 2017 Maps in package: 3 Map review of Aggregate Pain (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 5, 2022 | 1939 characters      Aggregate Pain means Total Pain.      That's what the mod's creator seems to indicate on the map description. I guess must have been updated for more recent versions of Sven, as it has modern Sven monsters despite being dated originally for 1999.      The map follows walk-through format for the most part, with the players moving from room to room clearing out enemies and occasionally dealing with other obstacles. I'm gonna be completely honest, no matter how hard I try I cannot remember most of these maps. I'll tell you what I do remember.   

           Aggregate Pain is another conversion of a standalone Half-Life mod. It takes place in Black Mesa and players fight both soldiers and aliens. SCMapDB page Original mod authors: Michael Sisk Conversion authors: Garompa Date of original mod release: 1999 Date of final Sven Map release: 2017 Maps in package: 3 Map review of Aggregate Pain (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 5, 2022 | 3200 characters      Aggregate Pain is a very short three map series. The map is set in Black Mesa like a lot of maps are, this map does almost nothing to stand out.      The first map players start in a truck. A human grunt stands right outside and will begin shooting so don't dawdle. One my first playthrough three more grunts came around the corner and I had a big fight right out of spawn. On my second playthrough the grunts stayed put. There is a hallway with a lot of enemies at one point with two heavy weapons grunts. After another hallway the map ends.      We played the