Sven Co-op Map Reviews

       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 dunkelschwamm | January 7, 2024 | 4838 characters      Dark Seekers is a duo of horror maps based loosely on the I Am Legend scenario. In the first map you search buildings to find necessary items to solve puzzles while being harassed by the titular dark seekers- zombies which run and take quite a bit of damage to kill. The second map takes the players through a dark seeker infested subway tunnel, until they surface into a warzone where hostile soldiers battle dark seekers in the streets. Both maps are very different in gameplay tone, but manage to feel appropriate together in atmosphere and theme.      The first map is slow in pace, with players being forced to slow

      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. Each one has 250 health so then it

       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 dunkelschwamm | December 16, 2023 | 6784 characters      Tomb of Death! I remember playing this a long time ago and thinking it was kind of clunky and mediocre. Boy, am I glad I revisited it! This mapset captures a lot of the spirit of what I love about Sven Co-op, and is a truly inspiring exercise in creativity.      This mapset is long, so I'm going to go down the maps one by one and give overall impressions.      The first map gives a lot of what the title implies: a tomb full of fun traps and monster teases. There's a couple puzzle-like areas, including a platforming bit over some toxic sand that I was not a fan of. I mention that right out the g

      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 really fun until we trigger a

       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 dunkelschwamm | October 16, 2023 | 4960 characters      City of the Dead is a zombie map wherein the goal is to escape using a helipad. To do so, you must explore a city block full of explorable buildings locked off by various obstacles.      The map begins players in a spawn armory where players can take their pick of beginning weaponry or ammo. Right from the start the map's clunkiness, which is a theme throughout, becomes apparent. Grabbing ammo or a weapon will immediately chuck players into the map proper, so if you grabbed ammo, you're a sucker. There are weapons to be found throughout the map, but they do not respawn (with the exception of g

      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 in a spawn room, health and HEV along with a

       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 dunkelschwamm | August 14, 2023 | 3315 characters      Coldburn is a total conversion style walkthrough map for Sven Co-op. Players are tasked with plunging the depths of a base atop a Neptunian moon, plunging ever deeper into hostile environments as their HEV is the only temporary barrier keeping players from rapidly deteriorating under cold and radiation threat. To make matters worse, bizarre monsters stalk the players through the facility.      First thing you'll notice about the map is that it nails the environment and atmosphere. Lighting is moody, the fog is effective, and the sprites of little cloud

      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 secret here so that is pretty

       Here is another horde map, this one taking place in the eponymous cemetery with the stated goal of grinding experience for XP mod. The map certainly does feel like a grind. SCMapDB page Author: GForce Date of release: 2010 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Cemetery (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | July 1, 2023 | 1507 characters      Cemetary is a charming little map of a spooky cemetery wherein infinite zombies spawn, which players may shotgun to their hearts' content. There's a house you can enter (which you spawn in), a church you can enter, and a house you cannot enter which tells you the credits (shoutouts to GForce). There's a really fun upper area of the cemetery with a bridge that connects them, which breaks up the field.      It's a fairly short map, but it's got enough fun details to really complete the atmosphere of a spooky cemetery. Just enough. I like the touches like a shovel in a mound of dirt, and the statues, or the revolver y

      Here is another horde map, this one taking place in the eponymous cemetery with the stated goal of grinding experience for XP mod. The map certainly does feel like a grind. SCMapDB page Author: GForce Date of release: 2010 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Cemetery (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 1, 2023 | 2011 characters      This map is meant to farm experience for XP mod if the map description is accurate. I guess for that it works well. The map is a big cemetery full of infinitely spawning zombies. We get shotguns and lots of ammo and we start with full armor so in the rare instance we do get hit we take almost no damage.      The map looks pretty good, but it does have some chunky and blocky parts. It also uses a lot of models that looks pretty good, but totally give away that they are models in both lighting and look. At one point my teammate pointed out a shovel in a blocky chunk of dirt, it was a well done shovel but I could tell it was brushwork beca

       This is a beautiful map inspired by the famous mod (and map set ported to Sven Co-op) They Hunger. It takes place in a forest filled with derelict buildings, now that I think about it I don't think there is a campfire in this map. SCMapDB page Author: cyberdaemon Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Campfire (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | June 19, 2023 | 3387 characters      Campfire is a zombie (and occasionally baby garg) walkthrough map wherein players use limited firearms and mostly crowbars to maneuver through a rural forested area. Explore abandoned houses, rock mines, explosive minefields (??????), and forest while being ambushed by suddenly spawned zombies, headcrabs, gonomes, and baby gargs.      There is a curve to campfire. Early on, players have a handgun with very limited ammo and so spend much of their time crowbarring zombies and, unfortunately, gonomes. In worst case scenarios, you need to crowbar a baby garg. This is espe

      This is a beautiful map inspired by the famous mod (and map set ported to Sven Co-op) They Hunger. It takes place in a forest filled with derelict buildings, now that I think about it I don't think there is a campfire in this map. SCMapDB page Author: cyberdaemon Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Campfire (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 19, 2023 | 4517 characters      Campfire is a map inspired by The Hunger that puts us in a wilderness with some dilapidated buildings, a minefield, and eventually into a mine. It has no story and ends abruptly with no real resolution when a player walks into a wall of tofu. But it maintains this really atmospheric gritty forest vibe that works really well. Enemies are tons of zombies with the occasional gonome and baby garg.      My teammate an I spawn inside each other inside a burned out house. This map feels pretty big and the house has rooms bigger than what we spawned in, so it feels weird to me

       The most recent Resident Evil map takes place in the streets and the Raccoon City Police Department just like Resident Evil 2. Later on it takes on a blend of different Resident Evil titles. SCMapDB page Author: Jamesmarine Date of final release: 2017 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Resident Evil: Biohazard (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | October 20, 2022 | 5842 characters      Resident Evil: Biohazard is a Sven Co-op walkthrough map themed after Resident Evil. Now, when you say Resident Evil, you might think: "gosh, what a media franchise! What Resident Evil could you mean? Do you mean the first game in the puzzle mansion? Or the second game, with the police station? Or the third game, on the streets? Or the movie franchise, which is totally different?" The answer to your question is "Yes."      This map is a big mix of Resident Evil media, barely glancing the essence of each game. Start in the streets, move your way up to the police stati

      The most recent Resident Evil map takes place in the streets and the Raccoon City Police Department just like Resident Evil 2. Later on it takes on a blend of different Resident Evil titles. SCMapDB page Author: Jamesmarine Date of final release: 2017 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Resident Evil: Biohazard (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | October 20, 2022 | 7715 characters      I really want to like a Resident Evil Sven Co-op map. This map starts off strong with a beautiful opening, a great looking street, and it actually looks like a Resident Evil themed map. It's got a lot of backtracking and a combination of few enemies and firepower makes a lot of the map pretty boring.      The map starts with difficulty selection, normal and hard. We opted for normal but in hindsight that may have made the map far too easy for two seasoned players. Regardless of difficulty players get shown a cutscene introduction and are dropped onto the city streets. There are no ene

       Take a break from the other Resident Evil maps where you explore a mansion maze. Fight never ending enemies on the streets and explore to find new areas and secrets. SCMapDB page Author: mrfranswa Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Resident Evil 2 Mini Game (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | October 16, 2022 | 5354 characters      Resident Evil 2 Mini Game is a zombie sandbox map which endlessly drops zombies and some other random foes on you, mostly in the theme of Resident Evil. The setting is a city block beside a farmhouse parked in a small patch of forest.      Most of the map takes place on a city block beside a patch of forest, connected two tunnels, creating a big ring. The city block area includes a garage, a park, a sandbag-fortified position with a friendly soldier, and some buildings which can be variously levels of entered. Boosting atop one building grants a crowbar (key item, not weapon) which opens a door to an NPC who swe

      Take a break from the other Resident Evil maps where you explore a mansion maze. Fight never ending enemies on the streets and explore to find new areas and secrets. SCMapDB page Author: mrfranswa Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Resident Evil 2 Mini Game (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | October 16, 2022 | 3193 characters      I'm a big fan of Resident Evil, but I've been a bit down on Resident Evil Sven maps. I'm doing my best to like them I really am. Unlike the others, this map is not a linear walkthrough map but instead a never ending horde map with some fun objectives scattered around the map. It's probably my favorite Resident Evil themed Sven Co-op map so far.      Players spawn in a tiny room with a lady named "Kill me to end the map", a nearby hole drops players into a three way choice of spawn points around the main map. There is also the wrench here which is reskinned to be a chainsaw, that's fun

      The second installment of the first Resident Evil series (two series of Resident Evil maps by two authors, this one is made by mrfranswa) is bigger and more Resident Evil than the first. We are trapped in a mansion once again and have to scavenger hunt our way out. SCMapDB page Author: mrfranswa Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Resident Evil: Covert Operations (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | October 13, 2022 | 6424 characters      Resident Evil: Covert Operations is a very long map which aims to largely create a fan game of Resident Evil within Sven Co-op. It features limited ammo, lots of monsters, some unique puzzles, and backtracking like nobody's business.      Before I begin, I do want to mention: when I played this for this review, some crucial puzzle elements did not spawn. The map was unbeatable without cheats. In particular, the golden emblem did not appear. As such, right out the gate, I cannot recommend this map for a s

      The second installment of the first Resident Evil series (two series of Resident Evil maps by two authors, this one is made by mrfranswa) is bigger and more Resident Evil than the first. We are trapped in a mansion once again and have to scavenger hunt our way out. SCMapDB page Author: mrfranswa Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Resident Evil: Covert Operations (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | October 13, 2022 | 6632 characters      I want to like a Sven Co-op Resident Evil map. I really do. This one started off real strong, it looks beautiful. The lobby of the mansion is huge, well lit, and has some really nice marble textures. It has the same scavenger hunt gameplay that's to be expected from survival horror but just so much more. Multiple times we had to traverse the entire level, once we had to go from the lowest depths underwater in the sewers to the top floor of the mansion and then back just to grab a valve. I hope you like ho