Sven Co-op Map Reviews

       We have another Carnival map, but I don't think this one is a sequel as the author is unknown. It has some fun rides that work well when they aren't killing players. Beware spawning in the ceiling. SCMapDB page Author: Unknown Date of release: 2002 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Carnival 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | June 26, 2023 | 2948 characters      Carnival 2 is a map apparently by an unknown author. I guess that means it's not an official, canonical sequel to Carnival by Kune. This map works a bit as a spiritual successor, in that it follows a similar premise. However, this time around the map functions purely as a hangout map and not as a walkthrough action map.      The rides are front-and-center on this map. Though there is a barely functional skee ball game in a cellar beneath a desert butte, just about everything else in this map that cries "carnival" is crying it through jankily constructed carnie rides. Much like real ca

      We have another Carnival map, but I don't think this one is a sequel as the author is unknown. It has some fun rides that work well when they aren't killing players. Beware spawning in the ceiling. SCMapDB page Author: Unknown Date of release: 2002 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Carnival 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 26, 2023 | 2338 characters      This is a fun little map with some carnival rides scattered around. We have a roller coaster thing, one of those centrifugal force spinners, skee-ball, a big arm thing, a dunk tank, and a ferris wheel.      I spawned inside a ceiling. For those of you who don't know, pressing 'L' will unstick the player. This is vital to respawning because of the spawn point above the skee-ball. There is another spawn point on top of a rock wall, the spawn points are very strange in this map.      But after I pressed L and unstuck myself I found all the rides were really fun. They all work and my teammate

      A fairly standard horde map, Bunker features a bunker from which players and allies can shoot out a the swarms in relative safety. For some reason weapons are outside the bunker forcing players to brave the ocean of enemies outside. SCMapDB page Author: Halgmor Date of release: 2012 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bunker (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | June 12, 2023 | 2266 characters      Bunker is a defense horde map which features a couple fun toys to keep players entertained.      The main setup is a bunker surrounded by open desert which enemy grunts/robogrunts endlessly spawn into. Within the bunker are some friendly grunts and the aforementioned toys. Across from the bunker is a big room full of weapons with a funny secret shooting range.      The toys are a button which opens and closes the bunker door- great for when you want to invite grenades and bullets into your and your teammates' much shortened lives. There's a couple mounted gu

      A fairly standard horde map, Bunker features a bunker from which players and allies can shoot out a the swarms in relative safety. For some reason weapons are outside the bunker forcing players to brave the ocean of enemies outside. SCMapDB page Author: Halgmor Date of release: 2012 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bunker (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 12, 2023 | 3231 characters      True to the name, there is indeed a bunker that players spawn right outside. There are no weapons in the bunker besides an mp5 outside the front door, all the weapons are in a weird boarded up passage to a big room with a ton of weapons and ammo strewn about. Most of the level is a wide field around the bunker that is so big we can see the darkness that is draw distance gnawing at the edges of reality. Grunts of the human, robot, and heavy weapons variety spawn in droves constantly.      There are some friendlies in the bunker but they do very little. There are some tur

      As the title suggests we fight a gargantua in this map. The level is very small and consists of only one small arena dotted with some obstacles and a couple of supplies. The garg respawns when killed and there is no end. SCMapDB page Author: Socrates Date of release: 1999 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Garg Hunt (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 18, 2023 | 2741 characters      Garghunt is a classic map with a classic goal: hunt the garg.      But it is a ruse, you see! To hunt the garg, you must first earn the hunt! To do so, you must first be hunted! Players spawn with a pistol which is ineffectual against the titular garg. So, instead, players are encouraged to roam the map with the garg in hot pursuit as they find weapons which can put a dent in the beast. This generally comes in the form of satchel charges, RPG rockets, and the odd explosive crossbow bolt. All of these can be found on the battlefield, though the RPG is found on a ledge where

      As the title suggests we fight a gargantua in this map. The level is very small and consists of only one small arena dotted with some obstacles and a couple of supplies. The garg respawns when killed and there is no end. SCMapDB page Author: Socrates Date of release: 1999 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Garg Hunt (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 18, 2023 | 1335 characters      Fresh from the year 1999 we have a very simple arena map dedicated to fighting a single garg (at a time). This was an official map from the first version of Sven Co-op. It's light on the gameplay, very unpolished, and somewhat annoying to play.      We have a few weapons scattered around the arena like a revolver, mp5, gauss gun, satchel charges, and a rocket launcher on a ledge next to a bullsquid. Rush the rocket launcher and then the garg is easy to take down, map over. But it is an arena horde map so the garg just comes back forever. The arena itself has some boxes, a li

    Explore a massive bedroom and office and find a bunch of secrets. Players get lots of weapons and low gravity to make navigation much easier.  SCMapDB page Author: Fourth Letter Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of DBJR (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 30, 2023 | 2719 characters      DBJR is a rats map which takes place inside of a bedroom and an inconsistently proportioned hoarder's office. There are a handful of silly little secrets and a room wherein players can spawn waves of enemies to fight in the main bedroom. The description said these waves happen periodically, but in many dozens of minutes playing we never saw this happen outside of our direct involvement.      The visuals of the map itself are a treat. There's a really cute textured brush for the outside perspective instead of a skybox. There's the obligatory computer running hammer working on the map itself. There's a bed you can run under for cover fro

      Explore a massive bedroom and office and find a bunch of secrets. Players get lots of weapons and low gravity to make navigation much easier.  SCMapDB page Author: Fourth Letter Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of DBJR (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 30, 2023 | 4136 characters      I'm a big fan of rats maps, maps where the map is so big the players feel like they are very small. This rats map has the gravity turned down low and longjump given to players on map start, so it's pretty easy to get around.      We start off in a big room and begin to explore. I guess I am just naturally suicidal because the first place I checked out was the fan cord plugged into an outlet, which will gib players if they get near it. Right next to that is a teleporter to the top of a computer from where we can survey the room. A paper airplane makes loops in mid-air, the long jump really helps in getting on top of that airplane. There is a po

      Fight a neverending horde of enemies in a small city block. The slice of city is very simple with nothing much else to see, although the tallest building is almost entirely destructible and will fall apart. SCMapDB page Author: Killer99 Date of release: 1999 Maps in package: 1 Map review of City (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 29, 2023 | 2198 characters      City is a horde map wherein soldiers and xenian military (vortigaunts and alien grunts, specifically) are teleported onto a small block with one destroyed building full of soldiers, one strangely shaped building with a sideways vending machine in front of it full of aliens, one near-fully destructible building with lots of soldiers, and one tall building that vortigaunts are always on top of.      Players are given a few boilerplate weapons to deal with this, but most notable get grenades and a tau gun. Their power really helps prevent any of the enemies from being far too spongey.      I d

      Fight a neverending horde of enemies in a small city block. The slice of city is very simple with nothing much else to see, although the tallest building is almost entirely destructible and will fall apart. SCMapDB page Author: Killer99 Date of release: 1999 Maps in package: 1 Map review of City (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 29, 2023 | 2674 characters      City is a fairly standard arena horde map, this time based on a simple city street. We have some multi-story buildings scaled way down to be simple boxes with only enough room for windows and stairs. Vortigaunts spawn in clumps staggered with clumps of alien grunts and human grunts, who do shoot each other when they spawn in together. The weapon selection isn't bad but it is very medium. We get an mp5, shotgun, crossbow, gauss gun, grenades, and a single satchel charge in addition to the standard pistol, medkit, crowbar.      The moment the map starts players are taking damage. We spawn in t

    Let's buy some boxes over at the box store! The buying process actually works, players have to earn score and use that to buy boxes. Stealing is not allowed. SCMapDB page Author: w00tguy123 Date of release: 2016 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Box Store (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 29, 2023 | 2853 characters      Box Store is exactly what it says on the tin: a store where you buy boxes. It's like a clicker, but in Sven Co-op. There's an invincible "hostile" scientist outside named "shoot me for money" or something which you do to increase your score, which you then exchange for boxes in the box store.      The real charm of the map comes from the interactions with the store. The boxes themselves are mostly very Half-Life-cute, tiny versions of the boxes from Half-Life. There's some which are different funny cubes, like a clock cube, or a glass cube, or a meat cube. They have cute names, and are mostly fairl

      Let's buy some boxes over at the box store! The buying process actually works, players have to earn score and use that to buy boxes. Stealing is not allowed. SCMapDB page Author: w00tguy123 Date of release: 2016 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Box Store (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 29, 2023 | 2612 characters      The Box Store featured in this map works just like a store, with boxes for sale and a whole system to buy them. We bought them all and the map ended. It's great.      So it starts off with my teammate and I standing in front of the store with an invincible hostile scientist named "shoot me for more money". You don't have to tell me twice. The store sits on a square of land floating in the void. Strange nonsensical signs are plastered over the front of the store. My teammate informs me the music we hear is from Sonic 3, it's pretty good music.      After boosting our scores from emptying our SAWs into the scien

      This map is sort of a mall, we have a big building with stores, bars, and some sort of storage area. There's a locked door players must find their way behind but beyond that the map is light on interaction and focuses more on exploration. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto, RNG, Poka Date of release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Shopping Centre (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 1, 2023 | 2901 characters      Shopping Centre seems to be a shopping mall including some vaguely interesting shops from the likes of Robootto, RNG, and Poka, including the Sushi Shop from Poka and Robootto's collab Indojapan, and some of the stuff from RNG and Robootto's collab Metal Bar.      For the most part, it's just for walking around. I think there's an interesting sense of discovery, as you find yourself hopping off from high places to find your way around. However, aside from one secretive tunnel which leads to unlocking an only somewhat i

      This map is sort of a mall, we have a big building with stores, bars, and some sort of storage area. There's a locked door players must find their way behind but beyond that the map is light on interaction and focuses more on exploration. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto, RNG, Poka Date of release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Shopping Centre (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 1, 2023 | 2733 characters      This is a map of a shopping center with the shops being contributed by three different mappers, RNG, Robootto, and Poka. Robootto is known for a very avant garde style bordering on nonsense. RNG is known for making very detailed grit. I don't know Poka very well.      Players are dumped in the main hallway, which is pretty blocky and plain. We have thick windows and big signs allowing us to see the stores that line the way, we have quite a selection, two of which I've seen before. There is a sushi bar I've seen in Indojapan tha

      Fight a tiny city, then fight robots in the tiny city. The map is small, practically a box, and sized to make players feel huge. SCMapDB page Author: Lymphoid Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Gundam City (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 18, 2023 | 2394 characters      Gundam is a map for Sven Co-op which takes place in a destructible "city" made of gridded boxes in a big rockwall-surrounded area. A UFO drops infinite baby headcrabs, and after some time a squad of robogrunts attack and need some killing. Destroying one of the buildings yields a shotgun and MP5, which are crucial for surviving the robogrunts. Another building reveals some snarks, which are also extremely useful in dealing with the issue. As the robogrunts spawn in, players can find themselves spawnkilled to oblivion by a half-dozen robogrunts just sauntering around an outdoor area where the players spawn, but with some grit you can run to the weapo

      Fight a tiny city, then fight robots in the tiny city. The map is small, practically a box, and sized to make players feel huge. SCMapDB page Author: Lymphoid Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Gundam City (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | November 29, 2021 | 2276 characters      This is a short and simple map with a fun gimmick. I love maps with a single focused gimmick and I think this one does it pretty well. I originally reviewed this map at the listed date, but have since edited it on 3/18/2023.      So you are in a map with a small city and enemies spawn in to attack you. The map description says 'you may choose to destroy the city' but let me tell you, if you are not destroying the city you are playing this map wrong. It's incredible fun blowing skyscrapers up and smashing things. Whenever an enemy would destroy a building I would get offended because that is what I am there to do.      The enemies are robo grunt

    Stomp around a tiny city like Japan's favorite Kaiju. There are four maps of increasing Godzillaty destruction in a fullbright expanding city, but they don't transition to one another. SCMapDB page Author: Lymphoid Date of release: 2002 Maps in package:4 Map review of Godzilla (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 18, 2023 | 2671 characters      Very simple setup here: Godzilla is a set of 4 toy maps wherein you can destroy a tiny city. These are tiny cities as conceived of by children- just stretches of grass with giant blocks of grid pattern. But, each of those blocks can be destroyed with enough whacks of a crowbar!      The first map is as simple as can be: destroy all of the buildings. There are some other destructibles like trees and roads, but you just destroy everything. There is nothing else. Not even a map end.      The second verse is very much same as the first: second map is the same thing, but players can also fight a vortigau

      Stomp around a tiny city like Japan's favorite Kaiju. There are four maps of increasing Godzillaty destruction in a fullbright expanding city, but they don't transition to one another. SCMapDB page Author: Lymphoid Date of release: 2002 Maps in package:4 Map review of Godzilla (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 18, 2023 | 2802 characters      Godzilla is a collection of four maps, each on an escalation of players destroying a city.      The first map is a small city. The map may be small and there may not be a lot of buildings, but there are some very big buildings that take a lot of hits to destroy. Also the map uses stock textures and the skyscrapers use that concrete ceiling with the squares that kinda look like windows. After destroying all the buildings the map does not end and I have to manually switch to the next one.      The next map is like three times as big, players have to crawl through a tiny cave (or platform up some skyscrap

      Welcome to a store that sells toilets. There are no enemies, but there are plenty of weapons, scientists, and toilets to play with. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Toilet Store (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 23, 2023 | 1621 characters      Toilet Store is a hangout map that takes place in a madcap surrealist toilet store. Players spawn outside, can work their way in by breaking a glass door, and then find themselves in a toilet store populated by scientists and a G-man. The toilets are silly, have breakable glass lids. Some of them elevate, some of them go into the ground. Some are raised up. Some are in kiosks with wacky textures. There's an indestructible front door. There's a cash register. There's a rocket launcher on a bizarre grate wall outside. There's weapons just kinda laying around, some ammo laying on top of toilet seats.      If it sounds like I'm just listing

      Welcome to a store that sells toilets. There are no enemies, but there are plenty of weapons, scientists, and toilets to play with. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Toilet Store (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 12, 2023 | 1655 characters    So we start off in what looks like an alley. There are some huge cardboard boxes here that we can use to jump on and grab a rocket launcher that balances precariously on the edge of sanity and reason. Then we break down the glass and enter the toilet store.      The first thing we discover is that the toilet lids are destructible and sometimes they hide supplies in the toilet bowls. I start on breaking those while my teammate discovers that some toilets sink down into the ground. We both find a toilet that floats up.      After we finish examining all the toilets we turn our attention to the scientists wandering the aisles. There are plenty of weapons strewn