Sven Co-op Map Reviews

      One can be forgiven for reading the title of the map and thinking they are in immediate danger of learning something. I can assure you this map has only the barest connection to things newsworthy in 2017. SCMapDB page Author: Keen Date of final release: 2017 Maps in package: 1 Map review of BBC World Service (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | November 19, 2022 | 5629 characters      Going off the map title and description I thought this map was going to be political or at least make a statement. Instead what I get is a weird mish mash of stuff with the thinnest veneer of politics over it. The map was made in 2017 and has references like a group of friendly soldiers named 'Rohingya Refugees' that get slaughtered by enemy soldiers, a pair of big mommas named 'Russian Hacker', an isolated group of firnedly soldiers named 'Starving Yemen Refugees', and at the end players find pieces of a submarine that went missing and was found wrecked that year

       I don't see a lot of maps really use the barnacle to it's full potential, so I was very excited when I saw this map. Then I read the map description, it is abandoned because the author didn't think it was fun, oh well. SCMapDB page Author: TruckStopSantaClaus Date of final release: 2020 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Barnacle Course (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | September 17, 2022 | 2768 characters      Barnacle Course is an unfinished obstacle course map based around the Barnacle. It was supposedly unfinished because the author did not believe the concept was proving to be fun.      The map is themed like the Half-Life Black Mesa Hazard Course, but with a bit more flare with their use of burning lava in their barnacle test course. Along there way there's some fleshy growths with sideways xen grass which is a lot of fun. None of it really adds up to a good feeling whole, but everything is fine as individual separates. Nothing in this map fee

      I don't see a lot of maps really use the barnacle to it's full potential, so I was very excited when I saw this map. Then I read the map description, it is abandoned because the author didn't think it was fun, oh well. SCMapDB page Author: TruckStopSantaClaus Date of final release: 2020 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Barnacle Course (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | September 17, 2022 | 2818 characters      This map was abandoned due to the author not thinking it was very fun. That is not a very promising sign and after playing the map I have to agree.      The whole map is set up around the barnacle, pretty obvious from the name of the map. The map is pretty standard wide Black Mesa hallways with barnacle grapple points, the first 'puzzles' of the map are just barnacling to platforms in lava down a hallway. The most difficult parts are the vertical sections because if you barnacle straight up then chances are you will just fall straight down

    This is a short map that puts players in a very defensible building with respawning monsters outside. Players who can get past the enemies can explore a short walkthrough portion until hitting the map end. SCMapDB page Author: Yaxez Date of final release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Azac (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | September 10, 2022 | 3040 characters      Azac is a map from 2005 which features lots of action, some cute moments, and overall clunky presentation.      Players at first begin in a very clunky spawn area: a tower which is traversed via narrow elevator (great for co-op /s), enough equipment for approximately one player until the equipment respawns, and an attic which players must clunkily slide down a cliff face 3 stories down to a fighting pen surrounded by laser gates warding off respawning zombies and gonomes. The laser gates can be toggled on and off from within the spawn area, I'm presuming for the express purpose of trolling othe

      This is a short map that puts players in a very defensible building with respawning monsters outside. Players who can get past the enemies can explore a short walkthrough portion until hitting the map end. SCMapDB page Author: Yaxez Date of final release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Azac (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | September 10, 2022 | 3297 characters      This map started off looking like a defense map with never-ending zombies and gonomes. But it turned out to be a mix of a couple gameplay elements. It's very short and my teammate and I beat it in less than ten minutes.      The map starts off with a cutscene of a courtyard with a fence, full of zombies. The camera follows a baby garg around and eventually the fence shatters. I was surprised at first because I was not expecting this map to have production value like this, but it was a fairly simple cutscene.      Players spawn in a room with a big window and four buttons. These buttons control

       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

       Jump up a lot of precarious platforms to get to the top. There is no end to this map and sometimes players will spawn at the top, negating the need to platform at all. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2006 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Trash Xprase Arena (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | July 10, 2022 | 1251 characters      Trash Xprase Arena is a climbing map. Players climb crude brushwork of multiple colors through a concrete silo all the way to the top, wherein they exit into a Toonrun grassy noll. Sometimes you spawn at the bottom, sometimes you spawn at the top. I gave up at a certain point, so I can't say for sure that all of the jumps are completable- a couple of them, especially after the elevator, felt that way. Oh yeah, there's also a janky elevator.      Usually my reviews are longer than this, but this just about covers it. Most of the jumps are perilous and will send the player to hell in a handbasket. There's no sp

      Jump up a lot of precarious platforms to get to the top. There is no end to this map and sometimes players will spawn at the top, negating the need to platform at all. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2006 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Trash Xprase Arena (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 10, 2022 | 1554 characters      I never know how to review platforming maps because I am not a fan of platforming in general. My teammate however is well versed in the arts of first person jumping onto things. He has assured me the climb is probably doable but very difficult. This is already a huge step up for the author, Robootto, whose maps are usually all nonsense.      The map looks real bad, it has misaligned textures that are not meant to be tiled on the walls, all thrown together haphazardly. The platforms come in all shapes and sizes and later there are rails. Half way up the climb there is an elevator designed to be bullshit and it succeeds at t

       I am not a fan of jumping puzzles, but this map does it right. There is nothing too crazy and I was able to complete the whole course thanks to the quality of life features like checkpoints and the color coding. SCMapDB page Author: Hezus Date of final release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of The Void (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | June 18, 2022 | 4401 characters      The Void is a map that I'm very nostalgic for, so factor that in while reading this review. I remember playing this back in the day with an internet connection so slow I couldn't platform worth a damn, but I loved it anyway. Looking back, is it still as fun as I remember?      The Void's conceit is minimalism: color-coded grid-tile floors serve simple functions, from launching the player to hurting the player to being ladders to being water to being the next spawn point. These simple tools are used in an escalating series of platforming challenges that, on their face, seem very

      I am not a fan of jumping puzzles, but this map does it right. There is nothing too crazy and I was able to complete the whole course thanks to the quality of life features like checkpoints and the color coding. SCMapDB page Author: Hezus Date of final release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of The Void (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 18, 2022 | 3098 characters      So first off, I am not a fan of platforming in first person. This whole map is a lot of platforming. I did manage to have a lot of fun though.      There are some really smart design choices like the color scheme, you may have to read the map description for an explanation on the colors. The colors actually remind me a lot of Portal, both minimalist and evocative while also being extremely practical. The map looks great, as the title suggests, the whole thing floats in a void. The undersides of platforms are null textured so so it is hard to see the next area.      The jumps themselves aren&#

       Pink is a brightly colored and garish map with a short platforming section and then a boss fight around a big cup of water. It's very short and has no ending, there is an inaccessible hallway in the last room that does nothing. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Pink (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 30, 2022 | 3159 characters      Pink is a map by robootto which uses xeno.wad to make an experience comparable to being gummed by a toothless giant with halitosis.      The players begin in a platforming segment over nonlethal pizzalava. The pizzalava is not lethal, thankfully, but it is shameful to fall in. Almost the entire platforming segment can be bypassed by just falling into the pizzalava and walking to the penultimate platform, jumping onto that, and then jumping onto the platform which leads to the exit.      What follows is the hallway of breakable transparent brushes and headcrabs. From there

      Pink is a brightly colored and garish map with a short platforming section and then a boss fight around a big cup of water. It's very short and has no ending, there is an inaccessible hallway in the last room that does nothing. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Pink (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 30, 2022 | 2257 characters      Pink is a gross looking map that uses a lot of the uncommonly used alien textures. The map looks pretty gross. It starts off with a pretty bad platforming section, there are grenades here you definitely want and some shotgun shells on other platforms, the water here doesn't hurt at all so swimming is harmless. Thankfully the whole section is skippable, I swam to the end of the sequence, climbed onto the last platform and jumped to the end.      After the platforming players go through a hallway, over a shotgun, past three zombies, down a short slip-n-slide, down a long d

       This is something like a recreation of the first level of Duke Nukem 3d. Most of the map does its own thing but for the most part it kind of feels like Duke Nukem. SCMapDB page Author: DukeN Date of final release: 2014 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Dukemap (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 28, 2022 | 4713 characters      "I'm waiting for the reviews to improve my maps" -DukeN in the Additional Info section of dukemap2. 8 years late, but this one's for you, DukeN.      Dukemap2 (listed on scmapdb as Dukemap) is the sequel to an as-of-yet unreleased (possibly cancelled) prequel map. I suppose that will explain the strange circumstances surrounding the spawn area of this map.      The map begins with players in a UFO where they charge their HEV (if you're gonna let em do it at spawn in a cramped spawn area, why not just start them with full HEV?) and a teleporter which drops them out of the UFO and onto a conspicuous reservoir atop a tow

      This is something like a recreation of the first level of Duke Nukem 3d. Most of the map does its own thing but for the most part it kind of feels like Duke Nukem. SCMapDB page Author: DukeN Date of final release: 2014 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Dukemap (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 27, 2022 | 5930 characters      I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Dukemap, made by DukeN, is inspired by Duke Nukem 3D. Duke jumps down from a ship in the first level of Duke 3D and players jump down from a flying saucer in this map. The gameplay diverges pretty differently here, it's not a remake but just feels inspired by Duke Nukem.      Players spawn in a space ship with these green bars rising out of the floor, these are HEV chargers. I didn't realize this until my teammate started sucking up that sweet armor. There is a door at the bottom of the ship that opens when two players press two buttons simultaneously. Once its open players fall t

       Arcade feels more like an experiment than a full fledged map, but it recreates classic arcade games in Sven very well. There is also a jumping puzzle for those who get tired of the arcade machines. SCMapDB page Author: w00tguy123 Date of final release: 2016 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Arcade (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 8, 2022 | 3058 characters      Arcade is an incredibly brilliant showcase of map entity magic at work. Play Tron Cycles, Pac-Man, Pong (1p or 2p), Snake, or a lolfunny TF2 meme. These machines sit in a very plain, paneled environment without much else to look at. But, what else do you need? You walk up, press a button, and then use your player input controls to play arcade classics. It's free old games in your free Sven Co-op. What's not to like?      If I had to have any complaint, it would be that when a player starts a game, they are locked in until the game they've initiated ends. This is particularly troublesome wi

      Arcade feels more like an experiment than a full fledged map, but it recreates classic arcade games in Sven very well. There is also a jumping puzzle for those who get tired of the arcade machines. SCMapDB page Author: w00tguy123 Date of final release: 2016 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Arcade (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 8, 2022 | 3318 characters      This map is exactly what it says in the title, an Arcade. The arcade machines include two player tron, pac-man, one or two player pong, and snake. The fact that all of the arcade machines work near perfectly is just amazing. They even have scoreboards that will announce the high score for that machine. The map also has some nice music to go along with the arcade atmosphere. The level is small and half empty, but the arcade machines are the main attraction and they are impressive.      The map description says that some of his arcade machines are in some of Keen's maps, I actually experienced these m

      Sv Mountain is the first map made by the author, it combines platforming with some combat. Players must scale the outside of a mountain and clear some rooms inside the mountain. SCMapDB page Author: SV BOY Date of final release: 2017 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Sv Mountain (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | February 18, 2022 | 5605 characters      Mountain is a platforming-centric map wherein players climb a mountain, navigate tiny cliff edges, move through vent hell, and fight in a xen arena. Some of it is somewhat effective and charming in a beginner's fashion (this is, apparently, the first map by its author, SV BOY) though most of it is the kind of "challenging" that reminds me a bit of troll games of the '00s and the '10s. This isn't an attitude that is novel in Sven maps, as troll-ish nature is prevalent especially in platforming maps, it's just something to be aware of.      The player ascends a very block-shaped mountain v

      Sv Mountain is the first map made by the author, it combines platforming with some combat. Players must scale the outside of a mountain and clear some rooms inside the mountain. SCMapDB page Author: SV BOY Date of final release: 2017 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Sv Mountain (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | February 18, 2022 | 4800 characters      Sv-mountain is a map that focuses heavily on jumping around the exterior of a large rectangular mountain. I'm not a fan of first person platforming so this didn't really appeal to me. I will say up front that I had to cheat my way through the map, my teammate who is much better at platforming than I agreed we had to in order to finish. By the way, what kind of maniac names their bsp file sv-mountain? We use underscores here, not dashes.      The map starts players off in a small blocky encampment next to a big block of rock that stands in for the mountain. Right off the bat the architecture is blocky and rudim