Sven Co-op Map Reviews

    Agog means to be very eager to hear or see something. Be agog for this map as it has interesting visuals, puzzles, combat, and some very impressive sequences. Mind the eye strain. SCmapDB page Author: RNG Date of release: 2009 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Psychic Agog (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | January 22, 2023 | 3527 characters      Psychic Agog is a seemingly "beta" map release by RNG. It's been in this state going on 14 years now, so I think it's probably safe to presume RNG's interests have moved on and we can take a look on what this beta release stands to say on its own now.      The map is an action walkthrough with the slightest, slightest hint of a puzzle element. Players traverse a surreal (but not THAT surreal by RNG standards) illusion world which exists as some sort of experiment. Players traverse the initial stage by exploring an open area and solving tiny contextual puzzles in the environment before entering a new

    Agog means to be very eager to hear or see something. Be agog for this map as it has interesting visuals, puzzles, combat, and some very impressive sequences. Mind the eye strain. SCmapDB page Author: RNG Date of release: 2009 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Psychic Agog (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 22, 2023 | 3584 characters     This map is just a beta and is unfortunately never going to be 'finished', however it is still playable and is fairly polished as well. The first half has some trippy scenery followed by some space zombie fighting with cube gathering.      The map starts us out in a big black and white grid field with some basic but evocative geometry. large cubes dot the area along with some floating and gyrating cubes above, some interesting towers and some buildings with obvious purpose. This is a puzzle, an escape room of sorts and it is pretty fun. Each time we solved a piece of it there would be something happening, this map uses

      This map is one big sudoku puzzle. Players spawn cubes with numbers on them via a well made machine complete with deadly doors and neat visuals. The puzzle is the same every time. SCMapDBpage Author: Puchi Date of release: 2012 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Beat this (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | January 14, 2023 | 2292 characters      Beat This! is Sudoku played using the silly block physics in Sven Co-op. I thought this was going to be an incredible randomized sudoku game, but my teammate confirmed it was the same puzzle the on retrying. Approach a console and spawn a block with a number from a UI. Place the block where it is missing in the sudoku puzzle. Stand on a glass platform overlooking the puzzle to get a better view of the whole thing, and use the laser of a deagle to point to others solving the puzzle. Shoot straight through the glass barrier to mark spots to remember where you wish to place blocks.      I've gotta say, when it comes to pu

      This map is one big sudoku puzzle. Players spawn cubes with numbers on them via a well made machine complete with deadly doors and neat visuals. The puzzle is the same every time. SCMapDBpage Author: Puchi Date of release: 2012 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Beat this (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 14, 2023 | 2204 characters      This map is sudoku. Players spawn in elevator looking things to a big room with a big sudoku board in the middle of the room with holes for the answers. Up top there is a glass platform players can walk on to get a bird's eye view of the board. At the far end of the room is a panel that players use to summon cubes with numbers on them to complete the puzzle. Place the cubes in the correct holes and win! There is also some fun music to boost your morale.      All in all, the map isn't hard. I can imagine with quite a few people that the puzzle would just fly by. When cubes fall into the holes they turn transparent and s

      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

       Welcome to a land of dark and grainy textures, emphasis on grainy. This is a short and spooky map where players must explore a decrepit facility while dealing with hostile creatures. SCMapDB page Author: RNG Date of final release: 2010 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Mystic Radar (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | September 17, 2022 | 5489 characters      Mystic Radar is a short horror map by RNG with a charmingly cheesy story and an atmosphere of texture and grit.      The map is broken up into three parts, I would say. The first is a machine room where players must complete a series of puzzles while dodging two zombies without any weapons. The first puzzle, before the zombies appear, involves placing a block simply into a machine when the machine is opened by a valve pressed by another player. The rest of the puzzles involve finding keys or turning valves while zombies run amok. Once the puzzles in this room are complete, the map lets us know by making the zomb

      Welcome to a land of dark and grainy textures, emphasis on grainy. This is a short and spooky map where players must explore a decrepit facility while dealing with hostile creatures. SCMapDB page Author: RNG Date of final release: 2010 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Mystic Radar (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | September 17, 2022 | 3865 characters      Mystic Radar is a very dark and atmospheric map, it's got fog restricting view distance and constant background music always setting the mood. Most of the gameplay is hunting for keys, valves to turn, destructible panels, or whatever else is needed to progress. Zombies show up and are generally very annoying.      When the map starts my eye is drawn to the textures. Pretty much every surface texture is grainy, lke the world is made out of static. Most everything is a dull metallic color, ranging from rust brown to not-yet-rusty dirty grey. With how dark the map is this can make the map seem mazey and confusing

       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

       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&#

       The map description simply reads "The average sven player cannot beat this." The map is a room with a box and a button, what mysteries does this map hold? SCMapDB page Author: GAMESABA Date of final release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Area 491 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | June 5, 2022 | 1754 characters      Area 491 is a map that I don't understand, but can beat. You begin in a room with a box and a button. If you press the button you will explode, but if you break the box and then press the button you will not explode and you will complete the map. The box takes quite a few hits to destroy, but with teamwork it doesn't have to take long.      The map itself is pretty boring looking. Little effort is put into beautification, and if I had to describe the aesthetic it would be "debug room". The button gives no indication that it will explode, I'm guessing for troll reasons, and the box which must be destroyed gives li

      The map description simply reads " The average sven player cannot beat this." The map is a room with a box and a button, what mysteries does this map hold? SCMapDB page Author: GAMESABA Date of final release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Area 491 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 5, 2022 | 1591 characters      This is a Japanese troll map consisting of a big room with a button on one wall and a box in a corner. There is some stuff on the wall but that's all texture, none of it does anything. Running to the button will trigger an explosion that will kill you instantly and a message in Japanese (romanji) that my teammate is hard at work Google translating as I write this. It means something like "hey pretty good, it takes guts" if Google translate is any good.      The secret to beating the map is destroying the box, which has a ton of health, and that will stop the explosions. When the explosions are off you can run up and press

       Another Day At The Office is set in laboratories made by the same company who built Black Mesa because even though we are not in Black Mesa it looks just like Black Mesa. SCMapDB page Author: BonkTurnip Date of final release: 2021 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Another Day At The Office (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 2, 2022 | 9868 characters      Another Day at the Office is two walkthrough maps with a focus on backtracking, action set pieces, and regathering ammo after gruelingly punishing firefights that feel designed by somebody who doesn't participate in many firefights in Sven.      The first map is a collection of loosely strung together action vignettes. After making a choice between an egon room and a room with a scientist who will give you access to a sniper, a spore gun, and a displacer- the latter is far more preferable, without it you'll lack any decent ranged during the map's first sniper fight- the map opens into a series of

      Another Day At The Office is set in laboratories made by the same company who built Black Mesa because even though we are not in Black Mesa it looks just like Black Mesa. SCMapDB page Author: BonkTurnip Date of final release: 2021 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Another Day At The Office (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 2, 2022 | 8733 characters      When I come across a map with survival mode I don't even think about it, I toggle survival mode right off. I usually forget all about it and don't even mention it in my reviews but I think its important to note this map has survival mode on by default. This map set has two maps and both piss me off for different reasons.      The first map starts players off in offices, with a nearby security office granting access to a room with a scientist and a room with an gluon gun. There are two buttons, one for each door, and pressing one will break the other thus cutting off access to that room. We kept picking