Sven Co-op Map Reviews

      Are you ready to barbecue with the bear? There is a story about a zoo being closed due to Covid but the gameplay is all about shopping in the supermarket down the road. The map is very British and has a lot of jokes and references about being British. SCMapDB page Author: Captain Scarlet Date of final release: 2021 Maps in package: 1 Map review of BBQWITTEHBEAR (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | October 6, 2022 | 6874 characters      Well that certainly was something. This map contains no combat and instead focuses on running errands at a supermarket. There is a whole story about a zoo and some anime girls that have voice acting and large illustrations that float in mid-air. I don't get any of that, it all feels like a bunch of in jokes from a forum or group of friends. It's still a great experience even if I don't understand everything.      Players start off in a room with three doors. One could almost believe this is a generic and uninspired map from

       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

       This map series has been cut short and abandoned due to a very unfortunate loss of files. What we have here are two maps of story build up, one map of gameplay, and one map with credits, all unpolished. SCMapDB page Author: Skals Date of final release: 2010 Maps in package: 4 Map review of Bad Day at Work (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | September 15, 2022 | 4338 characters      Bad Day at Work is a release of four maps of an unfinished series. Players tour a very modern looking lab complex, tour a very modern looking lab complex during an alien invasion, and tour a very decidedly unmodern alien invasion during a lab complex.      There are four maps, but one is an intro, two have gameplay, and the last one is such a non-sequitur cutaway to aliens before an abrupt map end that it plays off like a joke. So, I'll review the first three maps.      The first map is very atmospheric and interesting looking. The lab complex looks very different from most Black Mes

      This map series has been cut short and abandoned due to a very unfortunate loss of files. What we have here are two maps of story build up, one map of gameplay, and one map with credits, all unpolished. SCMapDB page Author: Skals Date of final release: 2010 Maps in package: 4 Map review of Bad Day at Work (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | September 16, 2022 | 6206 characters      Unfortunately this series has not been completed. According to the description there was a much bigger plan in place that was canned due to losing important files, so now we get an unfinished and abandoned half a map series. Also this is my second time trying to write this review, I accidentally hit the back button when I was almost finished which means I lost my review. Ironic that I lost my review while trying to review a series abandoned due to file loss.      There are four maps in the set, the first map had no enemies, it was just to set the tone and gives players a moment to experien

       This is the second and probably final Resident Evil map made by James Smith, following his previous map, Aftermath. The map is very similar to the first, keeping with a recreation of the Resident Evil mansion, but it is very much improved. SCMapDB page Author: James Smith Date of final release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Resident Evil: Directors Cut (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | September 3, 2022 | 6027 characters      Resident Evil: Director's Cut is a map for Sven Co-op map which replicates, at a very base level, the cheap outermost layers of a Resident Evil game, much like its predecessor Resident Evil: Aftermath does. However, unlike Resident Evil: Aftermath, this map is competently produced.      First of all, I think the presentation of this map is a large improvement from Resident Evil: Aftermath. The furniture is all lovely, and there's a few nice atmospheric touches like rain outside the windows and some lovely candelabras. The hal

      This is the second and probably final Resident Evil map made by James Smith, following his previous map, Aftermath. The map is very similar to the first, keeping with a recreation of the Resident Evil mansion, but it is very much improved. SCMapDB page Author: James Smith Date of final release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Resident Evil: Directors Cut (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | September 3, 2022 | 3173 characters      The second map available in the series of Resident Evil maps made by the author, James Smith. it is unclear if this series has anything to do with the other Resident Evil maps made by a different author but it is definitely an improvement over the first one. It still leans heavily on the long and twisty hallway element though.      The map still only loosely resembles the layout of any Resident Evil game but it looks much better. The main hall treats players to some nice looking windows with rain effects behind them, it set the mood ri

       There are a lot of Resident Evil maps for Sven Co-op and they mostly follow the same formula of exploring a mansion. The 'Aftermath' part of the title implies this map is a sequel but it is unclear what the previous map could be. SCMapDB page Author: James Smith Date of final release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Resident Evil: The Aftermath (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | September 1, 2022 | 3777 characters      Resident Evil: The Aftermath is an attempt at a Resident Evil map that barely replicates the broad strokes of what one might think Resident Evil is from vague memories of having played up to the the first zombie in the first Resident Evil, not figuring out what to do, turning the game off, and then later seeing art of Nemesis and looked up some Resident Evil art and thought it was cool. I know that's oddly specific, but it just really gives me that impression.      The spawn area requires players choose a class. The classes are kni

      There are a lot of Resident Evil maps for Sven Co-op and they mostly follow the same formula of exploring a mansion. The 'Aftermath' part of the title implies this map is a sequel but it is unclear what the previous map could be. SCMapDB page Author: James Smith Date of final release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Resident Evil: The Aftermath (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | September 1, 2022 | 5740 characters      I've been playing the first Resident Evil lately so my teammate and I decided to try out a Resident Evil map. He remembers the Resident Evil maps being pretty bad and I only remember vague impressions of them. So I thought I would start with the one with the lowest STARS rating.      The map starts off in a red chamber with a locked door and a hole high up in the wall. I think this is supposed to force at least two players to play but with the climbing mechanic that was added into Sven Co-op later you don't need two players to ge

       Let me just say right off the bat that this map has nothing to do with arcades. It's really just another Black Mesa map style-wise and a scavenger hunt gameplay-wise.  SCMapDB page Authors: Streamfox and RNG Date of final release: 2010 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Arcad (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 14, 2022 | 2976 characters      Arcad is a couple of maps by Streamfox and RNG. The first sees players fight their way through a military base lightly peppered with alien invaders, followed up by a pretty straightforward romp through an alien-infested bunker/engineering facility.      The first map struggles to form much of an identity outside of cargo holds and hallways. Most of the map felt samey, but featured fun (if easy) combat with lots of ammo and an ever-expanding arsenal. I think its most memorable bits are point-and-click reminiscent puzzles featuring finding parts to build explosives, repairing broken door engines, and driving forklifts thro

      Let me just say right off the bat that this map has nothing to do with arcades. It's really just another Black Mesa map style-wise and a scavenger hunt gameplay-wise.  SCMapDB page Authors: Streamfox and RNG Date of final release: 2010 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Arcad (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 14, 2022 | 4824 characters      On the surface Arcad looks like a very generic map that looks like Black Mesa. For the most part, that aesthetic pervades the whole first map but the second map is much more visually interesting. This leads to making the rooms all look the same, but objectives are well marked for the most part so players always know where to go, for the most part. There were definitely times where the means of progression was hard to find and led to a lot of jumping around and poking heads into dark corners.      The first map starts off looking pretty bland and stays that way the whole time. At first players will just plow forward but the

       Deluge is a very atmospheric map made by one of the community's most acclaimed mappers, RNG. This map is very indicative of his style, well detailed moody and oppressive environment, strange monsters, and high levels of interactivity including lots of secrets. SCMapDB page Author: RNG Date of final release: 2014 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Deluge (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 9, 2022 | 4625 characters      Deluge is a map by RNG, which you can assume means it is a quality map. RNG brings style, high-production, and a confusing sense of eldritch nonsense that glues the experience together in a way that makes it feel like something that was summoned from another plane of existence rather than mapped out.      The map is a classic arcade-style keyhunt level. After choosing a difficulty (I suggest going as hard as possible, as with two players it felt easy) you hop into a gritty world that feels like brutalist, industrial architecture made its way

      Deluge is a very atmospheric map made by one of the community's most acclaimed mappers, RNG. This map is very indicative of his style, well detailed moody and oppressive environment, strange monsters, and high levels of interactivity including lots of secrets. SCMapDB page Author: RNG Date of final release: 2014 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Deluge (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 9, 2022 | 4895 characters      Deluge is a map that like the author's (RNG) other work just drips in style. The story in the map description is phoned in but the map starts off strong with a fake loading screen before putting us in a weird environment with lots of things to explore.      When the level first starts off players are given four buttons to vote for easy, normal, hard, and ultra violence difficulty levels. One weird thing is that each option says "lives system disabled" even easy mode, this led me to speculate that maybe there was a lives system pla

       Kani Gyosen is Japanese for "Crab fishing boat" and true to the title, in this map players will fish for crabs. Since this is based on Half-Life the crabs in question are all headcrabs. SCMapDB page Author: takedeppo.50cal Date of final release: 2020 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Kani Gyosen (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 20, 2022 | 3006 characters      Kani Gyosen is another great chill map from takedeppo.50cal. This time the focus of the map is on capturing headcrabs at the bottom of the sea using spears and reeling lines. Over the course of five "days" the ocean becomes increasingly inhospitable, escalating the stakes with bullsquids, sharks, alien controllers, and eventually armed pirates and helicopters. To defend yourself, you are armed with a machinegun of some sort which can fire underwater. Throughout it all, however, never lose sight of catching crabs!      To catch crabs, players can jump from their boat into the water (

      Kani Gyosen is Japanese for "Crab fishing boat" and true to the title, in this map players will fish for crabs. Since this is based on Half-Life the crabs in question are all headcrabs. SCMapDB page Author: takedeppo.50cal Date of final release: 2020 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Kani Gyosen (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 20, 2022 | 3971 characters      The idea behind this map is that players must spear fish for headcrabs and gather them all in a cage. The water is dangerous, sharks and bullsquids lurk around. Players have machineguns that work underwater and even have custom models for real world underwater machineguns. The crowbar replacement, the spear and the barnacle has a custom model and custom scripting as well. Although I don't think the barnacle has custom scripting, as the winch kept eating the headcrabs.      Players spawn on a cute little boat, the deck is dominated by a cage, this is where the headcrabs go. There is a small

       There are a lot of really cool and interesting things done in this map that are not found in other maps like having an open world, player classes, and non-linear objectives. Some mechanics work better than others but it all comes together to make a truly unique map. SCMapDB page Author: Hezus Date of final release: 2020 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Search N Destroy (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | January 8, 2022 | 6589 characters      Search n Destroy is an objective based control point map which takes place in a desert-y setting reminiscent of Counter Strike's Dust maps with Opposing Forces grunts as the main enemies. To complete the map the players must plant C4 on several enemy weapons caches, find weapons throughout the map and return them to the base, conquer and defend 4 control points, and finally defend the spawn base from an enemy attack. During the offense portion of this you must also contend with grunts being dropped off by respawning Osprey

      There are a lot of really cool and interesting things done in this map that are not found in other maps like having an open world, player classes, and non-linear objectives. Some mechanics work better than others but it all comes together to make a truly unique map. SCMapDB page Author: Hezus Date of final release: 2020 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Search N Destroy (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 9, 2022 | 5763 characters      I like the idea of this map. Players start in a military base on the outskirts of a large middle eastern town. There are 6 piles of crates to destroy and four areas you have to capture. The gameplay is a scavenger hunt to find the objectives and also the four unlockable weapons.      When the map first starts out players spawn in a room with instructions and difficulty voting buttons. Any difficulty higher than the lowest has a cap on respawns and let me say I can not imagine playing this map without infinite respawns. There is