Sven Co-op Map Reviews

      This map is a beta and ends abruptly. It also doesn't really have a story. However, it does contain eye gouging amounts of blue and some fun gameplay. SCMapDB page Author: Keen Date of release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bluecell Puzzle (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | January 28, 2023 | 2766 characters     Bluecell Puzzle is a Sven Co-op puzzle map seemingly abandoned by Keen. Much of navigation is based around using the barnacle, and the setting is wacky and neodadaist.      Worth mentioning that if you don't get the fixed bsp, this map is outright broken.      Bright, colorful, wacky corridors littered with crystals and corpses holding valuable weapons to pick up- that is what makes up most of Bluecell Puzzle. The environment has a lot of charm to it, even if it looks like MSPaint vomit with clipart crystals additive-moded into the scenery. That's one of the strengths of picking any Keen map- you'll always get interesting, strikin

      This map is a beta and ends abruptly. It also doesn't really have a story. However, it does contain eye gouging amounts of blue and some fun gameplay. SCMapDB page Author: Keen Date of release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bluecell Puzzle (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 28, 2023 | 3923 characters      Here is an old abandoned map that plays pretty well for being unfinished. Of course looking at the map description I see that the original map's spawn is broken and when we tried the map we died immediately on spawn and had a message telling us "no spawn points available". So if you want to play this map you HAVE to get the fixed bsp. Maybe this map will get repacked one day and people won't have to deal with the confusion.      Players start off right in front of a barnacle and a deep pit into water. You could just jump down or you can grapple up and get a gauss gun. While the barnacle is not the focus on the map you do need i

    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

      Don't jump down! Or do because besides hunting for hidden weapons all the gameplay is at the bottom of a pit. There is no end game trigger so this map is best for sightseeing.  SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2006 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Splatter 3 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | January 1, 2023 | 2260 characters      Robootto does it again with another Sven Co-op map. Relax, sit back, fire weapons endlessly into the pit of despair. Is there anything worthwhile at the bottom of the pit? If you find finding the answers to questions its own reward, then possibly!      Explore the above-pit world, which is a semi-decently brushed and not-decently textured cave interior filled with tau-or-tripmine-only reachable ledges. Don't worry- you get both! By crawling the cave, players can nearly complete their arsenal: a tau gun, snarks, tripmines, machineguns, grenades- the works.      The pit itself is a massive inconvenience. There

      Don't jump down! Or do because besides hunting for hidden weapons all the gameplay is at the bottom of a pit. There is no end game trigger so this map is best for sightseeing.  SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2006 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Splatter 3 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | January 1, 2023 | 1702 characters      I spawned in front of a sign that says "Don't jump down!", which is the same as what is written in the map description. In order to progress in the map you have to jump down.      There isn't a lot to this map, players spawn in a large, cavernous room that looks like a cavern. A deep pit exposes respawning enemies, most notably a gargantua. There are plenty of weapons scattered around the room but none of them really help in getting through the bottom of the pit, the enemies spawn too fast and the best garg killing weapon is a crossbow. There is a door down there that teleports players to a fun lit

      Welcome to a place of secrets. This map is a heaping pile of secrets and sometimes they actually work. The map works best when you are simply wandering around looking at the sights. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Secret Place (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | November 13, 2022 | 3224 characters      Secret-Place is a Sven Co-op map by robootto, designed for God only knows what hideous machinations.      The map consists largely of white blocky areas of impractical scale and clownish colored lighting, illusory walls into unlit pitch-dark mazes which themselves contain more illusory walls and some breakable walls. Being that this is a robootto map, the sight of destructible walls makes my blood pressure spike. There's no telling how long you'll be stuck whacking away at a destructible until it gives. Thankfully, most destructibles are fairly brittle. However, thanks to the dev's track record

      Welcome to a place of secrets. This map is a heaping pile of secrets and sometimes they actually work. The map works best when you are simply wandering around looking at the sights. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Secret Place (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | November 13, 2022 | 2780 characters      I'm always uneasy with secret maps for the sole reason that it is hard for me to tell if I've found everything, I'm pretty bad at finding secrets so I'm usually missing like half the map. To add to my difficulty the author for this map is Robootto, who is known for off the wall and barely functional (and sometimes completely nonfunctional) maps. So a secret map where the secrets might not even work, great.      So the map starts and I start breaking through an obvious breakable wall. We go through a few of these, picking up the odd weapon and some ammo, my teammate finds some intangible walls we

       A never-ending stream of screaming Barneys fights a never-ending stream of soldiers on the other side of a moat. Walls and towers act as fortifications and a small shack at the far end of the map serves as an objective of sorts. SCMapDB page Author: Terminator Date of final release: 1999 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Battle Zone (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | November 6, 2022 | 2036 characters      Battlezone is a Sven Co-op arena map. A fort with respawning Barneys (and players) sits across a moat from a similar fort with respawning HECU grunts. The moat has leeches in it. There are ladders in the walls of the forts which lead up to elevated guard towers with bridges between them. In each fort there are strange brick kiosks within which HEV and weapons respawn. At the far end of the enemy fort is a house full of weapons and respawning enemies.      The main gameplay loop of this map is endlessly fighting grunts while maintaining MP5, M16, underbarrel grena

      A never-ending stream of screaming Barneys fights a never-ending stream of soldiers on the other side of a moat. Walls and towers act as fortifications and a small shack at the far end of the map serves as an objective of sorts. SCMapDB page Author: Terminator Date of final release: 1999 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Battle Zone (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | November 6, 2022 | 2301 characters      This is a pretty common map design, an arena with some respawning enemies. The map is laid out as two sides of a river or canal or moat or whatever you want to call it with a bridge across it. Two walls with ramparts on the top are on either end. The player side has some friendly Barneys who do not stop yelling with underbarrel grenades (and by extension, M16s), shotguns, grenades, satchel charges, HEV, and the MP5. On the far ramparts and bank human soldiers spawn in endlessly.      Falling into the water is pretty annoying but players can climb back on the bridge

       This map is a nightclub that is locked up tight unless somebody goes through the secret way in and mans the ticket booth. The map has a dance floor with limited music mixing and a few other things. SCMapDB page Author: Unknown Date of final release: 2002 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Big Room Guy 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | October 27, 2022 | 3454 characters      Big Room Guy 2 is a party server map, complete with secret VIP passages and a barrier to entry to ensure exclusivity.      The map is a very simple club. Players enter into a queue at a gate and a person behind a ticket booth opens and closes it for them. This does have to a player operating the booth from the other side, and the inside of the booth is only accessible from the admin room, so knowledge on how to enter the secret admin room from the waiting area is necessary before the map can really begin. So, I'm going to disclose that here- there is a secret non-tangible wall you can walk

      This map is a nightclub that is locked up tight unless somebody goes through the secret way in and mans the ticket booth. The map has a dance floor with limited music mixing and a few other things. SCMapDB page Author: Unknown Date of final release: 2002 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Big Room Guy 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | October 22, 2022 | 3464 characters     This map looks fun, we start up and spawn in a small red room. Just inside the door is a line for a ticket booth, we can't jump over the ropes or the gate, we are trapped. So I go to the comments to see what's up and here is BlueSpark to the rescue. I can't explain it any better so I'm just going to copy and paste the whole thing right here: "..It's just rather exclusive! Club goers can only be admitted by the person inside the ticket booth. The booth can only be accessed from the admin room - how do you get into the admin room? Well, in this map not all walls are as soli

       Imagine a large expanse of white and black tiles floating in the void. Fight enemies in one big leak. There is a secret area and the entrance there is invisible and out of the way. SCMapDB page Author: Pastacake Date of final release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Battle Mania (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | October 22, 2022 | 1673 characters      Battle Mania is an arena map where you battle waves of enemies on a checkerboard brush in the void. Not a void, *the* void. There is no lighting, as the entire map is a leak.      Press a button, open a door, battle alongside a gorilla against zombies, a robot with too much health, two invincible headcrabs, a xenomorph (with too much health), and Richard Boderman (with an amount of health I think might be excessive). Players are equipped to deal with this via a shotgun, mp5, handgun, 357, crowbar, and medkit with nowhere near enough ammo. As the gonome enemies began appearing my teammate and I would hop off th

      Imagine a large expanse of white and black tiles floating in the void. Fight enemies in one big leak. There is a secret area and the entrance there is invisible and out of the way. SCMapDB page Author: Pastacake Date of final release: 2019 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Battle Mania (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | October 22, 2022 | 1774 characters      Battle Mania is a big checkerboard flat plane filled with zombies. A large friendly Ape spins around in an invisible breakable enclosure. As the game goes on and we kill enemies, more and more powerful enemies appear. It culminates in a fight against Richard Boderman and the map ends as soon as he is dead. The map is fullbright and my teammate surmised it was because there is nothing between players and the void. Falling off the side of the checkerboard will result in falling forever without death. That's kind of a cool feature.      Except there is also extra stuff below the map that we can see as we fall f

       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

       There are two castles in separate rooms joined by a catwalk at the very tops of the castles' towers. Cramped and slow elevators allow access to the tops of the towers, enemies pack the corridors below. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Robo's Castle Wars (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | October 2, 2022 | 2567 characters      Robo's Castle Wars is a map by robootto. Like many maps by robootto, it defies classification both by pure unique spirit and because its hostile presentation is enough to dissuade any from trying.      Castle wars starts by plummeting players down through two vertical shafts that teleport the player forward before they impact the ground. It's annoying and it happens every time the player respawns. It's a very robootto move, and I think I've seen it more than one of his other maps.      The main body of the map is a kind of obstacle course- it's two rather la

      There are two castles in separate rooms joined by a catwalk at the very tops of the castles' towers. Cramped and slow elevators allow access to the tops of the towers, enemies pack the corridors below. SCMapDB page Author: Robootto Date of final release: 2005 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Robo's Castle Wars (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | October 2, 2022 | 2543 characters      This map has some colored lighting that gives the whole thing a surreal feeling. The texturing is pretty bad and very flat but that adds to the somewhat disorienting experience of playing this map. Half the time I was playing I was intrigued by the level design and aesthetic but the other half I was annoyed at the elevators and respawning headcrabs.      Players spawn in a long shaft headed down. Players of Nuclear Poison by the same author will recognize this shaft as being the entire map of Nuclear Poison pasted right in. At the bottom of the long fall is a teleport that puts p

       Barnacle Flight 2 is a map based around a quirk of barnacle grappling your fellow player, causing everybody to fly (glitch around) in the air. This is a sequel to a map that doesn't exist, the other Barnacle Flight map was made after this one and is unrelated even though it is the same concept. SCMapDB page Author: Naigel Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Barnacle Flight 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | September 24, 2022 | 2251 characters      Barnacle Flight 2 is a map that shows off a silly Barnacle Glitch that makes players fly around. It's hard to do with a few players, and can't speak much to how well the glitch works with a bunch of players. But, I'm not really here to review the glitch, I'm here to review the map itself.      The map is a huge rectangular prism where players can fall a great distance to the bottom, without fall damage, then take a central teleporter back to where we spawn- the top of a fly

      Barnacle Flight 2 is a map based around a quirk of barnacle grappling your fellow player, causing everybody to fly (glitch around) in the air. This is a sequel to a map that doesn't exist, the other Barnacle Flight map was made after this one and is unrelated even though it is the same concept. SCMapDB page Author: Naigel Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Barnacle Flight 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | September 24, 2022 | 2461 characters      So I tried this map after I tried "Barnacle Flight". Funny story, according to map descriptions when Barnacle Flight 2 came out there was no Barnacle Flight 1, then Barnacle Flight came out a couple years later inspired by the original map. Anyway, the map started up and I looked around, we were in a big grey box with big blocky instruction signs around us. "Oh," I say to my teammate "this is just worse Barnacle Flight." Then I fall down the long shaft to the bo