Sven Co-op Map Reviews

      Caget is the prototype for another map called CAGED, which if I understand correctly was prototyped in Sven Co-op, made into a mod, and then ported back into Sven Co-op. Regardless of the journey this map has taken, CAGED is now out and is a more complete version of Caget. SCMapDB page Authors: Cayle George, Trempler Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Caget (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | June 17, 2023 | 2425 characters      Caget is a walkthrough map filled with platforming, scraping for weaponry, and then action. In that order.      Begin the map in a cage, which players must cooperate to solve a puzzle to break out. From there players use a wrench and their longjump while navigating platforming. Players then spend time with low weaponry dealing with zombies, turrets, and soldiers in cramped tunnels. Finally, players take on soldiers and aliens while making use of a full standard arsenal.      That later third I mentioned is real

      Caget is the prototype for another map called CAGED, which if I understand correctly was prototyped in Sven Co-op, made into a mod, and then ported back into Sven Co-op. Regardless of the journey this map has taken, CAGED is now out and is a more complete version of Caget. SCMapDB page Authors: Cayle George, Trempler Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Caget (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 17, 2023 | 4044 characters      This map is some sort of beta for another map, which is a conversion of a mod, by the name Caged. I rather liked that map and I can definitely see the evolution of this idea. Although it does have a rough draft's rough edges and since the finished product is released I don't see much of a reason to play this besides study.      Players start out in a jail cell and have to break out via turning a valve that should probably not be in a jail cell. Then we plummet down a hole and either bounce off pipes perfectl

    Buro is a prologue to a map series that was never made, which is a shame because it is a beautiful map. The map is very nicely designed bank filled with assassins that ends when players enter the vault. SCMapDB page Author: Alex546 Date of release: 2010 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Buro (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | June 15, 2023 | 2488 characters      Buro is an action map which takes place in a bank being attacked by special operatives. The players counterattack, intercepting the blackops assassins. Players spawn with random loadouts of useful boilerplate weapons- revolvers or deagles, shotguns or mp5s or m16s or uzis. It adds an annoying bit of spice that makes every spawn awkward.      The map is very form over function. Each room is certainly evocative of a real life location that blackops massns and fassns have been dropped into. Rooms and hallways are often awkward for accommodating multiple players, and progression is mostly linear. There&

      Buro is a prologue to a map series that was never made, which is a shame because it is a beautiful map. The map is very nicely designed bank filled with assassins that ends when players enter the vault. SCMapDB page Author: Alex546 Date of release: 2010 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Buro (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 15, 2023 | 4747 characters      When my teammate and I first started this map up we both took one look at it and agreed it was beautiful. Then my teammate said "time to give it a bad review!" and I wished upon a star that he was wrong. I haven't decided on a number score yet, but I will say that the map had a lot of good with a little bit of bad.      After a lengthy and cinematic cutscene my teammate and I are dumped outside a bank. He reads the message of the day which informs us of our mission but I don't bother and instead start poking around spawn. One thing that only became apparent when we started fighting i

      A walkthrough map that is mostly hallways through various rooms. Enemies spawn in big wads right in front of players and we have to chip away at them with revolvers. SCMapDB page Author: Trempler Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bunker Fight (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | June 12, 2023 | 4164 characters      Bunker Fight is a walkthrough action map with one principle: player vs buff npcs in corridor. I wouldn't say the monsters in this map are overpowered to a gross degree (especially with other maps I've played) but I would certainly call them buff. Maybe even "buff AF".      First of all, this map looks pretty nice. You move through corridors painted as various environments, and I didn't really track the narrative of it as we moved, but it catches the usual Black Mesa bunkery affair with some fun lighting at times. The lighting is an issue at other times, but I'll get to that. The environment does cha

    A walkthrough map that is mostly hallways through various rooms. Enemies spawn in big wads right in front of players and we have to chip away at them with revolvers. SCMapDB page Author: Trempler Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bunker Fight (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | June 12, 2023 | 3983 characters      This is one of those maps where outside the first door is a swarm of enemies. It is a fairly straightforward walkthrough map with lots of enemies with a lot of health. There are some HEV chargers with lots of charge but later in the map there are snipers that kill us in one hit no matter how much armor we have.      We start off by falling through the level in what I think is a pretty cool effect, at least until I started taking fall damage. The spawn area has two health and HEV charger pairs and both have lots of charge to give. My teammate and I had our armor drained very fast and we were able to suckle at the chargers for most

      This map is presented as a platforming map but it actually has quite a bit of combat. The buildings themselves are large and mostly empty boxes with some filled to the brim with a tidal wave of enemies. SCMapDB page Author: HelloTimber Date of release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Building Jumper (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 29, 2023 | 2987 characters      Building Jumper is a Sven Co-op map which combines high-HP enemies, inconsistent equipment, annoying backtracking, the most frustrating possible platforming puzzles with the highest possible stakes, unclear progression, getting attacked in spawn, being sniped before you have any weapons, and bland blocky visuals. About 1/3 of the way through it I lost all patience with it and cheated. If I had not, I would not have completed it. I should have just abandoned it.      This map requires certain equipment for progression, such as barnacles or longjump, but places these behind time consum

      This map is presented as a platforming map but it actually has quite a bit of combat. The buildings themselves are large and mostly empty boxes with some filled to the brim with a tidal wave of enemies. SCMapDB page Author: HelloTimber Date of release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Building Jumper (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 29, 2023 | 3290 characters      This map really seemed like a straight up platforming map but there was a lot of action in it as well. I thought it was a neat approach to the whole platforming game type. It is such a shame that this map was frequently more annoying than fun.      So we start in a room with a some friendly NPCs and the moment we walk into the next room we are assaulted by unarmed male assassins who spin kick us silly. We only have medkits so we run past them up a steep and lengthy spiral rampcase to the top of the tower where we have to jump to another tower. I immediately see two things, one is a l

            Building is a short jaunt through what seems to be some sort of skyscraper filled with human grunts. It's not too difficult and will be over very fast. SCMapDB page Author: Jouko Lehtonen Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Building (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 29, 2023 | 2784 characters      Building is a straight-forward walkthrough map which pits players against HECU in an office building. It begins with players taking heavy opposition in a lobby while using only pistols, the miniguns the players pick off of the HW grunts from that battle will last them the rest of the map as they ascend to the roof. Pressing the button at the roof's door ends the map.      Most of this map is very standard stuff: wipe out HECU which occupy office floors. They're relentless, which makes the initial battle very difficult. However, the immediate upgrade in weapons trivializes most threats from then on. The map proceeds to

          Building is a short jaunt through what seems to be some sort of skyscraper filled with human grunts. It's not too difficult and will be over very fast. SCMapDB page Author: Jouko Lehtonen Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Building (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 29, 2023 | 2374 characters      This is a fairly standard walkthrough map and it takes place in a sort of bland office environment instead of Black Mesa. It played very straightforward with human grunts filling rooms. At first we have pistols but we eventually pistol two heavy weapons grunts down and take their miniguns which made most of the rest of the map much easier. There were shotguns, revolvers, and uzis around but when I ran out of minigun ammo another heavy weapons grunt appeared and I just got another one. I went from pistol to minigun.      The gameplay is interspersed with sections where we have to press a button to continue. At one point we had to bl

             We travel back to Black Mesa to travel through the deteriorating facility and make our escape. The map is a fairly straightforward walkthrough map with some hazardous platforming areas to break up the combat. SCMapDB page Author: The-Real-Game Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bridge 2k (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 25, 2023 | 2966 characters      Broken Path is a short walkthrough map, apparently repurposed cut content from another series. The description says that it didn't really fit anywhere, and I'm sure that was a valid reason. I'll get into why in a moment!      The progress of the map revolves largely around taking out gonomes and zombies (occasionally other xenians) on your way through what I would call a liminal backrooms style area where function have no meaning. The architecture feels a lot like the corridors were found as they are and then attempts were made to make use of it. Navigating this

             We travel back to Black Mesa to travel through the deteriorating facility and make our escape. The map is a fairly straightforward walkthrough map with some hazardous platforming areas to break up the combat. SCMapDB page Author: The-Real-Game Date of release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bridge 2k (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 25, 2023 | 2636 characters      Broken Path is a very straightforward and simple walkthrough map with some very bare hallways, some attempts at detail, and respawning enemies. When I first started reviewing maps I figured the majority of them would be something like this.      We start in a big room with a pipe bursting out of the ceiling. The space beyond the pipe is just a closed off void in the ceiling, as if the only thing in there was the pipe just laying there. When we move out of spawn a bunch of zombies and a gonome appear. This is the gameplay really, walking forward and getting enemies spawned right

      In this mod conversion we hunt down a button that will raise a bridge so we can cross some sort of divide, a crevasse if you will. The download includes the original mod and a 2.0 rework with massive visual changes but very little difference in gameplay. SCMapDB page Original map author: UrbaNebula Conversion author: Mikk Date of original mod release: 2020 Date of final Sven Map release: 2021 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Bridge the Gap (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by dunkelschwamm | May 21, 2023 | 3085 characters      Bridge the Gap and Bridge the Gap 2.0 are a couple of walkthrough maps which do the same thing in very different flavors. Bridge the Gap 2.0 is a fairly standard Black Mesa themed map, with many environments easily paralleled with chapters from Half-Life, giving it a homogenous and forgettable appearance though very nicely executed. The original, by comparison, looks like some really bizarre interesting N64 port with a style I feel like I haven'

      In this mod conversion we hunt down a button that will raise a bridge so we can cross some sort of divide, a crevasse if you will. The download includes the original mod and a 2.0 rework with massive visual changes but very little difference in gameplay. SCMapDB page Original map author: UrbaNebula Conversion author: Mikk Date of original mod release: 2020 Date of final Sven Map release: 2021 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Bridge the Gap (originally posted on SCMapDB)  by GrandmasterJ | May 21, 2023 | 4790 characters      We have two versions of the same level, the original and a 2.0 rework. The bsp files are differentiated via underscores but nowhere on the map page does it say which one is which. So let me tell you right now the one with the underscores is the 2.0 rework and I can tell by the motd that comes with it. We played the 2.0 rework seriously and then came back and quickly cheated through the original to compare the two.      The map itself is a pretty standard

      The 2k version of Bridge (both were made in 2001) is lengthier with a whole complex to be explored after the bridge section. It is much more in line with traditional walkthrough maps and has far less respawning enemies. SCMapDB page Author: Hezus Date of release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bridge 2k (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 21, 2023 | 3420 characters      Bridge 2k is a sequel or reimagining of sorts of Bridge, which is a map that I think wasn't terribly good. Bridge 2k honors that by also not being terribly good, and I'll go into why I think that here.      Bridge 2k's design philosophy is thus: take an obtusely long path to a blocky, flatly lit chamber, and then become inundated with respawning grunts until you are no longer inundated by respawning grunts.      I've gone to great lengths to describe what I think is bad about fighting respawning grunts in this fashion before, so I'll keep it contained to thi

      The 2k version of Bridge (both were made in 2001) is lengthier with a whole complex to be explored after the bridge section. It is much more in line with traditional walkthrough maps and has far less respawning enemies. SCMapDB page Author: Hezus Date of release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bridge 2k (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 21, 2023 | 3166 characters      So I played Bridge which was a bridge with a bajillion respawning enemies and a paucity of ammo. The sequel/remake promised more, but did it deliver?      So my teammate spawns above, on top of the bridge, and I spawn under the bridge. This split up of spawn points really hampers any attempt we make at cooperating against the respawning grunts. While my teammate struggles with respawning human grunts and an apache up top I am throwing myself against about six turrets with respawning grunts below. It takes a while but I get the turrets down and eventually the grunts stop spawning an

    The map is a bridge covered in turrets and infinitely repsawning human grunts. There is a target at the far end we have to shoot in order to end the map. That's about it for the map description. SCMapDB page Author: Hezus Date of release: 2001 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bridge (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 18, 2023 | 4227 characters      Bridge follows the same simple conventions which gave us the Icon of Sin bossfight in Doom 2 back in the '90s: make a target you must shoot at an inconvenient angle, and guard that angle with infinitely respawning enemies. Ladies and gentlemen: Bridge.      The Bridge features a high road and a low road: both are inundated by turrets and respawning grunts. The low road has some unobvious routes to the higher route, but offers many more advantageous points from which players can deftly remove the turrets from the equation (the only enemies which do not respawn). The players on the topside have a harde

      The map is a bridge covered in turrets and infinitely repsawning human grunts. There is a target at the far end we have to shoot in order to end the map. That's about it for the map description. SCMapDB page Author: Hezus Date of release: 2001 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Bridge (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 18, 2023 | 3065 characters      The goal of Bridge is to cross the bridge. A whole swarm of human grunts, a plethora of turrets both sentry and ceiling mounted, and an apache stand in our way and all but the turrets respawn endlessly. Players have a shotgun and mp5 in addition to standard crowbar, glock, and medkit. It's a simple concept that I spent about 30 seconds in before deciding it sucked and turning cheats on.      I first spawn in and I am getting shot. The map has an upper part where we cross the top of the bridge and a lower part where we can climb up some rocks to the other side. Enemies waltz right into spawn to shoot p

      This map is characterized by l ong twisty hallways filled with swarms of enemies that have high amounts of health. The gameplay is straightforward but takes forever to get through. SCMapDB page Author: Agent Zero the Koraa Hunter Date of release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Breakdown Heist (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 15, 2023 | 5662 characters      Breakdown Heist is a walkthrough map for Sven Co-op that really encapsulates the feeling of a battle of attrition. Enemies with tons of health bottleneck players in co-op unfriendly hallways while respawning repeatedly after the entire squad is taken down. The end result is a map that looks semi-decent, occasionally has satisfying moments of hammering enemies together with players, but is otherwise overstuffed with the monotony of dumping ammo into evergreen supplies of enemy forces. They barely flinch as bullets wash over them like water. It's bad enough early on with swarms of 500 hp

      This map is characterized by l ong twisty hallways filled with swarms of enemies that have high amounts of health. The gameplay is straightforward but takes forever to get through. SCMapDB page Author: Agent Zero the Koraa Hunter Date of release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Breakdown Heist (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 15, 2023 | 4315 characters      I was a bit nervous to play this map because some of the comments mentioned a lot of enemies with tons of health and lack of ammo. That does not sound like a fun combination. Well, having played the map I can tell you that this map is a slog against tons of enemies with high health.      We start in a hallway with basically enough HEV and armor to equip one player. The first obstacle is a hallway with a dip and sandbags protecting female assassins at the end. We snipe them dead and jump over the sandbags, only to be sandbagged ourselves by a veritable swarm of human grunts just around the cor