Sven Co-op Map Reviews

      Neptune Labs is a map set in space orbiting Neptune, not under the ocean as the blue tint may imply. The map is unfinished and abandoned but has been updated to end properly and give the full walkthrough map experience, even if it is somewhat short. SCMapDB page Author: Keen Date of final release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Neptune Labs (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 15, 2022 | 4445 characters      According to the notes in the map description this map is unfinished. It definitely feels unfinished, there are so many minor details that have been overlooked it feels like a really well done amateur map. There are so many Black Mesa themed maps that having a map set in space in orbit over Neptune is novel and the custom textures, level design, story bits delivered every now and then really helped sell the setting.      We started out in a small craft heading towards the space station. At first, due to the double meaning of Neptune, we thought the ma

       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

       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

       Another Unit (alternate version) is a remake of the official map Another Unit. Some details have been lost to time, but the authors seem to be different and there is some confusion as to whether it is a remake or a sequel. Personally, it feels like a remake by a player who didn't like the original map. SCMapDB page Author: GAMESABA Date of final release: 2006 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Another Unit (Alternate version) Part 1 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 3, 2022 | 4392 characters      Another Unit Remake Part 1 is a remake (sequel?) of the map Another Unit. Another Unit was a map by B-Dama which I also reviewed, giving it a very mild score but overall praising its visuals and interesting use of mostly default material. This remake (sequel?) is an almost complete redesign, starting from scratch after the very first setpiece.      That first setpiece is a pair of dual hallways filled with turrets and barneys, and holographic triggers which spawn

      Another Unit (alternate version) is a remake of the official map Another Unit. Some details have been lost to time, but the authors seem to be different and there is some confusion as to whether it is a remake or a sequel. Personally, it feels like a remake by a player who didn't like the original map. SCMapDB page Author: GAMESABA Date of final release: 2006 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Another Unit (Alternate version) Part 1 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 3, 2022 | 3895 characters      I try to judge each map on its own merits, but remakes, sequels, and the like somewhat demand a comparison. To say it outright, this map is better than the original. Where the original was one long corridor this map shortens the hallway and adds a non linear office complex area that players go through instead. It's almost a complete reimagining of the first map.      Players spawn next to a burnt out plane and a few dead soldiers, this area in the original map

       From the maker of the first Apache comes Apache 2, with not one, but two Apaches! There is also a swarm of soldiers present to make things more difficult. SCMapDB page Author: Wildcat Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Apache 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 4, 2022 | 3080 characters      Apache 2 is exactly what it says on the tin: An apache, too; as in, two apaches.      Apache 2 is a small map consisting of a friendly base full of friendly soldiers, ammo caches, and resupplies. Climbing to the roof from a ladder pitches the players immediately against two apaches, but also gives cover in the form of walled structures atop the roof, and a minigun for a good defense in the form a good offense. You can't spend too much time up there, however, unless you have enough people on the ground level making sure Blackops soldiers don't rush the base, kill your soldiers, and make resupplying a ninja nightmare.      That's real

      From the maker of the first Apache comes Apache 2, with not one, but two Apaches! There is also a swarm of soldiers present to make things more difficult. SCMapDB page Author: Wildcat Date of final release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Apache 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 3, 2022 | 1690 characters      The sequel to Apache 1 funnily enough has two apache helicopters. The map description says take down two but we only killed one and the map immediately ended.      Players start off in a hallway, in two rooms on either side of he hallway there are weapons, including a rocket launcher. There is also a set of HEV and health stations, but one HEV station is nonfunctional, which is a shame because that severely limits how much armor players can get. At the end of the hallway is a way outside where a swarm of soldiers waits and two apaches fly overhead. I kept ignoring the guys and hitting the helicopters, they had a lot of health. My teammate helped

       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

       Normall is a map series all about walking through hallways. Robootto, a mapper with a bad reputation, and RNG, a mapper with a good reputation, have teamed up to bring us these hallways. SCMapDB page Authors: Robootto, RNG Date of final release: 2006 Maps in package: 10 Map review of Normall (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 31, 2022 | 7332 characters      Normall is a mapset by Robootto and RNG. I would say it is their most prolific collaboration- and Robootto's advertisements for Normall in his other maps would certainly seem to suggest that he thinks the same.      The Goldsrc engine is a mapping engine which specializes in drawing corridors. The entire visleaf setup is designed to ensure that condensed interior areas are best optimized.      Half-Life is a game which utilizes the Goldsrc engine in a way which masks these corridors- sometimes as science labs, sometimes as alien factories, and sometimes even as outdoor areas… but sometimes it just mak

      Normall is a map series all about walking through hallways. Robootto, a mapper with a bad reputation, and RNG, a mapper with a good reputation, have teamed up to bring us these hallways. SCMapDB page Authors: Robootto, RNG Date of final release: 2006 Maps in package: 10 Map review of Normall (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 31, 2022 | 2679 characters      I've played a lot of maps made by this author, Robootto. All of his maps have a quality that is somewhere between bewildering amounts of incompetence and being trolled. So when I took a look at the map description 'Contains Hallways" and the screen shots of endless twisting hallways I guessed that this would be the absolute worst map series for Sven I've played yet.      It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. Yeah, I was right in that the whole map series is about walking down boring hallways where nothing happens most of the time. The hallways have mostly the same texture, along with th

       This is a lobby map made for a specific server. Since the map is made for a group of people who all know each other there are probably a lot of features that my teammate and I won't get. SCMapDB page Author: Keen Date of final release: 2016 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Anitalink Lobby (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 27, 2022 | 3319 characters      Anitalink Lobby is a meme playground from Sven Co-op memester Keen as well as @nit@ and w00tguy123. Whenever you want to experience 2010's 4chan memes through a 2016 lens, Anitalink has you covered. The mappers comes at us hard and fast with John Cena, Carl Sagan, furry porn, people porn, MLP porn, pepe the frog porn, and a couple disposable joke memes. I don't want to say that the mappers are in it for the porn, but the supposedly safe-for-work version seems to only be able to recover from replacing all its porn by repeating a bunch of Carl Sagan images instead- and there's still MLP porn le

      This is a lobby map made for a specific server. Since the map is made for a group of people who all know each other there are probably a lot of features that my teammate and I won't get. SCMapDB page Author: Keen Date of final release: 2016 Maps in package: 2 Map review of Anitalink Lobby (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 27, 2022 | 4357 characters      I was really dreading playing this map, I've played the 4chan and 5chan maps by the same author which is a mish mash of random stuff thrown together in a fever dream. This map is less fever dream but still looks like a scrapbooking club threw up. There are two maps here, the map description says one contains some stuff not safe for work, this is somewhat misleading, as both maps contain pornography but the wow map has a lot of it and the arcade map does not. The two maps do not seem to be much different beyond that.      Players start in a big open area with some cubes of varying sizes strewn about. So

       Annihilation is a heavy word, it's one of those words where if used as a name it needs to really illustrate the destructive power within. This map is forgettable walkthrough map through rough rooms and halls. SCMapDB page Author: Skals Date of final release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Annihilation (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 27, 2022 | 1912 characters      Annihilation is a short action-packed map that burns bright and burns fast.      Players escort a bunch of OpFor marines into an arena where they are ambushed by pitdrones which spawn (maybe endlessly?) from two pipes in a room which opens rather explosively (I was killed by the door falling off its hinges). The room is an ambush, and soon you're fighting gonomes attacking from a hole in the wall as well. If you advance on their position, a wall breaks down and a baby garg comes out to fight. Eventually one of us found the exit in a hole in the ground.      At some point you'r

      Annihilation is a heavy word, it's one of those words where if used as a name it needs to really illustrate the destructive power within. This map is forgettable walkthrough map through rough rooms and halls. SCMapDB page Author: Skals Date of final release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Annihilation (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | March 27, 2022 | 1876 characters      Annihilation is a short map and according to the map description there are four objectives to complete, let me say right now that I beat the map without clearing the labs. The level was well done, if a bit short. Enemies burst through walls more than once in some pretty neat simple scenes.      There are friendly soldiers and turrets here to help, the turrets especially do a good job cutting down the enemy waves. There are underbarrel grenades and HEV in the spawn which help a lot. There is just enough to stock one person up, players will have to share carefully or wait for the respawn.

       Ambush 2 is a fun little map based on a GI Joe toy set. There isn't really anything ambush related here, clear the map of enemies, there is no end level trigger. SCMapDB page Author: Lymphoid Date of final release: 2003 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Ambush 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | March 26, 2022 | 2846 characters      Despite being an unfinished map with grating combat and unclear objectives, Ambush 2 is a marked improvement on Ambush 1. First of all: kudos to the massive upgrade in mapping skill. The brushwork evoked a very interesting architecture which I would instantly recognize as this map's if I were to see it again. There is also working lighting, which does wonders for a map's aesthetic (the first Ambush was fullbright).      The first thing to understand going into Ambush 2 is that there are no rules and the map ends when it ends. Progression is less about where the right place to go is, and more about where you CAN go. Break do