What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

If it's a video game it goes here.

Moderators: LawBeefaroni, Arcanis, $iljanus

Post Reply
User avatar
Daehawk
Posts: 63524
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:11 am

What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Daehawk »

Duke Nukem 3D - 2nd map Red Light District. Its small but not too small. Has some verticality in it and lots of secrets and hidden areas to find. The adult book store and bar will pool table are well set up and look and play great. Just a fun and cool beginning map.

DOOM - E1M1. The first map and you hear that cool music track for the first time. Has a couple secret areas to discover and gets you ready for the whole DOOM experience.

DOOM 2 - Again E1M1. First map with some hidden stuff and the shotgun and rocket launcher. You know you're in for a ride from here on out.

System Shock 2 - The turtorial area where you actually create a character type. Lots of interesting stuff that teaches you how to play along with character setup. Has a very cool secret thats not really hidden but will miss the robot dancing the macarena dance if you dont look closely.

EDIT: Im adding more as they come to me.

Thief: Deadly Shadows - Shalebridge Cradle. Totally eerie and slightly frightening. The entire tone of the map is dreary scary. Loved it all. Made a memory for sure.
Last edited by Daehawk on Sun Jun 04, 2023 6:41 pm, edited 4 times in total.
--------------------------------------------
I am Dyslexic of Borg, prepare to have your ass laminated.
I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/daehawk
"Has high IQ. Refuses to apply it"
User avatar
TheMix
Posts: 10903
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 5:19 pm
Location: Broomfield, Colorado

Re: Whats some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by TheMix »

Dishonored 2 - The Clockwork Mansion

Kind of difficult to talk about without spoilers. Definitely one of the coolest and most interesting levels I've ever played.

Black Lives Matter

Isgrimnur - Facebook makes you hate your friends and family. LinkedIn makes you hate you co-workers. NextDoor makes you hate your neighbors.
User avatar
Unagi
Posts: 26376
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:14 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: Whats some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Unagi »

what are
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82085
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: Whats some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Isgrimnur »

*What're
It's almost as if people are the problem.
User avatar
Unagi
Posts: 26376
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:14 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: Whats some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Unagi »

Did you just call me a What’re ?!
User avatar
Blackhawk
Posts: 43491
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:48 pm
Location: Southwest Indiana

Re: Whats some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Blackhawk »

It's all what're under the bridge.
(˙pǝsɹǝʌǝɹ uǝǝq sɐɥ ʎʇıʌɐɹƃ ʃɐuosɹǝd ʎW)
User avatar
Daehawk
Posts: 63524
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:11 am

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Daehawk »

All of ya drink your what're and shut up I fixed it :)
--------------------------------------------
I am Dyslexic of Borg, prepare to have your ass laminated.
I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/daehawk
"Has high IQ. Refuses to apply it"
User avatar
Blackhawk
Posts: 43491
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:48 pm
Location: Southwest Indiana

Re: Whats some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Blackhawk »

This will skew toward older games, as many modern games don't use 'levels' quite the same way. I mean, how do I list a level from No Man's Sky where there are billions of 'levels', or from Void Bastards where they're generated every time? How do you post something from a Total War game?

Spoiler tags contain videos. Assume actual spoilers for those levels.

Thief 2, The Haunted Library
Spoiler:
Not my favorite level, but one of the best-remembered levels. It was the first level in a game that I've played that scared the crap out of me - the video is set to that segment.

--------------------------------

Morrowind, Ald'Ruhn
Spoiler:
An area rather than a 'level.' Something about it just clicked with me. I don't particularly like the place, but they did such a great job of presenting a fictional culture there and showing how they fit into their environment that it has always stuck with me. Too bad they didn't put that kind of effort into anything since.

--------------------------------

Everquest, Kelethin/Greater Faydark
Spoiler:
I'm so happy that I don't have any record of how many hours I spent here. It was amazingly atmospheric at the time, and it was so massive that it was easy to get turned around in.

--------------------------------

Metro Exodus, The Caspian
Spoiler:
This one just clicked. It really took the 'open level' concept they used and made it sing better than any of the levels before or after.

--------------------------------

Subnautca, Inactive Lava Zone
Spoiler:
More specifically, the experience of navigating the Cyclops (the sub) around in the Inactive Lava Zone.

--------------------------------

System Shock 2, the UNN Rickenbacker
Spoiler:
This whole segment was just so fun and atmospheric.

--------------------------------

Unreal, Nali Castle
Spoiler:
Unreal was my first shooter, and it was one of the first games I played that was fully 3d accelerated (probably on my Voodoo 3 3000 AGP - I didn't start playing shooters until I'd been PC gaming for a while) and took full advantage of the fact. It being the first game that looked that good, and my first shooter, it made an impression on me, and Nali Castle, while a forgettable level within the game, was also the level used for the main-menu flyby, which is what is shown in the video.

--------------------------------

The Unfinished Swan, The Garden
Spoiler:
You're in a level where everything is white with no shadows, but you have the ability to throw black paint. It's such a simple concept, and the gameplay is so straightforward, but it's so relaxing and elegant, and so artistic that I just can't help but love the experience.

--------------------------------

A couple of special mentions.

~Deus Ex. I couldn't for the life of me figure out which level to point to. The HQ? Paris? Hong Kong? The VersaLife Building? I vote for the whole game.
~Vietcong. I remember some amazing fragments, but can't nail down individual levels from my memory.
~Void Bastards - Wow, I had some great levels in there, but they're procedurally generated so I can't really point to them.
(˙pǝsɹǝʌǝɹ uǝǝq sɐɥ ʎʇıʌɐɹƃ ʃɐuosɹǝd ʎW)
User avatar
Blackhawk
Posts: 43491
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:48 pm
Location: Southwest Indiana

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Blackhawk »

Daehawk wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2023 6:42 pm All of ya drink your what're and shut up I fixed it :)
Needs more ellipses.
(˙pǝsɹǝʌǝɹ uǝǝq sɐɥ ʎʇıʌɐɹƃ ʃɐuosɹǝd ʎW)
User avatar
hepcat
Posts: 51302
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 3:02 pm
Location: Chicago, IL Home of the triple homicide!

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by hepcat »

Shalebridge Cradle in Thief: Deadly Shadows

Ocean House Hotel in Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Covfefe!
User avatar
Blackhawk
Posts: 43491
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:48 pm
Location: Southwest Indiana

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Blackhawk »

The hotel was a great one (although I never finished the game.)
(˙pǝsɹǝʌǝɹ uǝǝq sɐɥ ʎʇıʌɐɹƃ ʃɐuosɹǝd ʎW)
User avatar
dbt1949
Posts: 25687
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:34 am
Location: Hogeye Arkansas

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by dbt1949 »

There are about 3 mid-level and one at the end of Defense Grid.
Ye Olde Farte
Double Ought Forty
aka dbt1949
User avatar
coopasonic
Posts: 20969
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 11:43 pm
Location: Dallas-ish

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by coopasonic »

Literally no recollection of an individual mission, level or map from any game that does not have xcom in the name. No, not x-com, just xcom. The levels I remember from xcom 2 are mostly remembered with a high level of annoyance rather than nostalgia.

There are flashes of things from Jagged Alliance 2 I can pull up in the memory banks but not enough to share.

This may be part of why nostalgia doesn't really play into my gaming much.

I guess I could mention the first two challenge levels in Galaga... also the early level where you can double up your ship.
-Coop
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
Sudy
Posts: 8275
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 3:11 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Sudy »

The Facility in Goldeneye (N64). Replayed that mission over and over and over when I was 15 or so. Roleplayed it as a stealth mission etc.

The elven zones in classic WoW. With the music and dark sky/thick forest above they just felt magical. I'll never have another gaming experience like the beta/early release of WoW. I took my dwarf all the way to Darkshore to quest on Kalimdor. Hated Desolace the quests were so far apart and the environment was so dark and dreary. But I'd still give anything to experience it for the first time again. Etc.

Anywhere in Final Fantasy Tactics. Road Rash on my Game Gear.

Man, there are just these strong feelings attached to the games of youth and early adulthood. I don't know if I'll ever get absorbed in a game like that again. I can feel what playing those SNES, N64, and Playstation titles was like. The same for PC games in the 1998-2003 range. The wonder of my first MMORPG, Anarchy Online. How little I understood its ridiculously complex systems even ever being tutored/mentored by random other players. Many areas in Fallout 2. I miss having the new experiences of childhood and early adulthood so much, in their places and times.

I saw a commercial on late night TV. It said, "Forget everything you know about slipcovers." So I did. And it was a load off my mind. Then the commercial tried to sell me slipcovers, and I didn't know what the hell they were. -- Mitch Hedberg
User avatar
Carpet_pissr
Posts: 19978
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 5:32 pm
Location: Columbia, SC

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Wow, so many from Thief: Deadly Shadows.

Do I need to go back and try to play that again? I never made it very far for some reason. ADD gaming brain I guess.
JCC
Posts: 2191
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 11:07 pm

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by JCC »

Really, almost every mission in Thief 1 and 2. And yes, Shalebridge in Thief 3 is awesome too.

If I had to pick one favorite from Thief 1-3, I would pick Life of the Party. So much fun. So many different paths, etc.
Black Lives Matter

"You know, the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common: they don't alter their views to fit the facts; they alter the facts to fit their views." - The 4th Doctor
User avatar
Unagi
Posts: 26376
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:14 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Unagi »

The hidden 'easter egg' room in Atari's Adventure
Enlarge Image

The phonebooth screen in Atari's Superman
Enlarge Image

Ultima IV: The Ruins of Magincia
Enlarge Image

Beyond Castle Wolfenstein (1981): The final room with Hitler in it.
Enlarge Image

Dark Castle: the torture guy's room
Enlarge Image
User avatar
Carpet_pissr
Posts: 19978
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 5:32 pm
Location: Columbia, SC

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Mmmmm…Dark Castle. :wub:

Not sure why the screen shot is b&w though, wasn’t that game all purple and black for some reason?
User avatar
Unagi
Posts: 26376
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:14 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Unagi »

Carpet_pissr wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 10:55 am Mmmmm…Dark Castle. :wub:

Not sure why the screen shot is b&w though, wasn’t that game all purple and black for some reason?
Well, I played in on my Macintosh, which was only b&w.
Enlarge Image
And, while I've (just now) seen screenshots like you describe, the vast majority of the ones you will get in a google search appear the way I recall it.

There were also a few follow-ups and then 'remakes' later too I think.
User avatar
Pyperkub
Posts: 23583
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:07 pm
Location: NC- that's Northern California

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Pyperkub »

Titanfall 2 - Effect and Cause

Such a fun level with great mechanics. I'm surprised nobody had really embraced it for an entire game yet.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

Black Lives definitely Matter Lorini!

Also: There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
User avatar
Daehawk
Posts: 63524
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:11 am

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Daehawk »

Pyperkub wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 12:27 pm Titanfall 2 - Effect and Cause

Such a fun level with great mechanics. I'm surprised nobody had really embraced it for an entire game yet.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk
Is that the one where you went back in time or could back and forth? There was a full game based on that if so called Singularity. Ive completed it twice.
--------------------------------------------
I am Dyslexic of Borg, prepare to have your ass laminated.
I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/daehawk
"Has high IQ. Refuses to apply it"
User avatar
disarm
Posts: 4951
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 6:50 pm
Location: Hartford, CT
Contact:

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by disarm »

Pyperkub wrote:Titanfall 2 - Effect and Cause

Such a fun level with great mechanics. I'm surprised nobody had really embraced it for an entire game yet.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk
There was a lot of great level design in Titanfall 2, but that is definitely one of the best parts of a great game.
User avatar
Pyperkub
Posts: 23583
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:07 pm
Location: NC- that's Northern California

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Pyperkub »

disarm wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 1:27 pm
Pyperkub wrote:Titanfall 2 - Effect and Cause

Such a fun level with great mechanics. I'm surprised nobody had really embraced it for an entire game yet.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk
There was a lot of great level design in Titanfall 2, but that is definitely one of the best parts of a great game.
Yeah, I loved the assembly plant levels too - the whole SP campaign was a lot of fun, with some really cool levels.
Black Lives definitely Matter Lorini!

Also: There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
User avatar
Pyperkub
Posts: 23583
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:07 pm
Location: NC- that's Northern California

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Pyperkub »

Daehawk wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 1:11 pm
Pyperkub wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 12:27 pm Titanfall 2 - Effect and Cause

Such a fun level with great mechanics. I'm surprised nobody had really embraced it for an entire game yet.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk
Is that the one where you went back in time or could back and forth? There was a full game based on that if so called Singularity. Ive completed it twice.
Yeah, that's the level. If you ever read the developer diary on that level, what they did was have 2! levels, with one approximately 50-100 feet above the other, and when you swapped times, you bounced to the other level.
Black Lives definitely Matter Lorini!

Also: There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
User avatar
Carpet_pissr
Posts: 19978
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 5:32 pm
Location: Columbia, SC

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Unagi wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:35 am
Carpet_pissr wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 10:55 am Mmmmm…Dark Castle. :wub:

Not sure why the screen shot is b&w though, wasn’t that game all purple and black for some reason?
Well, I played in on my Macintosh, which was only b&w.
Enlarge Image
And, while I've (just now) seen screenshots like you describe, the vast majority of the ones you will get in a google search appear the way I recall it.

There were also a few follow-ups and then 'remakes' later too I think.
I played on C64, so that could explain the color difference.
User avatar
Zarathud
Posts: 16434
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:29 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Zarathud »

FreeSpace 2 — DIVE DIVE DIVE! I loved the unexpected thrill of having to immediately react to avoid getting crushed. It brought home the massive weight of your enemy.

Bio shock Infinite — Finding out the meaning of “Would You Kindly…” and the showdown. I use the phrase in demand letters to remind myself when I’m annoyed.

Portal — GLaDOS battle. That robot had to be scrapped…for science.

Stick of Truth — Canada. Of course Canada is nothing more than one dimension…

Saints Row IV — Opening Sequence and gaining superpowers with the matrix simulation

I enjoy when games surprise and give you an emotional reaction.
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
User avatar
Daehawk
Posts: 63524
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:11 am

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Daehawk »

FreeSpace 2 — DIVE DIVE DIVE! I loved the unexpected thrill of having to immediately react to avoid getting crushed. It brought home the massive weight of your enemy.
Heh I was just running this through my head a day or so ago. Great mission. Even better was the escort of the two destroyers in the draconis nebula.

DIVE! DIVE! DIVE! HIT YOUR BURNERS PILOT!

And then the nebula mission is a stress inducing Jaws like mission in a area you cant see 50 feet in front of you and the music ramps it up. Theres something big coming through a jump and its hunting the hunters.
--------------------------------------------
I am Dyslexic of Borg, prepare to have your ass laminated.
I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/daehawk
"Has high IQ. Refuses to apply it"
User avatar
Holman
Posts: 28906
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 8:00 pm
Location: Between the Schuylkill and the Wissahickon

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Holman »

"A maze of twisty little passages, all alike."
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
User avatar
Unagi
Posts: 26376
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:14 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Unagi »

"It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Grifman »

1). Hong King in Deus Ex
2). The Mall between Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol in Fallout 3, which was a huge entrenched war zone, which featured an assault by Talon Company against a super mutant army
3). Far Harbour in Fallout 4, very unique and different environment
4). New Reno in Fallout 2, lots of skullduggery there
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
Daehawk
Posts: 63524
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:11 am

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Daehawk »

1). Hong King in Deus Ex
A few have mentioned this. That map is the one I always think of when I remember that game.
--------------------------------------------
I am Dyslexic of Borg, prepare to have your ass laminated.
I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/daehawk
"Has high IQ. Refuses to apply it"
User avatar
Archinerd
Posts: 6837
Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:18 am
Location: Shikaakwa

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Archinerd »

1-2 and 4-1
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82085
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Isgrimnur »

Wrigley Field and the Polo Grounds.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
User avatar
NickAragua
Posts: 6100
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:20 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by NickAragua »

In no particular order, some stuff I clearly remember:

Duke Nukem 3D - E1M2 (Red Light District). Duke 3D broke ground in terms of atmospheric/realistic level design, and this one really stood out. The fact that they made the levels connect with one another and the levels kind of made sense from a real-world standpoint. You got to demolish a building, crawl through the sewers, play pool, visit a strip club... and yes, I was a teenager when I played it.

Star Fox - Corneria. The music still gives me goose bumps.

Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries - Clan challenge. I forget the name of the level, but you basically challenge some clan commander to a duel on a beach. Major goosebumps.

Halo - Level 2. You first land on the Halo, and now you have to drive around in a warthog, gathering up survivors and trying to evacuate them. I sure died a lot tried to keep those marines alive.

Fallout 3 - basically all of it. Just exploring DC, recognizing landmarks. Honorable mention goes to Fallout 4.

Dawn of War - the very first mission. Space marines dropping in to save the imperial guard scrubs.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
Jaymann
Posts: 19319
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 7:13 pm
Location: California

Re: What are some of your favorite areas and maps and levels from games?

Post by Jaymann »

Diablo II: The Cow Level.
Jaymann
]==(:::::::::::::>
Black Lives Matter
Post Reply