what are some of the worst missions/levels in otherwise great games?

All the laboratory bits from Assasins Creed.Technocactus

ah yes. i hated those two. but then again, i'm not loving the game at the moment, so it's all par for the course.

Japan levels in Hitman 2 (especially when attempting a silent assassin rating).

I could have cried... :cry:

Japan levels in Hitman 2 (especially when attempting a silent assassin rating).

I could have cried... :cry:

Tresca_

that reminded me (somehow) of the sneaking into the office mission in nolf 2. it also made me almost cry with frustration.

ALL of the side missions in STALKER!!

They had no bearing on the main story, involved miles of boring map trekking and back tracking, were incredibly repetitive, STALKER ended being a glorified game of "Go fetch" i.e. go fetch some random object here, or go kill some random NPC there ... repeated over and over and over again.

Completely turned it from an A rated game to a B rated game imho.

The VTOL-missions are def up there when it comes to suckiness. Bleh.

Did not love HL, but it was at least decent until the end levels. God, they were bad. Who puts jumping puzzles in an FPS? That's just bad design-choices if you ask me.

Also, not that it's all that bad, but compared to the rest of the game one level in SS2 (don't want to spoil things) is pretty sucky. Too bad it's there or I would have given the game a 10.

Pretty much every Oblivion gate blows. After you've closed one, you've seen them all. Hated those. Next time, Beth, just don't.. OK?

For the record, the VTOL mission is awesome. Only problem with it was that it was way, way too short, I wanted to play with the ultimate machine of destruction that is the VTOL for longer. :(

In Jedi Knight 2, I hated the mission where you were fleeing the ship with its gravity systems not working. "No, down, down, go dooowwwn! No, you idiot, away from the flaming gas pipe, away!! I didn't tell you to go that fast, stop, you're going to hit the arcing electricity!! Gaaahhh!!!"

I'm sure there are others, but that's all I can think of at the moment.

For the record, the VTOL mission is awesome. Only problem with it was that it was way, way too short, I wanted to play with the ultimate machine of destruction that is the VTOL for longer. :(

In Jedi Knight 2, I hated the mission where you were fleeing the ship with its gravity systems not working. "No, down, down, go dooowwwn! No, you idiot, away from the flaming gas pipe, away!! I didn't tell you to go that fast, stop, you're going to hit the arcing electricity!! Gaaahhh!!!"

I'm sure there are others, but that's all I can think of at the moment.

JP_Russell

VTOL's either suck or rule, my impression is that it's a love/hate thing that people just won't agree on.

Totally forgot that JK2 mission. I've played that game 3 times... Getting senile. (since I'm old you know ;))

1) The flying levels in Medal of Honour: Pacific Assault. Terrible control schemes, clipping issues, short draw distances, unlimited ammo and a physics engine that made you feel like you were driving a bumper car made for sad, sad times.

2)The Ravenholm levels inHL2. Completely superfluous attempt to try (and fail) to throw in the obligatory "horror" level just because DOOM3 was coming out at the same time.

3) The race level in Mafia. Must've taken me 40+ tries to get through it.

4) Every level in the Call of Duty series. Boring rat-in-a-maze corridor shooter feel. Felt like I was playing one of those "interactive" rail shooters that infested the PC when the CD format was first introduced.

I have to go back a bit, Return to castle Wolfenstein was great until you hit the crypt levels with all the undead. Delius

So true. but the x-labs made up for it.

The second/third to last level on far cry drove me insane. the one where you have to jump off the water fall, thats all I'm going to say. :)

The opening cave levels in HL2: Ep 2.

The HL end boss fight.

The Serious Sam Second Encounter end boss fight.

For that matter, the end boss fight in just about any game.

Probably a bunch more; almost every great game has at least one bad apple.

Many are going to question whether this game can even be considered great. However, I think Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness was indeed a great game with a couple of not so good levels early on that kept many from even continuing on. The level that comes to mind is the Paris Ghetto level. It was dull and incongruous to normal Tomb Raider gameplay. However, if you made it through that level you were treated to some epic and awesome Tomb Raider type gameplay, a good story, and very interesting and challenging levels and puzzles.

I played "Mafia" on the XBOX at the time before I completely converted to PC gaming all the time. It seemed like I played that racing level one whole evening before finally conquering it basically through luck. I couldn't imagine finishing it using a keyboard.

In Half-Life, all of the levels on Xen. They just put me right off, and I ended up going into God mode to blast through it to see the end. Sorry, Valve.

In Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault, the sniper village level where they deliberately spawned in snipers to appear behind you to shoot you in the back. One of the most sadistic levels ever to feature in a game, imo, because you had to memorise exactly where each sniper would appear just to get through it.

Any level in any game where enemies spawn in behind you, or in rooms you've already cleared, to shoot you in the back. Those are just cheap tactics.

Fighting the Red Dragon in Neverwinter Nights. Unless you pick exactly the right character class, or take the right NPC along with you, it is nigh on impossible to defeat that dragon. For a game that is supposed to allow you to role play any class and make any choice - it is a game-stopper. No encounter should be that difficult in a game.

One of the space combat missions in Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter. I literally played the same section over 200 times tyring to get past it (I know because I ended up counting the number of times). That is the only time I have come close to smashing my keyboard into a monitor. It was the height of frustration and sucked all the enjoyment out of an otherwise enjoyable game.

Those are the key ones that stick in my mind.

i'll second the race level in mafia. and add the "costume" level in max payne 2; it's just too ridiculous and doesn't work with the overall seriousness of the game...

z

i'll second the race level in mafia. and add the "costume" level in max payne 2; it's just too ridiculous and doesn't work with the overall seriousness of the game...

z

zebruter

Totally forgot that JK2 mission. I've played that game 3 times... Getting senile. (since I'm old you know ;))

artur79

Yeah... I've forgotten a few myself, so I can only imagine how bad the forgetfulness must be for you.

4) Every level in the Call of Duty series.

bogaty

Mmm, I'm not sure that works for the topic. If every level sucks to you, then I don't think you can say it's "great otherwise." Sounds to me like you just don't like the games at all.

When I saw this thread, all I thought was the VTOL level in Crysis uh that was horrendous!achilles614

I should make a video of me playing that and put it up on Youtube or something. Judging by how many people complain about the level, I'd probably appear to be some kind of gaming god to the majority of people watching me in the VTOL.

1) The flying levels in Medal of Honour: Pacific Assault. Terrible control schemes, clipping issues, short draw distances, unlimited ammo and a physics engine that made you feel like you were driving a bumper car made for sad, sad times.

2)The Ravenholm levels inHL2. Completely superfluous attempt to try (and fail) to throw in the obligatory "horror" level just because DOOM3 was coming out at the same time.

3) The race level in Mafia. Must've taken me 40+ tries to get through it.

4) Every level in the Call of Duty series. Boring rat-in-a-maze corridor shooter feel. Felt like I was playing one of those "interactive" rail shooters that infested the PC when the CD format was first introduced.

bogaty

The VTOL-missions are def up there when it comes to suckiness. Bleh.

Did not love HL, but it was at least decent until the end levels. God, they were bad. Who puts jumping puzzles in an FPS? That's just bad design-choices if you ask me.

Also, not that it's all that bad, but compared to the rest of the game one level in SS2 (don't want to spoil things) is pretty sucky. Too bad it's there or I would have given the game a 10.

Pretty much every Oblivion gate blows. After you've closed one, you've seen them all. Hated those. Next time, Beth, just don't.. OK?

artur79

What level are you talking about in SS2 (you can use spoiler tags)

[spoiler] I HATED the body of the many. It was almost impossible, and it was the only part of the game where I had to cheat, especially when trying to kill the brain [/spoiler]

Azurr, that's the level I was talking about. I did not cheat, but I was tempted to say the least.

Azurr, that's the level I was talking about. I did not cheat, but I was tempted to say the least.

artur79

Yeah, the rest of the game was absolutely amazing though

Good memory on the costumed level in Max Payne 2. To refresh [spoiler] Vinni is in a Captain Baseball Bat Boy costume that is attached to a ticking bomb. You must defend him so he doesn't explode. [/spoiler]

The racing level in Mafia was bad, but not that bad. It was irritating, and difficult, but it was just one of those things that you don't play on difficulty beyond normal, then get on with it. Admittedly it took me 6 tries (I am in the process of playing through it, in case you were wondering, I'm just beyond "You Lucky Bastard"), but it was just a slog-through and go on piece.

I really hate the first level for the Scrin on Tiberium Wars. I tend not to like "Survive for X Minutes" missions in any RTS, as well. Starcraft did that to me and it was hella irritating.

The RC plane missions in GTA:VC and GTA:SA are HORRENDOUS imo, as well.

The RC plane missions in GTA:VC and GTA:SA are HORRENDOUS imo, as well.

Unless you play with a pad, then they are piece of cake.

2)The Ravenholm levels inHL2. Completely superfluous attempt to try (and fail) to throw in the obligatory "horror" level just because DOOM3 was coming out at the same time.

3) The race level in Mafia. Must've taken me 40+ tries to get through it.

bogaty

Agreed.

I personally loved every CoD game/level that I've ever played though (i.e. all of them except CoD3). If you go into the game knowing that to expect - i.e. CoD, no Far Cry - it's a really fun game in all respects... unless you actually don't like the game style in the first place, in which case oh well. And I liked the flying level in MOHPA too - just gotta think of it as a minigame rather than a fully fledged flight simulator.. It was a nice change of pace at any rate, i liked it.

To add on to that - talking about games in recent memory - the rest of the game in Crysis after the zero gravity level. I was really excited playing the game until then, but as soon as I realized that the game has lost all its nonlinearily it became just another FPS. (The difference between this and CoD is, of course, that I expected Far Cry, not CoD :P Plus CoD does a much better job with linearity IMO).

Japan levels in Hitman 2 (especially when attempting a silent assassin rating).

I could have cried... :cry:

Tresca_

oh man yeah those were difficult. they nearly ruined that game.

the end of farcry was sh!t, and impossible.

nearly all of the billy missions in call of juarez, though some were okay.

Am I the only one who enjoyed the VTOL level?NoAssKicker47

You and JPRussell....

Am I the only one who enjoyed the VTOL level?NoAssKicker47

Nope. I loooved it. It was just way, way shorter than I wanted.

the end of farcry was sh!t, and impossible.

jpph

Yeah, it was a pretty bad ending, but not impossible to finish*.

..

..

*hint - when you reach the room where the door will close behind you, pick up each weapon and drop it just beyond the door. Do that for all the weapons. That gives you extra ammo to take on the bad guys. It's not as hard then.

The end of the sinper level from Call of Duty 4 gets my vote.

Another level that I wish was never released was the one from Indiana Jones and Emporer's Tomb that had Indy running away from a tank while jumping over holes that required pixel perfect jumps.

Do MP games count?

If so tc_hydro is THE worst map in Team Fortress 2, it can be over in about 1 minute if you team sucks at defending (which half the time they do...)

[QUOTE="NoAssKicker47"]Am I the only one who enjoyed the VTOL level?JP_Russell

Nope. I loooved it. It was just way, way shorter than I wanted.

short lol, i for me it took many hours to complete the mission, the plane always kept crashing

[QUOTE="NoAssKicker47"]Am I the only one who enjoyed the VTOL level?JP_Russell

Nope. I loooved it. It was just way, way shorter than I wanted.

Same here. I can't really understand why some people say that it was hard to control. The controls were pretty standard, just like with any other arcade flight sim. The whirlwinds were annoying, though. I kept flying into them because I couldn't understand what the hell they were saying. "Oh, you are telling me NOT to fly into them..."

[QUOTE="JP_Russell"]

[QUOTE="NoAssKicker47"]Am I the only one who enjoyed the VTOL level?naval

Nope. I loooved it. It was just way, way shorter than I wanted.

short lol, i for me it took many hours to complete the mission, the plane always kept crashing

after trying to fly the damn thing against the aliens, i just decided not to help anyone out and just fly straight and get to the checkpoint while avoiding as much damage as possible. it was pretty easy once i decided not to fight at all.

The end of the sinper level from Call of Duty 4 gets my vote.

Another level that I wish was never released was the one from Indiana Jones and Emporer's Tomb that had Indy running away from a tank while jumping over holes that required pixel perfect jumps.

Drosa

[QUOTE="Drosa"]

The end of the sinper level from Call of Duty 4 gets my vote.

Another level that I wish was never released was the one from Indiana Jones and Emporer's Tomb that had Indy running away from a tank while jumping over holes that required pixel perfect jumps.

solid_mario

I'd say any COD4 level on the veteran difficulty should be posted here. It's just plain brutal and very hardcore. I came pretty far but I couldn't get past the SAS mission where your chopper got shot down and you had to take out that enemy transport chopper with the stingers from the barn. I just kept dying over and over before I even could get to the barn. I then gave up because it got too frustrating. I think I died atleast 100 times in the whole campaign on the veteran difficulty.

Is the race in Mafia really that bad? I remember that it was challenging, but as soon as I used a wheel or a pad, it was quite easy.artur79

I really liked that race mission in Mafia, and I think I beat it after a few tries. The first time I flipped my car and was decapitated, though :o That mission was a little difficult, but not annoyingly so. Plus the part about stealing the car, getting your buddy to tweak it and drive it back to the race without being seen was pretty awesome.

I hated the dream missions in the Max Payne games.

This isn't PC, but I hated the Cortana level in Halo 3. Absolutely hated it.

Also, I liked the Mafia driving missions. Didn't take me that long to finish them.

the first level in deus ex 1 (basically everything up until u reach the top of the statue of liberty). i remember picking the game up on a hunch and playing this level and i thought "ooo boy....i picked up a lemon". however once i walked into unatco headquarters for the first time....the quality sky rocketed.

the tutorial in the witcher was very messy and chapter 1 was a bit boring overall. after that though...like deus ex.....the quality shot up. its a shame the demo shows the witcher at its weakest (oddly enough..same with the deus ex 1 demo....someone needs to learn how to make demos :P).

there were a couple of escort missions in freespace 1 and 2 that really annoyed me. there was one in the first one in particualar where those vasudan nut bags would attack the galatae and the mission would go on and on and on and eventually the ship would be destroyed. very annoying. another one in freespace 2 where u had to escort fuel tanker ships to the colossus....i could never save them all.

oblivion gates in oblivion...a lesson in how to make a game boring and repetative. thank god the game didnt require u to close them all...though there is a 360 achievement for it. kudos to those on the 360 who have done it and remained sane.

the first planet in KOTOR. games pretty average until u get off that planet.