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00:00:01
Top Video Game Levels
272 Plays3 years ago
In this episode, Fraser (Satsunami) and Adam discuss their favourite video games levels as well as what constitutes as good and bad video game design. From ghillie suits to skateboarding hedgehogs, you won't want to miss this!
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Transcript
Introduction
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Chad Tsunami. Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Chad Tsunami. I'm Sad Tsunami and leveling up with me this week is my very good friend Adam. Hello Adam, welcome back. Hello, hello, hello. Good to be back. Always good to have a familiar co-host here.
00:00:33
Speaker
No, matter the quality, it's the familiarity that matters. You know we keep a high standard on this show, you know it. Yeah, I doubt it because I'm sure I wouldn't be on here if that was true. We'll renegotiate after the episode, don't worry, don't worry, after we go off on it.
00:00:53
Speaker
Nobody said there'd be quality here. I do. So speaking of segues, I totally don't relate to that point.
What defines a video game level?
00:01:02
Speaker
Yeah today, as you can see by the title today, we are going to be talking about quite an interesting topic I have to say because initially I was kind of
00:01:10
Speaker
thinking that this would just be a kind of standard list. You know, we would just list off our top video game levels and that would be it. We would just, you know, set it aside and that would be fine. But that actually has a lot more to it, isn't there? Oh yeah, definitely. It's actually a really deep and actually interesting topic. So I'm looking forward to delving into it.
00:01:30
Speaker
But before we dive into, you know, giving our opinions, our clear objective opinions, not subjective at all, I'm going to pose a question to you, Adam. So first of all, what would you say defines a level? Yeah, this was actually maybe the trickiest question that you posed, and I wasn't really sure how to answer it, but I came across this definition.
00:01:52
Speaker
And it's a very boring and dry definition, so apologies in advance, but I think it's actually a really good one. So the way I define a video game level is the total space available to the player during the course of completing an objective. Now I say that's highly dry and quite dull, but I think it's actually a very good summation. If you want to just go broad, generic, what is a video game level? I think level's one of these catch-all terms, because not every video game has quote-unquote levels. I know a lot of games have level one, level two.
00:02:21
Speaker
But you see lots of other terms, which basically mean the same thing. Some games have acts, chapters, you get episodes, maps, missions, stages. So there's a variety of terms, but I think they all revolve around that definition, the above definition that I gave there.
00:02:37
Speaker
It's definitely a different coat of paint though, isn't it? Where? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. As you said, yeah, it's like if you go into Call of Duty, it's missions. If you go into, like, Life is Strange, for example, it's in chapters, you know.
Evolution of game levels
00:02:50
Speaker
Sonics in stages, isn't it? Sonics in stages, yeah, and Mario's, like, in worlds, is it not? Yeah, Doom, the original Doom, like, had its maps, you know, like...
00:03:00
Speaker
even though like this is a thing because I honestly felt like quite old when I was kind of reading about this because I was like you know I was one stage away from stepping out into my garden and yeah one of the kids to get away from my lawn as it were.
00:03:16
Speaker
you know like when we were growing up platformers were at least in the 90s they were all their age and you know how it like evolved from platformers to more aging you know FPS games and you know like yeah the the whole gaming scene has changed it's kind of inevitable that it's going to change because it's such a big industry but would you say the concept of levels changed with it
00:03:39
Speaker
I think, certainly in terms of scope and scale, the concept of a level definitely changed, just with the growth in console and computer memory. Once game developers could create bigger worlds and bigger games, the idea of a level changed. It didn't have to be the self-contained, quite linear experience that
00:04:02
Speaker
you know, was more the norm in your kind of 80s and 90s, even in the early 2000s. I still think that in terms of what actually, you know, that definition of a level, I still for me personally, I still think it holds is basically the same. I just think it's just been like a big expansion.
00:04:19
Speaker
in scale really and kind of scope it's almost as if it's a necessity isn't it yeah if a video game is going to change because when i said like i felt old talking about that kind of thing it's just a lot more often because i'm thinking you know when you used to see those like whether it's like an article in the news or you know it's like someone trying to understand gaming
00:04:41
Speaker
from an outsider perspective.
From linear to open-world experiences
00:04:44
Speaker
You know, it's like you always see the stereotypical, oh look, I leveled up, game on, game over, you know, that kind of thing. And it's like, what I always remember was, remember when you used to watch those TV shows when you were younger and it was clear that the writers, it would be like a show for kids, but they didn't have an idea of what video games were. I always remember
00:05:09
Speaker
I think it was the show like my style, this is going to sound like a weird tangent but I think it was actually my parents are aliens or something like that or my something are aliens like it was just a sitcom as the you know title implies you know these kids get adopted by aliens blah blah blah and I always remember there was this one episode that I got really riled up about
00:05:29
Speaker
because there was this kid playing a gameboy and there was all these kind of stock sound effects of, you know, the pew pew and things like that going on. That boy did not have a cartridge in that gameboy. And you know, they had to like, they emphasised like, you know, stop that game, you've got dinner and it's like, oh, I'm just finishing this level and you're like, that's, no, what's wrong?
00:05:58
Speaker
It's not even got batteries in it, probably. It probably didn't. They probably just gave them an okie and said everything. This is a gameboy. It's like, go on. Go on, pleb. It's called acting, son. Exactly.
00:06:12
Speaker
you're in the real world now son. You know it's kind of like what is what is this show just anyway that is a sight but that's the thing though that is that kind of understanding of like video games as a whole which again is a different topic but yeah the idea of like splitting games up into levels because that's the way it used to be you know it's like
00:06:33
Speaker
you had these different sections of a video game and you know it was just like oh you would be stage one stage two stage three building up to the boss at the end of it and nowadays it seems a lot more like the lines for what constitutes as a level seems a lot more blurred
What makes a good level design?
00:06:50
Speaker
as you say it's like with missions or you know like stages whatever you want to call it it's just that it evolves with the game doesn't it yeah well as well like if you think about like older game
00:07:03
Speaker
One of the things I always think about on an older level is that you used to be able to, like, you'd go into the main menu, and you could go to, like, a level select screen, you know, and you could go jump into, like, an old level. And you can still do that with some games. But if you're looking at, like, a lot of open world games now, you don't really, unless you, like, save the game at a very particular point, hold on to that kind of save point, you don't really have the option to jump back into, like, you couldn't, like, jump back into a mission that you liked in The Witcher 3, I don't think. There's no, like, option to select a mission. They've become more kind of organic and ingrained
00:07:31
Speaker
sort of like into like into the into the game itself and into the world and even like even stuff like sorry like Half-Life 2 and things Half-Life 2 is technically a completely continuous experience like there's they they have like little loading screens and you do get like the kind of new episodes new chapter like uh names come up each time but it is like a completely continuous thing there's no like
00:07:54
Speaker
cutscene or any kind of like classic end of level thing you just you proceed to another area the game will do a bit of loading and then it's like oh you know i can't remember what it's called i think it's called chapters in Half-Life it was like you know chapter four you know you know into that but it's it's more organic experience of just proceeding through that's not chapters for Half-Life i think it's i might be wrong in saying that i might be i think it's chapters but i'm willing to be corrected because i might be wrong on that it's not levels anyway i know it's not a gold level these damn kids and their levels and things
00:08:23
Speaker
So yeah, that kind of brings us onto like, I suppose before we get into our personal favourites, yeah that brings us onto our first kind of really question. Actually sorry, before I go on about that, just pointing out something you were saying there because I just remembered there. I was like, what was I gonna say? I was like, oh I don't know.
00:08:44
Speaker
But just when you said about going back to levels, I remember playing through, I think it was GTA V, and I think you can play through levels again. There's definitely a mission select, I'm sure. I can't be wrong. Maybe it's that, or maybe it's ready. Yeah, because they have ratings, don't they? So you replay missions to get better? Nope. Yep, you are correct. It's just so weird doing that in an open-world game.
00:09:09
Speaker
yeah like i don't know like i would have no like if i was playing a sonic game for example i would have no issue with just like going back and playing it again trying to you know oh god i was about to say get the high score and even then i felt old because i'm like oh my god you want to put you want to put those three there's three letters onto the oh yeah that's right on the top
00:09:32
Speaker
H my name into history. One day, one day that'll happen. It's a life goal. But with sandbox games and kind of open model games, it's not really the same, is it? No, it's a different sort of experience in a way, I guess that's the term. So before we get into your talking about our favourite levels, and this is probably going to be quite a broad question, but what would you say makes a level good or bad in your opinion?
00:10:01
Speaker
OK, so I'll go with what makes a level good at first. So I donned my researcher cap here and I dug into the archives to try and see if I could elucidate the key principles. So I came up with three key principles that I think make a good level. So this is Adam's three key principles to level design.
00:10:23
Speaker
from somebody who has no qualifications or any sort of business talking about this, but here we go. So the three principles that I came up with, that I thought are most important were emotion, innovation, and then design. So with the, with the heading of emotion, I truly believe that a good level elicits like an emotional response from the player. And now this can be, this can be any emotion response tool. It could be fear.
00:10:48
Speaker
It could be exhilaration, tension, desperation, comedy. It can be any sort of emotion, but I think a really good level will elicit at least one sort of emotional response from you. And as well, I think a really great video game level creates memories and you get that sense of like, wow, when you're playing it. And that's more than just one or two memorable moments. So for instance, I often think of...
00:11:13
Speaker
Have you played the original Red Dead Redemption? Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, you know, you know, the I won't I won't spoil the ending like people who maybe haven't played it, but the very final. Well, not so not the very not the epilogue mission, but like the very kind of final mission of the game. Right at the end, there's this great like moment. I presume you know what I'm talking. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
00:11:33
Speaker
And it's such a great, it's one of my favorite moments in gaming. But looking at that level, I wouldn't rate that level as one of my favorite in gaming, if that makes sense, because I'm like, that was just one moment. The rest of it isn't as memorable, in my opinion, while a really great level has that completely throughout. You can basically remember the whole mission, and you can follow it through those beats.
00:11:53
Speaker
And so for kind of examples from me, like I look at things like the suit, like the very final mission and mass effect to the suicide mission where you built up your crew and everything. And you go on this like final, like do or die mission to try and save humanity. And it, or like everything that you built towards like peak and, you know, and you.
00:12:09
Speaker
all the relationships you've built with your crew and everything and you're desperately trying to make decisions to keep them alive and just so it provokes all these like just emotions in you of like fear and tension and everything and it's just such a memorable like experience also as well as over me like the very first level of battlefield one did that for me in the way it was designed like it just it provoked like i i was i was just it just in awe really of what it did and i thought it did a really good job of
00:12:34
Speaker
of showing the kind of carnage and the real sadness of the First World War and how it did. So moving on to innovation, I think as well that a really good video game level will innovate and introduce the player to new mechanics and concepts, or it takes
00:12:52
Speaker
mechanic sets already established and puts a new spin on them and you know gives it keeps the game fresh keeps the gameplay fresh it can deliver completely fresh gameplay as well and also i think a really good level can surprise a player you know whether that be through like elements such as the pace maybe the locale perhaps the enemies just different things like that but it will really give you a surprise but oh i didn't see this coming and that's what we can
00:13:13
Speaker
makes it memorable. Things for me are like the mission in Titanfall 2 called Effect and Cause which is the one where you get the time travel gadget and you know then you like your time traveling between like the ruined facility and then you can go but you go back in time to when it was fully working and you've got different enemies to fight and it allows you different way like platform
00:13:33
Speaker
But also, if you're in a completely difficult fight, say, with the enemies in the past, you can skip forward to the present, maneuver yourself around, go back to the past, and you flank them and everything. I think it's a really innovative way. As well, someone like the Riddler Challenge Rooms, Batman Arkham City, just in the way they made you think about different uses for Batman's gadgets and how you could overcome these challenges. And then finally, with the idea of design, obviously, there's a need to make a level fun. And a good video game level, I think, is fun to play.
00:14:02
Speaker
But as well, you want to create an interest, I think, in your level. And you perhaps want to make players explore it. If it's not too linear a level, you might want to encourage, rather than a player just going A to B to finish the level, you might want to encourage them to explore a bit. I think as well, if it's a really well-designed level,
00:14:19
Speaker
It tells a player what to do, but not how to do it, if that makes sense. So it says, you need to do this objective to complete the level. But we're not going to tell you, you must do this to finish it. So you've got scope to devise your own approach to it.
00:14:37
Speaker
I think as well like a good level empowers the player and you know like you have a lot you get some agency and you not just feel like you're being kind of handheld you know you're not being like pushed through it and people are guiding you like and telling you oh do this now do that I think having really efficient design as well not being wasteful and making a really kind of tight experience and not having bits where you're like this is just you're just padding this now it's you know it just feels like it's dragging
00:14:59
Speaker
And so examples for me, I think the Sapiens level in the Hitman game from 2016 was just such a great, was such a well-designed level that really made you want to explore and gave you these objectives, but then you really wanted to devise your own way to achieve it and gave it like a great replayability. Also the silent cartographer level from the original Halo, the one where you land on the island and it's like the beach assault at the beginning. I thought it was just such a well-designed level in terms of its pacing and just the way it kind of pushed you forward and got you these really exciting moments.
00:15:27
Speaker
So those are the three principles that I would say for good video game design and briefly just what I think make a bad video game level. I'd say levels are just kind of uninspired. You know, you can tell there's not really much passion kind of behind it. They kind of feel like going for the numbers. Like if it's flabby, it's a flabby experience. You're like, this is just wasteful. Like, you know, like you're just adding things in and you're just like, oh God, another like fight in a corridor with, you know, a fight in a room with chest-high walls.
00:15:51
Speaker
Forcing one-off mechanics into a game, whether it be a forced stealth section or a forced vehicle section, the game is not well implemented. Unclear direction as well. Sometimes if you're just not given any clue about what you have to do, it can be quite frustrating. But at the same time, you can be too much hand-holding. You can be just like, I'm not having any chance to really experience this. And then finally, I'd say an unfair challenge, where it's just too difficult and I'm not having any fun trying to get through this.
00:16:20
Speaker
That's the kind of things I would say for a kind of bad video game level design.
What makes a bad level design?
00:16:23
Speaker
No, there are very good points. Kind of just hoping on and, you know, I swear to goodness, I'm an optimist, I'm not a pessimist, but jumping on your bad level, or not criticism, but your points.
00:16:36
Speaker
Yeah, I do see what you mean like just when you were saying about the repetition there because I'm thinking of games like of course Gears of War there was a lot of that like I love Gears of War I think the first two did a good job but when you play like three and four and you know you see like a lot of repetition that you see the walls kind of rise up and you're like okay this is gonna be a shootout scene isn't it and then they all run out and you're like oh god right
00:17:05
Speaker
there's no surprise or anything at all yeah and i suppose it's the same with like i mean it's the same with a lot of shooter games i would say but especially with games like and this is gonna sound weird but you know it's gonna sound weird about me talking about a sonic game i know surprise
00:17:22
Speaker
but I would say personally they are quite a good example of good and bad game design. Because if you look at their earlier 3D games like Sonic Adventure, they definitely tried to make it a lot more open that you could explore. So at the very first level, you're basically on a beach and there's so many shortcuts in different ways you can get to the end. They're not
00:17:44
Speaker
radically different you know you don't have to go off the beaten path to get to them but the fact that you can still get to that point you know it tells a lot that you know like even at the very beginning when you're standing there getting ready to run see if you turn right round you can get like items and things and that's just like a small touch like it's like as I said it's nothing revolutionary but it's like a nice touch you know it rewards the player for kind of navigating whereas
00:18:11
Speaker
with like the new games like let's say Sonic Forces basically you can either go above or below that's really it it's giving me bad flashbacks to the only Rayman game that I've ever played and it was like an educational version of it and it was like if you got the wrong answer you would just die and that was not a good game at all maybe I'll open up about that one day but that's oh that was that was an awful game but yeah it's like games that in fact you know I really
00:18:40
Speaker
don't like. In terms of bad level design, see when levels are far too big but offer nothing. The amount of games that I've played where it's just a huge level and you're walking for ages and there is just nothing around.
00:18:58
Speaker
Like, I mean, if you look at some part, like, not everything about Skyrim, but if you look at some parts of Skyrim, and I know technically that doesn't fit into the narrative of it being, you know, broken into levels, but, you know, it's like there's some areas in that where it's like there's just absolutely nothing.
00:19:14
Speaker
you could be walking for ages and there's just nothing around and that's in a way that's okay for that game because in other parts of the game you know there's like tons or there's random encounters but when you have a whole game like that where the amount of games are played at hand I'm just like where's the you know and they talk about oh it's a big expansive world and everything and I took
00:19:34
Speaker
I don't know, it's just that it cheapens it. I think as well, in terms of bad level design, one of the ones that kind of stands out to me is, do you remember Watch Dogs? Yeah, yeah. And I hate to bring this up, I'm so sorry. But Watch Dogs has this sub level, almost, where you have to hunt down the serial killer. I think I brought this up before. So basically you have to hunt down the serial killer.
00:19:58
Speaker
and you know it's like it really interests them because they get you to use all the old mechanics so you think okay I'm gonna be using all the old stuff that I've learned all the old gameplay but then it just plays out like any random encounter you know where it's like you have to spy on the person you see who it is you beat them across the face that's it like it's done it genuinely like you could sorry spoilers
00:20:23
Speaker
I mean, that's the thing though, it's like the missed opportunities and for whatever reason, like I'm not saying they should put their A game in like a side story, but when you build something up like that, like if you're building a level up and then all of a sudden it's just like, yeah, just...
00:20:42
Speaker
chuck it out of the window, you're like, well, why couldn't I have come, you know, in a different direction? Or, you know, is there any way that I could use the environment around me? Or, you know, it's just, it's, yeah, I would say that's definitely an example of bad level design.
00:20:59
Speaker
kind of backtracking and pretending that I'm a positive person and then going into like good level
Balancing exploration and structure
00:21:06
Speaker
design. Like I do think that good level design is definitely all of the above like what you said. I think you described it perfectly and as well I think
00:21:15
Speaker
reward as well. Like you have to feel as if you're getting rewarded for, like, see if you go off the beaten path. I think that was one of the things that Call of Duty and a lot of other shooters get a lot of flack for, the fact that they're all very linear with their stories. Like even with the new ones, like I know there's the oh you can choose option A or B but at the end of the day you're still gonna get to the same point at the end of it.
00:21:38
Speaker
You know it's like you can't take it like some of the games did do that like you can get you know the Intel or the Easter eggs and things it shows I suppose that the developers of the game have some kind of a
00:21:53
Speaker
I wouldn't say affection, that's probably too strong a word but you know they have some kind of care for the game that they're putting in these small touches which they really don't need to whereas in terms of a bad level design you could have a massive map and say oh look I've got this massive map we're gonna from point A to B and there's gonna be tons of trees and it's like well there's nothing in it.
00:22:15
Speaker
I mean, I think the kind of paradox level that's sticking in my head right now is, you know, slender, the eight pages. Yeah. Like, that game is perfect for, you know, building like a spooky atmosphere. But at the same time, the fact you're walking around that whole forest in like a snail's pace...
00:22:35
Speaker
and there's just like no music and things and it's just I mean I haven't even played it and it brings back bad memories but you know it's that idea of trying to get that balance of giving the player something supposed to remember like not every level has to be you know it doesn't have to be like a knockout every time yeah I mean would you agree with that?
Impact of standout levels
00:22:57
Speaker
Well yeah no I totally agree yeah like I think because I think it's I don't know maybe it is possible but you know
00:23:03
Speaker
same time like you are you are when you're making a game you are you are like you know faced with like limited resources to an extent and limited time as well so sometimes you are just gonna have to like you know crack crank out a couple levels that maybe aren't like you know aren't absolutely you know knock out the parks as you say and there's nothing inherently wrong with that but you can still you can still make like good levels you know don't have to be you know like
00:23:26
Speaker
top 10 levels of all time material, but you still make good levels. Because I mean, if there's not at least one good level in the game, it's definitely going to drag it down. I think that's the worry.
00:23:38
Speaker
There always has to be that kind of magnum opus of each game, you know, whether it's the first. In fact, before we go on to, you know, our top three choices, I've got a quick question for you. See if a game is going to have a good level. Do you think it's important that the good levels at the start of the game or at the end of the game are kind of in the middle?
00:23:57
Speaker
Ooh, that is a good question. Yeah, because I'm looking at my list just now and mine's very, like some of them are at the very start of the game and then some of them are kind of mids.
00:24:09
Speaker
I'm just mulling the question over in my head. It's funny, because looking at my three choices, all mine are mid-game levels, but perhaps I should say mid-game. Do you know what? I'm going to say mid-game. I think mid-game. I think when you're starting a game, I don't necessarily think it's the most important to have your A-game material at the beginning, purely because, unless it's an absolute stinker of a level,
00:24:32
Speaker
You're gonna probably play more of it, you know, you're gonna keep playing the game and then I think as well kind of on the same idea if you're at the end you're probably gonna keep going as well like so like it doesn't levels don't have to be like the most standout, you know like Magnus open
00:24:48
Speaker
Once because unless again unless it absolutely absolutely terrible you're gonna keep going Well, I think in the mid game like I would say probably most people if they're gonna give up on a game It'll probably be about that kind of halfway point in the middle of it You know if it's just dull and repetitive and you're like, I'm not having any fun playing this But like if you put like your standout level in there, you're gonna spot people's interest I think you know that was give it a complete breath of fresh air and they're gonna want to keep going with it So I'll say mid game
00:25:15
Speaker
I feel as if it's like see for the very beginning like the first couple of levels they don't have to be their A game but they have to have some kind of hook at least to kind of intrigue the player to kind of go on and you know at least interest them to get to the A game because yeah as I said other than like one exception yeah the other two that I've got are definitely mid games.
00:25:37
Speaker
And I'm like, yeah. So yeah,
Favorite video game levels
00:25:42
Speaker
mid-game. Without any further ado, let's just jump into our top three levels. So I will give the four to you. And yeah. You sure? Yep. Well, thank you very much. OK, so I'll jump in. So my first choice, it's a level that I have discussed before. I discussed it back, way back when we did our episode on horror games. And that is the level. It's a level from Half-Life 2. And it's a level we don't go to Ravenholm.
00:26:07
Speaker
which is about mid, I can't remember if it's exactly midway through, but it's about the mid point of the game. And I think this level is just fantastic on every level. It hits all the three principles that I talked about earlier. It creates this really effective sense of tension, dread, and fear and exhilaration.
00:26:28
Speaker
And sorry, probably before I launch, I should probably explain a bit about the level. So basically, this level takes place in this kind of small mining town. And basically, the plot of Half-Life 2, roughly, roughly, is this alien race has invaded the Earth and taken control of it. And basically, what happened in this small mining town of Ravenholm was sort of out of the way, and it became this kind of resistance, kind of hideout and center for people who were trying to resist the aliens who were called the Combine.
00:26:55
Speaker
half-life 2 and basically the combine find out about it and so what they do is rather than like attacking the city attacking the town directly they launch uh what are called headcrab shells into the town and basically headcrabs i think it's it's one of the like probably most memorable enemies from the half-life games they're like these like
00:27:11
Speaker
almost spider kind of crab looking creatures that basically jump like basically jump on attached to people's heads and turn them into zombies basically so what they combined is they made shells filled with these things and they launched like thousands of them into into Ravenholm so basically all the population of Ravenholm is wiped out basically he was even killed or become zombies so the town is basically like abandoned
00:27:32
Speaker
and sealed off 1.5 after you end up having to go through it, and it's this really creepy experience and everything about the way it's introduced is brilliant as well so the chat the preceding chapter, you're in this resistance hideout, and they have a tunnel that leads to Ravenholm but it's been all blocked up and sealed off and then one of the characters.
00:27:49
Speaker
You go by it when the characters is like, Oh, that's the, that's the time of the Raven home. Then they just pause and go, we don't, we don't go there anymore. And it's just, it's a really short line, but you're like, Oh, it creates this sense of you get really like, Oh, it's kind of exciting. Like, why don't they go there anymore? But also like this kind of dread, like, it must be a good reason they don't go there anymore.
00:28:06
Speaker
and circumstances mean you have to go there and you know you instantly walk in and creepy music plays and there's like there's a um the legs of his corpse just swinging from this tree and you can just see like see like bodies around and everything it's proper horror experience
00:28:22
Speaker
And it's such a memorable, it's a really memorable environment because it's this pretty claustrophobic small town with narrow lanes and kind of ramshackle buildings and everything, but it's also like you can see the tritus of the carnage that happened from the attack.
00:28:37
Speaker
And what makes it great as well is it's the first proper level in Half-Life 2 where you get to use the gravity gun, which is the standout kind of weapon of Half-Life 2. And it's basically a weapon that allows you to pick up objects and fire them and fling them at enemies or solve puzzles with them. And that was one of the Half-Life 2's big selling points was its physics engine.
00:28:56
Speaker
And it was the perfect playground to use this weapon. And what's really cool about it as well is they never specifically say to you, oh, you can pick this up and fire that to kill an enemy. But they leave lots of environmental clues around to give you ideas. So one of the first rooms you go into, you see one of these kind of saw blades stuck into the wall. And you can see a zombie's been cut in half with it. And so you're like, oh, I can use that. I can pick this up with a gravity gun.
00:29:21
Speaker
You know, I can use it to kill any zombies that come my way. It's a very clever design that way. What's great about it as well is it's such departure from the rest of the game. And this is when I talked about it in the horror game episode. I think I was answering the question you said, what's like the best horror level in a non-horror game?
00:29:37
Speaker
This was the one I used, because it's such a different experience in the rest of Half-Life 2, where for the most of Half-Life 2, you feel like quite a powerful character, and you feel like you're with a one-man army. But this level really strips that all away, and it presents you with a really different environment and different challenges. And you're fighting zombies and headcrabs, but there's lots of different ones. There's ones that are really fast. There's some headcrabs that are poisonous and take off all your health in one bite, so it forces you to think differently, and it makes you feel really vulnerable.
00:30:06
Speaker
and you're in this claustrophobic environment where zombies just start to swarm you, and you really feel quite powerless, which is good. I mean, it has such tight design as well. The level design is great because it pushes you forward and it uses the enemies to keep the tension there and always make you feel uneasy and you're never sure, like, are you going to turn a corner and what are you going to run into? You might get trapped in a room and the enemies just swarm you at points, but it always provides a good challenge, but it's never unfair
00:30:33
Speaker
you never get to a point where you're like oh this is just unfair and I'm just getting you know I have no hope here so again that kind of keeps attention going because you always have a chance to get through and you're like god I just survived that one what am I gonna see next and so for me it just takes all those boxes of just I'm just a great level and such a memorable one if I was it was one of the first ones I thought of when we were doing this topic I was like I've got to talk about Ravenhope
00:30:56
Speaker
because it's such an amazing level. It's one that's forever seared in my brain because I just think it's amazing. When we actually talked about that level in the, I think it was episode three, limited horror games. Yeah, it must have been. It was sometime last year anyway. And I think I said back then that I hadn't played Half-Life 2 all the way through. Still haven't. It's on my New Year's resolution list.
00:31:21
Speaker
And that seems to be one of the levels that does stick out. It's one of the levels that everyone keeps saying, hey, don't go to Ravenholm and things. And yeah, there's one I'll definitely need to at least record my reaction, I suppose. And then send it to you and be like, oh my God, this is terrifying. No, I want to be there to watch. I want to watch live. I want to see you unfiltered experience to it. I'll be like, this isn't so bad. I don't know. I don't know. It's one of these things because Half-Life 2 is obviously an old game now.
00:31:51
Speaker
like it's 15 years old now maybe something like that to be honest but and I know maybe maybe maybe it's not maybe you wouldn't find the same experience going to you might find it a bit dated and perhaps it's because I happened to play it you know I played it when the orange box came out as that was a couple years after but maybe you know now you might find a bit dated but I know I think it's just still an amazing
00:32:11
Speaker
I think it was 2004 originally, I think, half-life. Do you know, I'm just thinking I feel bad because I'm looking at my first top level that I would have said and I'm kind of like, my god, that is nothing like Ravenholm. Oh, that movie is good. Yeah, because my first level is... Well, technically it loosely relates to the idea of the military. So have you ever played Sonic Adventure 2?
00:32:40
Speaker
Oh man, was that the one I played at yours? Did I play Sonic Adventure 1? No, that was Sonic Adventure 1. I have not played 2 then. We never actually, just for context, before the whole lockdown thing went down, Adam and I met up and we're both playing games from each other's, you know, due to a combination of us obviously being busy
00:33:04
Speaker
So yeah, we've never gotten to Sonic Adventure 2. How do I explain this one? So basically the game starts. Like, I remember the first Sonic Adventure begins where you are running through the city, you see this creature made of water, you beat the loving hell out of it, and then you run across a beach. And I was tempted. I was tempted to do that level.
00:33:24
Speaker
but the one I ended up going for was one called City Escape. So the way it begins, and this is literally the start of the game, it begins you're trapped in this military helicopter. Don't ask, trust me, it's easier not to ask questions. And then of course all of a sudden out this military helicopter, Sonic the bloody hedgehog just jumps out
00:33:46
Speaker
it takes like this panel off the side of the helicopter jumps down and then goes through not San Francisco but it's like a city based off of San Francisco and you like go down and like if there's anyone out there listening who has played this level you'll know when i'm talking about like see the soundtrack the soundtrack for it is amazing um it's a band called Crush Forte who does like a lot of music for the sonic series and they do one called well city escape
00:34:14
Speaker
and that is just such a memorable song but it's like between that and you know just that high energy to kick off the game it's just so well done that it gets you hyped for the rest of the game and then by the time you get to the end like
00:34:29
Speaker
of the level, oh my god. The end of the level, so you start off in a, as I said, you start off in a helicopter, you jump out, you skate down, you know, you defeat all the robots on the way, and then a massive truck starts chasing you. And, like, the truck is so big that it takes up the whole road and it just starts, like, tearing up all of the cars at the side of the road. I don't know, do you remember that scene when I played through it, like a while ago?
00:34:55
Speaker
camera I'm not sure but I'm not sure if I got to see you do that one I have to admit oh it's it was terrifying at the time because it's like you're running thinking yeah I'm sonic the hedgehog and then two seconds later this big goddamn truck like comes out on nowhere and you're like oh god oh god oh god oh god
00:35:11
Speaker
You're running down the street. As all of these people's cars always laugh because I like to imagine the people that actually live in those houses next door being like, oh what a beautiful day. And then two seconds later they see A, a blue hedgehog running down the street and then B, this huge military truck just chasing after it. It's like, yeah, I'm gonna call in sick for work today, you know.
00:35:32
Speaker
But I mean, like, there's not a lot of exploration. There's some bits that you can explore in it. Not the best, but at the same time, I think it's like a really strong start that gets you into the rest of the game, which I think is a good thing because there's a lot of levels that, if they swap places, then it would have put me off the game entirely. A lot of the treasure hunting ones, but that's a whole rant in itself. But yeah, no, that would definitely be mine to kick it off. City Escape.
00:36:00
Speaker
from Sonic Adventure 2. Definitely a very strong one that keeps the energy high and kind of sets the tone. It's a goofy game. It's goofy, it's over the top, but you know what? I mean, I had a blast and, you know... Yeah, I mean, if it wasn't fun and memorable, I obviously wouldn't be bringing it up now, but I wouldn't be thinking about it years later, going, oh yeah, city escape.
00:36:24
Speaker
I think it compares to other Sonic levels, just as a matter of interest. Does it feel familiar or does it feel like something very different? I mean, what they've started doing, this is a weird thing that I kind of brought up at the beginning, because what they've started doing with Sonic levels is they've got this high, middle and low path design. So it's like they're also putting an emphasis because, you know, everybody loves Sonic and 2D apparently, which
00:36:52
Speaker
another run in itself but they put a lot more emphasis on that so they've got like the diverging paths but it doesn't feel the same as like something like Sonic Adventure or even City Escape or things like that because it's like you're getting from point A to B but kind of part of the fun of it was trying to find your own way to get to that end point whereas in the newer ones it just feels I don't know it feels a bit more hollow
00:37:19
Speaker
in a way. Which is a bit of a shame as I suppose that's just them trying to play it safe. You know because the weird thing was I was kind of laughing because I was thinking of Sonic Forces again where there's some bits where you can explore to get these like collectible rings and things and see once you get them it's kind of like great. What would I get with it? I think you get like a t-shirt or something for your Sonic OC.
00:37:47
Speaker
That's it. It's like, yay! I spent hours trying to get this for a pair of sunglasses. I'm like, yeah, sign me up, coach. I'm ready. I'm ready. So yeah, that is my first game. So I'll hand it back to you. I'll hand it back to you for your second month.
00:38:06
Speaker
All right, on a very similar note, my next choice is from the original Bioshock. I'm trying to see if there's a way that... There's no trucks or anything in it though. I'm trying to find a link from what you said. It's a city. It takes place in a city. There we go. Link established.
00:38:25
Speaker
So the bit that I've chosen is the Fort Frolic area from Bioshock. Again, now this might not fit into the kind of classic, as we were talking about earlier, level, the kind of idea of a level. This is more of like a map. By the way, Bioshock, the very original Bioshock structure is in different areas.
00:38:44
Speaker
which themselves are, I think they are levels. They still conform to the idea of a level. So yeah, Fort Frolic is just an unforgettable locale, and it just sticks in the mind, and it's the most memorable bit of the original Bioshock, and it's the best bit, in my opinion, and I think quite a lot of other people's opinions as well. Again, it's about middle of the game, again. So basically, for the first half of Bioshock,
00:39:05
Speaker
from the point that you first arrive in the underwater city of Rapture and basically Bioshock takes place in a city called Rapture which was designed to be this built by this kind of like enigmatic sort of millionaire who wanted to like free kind of artists and scientists and like other people from kind of government control and he wanted to build this kind of free quote-unquote free society where people like mankind could
00:39:28
Speaker
push itself to the limit and better itself and basically it ends up devolving into civil war and just tearing itself apart and when you arrive it's the city that's just in ruins now and its inhabitants are basically all drugged up.
00:39:43
Speaker
like lunatics who are called splicers and basically so for the first half of Bioshock from the time that you arrive in Rapture you're basically trying to find the creator of Rapture who's called Andrew Ryan and you're being guided by this other other figure called Atlas and as you're getting close it's not long before you finally meet Andrew Ryan
00:40:02
Speaker
you enter this area called Fort Frolic, which is only meant to be like a brief stopping point. You know, you travel via kind of underwater bathyspheres, which are like little kind of tiny, like kind of small miniature submarines. And you arrive in Fort Frolic and you see to get to the next one and go so bad. Just as you get to that next bathysphere, like it gets locked away. And basically, you get introduced to the basically the quote unquote ruler of Fort Frolic.
00:40:24
Speaker
And Fort Frolic used to be the kind of entertainment district of raptures. It was filled with like casinos, nightclubs, all these kind of like shopping, like all these kind of different shopping shops and everything, the proper entertainment district. And you kind of meet the quote unquote ruler of it now, he's this man called Sander Cohen.
00:40:42
Speaker
who is this artist who's basically kind of gone mad and taken control and designed now Fort Frolic in his own kind of image. And what's really interesting about it is, so for the most of the time that you're traveling for Rapture, you have these two, you have the figure of Atlas and you have the figure of Andrew Ryan, who are constantly talking to you and trying to sway you and everything. But for Fort Frolic, you don't hear from either of them, because it's Sandra Cohen just cuts your radio off, so you only hear from him the whole time. And so it makes it a really different experience
00:41:10
Speaker
and it's another level that like makes you constantly feel uneasy and tense because it's really different and it's really creepy in points and it's again like most a lot of Bioshock is quite like more like a horror experience but there's something about Fort Folic which just takes it to that extra level what's really good about the level as well is it has this really innovative relationship with the kind of central villain
00:41:30
Speaker
So usually all the areas that you go to have like a kind of central villain figure who you eventually have to fight in. They're kind of like classic kind of boss fights, but it's not the case in Fort Frolic. Basically, rather than actually like being in conflict with the main villain, you actually collaborate with him. And so he sets you this task in that he wants you to basically track down. He has these three
00:41:51
Speaker
people who he called his muses and stuff, who these artists who was grooming, but who've like turned against him. And so he wants you to track them down throughout Fort Folic, Fort Folic, kill them, basically take a picture of their corpse and then just play on this, like this kind of this art collage that he's making.
00:42:07
Speaker
So it's this kind of collaborative relationship and he kind of helps you out and it makes it really interesting. It also introduces kind of new enemies that differ from the previous enemies you faced. For the most part, you're facing these enemies called splicers and they kind of come in different varieties as ones armed with kind of like melee weapons, as ones with guns.
00:42:25
Speaker
some of them like climb around on the ceilings and stuff and others can kind of like do short teleportation and basically they all have one thing in common they're all basically completely mad and you can hear them like rambling and like raving and yelling and everything so you usually hear them before you see them but in fort frolic you get introduced to this very different enemy called what you call plaster splicers
00:42:44
Speaker
and basically like Sander Cohn is an artist so he's and he's fascinated with sculpture and so as you kind of venture around Fort Frolic you see lots of like figures like plastered and everything like that just like displayed in some of them some of them are like in dancing poses other ones are in in kind of like kind of like like um
00:43:01
Speaker
kind of working poses just different kind of poses and everything and eventually at one point if you do it if you go to a specific location and you activate a specific thing these enemies will scatter and then they'll just attack you at random they'll show up at random points in the level and they're completely silent and the only really way that you can hear them is you can hear like they crawl around on the ceiling
00:43:22
Speaker
and if you listen for like the tiles like falling off and stuff that's the only way that you can hear them otherwise they'll just attack and you have no you have no concept or else they'll just show up like you'll turn a corner and one of them will just be displayed in front of you but it's really interesting that if you if you don't do the specific thing so it's like a weapon upgrade
00:43:39
Speaker
station. And if you use that weapon upgrade system, then that's what triggers them to disperse. But if you don't use it, then you'll never encounter them. They'll just be statues. You know, as far as you know, you'll have no reason to ever like interact with them as well. It has a really innovative gameplay segment, which stands out completely from all the other kind of combat sequences in the original Bioshock. So basically, I think after you've collected like two out of the three photographs and put them on the display,
00:44:08
Speaker
Sandra Cohen basically goes into this mad rage, and he accuses you of not respecting him, not respecting his work, and he sends enemies to attack you. But what's really interesting is some Tchaikovsky music starts playing, so it's like kind of classical kind of ballet music, and these enemies attack you, but they're really weak. They don't have much health, the enemies, and their attacks don't do that much damage, and it almost plays like a kind of dance sequence. It's really interesting, and you can kind of get into it, and you can kind of time your swings of your weapon to like,
00:44:37
Speaker
to go with the beats of the music and make it this kind of proper ballet dance and it gives you the sense of like, even though you're still like working with Sandra Cohen and you're creating this kind of art and this kind of artistic, it's really, really interesting and it's really innovative. And it's a level that you really want to explore. So the Bioshock levels are always quite fairly large and you know, you can just go point A to point B
00:44:58
Speaker
But you can also like, you know, dive off and go explore different locations and everything and find kind of collectibles, audio, audio kind of logs and things. And this is a level that really makes you want to do that to find out more. There's excellent like environmental storytelling and like the Fort Frolic location tells you a lot about Rapture, about like the world that it used to be.
00:45:18
Speaker
the world is now. It tells you a lot about Sander Kern as well and his character. It was great in that and it's just it's just such a unique experience within the game. It just stands out from all the other levels and the original Bioshock was a great game and I absolutely love it. But the song about Fort Frolic and I think it's just all these things I've mentioned.
00:45:34
Speaker
just combine to make it this just really innovative and just fantastic experience and it's just it's just one that like I'll never forget and absolutely love. I don't really need to play Bioshock again. I started got a couple of levels in but I don't think I've ever made it to Fort Frolic so yeah. It's good. You've reenacted my interest and I have to say. No I'm glad I'm going to give out this please. Oh definitely. I'm going to give out my ravings. So yeah next week is going to be the Bioshock episode and I'm working yeah.
00:46:03
Speaker
I suppose a different kind of horror, which I'm trying to, like, loosely link these. So the second game I chose, or sorry, the second level that I chose, is in itself a bit of a horror game. Well, not a horror game, but it's definitely some kind of horror because, yeah, the one I'm talking about is Vendetta from World at War, which is, I mean, the whole game is quite brutal in terms of its depiction of war, isn't it?
00:46:32
Speaker
Oh yeah. I think it was the very first Call of Duty game that properly emphasised that. You always had death and things like that in Call of Duty. It's expected because it's a war game. But yeah, I think that definitely toned up the horror with people getting chopped and just horrible things happening. But Vendetta is a very special level.
00:46:57
Speaker
in that sense, it begins as you're a... I think you're a private or a sergeant in the Russian army after... I think it's after the Battle of Stalingrad, isn't it? It's during the Battle of Stalingrad. Oh sorry, during. Yeah, during the Battle of Stalingrad and you're amongst just basically a pile of your dead comrades and you start crawling through. You see, you know, the German soldiers like gun, you know, the dead bodies and everything. It looks like absolutely horrific.
00:47:25
Speaker
and then you come across another character who is just so iconic, Victor Reznov, who is basically a sergeant or a commander or something, but he basically guides you and gives you a sniper rifle. Yeah, guides you through the city and he has all these kind of
00:47:44
Speaker
really kind of good tidbits of saying like, oh you should only shoot these people when the bombers are above because that'll drown out the sound, let's move up before they find the body, you know, things like that, it's a lot more slow, if you know what I mean, it's a lot more, it's not like your stereotypical, because you can imagine if it was like modern warfare 2, it'd be like someone no scoping their way into the style in Grad Victory and it would be like, yeah,
00:48:11
Speaker
Not historically accurate. But now, like that aside, it's very good the way they pace it. Because it is. It's quite slow. You pick them off one by one. You make your way through the abandoned city. And it is quite haunting. Because, I mean, between the music and going into light
00:48:26
Speaker
bars and things that are just obviously completely desolate but they've still got that faint light coming from them you know and it's really good and then you get to a point where a sniper spots you and tries to hit you so you have to like dive into this building and try and shoot them back now for all those Call of Duty fans if you've played this you'll know exactly what I'm talking about here and you'll know as well Adam
00:48:53
Speaker
what I'm about to go on to but basically there's a level where, or sorry not a level but a part of the level where this sniper is trying to hit you so you have to like scan each window to see where he's shooting from and if you make one wrong mistake I think it's basically it's a like one shot one kill isn't it?
00:49:13
Speaker
It's close enough, like, I think going back to the medium difficulties, it will take off virtually all your health while the higher difficulties is what it is, literally a one shot, one kill. Yeah, like, it took me ages to do it in veteran mode, so it was horrible. I did it, but at what cost?
00:49:28
Speaker
but yeah it's like that kind of cat and mouse game where you're having to hit him and the amount of frustration that you feel when you actually do him and they're like oh you only wounded him you grazed him you know you hear that over and over again you're like oh for goodness sake how many bullets can this guy take and then he's got decoys and things and it's just so well done i think
00:49:51
Speaker
after that, like it is still good but I think after that it kind of follows the more traditional, like see once you jump out the building after it explodes, yeah I think that's when it turns into Back to Ecology, a game where you're just fighting you know normally and then you get to the end where you have to shoot the Russian or not the Russian sorry the German captain or whatever his name is.
00:50:12
Speaker
Yeah, I do think it's just such. It's quite refreshing, especially for the game that always is set to 100 in terms of its narrative, even with... Well, because if you look at Modern Warfare 2, which I think came... The year after. Was it the year after? Yeah, I was just trying to think where... Again, it's a word to use a lot, but these very bombastic levels, whether it be a stealth mission, whether it be a...
00:50:37
Speaker
yeah just a regular mission where you're shooting in a corridor like there wasn't any subtlety to it whereas this you could feel the atmosphere you could feel the tension and even though you were kind of set into one path it did a good job of kind of masking that kind of encourages you to think about it like it doesn't say oh yeah just run up and stab them one by one you know be a superhero you're
00:51:03
Speaker
You know, you're using common sense to be like, right, okay, these bombers are going over there for. They're not gonna hear me shooting them and no scoping them from all the way over there. Lie, I'm not good enough to no scope from that distance. But, you know, I just think it's such a good kind of Hall of Fame moment.
00:51:21
Speaker
for the colleges to see these and i think it's one that a lot of people come back to when they think of college and they think oh it's you know oh it's vendetta so yeah it's definitely one that's lived on and i do think it definitely deserves to be one of those top levels
00:51:38
Speaker
It's such a great tone setter, I think, as well, for the rest of the Soviet campaign in World of War, because the kind of driving theme of the Soviet campaign in that game is that it's like a revenge. It's like the Russian army coming to take its revenge on Germany for all that it's done to them, to their people and everything. And you really get that throughout that whole level, because the whole part of the level is that you're trying to assassinate this German general who's
00:52:06
Speaker
you know cause all this chaos cause this havoc and death and destruction and it's just like this great set off for like set off for right you know we're gonna we're gonna get our revenge here and then you know a few years down the line we're gonna go to Germany and like properly enact our revenge so i think it's an absolute great tone setter for the story of that campaign
00:52:22
Speaker
I think what's good about this level is while if you play it in veteran mode you get one shot killed by that sniper, what we're just talking about, but at least it's better than when you're trying to storm the Reichstag and there's like 50 grenades at your feet. Yeah which is another, yeah just quickly sorry before I ask you about your third level.
00:52:46
Speaker
Yeah, if you play this game in veteran, be prepared to see a lot of grenade counters, because that's the game's... I would say that's probably... well, it's more of the AI, I think, than the levels, but yeah, there is a huge problem where if you play it in higher levels, the AI who are shooting at you think, oh yeah, I've got a grenade, I'll just throw it, and then he shred things. Oh, I'll throw a grenade,
00:53:09
Speaker
And then everybody and their mother throws a grenade and it's like, great. And then you have to play the mission like a thousand times. So we're going to move on to your third one before I start ranting about that. We've obviously read. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, what is your third level that you chose? So, well, we have an actual proper link here for the first time, because I'm also picking one from the Call of Duty series. And I'm going the game before World of War. I'm going to Call of Duty 4. And one more for now. I'm picking the level All Gilly'd Up. It's a good one.
00:53:38
Speaker
Yeah, which I still, I think still tops like polls of the greatest college level of all time, rightfully so, I'd argue. And again, it's another really memorable location. So basically this mission is a flashback mission in college before it takes place in Chernobyl.
00:53:54
Speaker
which is the Soviet nuclear reactor that had a meltdown and basically released all this radiation into the area and basically made Chernobyl a dead city, basically. And so it takes place there, and you're part of an SAS team who's sent to assassinate this Russian ultra-nationalist leader, who I think is trying to buy weapons, if I recall rightly, and has been deemed a real danger.
00:54:19
Speaker
you're sent to a sat as part of this two-man team to assassinate him and you're playing as like a young captain price who's one of like probably one of the most famous characters in the in the kind of college series and yeah like the Chernobyl makes you such an evocative and such a memorable location as you're like sneaking through and the level is all designed around like
00:54:37
Speaker
you being stealthy and you're there to like so you're dressed up in what was called these ghillie suits which are like these big camouflage suits that have kind of designed to blend into foliage and you and like your your your uh or a squad mate you're crawling through and you're trying to sneak through to get yourself into position it has some as a level it has some incredible moments of tension and just exhilaration and foreboding because there's
00:54:58
Speaker
There's some moments that are just like still, I think about them. I get all tense thinking about them. There's one bit where you're kind of crawling across this field and then all of a sudden this like patrol, this like alternate Russian alternatives patrol appears and they're walking towards you and then there's armored vehicles. There's lots of guys.
00:55:13
Speaker
And you have to just stay still and try and maneuver yourself so you're not going to be directly in the path of one of the walking soldiers. Because if they find you, there's no way you can get out. You're going to die. And it makes for a really tense moment. And there's another bit where you need to dash through this convoy and crawl under trucks. It's just so well done for these moments. It was a real shake-up from what was the usual first-person shooter fare.
00:55:38
Speaker
and it's something that's so different i think from like anything that really come before it because it really forced you to rethink how you approach a situation like compared to normally how you would so normally in fps you know you're you're confronted with bad guys you're like well i've got a gun i think i can solve the situation quite easily here
00:55:54
Speaker
me and mr gun but this one like really forces you to think and you know you get a choice a lot of times you get a choice your your squad mate gives you the choice as you know you can take these guys out or you can let them go past and it's really your call and so you really get a lot of choice about how you want to approach it i say although it's like quite a linear level it does it is an environment that you kind of want to explore a bit of it i would love to like
00:56:17
Speaker
be able to explore more of it because it looks so fascinating just the way they've done it is is so like amazing and it really defies the kind of the kind of normal fps conventions of intense action especially at the end of the level usually i would say it's kind of a usual kind of convention of like a first person shooter level
00:56:32
Speaker
Like as you get towards the end, usually that's where the action really kind of ramps up, you know, and that's where you're like fighting more enemies and getting in really kind of like intense situations. But this one actually, like you, so basically towards the end of it, you actually get into like the kind of city itself. And there's hardly any, I don't think you actually come across any enemies. You come across some like wild dogs who, you know, like who can provoke a challenge, but you're really just exploring this basically dead city and like these abandoned apartment blocks and this like abandoned swimming pool.
00:57:01
Speaker
I think maybe I think it was a school or like a kind of like an office building or something like that but you're going through and it's really evocative you know and at one point your squad mates like you know 50,000 people used to live here and now it's this ghost town and you really get that and there's like they kind of have like haunting like kind of
00:57:18
Speaker
children's voices like you know you can get like children playing and stuff and it makes it really like a really interesting like experience and something that you wouldn't expect to find is especially a Call of Duty game. It really lets you kind of soak in the atmosphere. Again as I was saying before it allows for a really good deal of kind of player agency
00:57:33
Speaker
and that you have the choice of taking guys out or going past them, but it's one that makes you deal with the consequences. So sometimes you might decide, I want to take out this group of enemies, but then you come to the next group of enemies and you're like, oh, I'm going to let these guys go past. However, a lot of the time, the guys who let go past can discover the dead bodies, and then that raises the alarm and forces you into a combat situation that you weren't prepared for at all. It's one that you really have to think about.
00:57:57
Speaker
and put consequences as well there's like at one point there's a helicopter that circles above and you go into a building and there's like a crate of stinger missiles which are like anti-aircraft missiles just lying there and the game doesn't tell you like oh use a stinger to destroy the helicopter they're just lying there and it's completely up to you you can just try and hide out from the helicopter
00:58:15
Speaker
or if you want you can try and take it down but again you got to weigh up the consequences. Going back to the idea of like efficient design that I talked about I think this is the perfect example of it. Like there's no kind of wasted motion in this level there's nothing that makes you be like oh this is just drawing it out and padding it out everything in there is just perfect like it kind of
00:58:32
Speaker
revolves around these couple of kind of set pieces, these nailbiting set pieces I talked about, and then these kind of bits in between where you're like, you're kind of creeping through and you get in choose, you're like, oh, do I want to take people out? Do I want to sneak by? And really, I think it was a revolutionary level. And I think it was a revolutionary level in what was a revolutionary game.
00:58:50
Speaker
certainly for the Call of Duty franchise and I think for the shooter franchise in general for what it did and it's one that I don't think the series has ever been quite able to emulate again. They've never been quite able to get the same feel and the same impact to that level and as I said the fact that it's still regarded as the greatest level in the COD series I think speaks volumes to it and it's one that I always look back on
00:59:11
Speaker
really fondly. And again, another one that when we did this topic, one that instantly came to my mind, it's like, I'm going to talk about all Gilly'd up. Because I think the closest it came to was the data probably, because the data came after World War came after Modern Warfare 4.
00:59:27
Speaker
It is, it's like, again, that's another kind of example of a sniper level that, again, like, it allows you to take your time, but one of the things actually, I was just thinking when you were talking about that, about player agency and things, is they're like really well done invisible barriers. Like, oh, because if you play through, you know, a college duty game either nowadays or a lot of FPS games as well, and not just single and then college duty, but
00:59:55
Speaker
There are a lot of FPS games where they'll say, oh, go to point B, you know, from A. But then you decide, oh, what if I want to loop around and there's like a huge invisible barrier and it's like, oh, great. Whereas obviously because of.
01:00:10
Speaker
what happened in Chernobyl. There's like radiation pockets, so they're all like fenced off and all gallied up. So it's like you can't go past that point otherwise you are going to die or if you go another way then it's filled with enemies. So it's like right you have to like go in this path and it's similar in the Vendetta level where it's like you've got the German soldiers all around you. So it's like you're having to sneak and go through like a certain way
01:00:37
Speaker
but there's a reason for it. Like, you know, you're not just like running out in the streets because there probably would be a sniper, you know, just... Yeah. ...chilling up there, so it makes sense. But yeah, I do agree. Like, it's something that they definitely lost after that point, where everybody just decided to pop out of the ground and be like, hey guys! And didn't build as... I mean, not that they're not good games, but...
01:00:59
Speaker
Yeah, that is... They went down a different route. And yeah, speaking of different route, so... So kind of linking to that idea of an atmospheric level, my... So I was talking to you off stream about this. My third level is one I feel as if... I wouldn't say it was like the most memorable one that people think immediately when they think, oh, top video game levels.
01:01:23
Speaker
But it's one that I've actually been really wanting to talk about for a while. So the one I'm going to choose is Cortana from Halo 3. Yeah, no, I'm just joking. Did you think I was serious for a second?
01:01:43
Speaker
You know what, I knew you weren't serious, but I couldn't help a part of you, like, oh my god, he's done it! He's actually done it! I did have a speech prepared to be like, yes, Cortana is a reflection of society as a whole and how miserable that, you know, I'm like, no. It's a terrible level. Just gonna leave the call. I don't know Cortana.
01:02:07
Speaker
So yeah, thank you for coming to Chat Tsunami. Wonderful, mate. Nah, I'm joking. So yeah, no. And as serious note, the level I've chose is one called... I don't even think it does have a name, but it's the wedding level in a game called Sleeping Dogs. Now, Sleeping Dogs is a game I absolutely adore. If
01:02:26
Speaker
for you guys listening there who maybe haven't heard of this game, it's basically like, and I don't want to kind of cheapen it, but it's basically like GTA but set in Hong Kong. It's just such a good game. It's like, I honestly cannot praise this game enough. I feel as if the, in the game, like the hand-to-hand combat's like a lot better than the gunplay, whereas it's like vice versa for GTA and everything.
01:02:49
Speaker
But one of the levels, so basically you play a undercover agent called I think it's Lee and he comes back from America and he infiltrates the Triads and you know he's working his way up basically to arrest the big you know big bad who's like the head of all of it to bring him down and there's one scene now
01:03:10
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, there's gonna be kinda spoilers here, so trade with caution. But yeah, there's a scene that basically feels as if it is like a Hong Kong action film. It honestly feels like one of those that you know something bad is gonna happen, but you can't help but think, no, surely. So basically halfway through the game, you're getting really chummy with your like...
01:03:35
Speaker
I don't want to say regional manager for the Triads, but he pretty much is, isn't he? He's your regional manager. Your regional manager for the Triads, as it were. You get really chummy with him and he starts to warm up to you and vice versa.
01:03:51
Speaker
and he invites you to his wedding so of course because it's a triad it's that like this big fancy dude you know you've got all the people all the guests coming in it's in this absolutely massive beautiful house and of course it's that three days from retirement moment
01:04:11
Speaker
where the groom's just like oh can you go to my car and then bring out beers or something like that I think it's like drinks that you have to buy wine or yeah wine or something because he's like oh the big boss like his manager has come to you know give his place and so it's like yeah no problem so you go to the car and then as soon as you get the wine two seconds later all you hear is this screaming and as soon as you hear that you kind of think oh no
01:04:38
Speaker
oh no no no no it's a wedding dammit and you're running back and you basically have to fight off the catering staff who it's not just the case of the catering staff weren't paid or anything by the way um it's more a case of they were just undercover i think it's like a rival triad isn't it or something like that
01:04:57
Speaker
yeah that's just infiltrated the wedding and they just like shoot up the place certain characters die you know it's just quite tragic there are a lot of bits where it's like there's the gun play as well where it's like you can like leap over you know the like the chest high walls like John Woo style and slow down time and shoot people which is cool but at the same time it just
01:05:21
Speaker
I don't know, it left a bit of an impact on me because it's a great game like I would highly recommend if you haven't played it but just that level in general it's one that kind of sticks with you because it solidifies itself as like the turning point of the game and it kind of shows like you can take like the level you can take the level in any direction you want you know to flank them or
01:05:47
Speaker
just to run up and punch them in the face which is always satisfying in that game. But it's just such a, you know, it is gutting as well because they build up, you know, as they said this relationship between you and this triad guy and yeah it's just when they take it away from you it's that kind of thing where I think it was something you were saying when we were talking about what makes a level getting bad
01:06:13
Speaker
where it elicited an emotional response from it.
01:06:19
Speaker
Like, see if it was just like, oh no, you killed Jim. I like Jim, you know? Just his NPC lying on the ground. Like, I wouldn't have felt anything, obviously, but because, you know, this is a guy that you've spent half the game with and now that he's, you know, he's met like a really bloody tragic end, you're like, oh, okay, this is, um, this is unfortunate.
01:06:43
Speaker
you know like you feel angry. Granted you start to get a bit careless because all you want to do is just you know take these guys out and be like you know what you're going down but I think that is where they kind of struggled because it is it's like not only do they take advantage of their locale and you know the fact that I don't know whether it was intentional or not to kind of you know refer back to those like Hong Kong action films where you know you've got the big wedding or something.
01:07:13
Speaker
and then Charge of the Strikes. I mean, it's like going back to what we were talking about last time with, um, License to Kill, with a game that's like a beautiful big wedding and it's like... It always was, isn't it? Yeah, it's like, what's the worst that could happen? And then the bad guys find them and you're like, oh no. But yeah, now between mine. Definitely capitalizes both on the story, on the design of the place as well, and yeah, overall a great level, and a great game as well. If you haven't played it, like,
01:07:43
Speaker
That is a game that definitely one day I'm going to fanboy over because I know you've got medal of honor.
Conclusion and final thoughts
01:07:50
Speaker
Before we finish off, are there any honourable mentions or any kind of closing thoughts from yourself?
01:07:57
Speaker
Yeah, I mean for like honorable mentions, like I think I mentioned a couple at the beginning, like I would say ones that nearly made the cut but didn't quite for me. So that first level of Battlefield 1, I think is great. And what's great as well is that like, when you first put in Battlefield 1 disc, like before you don't even, you don't get to a main menu or anything, it puts you straight into this mission. Have you played a bit of Battlefield 1? I don't think so, no.
01:08:22
Speaker
Fair enough anyway, but basically the mission takes place and you're basically playing as this American infantry division who's caught in the Middle East German counter-attack during the closing year of the First World War. It's such an innovative way of doing a first-person shooter
01:08:41
Speaker
So basically rather than playing as like one set character, what will happen is you start and like you get different kind of set pieces throughout the level where you'll play as a character, but that character will die. They always die and basically what happens is then like the camera lifts up and you get the person's name and you get like how old they were. It's really evocative and it's really effective for kind of showing just like the
01:09:11
Speaker
carnage and like the real suffering of, of war, like the first world war in this case, but any kind of war. And I remember I played it with a couple of, I think actually I might have, when I first played, I think, I think S. Banks was there and like somebody else as well. And we were just there and like, it was like really like quiet points because you're like, God, like, you know, it's not the kind of way that when you usually play a first person kind of shooter and you're like, you're really into like the kind of like action of it and everything, you know, as, as, as you're like playing it and you see like you've been playing as this 18 year old who's just died and has
01:09:38
Speaker
It was such an evocative way of doing it. And the rest of the campaign couldn't quite get back to that level. But for me, I still think it was such an innovative way of doing it. But that was one that very nearly made the cut for me. No, it's just even you were describing it there. Like, yeah, they came flooding back there because it was like... Yeah, I remember.
01:09:56
Speaker
because yeah you're exactly right like when it comes to the rest of the game it's kind of like but yeah that is yeah it's again another example of like them kind of showing their hand at the beginning of the game yeah rather than the end yeah like a really effective way to kind of hook you into it and like kind of put you into the
01:10:18
Speaker
the way of it and I think it's like one more I would honorably mention is one of the kind of side missions in Skyrim which is the quest A Night to Remember which basically starts with when you enter like a tavern kind of at one at some random point in the game you can meet somebody there
01:10:33
Speaker
challenges you to a drinking competition and basically so you end up drinking with this guy and then basically the screen blacks out and then like time will pass and you wake up the next day you wake up in this temple which you find out you've trashed because you've been so drunk and that kind of starts off this quest of you like like having to deal with your actions to then find out more information you trade and you find out that you stole
01:10:54
Speaker
You know, you stole a farmer's like prize, like ram and gave it to a giant. You got married to like one of these like high graven, which is like a kind of like a witch crossed with a bird. Like you got married to this character. It was a really fun. I remember laughing so much because it's something very different from the usual kind of fair of Skyrim as you kind of like, like a kind of hangover wrestling as you trace your actions.
01:11:16
Speaker
hell did I get up to and you eventually find out that the character you were you had the drinking competition was with one of these daydream princes called Sanguine who's like the he's like what the prince of like debauchery and things like that so like he's put you on this path but that one really sad to me he's just been something so different and so funny so those were two that nearly made the cut but didn't
01:11:33
Speaker
one of the ones that i was just thinking there i think there was one we were talking about as well like a couple of days ago was that was it the wee leaf clover oh really clover of course yeah so i was also saying that i had a funny story for this one um oh of course you only do so
01:11:49
Speaker
Yeah, just very briefly, I remember at university, I downloaded the game. I don't know what possessed me to buy it, but I was just like, oh, okay. So I bought it for the PC and for the most part, like I used to have one of these pretty much like if you have a laptop kind of combined with a jet, like it worked fine as a laptop, but see, as soon as you played games on it, it just overhead, like you think that, you know, a PlayStation is noisy. Oh, dude.
01:12:16
Speaker
Just this. But I always remember I played GTA on it. Like GTA 4 relatively well. I mean it wasn't the best, but it played alright. Which I thought, this is great, you know, I can finally play, you know, Grand Theft Auto at university. Take that mum and dad. And then I got to Three-Leaf Clover and everyone said, oh this is an amazing mission.
01:12:40
Speaker
For my experience, the textures didn't pop in. So I was like... I absolutely had no idea what it was supposed to be doing. So it's like I saw the NPCs, I saw kind of rough outlines of things and they're like...
01:12:56
Speaker
get down to the basement and you're running into the basement but i'm looking up and i still see everybody there and i'm like oh this is what kind of spectral hell i'm standing in so the whole game just glitched and then i was like mashing the button until like i got whatever you get at the bottom i don't know if it's money or something or
01:13:15
Speaker
whatever it is. Yeah, it's like the vault, it's like a backyard. Yeah, uh huh. But actually I just kept running until I ran into something and then I grabbed it but I was just running in thin air and I was like oh god this game has completely, it just completely clutched so yeah I could see everything and then I would run it up and
01:13:31
Speaker
once we left the banquet was fine but yeah like everything in between that was just like yeah this is that's a real shame yeah i mean like for the rest of the life i would then really spoil it but i do need to go back to it and kind of play it i think yeah that's another one that actually i forgot to say that's another one that nearly made the list go
01:13:53
Speaker
There's so many, like even in like four or five or... I mean even like San Andreas and things, there's so many levels in them that just could easily make the cut. It's true. Yeah, it'd be good. We could go on for ages.
01:14:09
Speaker
Don't make us way well. Yeah, so this Saturday we're doing the 12 hours. Let's game over this. I had no idea how to end this, so it was just like, level complete. See, that is... I like how in your mind we failed. No, it's a good game.
01:14:32
Speaker
It's like game over. Well, let's wrap this up guys I failed as a streamer and a host. Oh god So yeah, first of all as always Adam, thank you so so much for joining me in today's episode
01:14:49
Speaker
It's always a pleasure to have you on. And yeah, if you want to see more of this kind of content, you can follow me on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and of course Twitch, under the name Satsanami42. If you want to see any of our old podcast episodes, you can catch us on Anchor, Spotify,
01:15:10
Speaker
and of course all good podcast distributors. Without any further ado, stay safe, stay awesome and most importantly, stay hydrated. Bye guys. Bye.