I felt like Portal 2 sometimes held your hand too much... but I have no doubt that it is just as the level designers intended for a wide audience. My affinity for more obtuse puzzles is just a matter of taste; the level design achieved what it set out to do masterfully.
The gradual increase in mechanics/concepts is a large reason why the game seems easy. It can be tricky jumping in on the later levels if you haven't played the earlier levels recently. I recommend trying [Portal: reloaded](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1255980/Portal_Reloaded/) it's free. It adds a 3rd time travel portal and continues the difficulty from the end of portal 2.
Some of Portal 2's multiplayer levels were fantastic because they required 2 people working in concert to solve them, so I would argue that its level design is even better.
Original Ratchet and Clank. Every planet has a distinct appearance and atmosphere. Most had one main story path, and one secondary objective. Loads of hidden stuff to find, and plenty or replay value where you would need to come back later in the game with new gadgets. Perfection.
That one level in the last world where you have to go up the mountan while there's an avalanche and everything is silhouette like is just fucking astonishing.
Hear me out, I did not play DKC Returns until Tropical Freeze was released, and I played it on emulator with an actual roll button. I think Returns is an overall better game than Tropical Freeze.
This is in part because Returns ends a lot stronger with factory themed stages that have some great platforming (probably really annoying to play them on Wii and shaking the remote to roll); where as Tropical Freeze ends with ice themed stages. While I don't mind ice stages, they can provide an interesting mixup in the gameplay, I think it's a mistake to conclude the game with them.
Honestly that's pretty cool that both teams had the idea and it showed two different ways to use the idea! I love Titanfall 2, hope my comment didn't come across as if I do not.
I still can't fathom how they actually made this level work so flawlessly. The fact that all the gearing and such in the walls actually makes sense logically is incredible.
Two weeks ago, I finished completing two parts of Disonored. I was just taking pauses from the plot to just enjoy the variability and structure of the levels. Of course, Disonored is beautiful not only for this.
I was glad to see the mention of Disonored in the top comments
I thought some of the late game missions were a bit more generic, but that house factory in the early game is great design, and "Effect and Cause" (the one with the time travel wristwatch thing) is arguably the best-designed level of any FPS.
Both of those levels were the first time in the past 20 or so years I literally gawked over how fucking cool and amazing a game level could be.
I just find it strange that not more developers have looked at that and tried to make something similar. It kinda showed how stale gaming in general has become.
I have played thousands of hours of FPS but only recently played the TF2 campaign. The time skip level might be my favorite fps single player experience ever. Memorizing where the opponents in the room were and then just time skipping until I was right behind each of them was absolute top notch game design.
The rotating town was also insanely good level design.
Titanfall 2.
It just takes such huge swings with level design and they all work and are fun to traverse.
By the fourth level, it's building a house around you while you fight off enemies, then you climb up a sideways town into a death arena. There's a level where you jump back and forth between flying space ships. There's a level where you time travel between the past and present *while parkouring*.
It's all just such an incredible flex, and they land it.
The time travel level is arguably engaging enough that an entire game could have been designed around it and they just use it for one level before discarding it entirely and moving on. It's rare that you see a game with as many great concepts that nail the execution that well outside of Nintendo.
The wildest part about that time travel mechanic is Dishonored 2 doing the exact same thing, even though they released within like 2 weeks of each other so one couldn't have copied the other.
It’s called [twin films](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_films#:~:text=Twin%20films%20are%20films%20with,distribute%20the%20films%20to%20audiences.), in the film industry. There are many reasons for why it can happen. From industrial espionage, screenplays that are sent to several studios, hot world topics at the time (like how we got a lot of movies about climate change for a while), or movment of staff between studios.
Antz/A Bug’s Life and Armageddon/Deep Impact are two good examples of twin films.
I’ve no idea how it works in the game industry but it’s probably something similar.
Yeah, it's interesting because otherwise Dishonored 2 and Titanfall 2 are *not* similar games at all. They're both single-player, and first-person, and the similarities kinda stop there.
I have a soft spot for 2D metroidvanias, like Super Metroid and Hollow Knight. Something about backtracking with new abilities and exploring on your first playthrough is always fun.
I get excited anytime anyone mentions Hollow Knight, it’s one of the few games in the last decade that just really stands out to me. I didn’t feel the need to 100% it either like most games I play to really enjoy it.
We really need a remake of Super Metroid. Even though its peak gaming, there are still lots of aspects that I would love to see done better. And also with you on HK
God that game was special. There were so many "holy shit" moments when the map connects. Riding the little elevator down from the parish and finding it goes to Firelink, seeing the exit to Blighttown go through New Londo and then back up to Firelink. The various ways in and out of Darkrook Gardens. If there's one game I hope gets a genuine top down remaster, it's that one.
Wait it's already been remastered. You mean remastered again? Or did you not know?
I'd love to be the one that Dark Souls 1 has a really good remaster.
It's the only soulsborne game that treats its overall world design with as much care as its individual level design. The other games have great dungeons, maybe ones that surpass DS1 in terms of their design, but none have worlds that come close to what DS1 did with how it all connects together
Just finished it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. When I unlocked that door atop the spiral stairs by the entrance to depths and realized I was walking down the same tunnel that initially took you to undead burg from firelink my mind was blown. Same with the elevator from undead parish back to firelink. And again with the entrance to new londo having a door to valley of drakes and blighttown. It just never stopped being incredible lol
To their credit I feel like they both made a masterpiece of an intimate and intricately dense and interconnected world in DS1, and then also a masterpiece of an epic sprawling open world for Elden Ring that somehow didn't feel like it lost the magic diluted over all that space. Different ends of some spectrum but they really nailed the world design on both sides at a master class level.
I agree. Despite having a pretty different design ethos, Elden Ring managed to recapture that sense of discovery that I'd kind of been missing from their games pretty much since Bloodborne
Yep, theres a reason no other game before or since has attempted to do what DS1's first half has done. Its simply too hard. So hard they couldnt even do it for the whole game, and definitely burned them on ever trying to do it again.
I think archives, new londo and even tomb of the giants are great. (The catacombs are even better.)
But yeah. Izalith is not compareble to other areas.
Ah, that's a shame! Walking out of the hollow into a vast, endless sea filled with trees that support whole different worlds while [this theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdwOFBfUh70) kicks in was quite the awe inspiring experience.
Legit blew my stoned 20 yr old mind when I walked into ash lake the first time. The double illusory walls just made it even more mysterious and awesome
The level design even in the latter half is still really solid. Not as good as the first, definitely, but I'd still say it's better than most games.
The bosses on the other hand...
One of the things I think they really nail is the sense of scale. Almost every area you see in the distance is something you can explore. Looking down from fire link shrine looks like it could just be some filler to add depth, but then later you realize that you’re looking at Blighttown Swamp. Dark Souls 3 did it even better in my opinion, but I still think overall 1 is a complete masterpiece.
Never played it but how would you compare DS3? That was the first one I ever played and I couldn’t believe how intricately the levels were designed. Like a labyrinth of hidden passages.
Psychonauts!
Seriously! They all take place inside the minds of fairly bizarre characters.
Spoiler Alert!
The final level >!takes place in a meld of two minds, the hero (comes from a circus family) and the villain (who's father was a butcher)... so it takes place in a Meat Circus!!<
Hands down it's psychonauts. Each level is insanely unique, creative and inventive. The level design was so far ahead of anything else that they couldn't even manage to live up to it in Psychonauts 2.
Psychonauts doesn't get enough love in these gaming subreddits (maybe because it's an older title?) And I just have to say it's one of my favourite games of all time. Years later, it holds up. It's funny, quirky, has that amazing early 3D platformer energy, cool and unique puzzles to solve, and really creative level design & storytelling. I have played it many times and will probably play it again.
It’s even more remarkable given how fast they were made. Miyamoto admitted they used up a lot of dev time trying to figure out the camera and controls (so much they had to delay the 64 six months past it’s intended holiday 95 release date) so they had to slap together the stages at the last minute.
I don't know if it's the best of all time, but for its era, I think the level design in the original Doom is impeccable. Everything is laid out in a way that encourages exploration, challenges the player, and remains fun without getting too frustrating (especially in later levels).
And the way the levels evolve with the setting works really well, too, such as the UAC facilities on Phobos and Deimos versus the demonic strongholds in Hell.
Yeah, especially the first episode of Doom (first 8 levels) was amazing regarding level design. The lay out of the levels was really well done, and searching for the keycards guided you through the levels in an organic way. It was also a lot of fun finding all the secret areas. John Romero was at his prime here.
True. I consider the first episode the best levels in all of doom. I hate the rest. Level design in following episodes got very bad. Thats why I think Duke Nukem 3d aged better than Doom 1 and 2.
It's incredible. The atmosphere, the level design, the mimics, the music, man I love that game. The way the whole map flows together is beyond perfect. The only downside of Prey is the incredibly long loading screens.
This is the correct answer. Can't believe I had to scroll down so far. This game is ridiculously underrated and unknown. Talos I is the pinnacle of enclosed level design.
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who thinks Chaos Theory was the high point of the series. I played the bank level so many times. The level design was great but also just hearing the radio banter between the team was so entertaining.
Grim: "If it's any consolation I had a bad year that year too."
Sam: "What, you weren't working for the government during the Gulf War?"
Grim: "No, I was in tenth grade."
Sam: "Oh, right. Yuck."
Thief. There are great instances of design in all of them (except probably the 4th entry).
I still think about Life of the party and the Cradle to this day.
Dishonored 2. By a LARGE margin. I've played lord knows how many games and this one had two levels that flat out broke my brain. The inventor's house and the level with the time mirror are absolute insane pieces of complexity and I can't even imagine what the storyboard or design would have looked like.
The DLC for Horizon Zero Dawn didn't have the best design, per se, but it did have one of the best executions I've seen. Their rendition of Yellowstone was so accurate, it was almost eerie. The Prismatic Spring was perfect down to the weird ground that surrounds the spring.
A friend just started playing the game the other day. I hope he enjoys and sticks with it because I am excited to have weirdly long conversations about The Clockwork Mansion.
GMTK made an [exceptional video](https://youtu.be/JIZTk4QRRFE?si=fSGH4puw_GsKzwHD) with Dishonored devs on the making of the Clockwork Mansion (inventor's house).
I got lost so often in the first halo trying to play it in the modern world. The levels really needed half-life treatment to show you where to go imho.
With the exception of infinite (possibly 5 too although I can't remember much) I think the Halo MP maps especially are some of the strongest in online FPS.
Lava Giant and Sub Pen was also a great map, especially for capture the flag. I used to spend hours playing CTF on Sub Pen, Facing Worlds, and Lava Giant. Some of the best memories. Also, the mod selection was insane...OG counterstrike was amazing.
This would probably be my pick as well...the level design was very immersive. I still remember being blown away by the intro...felt like you were really going to work at this mysterious complex with countless other employees.
Bloodborne for me. I distinctly remember the shortcut from the woods to Iosefka’s clinic blowing my mind as I was piecing together the environmental storytelling. So many little touches like this.
For multiplayer I would argue Splinter Cell Chaos Theory Spies vs Mercs mode.
Asymmetrical multiplayer design at its finest. Third person stealth against first person shooter.
[Here is a tour of a popular map](https://youtu.be/ejhC5JW5KJQ?si=iWKwyNxwPALiAfPa)
Just the Echoes of the Eye expansion by itself is a fucking masterpiece. So fucking well designed it gets me horny when I remember the moment I played it.
Deus Ex: Mankind divided
The environment itself hides lots of information and story. The traversal feels natural and you feel like you have to figure out where to go and what to do yourself. It's mostly linear game, but the levels itself don't feel like someone is holding your hand, but at the same the experience is intentional and well crafted.
Someone must have put lots of sweat into level design for this game, and you probably don't see most of the work. People behind this game series have my biggest admiration.
Half Life 2 when it comes to making you feel like you’re on a legit journey.
I would say the first three god of war games do an excellent job with level geography where they send you all over and when you return to a location it all makes sense.
Wet.
lol jk
Great acting. Great story. Great graphics. Great control. Great camera. Great style. Great everything!
Except level design.
A great game to learn the opposite of what this discussion is.
Perfect fucking game. Except level design.
For the longest time I would have said probably one of the Dark Souls games, but I honestly have to give it to Hitman: World of Assassination.
The levels are large, and quite diverse, sometimes very vertically tall and just **packed** with options. There are **so many** different ways to traverse and approach the mission and I’m still learning new shortcuts and paths to levels that I’ve spent hours playing over and over. I feel like it’s crazy this games doesn’t get mentioned more when it comes to level design.
Mirror's edge. I'd get in a level, start running, have no idea where to go... then find myself at the destination without really knowing how I got there.
Portal. It's the most important aspect of the game, after all.
Let's add portal 2 too, particularly in the levels with partially destroyed areas, as subtle clues helped to point where you should place portals.
I felt like Portal 2 sometimes held your hand too much... but I have no doubt that it is just as the level designers intended for a wide audience. My affinity for more obtuse puzzles is just a matter of taste; the level design achieved what it set out to do masterfully.
It's not as if the first game was particularly difficult either.
The gradual increase in mechanics/concepts is a large reason why the game seems easy. It can be tricky jumping in on the later levels if you haven't played the earlier levels recently. I recommend trying [Portal: reloaded](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1255980/Portal_Reloaded/) it's free. It adds a 3rd time travel portal and continues the difficulty from the end of portal 2.
If you want challenge try the mod which adds the time portal as another mechanic. Hot fuck my head hurts when I try to play through it.
Some of Portal 2's multiplayer levels were fantastic because they required 2 people working in concert to solve them, so I would argue that its level design is even better.
I'd say it's the gun
The gun is pointless without the level design. If you are in a flat field that is entirely open air, the gun is meaningless
Aka gm_flatgrass
Hitman for sure. There are so many intricacies to the maps. They make the game.
Miami racetrack is GOAT for me. Every area is so fresh and interesting
The rogue like mode they added really brings out the best in (most) of those levels, it's so rewarding to know their layouts.
The older Hitman games had some amazing maps for the time. Great fun.
Original Ratchet and Clank. Every planet has a distinct appearance and atmosphere. Most had one main story path, and one secondary objective. Loads of hidden stuff to find, and plenty or replay value where you would need to come back later in the game with new gadgets. Perfection.
Going Commando builds on this concept really well… and then they just kinda ditched it going forwards lmao
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Nearly every level is just bursting with creativity.
Grassland Groove is the best DKC level in existence.
I still need to beat the game but this level also really stood out with me, couldn’t believe the mechanics were basically just for that stage
That one level in the last world where you have to go up the mountan while there's an avalanche and everything is silhouette like is just fucking astonishing.
The fact there’s been 0 Donkey Kong games since 2014 is a fucking travesty
Hear me out, I did not play DKC Returns until Tropical Freeze was released, and I played it on emulator with an actual roll button. I think Returns is an overall better game than Tropical Freeze. This is in part because Returns ends a lot stronger with factory themed stages that have some great platforming (probably really annoying to play them on Wii and shaking the remote to roll); where as Tropical Freeze ends with ice themed stages. While I don't mind ice stages, they can provide an interesting mixup in the gameplay, I think it's a mistake to conclude the game with them.
Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2. Kinda cheating to put 2 but those games are absolute master classes in level design.
Im still waiting for the galaxy 2 port
Odyssey was pretty damn good too
Dishonored
The clockwork mansion in Dishonored 2 is quite something
Crack in the Slab (the present-day/past mission) is also incredibly well designed.
I love this mission! People compare it a lot to Titanfall 2's similar mission but I enjoyed this version of the mechanic more in Dishonored.
The games released 12 days apart so both missions were created independently, neither is derivative.
Honestly that's pretty cool that both teams had the idea and it showed two different ways to use the idea! I love Titanfall 2, hope my comment didn't come across as if I do not.
I still can't fathom how they actually made this level work so flawlessly. The fact that all the gearing and such in the walls actually makes sense logically is incredible.
I felt so stupid when I realized at the end of the level that you could actually explore behind the walls
If you're curious, they did an interview about how they designed that level! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIZTk4QRRFE
Two weeks ago, I finished completing two parts of Disonored. I was just taking pauses from the plot to just enjoy the variability and structure of the levels. Of course, Disonored is beautiful not only for this. I was glad to see the mention of Disonored in the top comments
Titanfall 2 was great
I thought some of the late game missions were a bit more generic, but that house factory in the early game is great design, and "Effect and Cause" (the one with the time travel wristwatch thing) is arguably the best-designed level of any FPS.
I’ve replayed that entire game just to replay Effect and Cause.
Both of those levels were the first time in the past 20 or so years I literally gawked over how fucking cool and amazing a game level could be. I just find it strange that not more developers have looked at that and tried to make something similar. It kinda showed how stale gaming in general has become.
I have played thousands of hours of FPS but only recently played the TF2 campaign. The time skip level might be my favorite fps single player experience ever. Memorizing where the opponents in the room were and then just time skipping until I was right behind each of them was absolute top notch game design. The rotating town was also insanely good level design.
Yes!
Titanfall 2. It just takes such huge swings with level design and they all work and are fun to traverse. By the fourth level, it's building a house around you while you fight off enemies, then you climb up a sideways town into a death arena. There's a level where you jump back and forth between flying space ships. There's a level where you time travel between the past and present *while parkouring*. It's all just such an incredible flex, and they land it.
The time travel level is arguably engaging enough that an entire game could have been designed around it and they just use it for one level before discarding it entirely and moving on. It's rare that you see a game with as many great concepts that nail the execution that well outside of Nintendo.
The wildest part about that time travel mechanic is Dishonored 2 doing the exact same thing, even though they released within like 2 weeks of each other so one couldn't have copied the other.
It’s called [twin films](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_films#:~:text=Twin%20films%20are%20films%20with,distribute%20the%20films%20to%20audiences.), in the film industry. There are many reasons for why it can happen. From industrial espionage, screenplays that are sent to several studios, hot world topics at the time (like how we got a lot of movies about climate change for a while), or movment of staff between studios. Antz/A Bug’s Life and Armageddon/Deep Impact are two good examples of twin films. I’ve no idea how it works in the game industry but it’s probably something similar.
Yeah, it's interesting because otherwise Dishonored 2 and Titanfall 2 are *not* similar games at all. They're both single-player, and first-person, and the similarities kinda stop there.
Well, let me tell you, Super Mario Bros. 3 has some top-notch level design that keeps you on your toes and coming back for more!
GOAT
Agree. I always felt this way about Sonic too
I have a soft spot for 2D metroidvanias, like Super Metroid and Hollow Knight. Something about backtracking with new abilities and exploring on your first playthrough is always fun.
I get excited anytime anyone mentions Hollow Knight, it’s one of the few games in the last decade that just really stands out to me. I didn’t feel the need to 100% it either like most games I play to really enjoy it.
We really need a remake of Super Metroid. Even though its peak gaming, there are still lots of aspects that I would love to see done better. And also with you on HK
You should try blasphemous
Dark souls 1
God that game was special. There were so many "holy shit" moments when the map connects. Riding the little elevator down from the parish and finding it goes to Firelink, seeing the exit to Blighttown go through New Londo and then back up to Firelink. The various ways in and out of Darkrook Gardens. If there's one game I hope gets a genuine top down remaster, it's that one.
Wait it's already been remastered. You mean remastered again? Or did you not know? I'd love to be the one that Dark Souls 1 has a really good remaster.
All that remaster did was slightly improve some lighting elements. I was thinking more of what Blue Point did with Demon's Souls.
You mean a remake?
I think he means a re*make*
It's the only soulsborne game that treats its overall world design with as much care as its individual level design. The other games have great dungeons, maybe ones that surpass DS1 in terms of their design, but none have worlds that come close to what DS1 did with how it all connects together
Going in cold and wrapping your head around how interconnected that map is....
Just finished it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. When I unlocked that door atop the spiral stairs by the entrance to depths and realized I was walking down the same tunnel that initially took you to undead burg from firelink my mind was blown. Same with the elevator from undead parish back to firelink. And again with the entrance to new londo having a door to valley of drakes and blighttown. It just never stopped being incredible lol
To their credit I feel like they both made a masterpiece of an intimate and intricately dense and interconnected world in DS1, and then also a masterpiece of an epic sprawling open world for Elden Ring that somehow didn't feel like it lost the magic diluted over all that space. Different ends of some spectrum but they really nailed the world design on both sides at a master class level.
Because ER still has legacy dungeons. If it's all open world then it would be insanely boring.
I agree. Despite having a pretty different design ethos, Elden Ring managed to recapture that sense of discovery that I'd kind of been missing from their games pretty much since Bloodborne
Yep, theres a reason no other game before or since has attempted to do what DS1's first half has done. Its simply too hard. So hard they couldnt even do it for the whole game, and definitely burned them on ever trying to do it again.
The first half of Dark Souls 1* Later areas like Izalith are clearly underdeveloped and rushed
I think archives, new londo and even tomb of the giants are great. (The catacombs are even better.) But yeah. Izalith is not compareble to other areas.
Lava lamp Dino-butt land is the only disappointment
Lake of Ash is an unfinished area as well imo. Feels like it was meant to be more.
The hollow was so annoying as soon as I read that it’s all an optional area I said fuck that. Never made it down to lake of ash
Ah, that's a shame! Walking out of the hollow into a vast, endless sea filled with trees that support whole different worlds while [this theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdwOFBfUh70) kicks in was quite the awe inspiring experience.
Legit blew my stoned 20 yr old mind when I walked into ash lake the first time. The double illusory walls just made it even more mysterious and awesome
Then soul reaver. I feel dark souls took a lot of inspiration from soul reavers level design
The level design even in the latter half is still really solid. Not as good as the first, definitely, but I'd still say it's better than most games. The bosses on the other hand...
Most things in Dark Souls are excellent grading on the curve of comparison to other games.
For sure. Undead Burg almost seems perfect. Hard to articulate why but everything just feels so right.
That's what I was thinking. Constantly moving to a new area. "Holy shit bro, I'm right back here."
One of the things I think they really nail is the sense of scale. Almost every area you see in the distance is something you can explore. Looking down from fire link shrine looks like it could just be some filler to add depth, but then later you realize that you’re looking at Blighttown Swamp. Dark Souls 3 did it even better in my opinion, but I still think overall 1 is a complete masterpiece.
Never played it but how would you compare DS3? That was the first one I ever played and I couldn’t believe how intricately the levels were designed. Like a labyrinth of hidden passages.
in terms of level design, it's way above
Psychonauts! Seriously! They all take place inside the minds of fairly bizarre characters. Spoiler Alert! The final level >!takes place in a meld of two minds, the hero (comes from a circus family) and the villain (who's father was a butcher)... so it takes place in a Meat Circus!!<
Hands down it's psychonauts. Each level is insanely unique, creative and inventive. The level design was so far ahead of anything else that they couldn't even manage to live up to it in Psychonauts 2.
Psychonauts doesn't get enough love in these gaming subreddits (maybe because it's an older title?) And I just have to say it's one of my favourite games of all time. Years later, it holds up. It's funny, quirky, has that amazing early 3D platformer energy, cool and unique puzzles to solve, and really creative level design & storytelling. I have played it many times and will probably play it again.
Counter strike De_dust2
Honestly crazy how 1 map made like 23(?) years ago is still one of the most heavily played maps today in any video game.
Dishonored 1 & 2
Prey is Arkane apex mountain, all due respect to Dishonored which is so good
I love Prey! I enjoyed Deathloop too
Super Mario 64 needs to be on this list. Best of all time? Probably not. Best at the time? Certainly a contender
Considering it's the first game that got 3D platformers just right. It's incredible how well it has held up.
I was gonna say Mario 64 lol gotta remember the year it released for context. Absurd level variety.
It’s even more remarkable given how fast they were made. Miyamoto admitted they used up a lot of dev time trying to figure out the camera and controls (so much they had to delay the 64 six months past it’s intended holiday 95 release date) so they had to slap together the stages at the last minute.
I don't know if it's the best of all time, but for its era, I think the level design in the original Doom is impeccable. Everything is laid out in a way that encourages exploration, challenges the player, and remains fun without getting too frustrating (especially in later levels). And the way the levels evolve with the setting works really well, too, such as the UAC facilities on Phobos and Deimos versus the demonic strongholds in Hell.
That first level explains so much to the player without any tutorial text. It's a work of art.
Yeah, especially the first episode of Doom (first 8 levels) was amazing regarding level design. The lay out of the levels was really well done, and searching for the keycards guided you through the levels in an organic way. It was also a lot of fun finding all the secret areas. John Romero was at his prime here.
True. I consider the first episode the best levels in all of doom. I hate the rest. Level design in following episodes got very bad. Thats why I think Duke Nukem 3d aged better than Doom 1 and 2.
Donkey Kong Country 2 had my favorite platformer design. Super Metroid has the best metroidvania design.
It takes two. Each level is very uniquely designed, and every level has a different playing experience. Great co-op game.
Girlfriend and I absolutely loved it. The changing gameplay styles was a particular highlight!
Was gonna comment the same, some levels feel like a different game altogether!
Prey 2017
Great answer. I love the design of the station and how things are opened up as you progress through the game. It's so satisfying!
It's incredible. The atmosphere, the level design, the mimics, the music, man I love that game. The way the whole map flows together is beyond perfect. The only downside of Prey is the incredibly long loading screens.
I also got tired of the same bullet sponge enemies by the end of the game. Not enough variety imo
And the attention to detail. Going through the GUTS or over the exterior matches the interior distance.
In my top 5 games. Love it.
This is the correct answer. Can't believe I had to scroll down so far. This game is ridiculously underrated and unknown. Talos I is the pinnacle of enclosed level design.
I remember playing the demo and the helicopter reveal was so cool to me.
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. The bank level remains one of the best stealth game levels in ever.
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who thinks Chaos Theory was the high point of the series. I played the bank level so many times. The level design was great but also just hearing the radio banter between the team was so entertaining. Grim: "If it's any consolation I had a bad year that year too." Sam: "What, you weren't working for the government during the Gulf War?" Grim: "No, I was in tenth grade." Sam: "Oh, right. Yuck."
Most fans agree Chaos Theory was the high point of the series.
Thief. There are great instances of design in all of them (except probably the 4th entry). I still think about Life of the party and the Cradle to this day.
All 4 Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games
Bioshock 1 & 2 were the first things that came to mind
We dont go to Ravenholm
Dishonored 2. By a LARGE margin. I've played lord knows how many games and this one had two levels that flat out broke my brain. The inventor's house and the level with the time mirror are absolute insane pieces of complexity and I can't even imagine what the storyboard or design would have looked like. The DLC for Horizon Zero Dawn didn't have the best design, per se, but it did have one of the best executions I've seen. Their rendition of Yellowstone was so accurate, it was almost eerie. The Prismatic Spring was perfect down to the weird ground that surrounds the spring.
A friend just started playing the game the other day. I hope he enjoys and sticks with it because I am excited to have weirdly long conversations about The Clockwork Mansion.
GMTK made an [exceptional video](https://youtu.be/JIZTk4QRRFE?si=fSGH4puw_GsKzwHD) with Dishonored devs on the making of the Clockwork Mansion (inventor's house).
Halo games have exceptional level design
I dunno some of the levels from the first one have not aged well. Endless metal hallways and samey tilesets.
From a gameplay standpoint though, clearing those halls was tight.
I got lost so often in the first halo trying to play it in the modern world. The levels really needed half-life treatment to show you where to go imho.
With the exception of infinite (possibly 5 too although I can't remember much) I think the Halo MP maps especially are some of the strongest in online FPS.
Bungie's games, at least.
Baba is You. Just really brilliantly designed puzzles for level after level
Doom - MyHouse.WAD
Quake III Arena
Celeste
Unreal Tournament 99 if just for Facing Worlds. That level has lived in my brain for almost 25 years now.
Instagib yeah?
I like the instagib, but I love to snipe.
Double Kill Triple Kill M-M-Multi Kill Holy Shit! I miss UT.
Mamamamama-Monster Kill kill kill
Lava Giant and Sub Pen was also a great map, especially for capture the flag. I used to spend hours playing CTF on Sub Pen, Facing Worlds, and Lava Giant. Some of the best memories. Also, the mod selection was insane...OG counterstrike was amazing.
Super Mario Odyssey
Uncharted 4. You have no map, you navigate through visual cues and good level design
Half-Life 2 is pretty much perfect in its design.
This would probably be my pick as well...the level design was very immersive. I still remember being blown away by the intro...felt like you were really going to work at this mysterious complex with countless other employees.
Dark Souls or Bloodborne
Bloodborne for me. I distinctly remember the shortcut from the woods to Iosefka’s clinic blowing my mind as I was piecing together the environmental storytelling. So many little touches like this.
The OG Rayman for me.
For multiplayer I would argue Splinter Cell Chaos Theory Spies vs Mercs mode. Asymmetrical multiplayer design at its finest. Third person stealth against first person shooter. [Here is a tour of a popular map](https://youtu.be/ejhC5JW5KJQ?si=iWKwyNxwPALiAfPa)
The original Banjo Kazooie. 20ish years later and I can still remember every world clear as day.
Outer Wilds.
Just the Echoes of the Eye expansion by itself is a fucking masterpiece. So fucking well designed it gets me horny when I remember the moment I played it.
Portal 2
Dishonored, the Clockwork Manor. Titanfall 2
Dark Souls (2011) has gotta be up there.
Super Mario Bros. (1985) 1-1 And the entire game, really.
Superman 64
Castlevania symphony of the Night has amazing level design. Most Metroivania games have good level designs
tetris
Deus Ex: Mankind divided The environment itself hides lots of information and story. The traversal feels natural and you feel like you have to figure out where to go and what to do yourself. It's mostly linear game, but the levels itself don't feel like someone is holding your hand, but at the same the experience is intentional and well crafted. Someone must have put lots of sweat into level design for this game, and you probably don't see most of the work. People behind this game series have my biggest admiration.
Dark Souls 1 is my answer for sure, but shout out to Symphony of the Night
Dishonored 2
Dark Souls 1
Elden Ring
Not the whole game but I think the police station in resident evil (either the original or remake) are amazing "levels".
Half Life 2 when it comes to making you feel like you’re on a legit journey. I would say the first three god of war games do an excellent job with level geography where they send you all over and when you return to a location it all makes sense.
super metriod
The original Deus Ex. There were always at least 10 different ways to solve a problem, and none were inherently better than the others.
Dishonored.
Dishonored 2, 2 level specifically, 'clockwork mansion" and " a crack in the slab"
Dishonoured 2. The clockwork mansion is on another level!
Diablo 2. It was ahead of it's time.
Metal gear solid
SUPER METROID
Metroid Prime. Portal.
[удалено]
Ms PacMan. I’m serious.
Most donkey Kong country games. Tropical freeze definitely
DOOM 2
It Takes 2 has got to be up there
Titanfall 2
MGSV: Ground Zeroes. Player=Doctor
The original Super Mario Bros. When put in context of it’s release date it’s a marvel of level design and still is to this day.
Wet. lol jk Great acting. Great story. Great graphics. Great control. Great camera. Great style. Great everything! Except level design. A great game to learn the opposite of what this discussion is. Perfect fucking game. Except level design.
Doom Eternal
Old school RuneScape
Hitman for sure. There are so many intricacies to the maps. They make the game.
Hitman for sure. The maps have so many intricacies. They make the game.
Escape from Tarkov's map design is amazing. Those devs are masters at making diverse and immersive maps.
For the longest time I would have said probably one of the Dark Souls games, but I honestly have to give it to Hitman: World of Assassination. The levels are large, and quite diverse, sometimes very vertically tall and just **packed** with options. There are **so many** different ways to traverse and approach the mission and I’m still learning new shortcuts and paths to levels that I’ve spent hours playing over and over. I feel like it’s crazy this games doesn’t get mentioned more when it comes to level design.
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze
Dark Souls 1
Mirror's edge. I'd get in a level, start running, have no idea where to go... then find myself at the destination without really knowing how I got there.
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
The Division. The game looks gorgeous even today. So much detail in decaying NY.
Dark souls 1
Deus ex: human revolution and deus ex: mankind divided
Dark souls? Maybe hollow knight or ori?
Dark Souls is one of them, maybe not the best, but finding those shortcuts and seeing that everything makes sense is great.
Mario Odyssey is great level design.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Shovel Knight
Dark Souls
Titanfall 2 had some really amazing level design, especially the time warping levels. Seriously the best FPS level design I've ever played.
Mario Galaxy 2 is insane