Nobody likes water levels

[EHKOS]

Bioshock I win.

 

[BabyRaptor]

Irony...I was just thinking about how I was going to skip a certain underwater quest in WoW because I hate it so much. Then I saw this thread.

I don't hate water in general...I LOVE the beach. I'd live there if I could. I just hate this quest.

 

[crudus]

Water levels typically add a dimension to the problem that is disliked. In Zelda it was a literal dimension, in Sonic it was lack of oxygen, and in Mario it was swimming was much harder to maneuver.

 

[teqrevisited]

The water levels that I've played that gave me the most trouble have been in Tomb Raider. The Cistern, Tomb of Tihocan, Wreck of the Maria Doria, 40 Fathoms and Offshore rig. Most have given me some degree of trouble over the years, but I like the atmosphere on them.

On the other hand, Chemical plant, Hydrocity and Aquatic Ruin I can breeze through.

 

[WorldCritic]

I like levels with water in them, I don't like when you have to swim in the water though. It gets annoying, usually controls badly, cameras are usually a ***** to control, plus I don't like swimming in real life so it fits.

 

[Ryujisama]

Water levels always equal time-consuming puzzles, especially in Zelda titles, and if there are time-consuming puzzles in the entire game, the ones in the water levels are more than likely able to piss you off the most.

 

[Saltyk]

Water level starts at 1:30


/shudders

Oh My God. That level was my kryptonite when I was a kid. I hated it. I could beat it with all four turtles alive, but they all had about 1 health left. I didn't last long after that...
Seriously, who designed games back then? That and the hover bikes in Battle Toads were terrible. It was like they wanted you to fail.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

The Exhumed water level was crazy hard. Plus Lara was never a precise swimmer. Those would be my reasons for disliking water levels.

 

[SmileyBat]

I found the swordfish level in DK Country to be pretty awesome. Also there was an old X-Men title where Storm for some reason had to swim an entire level; it was pretty engaging.

For many titles, issues with water levels inevitably involve half-assed controls by the developers. Sometimes swimming is a serious pain, especially because everything in the water moves with more agility than anything on land or sky, typically.

 

[adam5396]

I love water levels. I absolutely despise the evil fishies swimming through it.
I would prefer many invisible walls to being eaten by a fish every time I fall into water.

 

[LogieBear]

Ape Escape had good water levels?

But yeah Ive grown accustom to water meaning death in most games, from when I was a kid =)
So now im irrtionally afraid some giant fish will eat me ( Thanks Jak and Daxter! )

Edit: Rachet and Clank 1 wasn't bad either =D

 

[The Hero Killer]

Water levels are fine but the water puzzles are what kills me. The water puzzles for Onimusha were some of the most annoying pieces of gaming ever.

 

[Kortney]

Water makes for boring physics. It's also dark in water.

I think that's why I don't enjoy water levels.

 

[FortheLegion]

I'm fine with water levels.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

The rule is simple: If the method by which your character gets around in or under the water sucks, the ENTIRE level will suck. Games like Legend of Starfy, and Majora's Mask do pretty well with water areas because the method by which you get around is at least adequate.

 

[Freechoice]

I like them, they just scare me. I'm looking at you Amnesia.

Damn straight. I was gonna link the vid. In fact, I will.

 

[BENZOOKA]

I used to dislike water in strategy games, but that's changed.

My man, you have not come across the awesomeness of supreme commander, water is a god send as it means they cannot rush you (unless they are those sneaky aeon bastards..)

OT: to be honest i never liked water levels, the one in croc was just boring, the ones in tomb raider were scary because I hate crocodiles and the underwater levels in Bioshock were.. oh wait thats the whole game.. ah well I still dislike swimming when you can't attack in water it makes me feel vulnerable..

What I've seen and heard of Supreme Commander, it seems like a good game. My strategic needs have so far been fulfilled by other titles so I haven't felt the urge to get it though.

I didn't use to like water in strategy games (Civilization III & IV, Age Of Empires II...) because you had to build ships to carry your troops and it was a pain. Especially in Civ's it took you a long time to build the units you wanted to transport, then the ship, and usually an escort ship so all your units wouldn't be so vulnerable to naval attacks. In real-time strategies you also always seemed to either have a too weak navy, or one that's just too powerful and useless as a waste of resources because you couldn't attack land units or buildings, unless they were right at the shore, and your ship could be sunken by a bunch of archers.

Rise of Nations[footnote]released in 2002. The perfect combination of games like Age of Empires and Civilization.[/footnote], that I like to think as the best real-time strategy, did it right: If your land units needed to go over water, they just "transformed" into a small defenseless transport ship, appropriate to the era you were in. I'm quite sure you had to have at least one harbor built to be able to do that with your units. Naval units were still very important and if you were to move a large group of units through water, you'd better have some ships to keep them safe, as the transport ships were defenseless and could be sunk by a warship quite easily. Also in Rise of Nations: some of the more powerful ships had a long range, not restricting them in merely bombing a piece of the coast, and were a real weapon in capturing cities and attacking buildings.

It's great to see Civilization V has these features as well.

 

[thisberichard]

"Oh, the water levels aren't so bad once you get the frog suit...."

 

[Scarecrow]

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver had one of the best water levels...just look to my avatar for proof.