The most intense level you have ever played

[pulse2]

Thinking back on all those games you've played, some good, some not so good, has there been a single level, chapter, episode, whatever fancy name they can think of calling it these days, that you have played that you just simply enjoyed, either because it was exciting all the way through, could be a Halo level, or competitive, could be a Gran Turismo level or heck, just funny, could be a Timesplitters level. Maybe its an older game like the famous first level of Super Mario or a country in Tomb Raider. Either way, it has stuck with you because it was just AWESOME.


EDIT: Do you realise you guys are awesome story tellers You should write books, the way you describe some of these levels makes me wish I was playing

I've had quite a few memorable experiences, epic ones too, Halo 1's last level being one, it was at that point I thought 'Most awesome and epic game ever', unfortunatly the second one didn't hold up as much as I had hoped :/ By the third I lost that excitement. Final Fantasy 7 + 8 also had some pretty intense moments for me growing up. But I think the most memorable experiences of mine lie with Diablo 2, when my brother and I played lan, me the scorceress of ice and him the scorceress of fire, while it was experiemental, we didn't realise how much we would need to cover each other's backs until we actually got deep into it. The amount of times we were crowded, but the battle against Diablo and Baal were by far the most intense moments of that particular experience. Oh, and I can't forget to mention Ground Control and Homeworld, two games that had levels that made me gasp and battles that felt oh so real and intense.

 

[Busdriver580]

The First Lab segment In STALKER. They basically throw a bunch of new mutants and anomalies at you right then, so you here all this stuff moving around and have literally no idea whats around the next corner.

Also, the Gilman House (the hotel) in Call of Cthulhu.

 

[Realitycrash]

"If I Had A Rocket Launcher, I'd Make Somebody Pay" from Marathon 2, on Total Carnage difficulty.

Not that I expect any of you to know what the hell I am talking about, but there's my two cents.

 

[Rayne870]

Sadly nothing really stands out for me at the moment, I'll have to wrack my brain and check back here.

 

[Vampire cat]

Honestly? Of all the countless levels I've played in various games, there is one that stands out, that is kind of burnt into my memory. I'm not saying that it is from the best game I've ever played, not by far, but the first mission in CoD: Modern Warfare, the one on the cargo ship, is my favorite game level of any game ever. The rest of the game has it's ups and downs, but nothing comes close. It actually saddens me that they proved how brilliantly well they could do a game like CoD by creating that mission, and then they go and throw it all out the window. It's even better for the mood of the mission/game when, at the very end, you hear a news report talking about how the ship was lost at sea in a storm... Brilliant... WHY isn't the rest of the game, and it's followers, like this!

 

[mireko]

The hotel from Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. You have to escape from the Innsmouth residents by barricading doors and running. Even better: some of them are armed, and you have no way to defend yourself.

If the whole game had been like that level, it would be solid gold.

Also: the Alfheim portals in Bayonetta. Some are easy, some are challenging, some are BALLS HARD.

 

[MightyMole]

I'd have to say... Either the Mile High Club level on Veteran in CoD4 or the Direlect Collector Ship in Mass Effect 2 on New Game+ Insanity as a Vanguard... Valve's games deserve a nod too, be it Portal's Advanced Test Chambers, getting the Neighborhood Watch achievements in HL2:Episode 2 or every finale in L4D on Expert.

 

[Ace of Spades]

The Shalebridge Cradle in Thief: Deadly Shadows. I wasn't expecting such a scary level in a stealth game, but it did a very good job at drawing me in. Hiding in a corner waiting for the twitching monster to shuffle past without noticing me was always very unnerving, and it was made all the more scary by the omission of Garrett's snarky narration of the things happening.

 

[Megacherv]

"If I Had A Rocket Launcher, I'd Make Somebody Pay" from Marathon 2, on Total Carnage difficulty.

Not that I expect any of you to know what the hell I am talking about, but there's my two cents.

I'd play through Marathon if I could figure out what the hell to do, because I'm slightly hipster like that ("Halo? Pfft, I play Marathon, you've probably never heard of it")

A lot of scenes in the Half-Life 2 series are intense. The most intense would probably be the finale in Episode 2 (although I found that too intense and turned the difficulty down for that last part), but my favourite would be the finale of Episode 1 with the fight against the Strider. To this day that's one of my favourite Half-Life moments ever, especially when I first played it and went "Oh shit, strider!!!"

 

[He[]]

Zot: 5 in Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup. A perfect climax of a hard game.

 

[silver wolf009]

twenty-five minutes into survival on the car area from L4D2's 1st campaign. There were so many tanks... so many... no hope... only chance is to swallow a bullet...

 

[AnthonTheSkabot]

Any song by the Aquabats in Beat Hazard on insane mode.

 

[Realitycrash]

"If I Had A Rocket Launcher, I'd Make Somebody Pay" from Marathon 2, on Total Carnage difficulty.

Not that I expect any of you to know what the hell I am talking about, but there's my two cents.

I'd play through Marathon if I could figure out what the hell to do, because I'm slightly hipster like that ("Halo? Pfft, I play Marathon, you've probably never heard of it")

Actually, when I grew up, Marathon was the latest "cutting edge" FPS, with the best graphics, etc. So that's why I remember it. Also, the story was excellent. Another reason why I play it several times.
How to play it? Kill everything and read the story and mission-directives from terminals you find on the map.

 

[Zechnophobe]

Man some of my most intense gaming moments came from L4D and its sequel. I can still recall running around in a sewer, all 3 of my friends down, and the tank that killed them coming after me.
... I sprint over the corpse of an ally, and snag his auto shotgun
... Turn through a small hole... where did the tank go? I thought he was right behind.
... I hear him in the darkness, unload some shots, then dodge away from the chunk of cement as it crashes a meer inch from my squishy head.
... The final rush as I circle around him finishing him off
... Still all lone, I *must* make it to the safe house, and that means not getting caught by any of the nasties in the game... it isn't far, but a single mistake and we ALL lose the round.

Pulling the door closed behind me was one of the best feelings I've ever had in a game.

 

[Zaik]

I can't remember which Serious Sam it was from, but you're in this big open field and these walls keep popping up leading you on this winding trail with tons and tons of aliens popping out constantly.

Once you finally get to the end, it's this huge open area, and you get attacked by hundreds of enemies from literally every direction. Health and ammo keep spawning in the center, but it was still nonstop killing and checking all around to see what was closest and I've honestly never found anything like it. If you let up even for a second, you were toast. If you missed one of those headless bomber guys and he blew you up, you were probably toast. It was amazing.

In comparison, most FPS games today feel kind of weak on the action side. I don't expect most games to throw hundreds of enemies at you at a time, it's not really a fair comparison, but it's still like drinking kool aid after eating ice cream. It just tastes like bitter water.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

For some reason, the last level of MegaMan Legends came to mind, as did the final boss fight in MegaMan Legends 2. The final colossi in Shadow of the Colossus also gets a mention.

Probably the most intense I've encountered was the almost non-stop fight from Queen Zeal to Lavos Core in Chrono Trigger. Interesting thought - did you know that if you played the final Lavos battle theme music on surround sound or any such sound set up, it feels like the music is spinning around you? That is intense, in and of itself.

 

[llew]

last mission of halo: reach on legendary solo... i had to turn "god" mode on just to kill a single zealot, never mind 6 with energy swords

 

[baddude1337]

Brains not thinking, but at the moment I'd say most of Vanquish, especially the moment about halfway through the game where you fight two big ass bosses at the same time.

 

[InfiniteJacuzzi]

Good question. I've had a lot of stressful moments playing video games, but the worst was pretty recent. It was in Dead Space 2, hardcore, against the final boss. I hadn't saved since the Ishimura and I wasn't in terribly good shape. I defeated it with my last shot of plasma, with the lowest amount of health it's possible to have. I was actually yelling right before the end.

 

[Chal]

"If I Had A Rocket Launcher, I'd Make Somebody Pay" from Marathon 2, on Total Carnage difficulty.

Not that I expect any of you to know what the hell I am talking about, but there's my two cents.

I know what you're talking about! A few friends and I still play Marathon Infinity at LAN parties while everyone else plays Counterstrike =P

The hardest I remember is fighting the priest in Diablo, although I like to bring up the excuse that my first run-through was through coop and it would always hang for a few seconds when he summoned a few dozen succubi, often to our ruin.