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The sequel to last year’s XL pod on the best video game levels is here, covering 25 different categories. Everything from a theme park section in Rocket: Robot on Wheels to the daft London pub in Uncharted 3 gets a shout out in this one. Thanks for your support in funding this episode, and the pod more generally!

And thanks to pod pal Liam Richardson for the edits.

Level with a giant set piece that you love

  • Cosmonaut Training from Gears 5
  • Normandy D-Day in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

Level from old game

  • Clowney Island from Rocket: Robot on Wheels
  • Mission 15 from Star Wars: Jedi Knight

Platforming level with imagination

  • Mount Must Dash on Super Mario 3D World
  • Ford’s Follicles in Psychonauts 2

Racing level

  • Mount Wario from Mario Kart 8
  • Airship Fortress from Mario Kart DS / Mario Kart 8

Pat the Ox

  • Xmas Market from Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
  • Jim Gordon Joker Flashback in Batman: Arkham Knight
  • The Loft Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Another Multiplayer FPS map

  • Cold War from Battlefield: Bad Company 2
  • Behemoth from Halo Infinite

A Bonus Level or location you love

  • The Secret 2D Area in Mushroom Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey
  • Bowling Mode in Spider-Man (2002)

A level with a vehicle you love

  • Prehistoric Path from Donkey Kong Country Returns
  • Minecart sequence in new Resident Evil 4 (2023)

A bizarre location or backdrop you love in a level

  • The Castle arena from Nidhogg
  • Address Unknown Theme Park from Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

A level that looks kind of crap but you’re a big fan of

  • The Baseball Stadium in No More Heroes
  • Hotel Dusk

A memorable liminal space

  • The two subway stations in The Darkness
  • Apartment blocks next to water tower in Ghostwire:Tokyo

A level from a modern game that makes you think more games should look like this

  • The Club from Sifu
  • Ascending the ships to the Wind Temple in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

A level with a gimmick that stays in the memory

  • Effect and Cause from Titanfall 2
  • Wages of Pain from Desperados 3

A horror level that sh** you up good and proper

  • Department Store level in Condemned: Criminal Origins
  • Ravenholm from Half-Life 2

A level that recreates a real world location

  • London in Uncharted 3
  • Air Force One from Perfect Dark

A level you’d moved into IRL if pressured

  • Kamurucho in Yakuza
  • Costa del Sol in Final Fantasy VII
  • Konpeki Plaza in Cyberpunk 2077

A level no-one talks about that desrves more attention

  • Benefactor from Mirror’s Edge Catalyst
  • The Stranger in Outer Wilds - Echoes of the Eye

A level that would make for a great novelty press trip if someone blew a load of money trying to recreate it in a warehouse in London

  • Inside the World Serpent in God of War (2018)
  • Facility in GoldenEye 007
  • Lanayru Province in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
  • Clockwork Mansion in Dishonored 2

A level you like with a challenge element that means you end up spending lots of time there

  • The Firefight maps (e.g. Lost Platoon) in Halo 3: ODST
  • Collecting Point Boxes in Beetle Adventure Racing

Bonus Bad Categories

A level that almost sabotages an otherwise great game

  • Carpathian Mountains in Hitman 3

A level we thought was good at the time but was actually toilet

  • Streets in GoldenEye 007

A level that’s too hard

  • Court level in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
  • D-Day level in Conker’s Bad Fur Day

A level that thinks it’s cleverer than it is

  • Did Somebody Say Yoga? in Grand Theft Auto V
  • first person horror games built around dream logic e.g. MADiSON
  • a puzzle level in a game that isn’t a puzzle game, e.g. bonus levels in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

A level that looks or sounds as ugly as hell

  • The Library in Halo: Combat Evolved
  • The Subspace Emissary from Super Smash Bros. Brawl

A level that everyone else likes that you can’t stand

  • GoldenEye 007 levels (e.g. Train)
  • Sapienza in Hitman (2016) - The lab irks
  • Mr Freeze boss fight in Batman: Arkham City
  • Water Hazard in Half-Life 2

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