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