Cyberpunkd
Member
Let's go, thread about great levels and locations in videogames, the ones that you remember for years.
World of Warcraft - Scholomance
My life from 2005 till approx. 2015 was consumed by WoW, I skipped almost completely the PS3/X360 generation since I was busy playing the MMO. Let me set the stage:
1. Levelling in the early days of WoW was painfully slow, the quests were not optimized, you had sometimes 4-5 levels without clear questline, then everyone got funneled to a single zone e.g. Tanaris. Then you had zones that had a level imbalance between factions (Horde and Alliance) which resulted in a high level players ganking (killing) much weaker players from the opposing faction e.g. Stranglethorn Vale. So getting to level 60 took a lot of dedication.
2. The end-game zones were respectively Eastern and Western Plaguelands, the zones themselves were creepy AF and you had a real feeling you were not the hot shot there, the whole time you had to watch your back for monsters and other players. So you start exploring and you come across...
A lake, and on that lake Scholomance. Mind you almost all (if not all?) of these locations (Scholomance, LBRS/UBRS, Stratholme) were in the early days 10-man dungeons, before they switched everything to 5-man. Scholomance was not only oppressive in ambiance, it was downright brutal - enemies very extremely close together, the moment you pulled/aggroed an extra pack it was a guaranteed wipe. After the wipe it was most of the time a minimum of 5-10 minutes running just to get to the dungeon entrance. Getting a group? Try 1-2 hours of spamming chat in Undercity (that was before LFG automation). Got a group? Ok, now 30 minutes to get to Scholomance. Inside already? Boy, I hope you have at least 3-4 hours, because that's how long it will take you to clear that place.
LBRS/UBRS might have been longer, and their layout was truly FML but there was something special about seeing Caer Darrow for the first time.
Despite all the above the early days of WoW were some of the best and filled with sense of incredible wonder that I think no game to this day replicated. I got fond memories of WoW/TBC/WotLK, nothing afterwards registered or came close.
Thief 3 - The Cradle
Despite everyone agreeing Thief 1 and 2 were better games, Thief 3 gave us probably the best level in the series, and one of the best levels in all of videogames. This level was pure fear, you had to force yourself to continue despite your brain telling you to be a b**** and go play some Pokemon. The insane asylum turned orphanage you have to break into ; the sad and moving story of what had happened there years before - I can write a lot more, but instead I invite you all to read this incredible article detailing what was so special, from the time when games journalism could produce quality content: http://gillen.cream.org/thecradle.pdf
"I'm used to the dark, but this feels like a house with bad dreams."
Then go see the playthrough:
Waiting for your picks, happy to discover more incredible locations!
World of Warcraft - Scholomance
My life from 2005 till approx. 2015 was consumed by WoW, I skipped almost completely the PS3/X360 generation since I was busy playing the MMO. Let me set the stage:
1. Levelling in the early days of WoW was painfully slow, the quests were not optimized, you had sometimes 4-5 levels without clear questline, then everyone got funneled to a single zone e.g. Tanaris. Then you had zones that had a level imbalance between factions (Horde and Alliance) which resulted in a high level players ganking (killing) much weaker players from the opposing faction e.g. Stranglethorn Vale. So getting to level 60 took a lot of dedication.
2. The end-game zones were respectively Eastern and Western Plaguelands, the zones themselves were creepy AF and you had a real feeling you were not the hot shot there, the whole time you had to watch your back for monsters and other players. So you start exploring and you come across...
A lake, and on that lake Scholomance. Mind you almost all (if not all?) of these locations (Scholomance, LBRS/UBRS, Stratholme) were in the early days 10-man dungeons, before they switched everything to 5-man. Scholomance was not only oppressive in ambiance, it was downright brutal - enemies very extremely close together, the moment you pulled/aggroed an extra pack it was a guaranteed wipe. After the wipe it was most of the time a minimum of 5-10 minutes running just to get to the dungeon entrance. Getting a group? Try 1-2 hours of spamming chat in Undercity (that was before LFG automation). Got a group? Ok, now 30 minutes to get to Scholomance. Inside already? Boy, I hope you have at least 3-4 hours, because that's how long it will take you to clear that place.
LBRS/UBRS might have been longer, and their layout was truly FML but there was something special about seeing Caer Darrow for the first time.
Despite all the above the early days of WoW were some of the best and filled with sense of incredible wonder that I think no game to this day replicated. I got fond memories of WoW/TBC/WotLK, nothing afterwards registered or came close.
Thief 3 - The Cradle
Despite everyone agreeing Thief 1 and 2 were better games, Thief 3 gave us probably the best level in the series, and one of the best levels in all of videogames. This level was pure fear, you had to force yourself to continue despite your brain telling you to be a b**** and go play some Pokemon. The insane asylum turned orphanage you have to break into ; the sad and moving story of what had happened there years before - I can write a lot more, but instead I invite you all to read this incredible article detailing what was so special, from the time when games journalism could produce quality content: http://gillen.cream.org/thecradle.pdf
"I'm used to the dark, but this feels like a house with bad dreams."
Then go see the playthrough:
Waiting for your picks, happy to discover more incredible locations!
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