Bad Sections In Good Games

[KissmahArceus]

The last level in Pariah
The Fade (glad someone else mentioned it) in DA:Origins
Pinnacle Station in Mass Effect
Xen in Half Life
All the zombie things and the bosses (the zombie things annoyed me more) in Deus Ex:HR
Escorting morons in Dead Rising
Large parts of last level (Halo) in Halo 3 (I wanted 3 way fights to end the game, No Covenant just sorta bummed me out)
Master Ninja Mode in Ninja Gaiden 2
The whole game aside from um... the um... Sword? in Ninja Gaiden 3
The (lack of) level design in The Library in Halo (I enjoy fighting The Flood but even a Halo nerd admits the playspace was dull)
Shadow Moses in MGS4 (the majority of it came across as a giant succession of trolling from Kojima. It could have been perfect, good old fashioned MGS1 sneaking with uber graphics but what? Little, black orbs with arms? Sigh, to be fair the end of the level nearly makes up for it, with the Vamp battle and the railgun vs Gekkos and of course REX. But for me, the damage was done.)

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

In the Katamari games, there's generally a level where the idea is to find the largest...bear, or whatever the King wants. But there are fucking bears everywhere, even tiny ones. Getting bigger to tackle that huge bear statue? Nope, it's over, you ran over the microscopic one trying to escape the inside of your pinkie toenail.

 

[ginty2]

i would have to say the ending to bayonetta. it just would not end

and those chase levels in rayman origins where i swear you need the force to navigate through them.

 

[ToffeeMC]

The Plinko level in Super Mario Sunshine and it's various invisible walls and incredibly stupid death

 

[Ryu-Kage]

I've probably said this before on this site, but the Forsaken Fortress in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

Seriously, they give you your sword, let you mess around with it for like five minutes, and then make you go through the dungeon without using the thing (a primary game mechanic) that you just learned about. Instead, they have you going through a long, tedious stealth section. This part of the game feels so much longer than it probably is, but two things make it nearly unacceptable:

1.) This is the beginning of the game. I am actually not opposed to the idea of reducing the player's power if it adds something to the game. I just think that if you're going to do that, make the player care about the powers (or allies) he lost. Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door does this pretty well. One chapter of the game has a Duplighost stealing Mario's body and name, and his allies have fallen for the trick, so Mario is left at reduced power without his backup. The player gets a sense of urgency for getting his friends and body back, especially since he can't continue his mission of gathering the Crystal Stars without them. Mario's shadowy state also allows him to recruit Vivian, a fiery phantom that up until now has been trying to stop Mario with her sisters, and show her that he's actually a nice guy. But what's also important is that this is the FOURTH Chapter of the game (out of eight), so by this time, the player should be familiar with how helpful Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, and Yoshi have been to him, and how important it is that he unmasks the Duplighost. Would it be such a meaningful effect if this happened to Mario when Goombella was his only companion?

2.) The stealth stuff shown in this part never happens again. You do have to revisit the Forsaken Fortress later on, but that time, you manage to go there with the Master Sword. The only thing you need to make that trip easier is to take out the cannons. Other than that, you don't have to do any of this stealth crap again. You never lose your sword again, either. So I have to question what the point of the stealth dungeon even was.

Next time I start a file on Wind Waker, I should just get the Forsaken Fortress over with, and then copy that file onto every available slot. That way, I can skip right to the good part of the game.

 

[SantoUno]

Since I'm glad to see many people bring up Dark Souls, I'll go ahead and add The Duke's Archives to the list of horrible sections in that game.

I mean SERIOUSLY, WHY THE FUCK do those stupid Crystal Hollow enemies do SO MUCH GODDAMN DAMAGE!?!?!? ESPECIALLY the archers? It's even more irritating when you realize that whenever you ascend any of your weapons to Crystal, their damage will barely double, at the expense of giving it essentially one "life" of 16 durability. Meanwhile, the damage done by Crystal hollows and their weapons as compared to uncrystallized weapons from enemies goes up by like freaking x5.

And finally, FUCK those damn Channellers who not only shoot you with extremely fast soul rays, but also become invincible the second they begin their teleporting animation and retreat like cowards to an unreachable spot such as a balcony you cannot directly walk to.

 

[6_Qubed]

Forced racing sections, especially in GTA/Saints Row. Yes, I'm playing a game with cars in it. Yes, I like to drive quickly and recklessly. No, I'd rather not be forced to do so. That "Love Fist Limo" mission in Vice City deserves special mission because FUCK THAT MISSION.

 

[Iwata]

The Council Missions in X-Com: Enemy Unknown.

It's not that they're bad per se, it's just that unlike the rest of the game (which is brilliant, by the way) they don't scale up as you progress. They can be genuinely scary and challenging early on in the game when you have crap equipment and troopers, but later on, it's a waste of time to take a squad of veterans fully armed with plasma weapons and Titan armour to face a dozen Thin Men...

Every other mission in the game seems tailored to challenge you, but Council Missions are completely unnecessary from about half-way through the game. It's invariably a slaughter good for nothing but maybe promote a full-rookie squad.

 

[Saviordd1]

The Fade from Dragon Age Origins

Anytime you have to fight those little floating piss-ant robots from Halo 4, fuck your ability to toss my grenades.

 

[Gardenia]

Thunderhead Keep in the original Guild Wars (before the expansions). Half the team (including both monks) haven't brought infused armour. They die at the last part of the mission. Goddamnit. Happened to me 5 times in a row once.

 

[Brad Calkins]

The first level of Vanquish, all it is is just running down a hallway while every few steps the wall explodes and you have to stop for a few seconds. Also the end credits, which lets you shoot pictures of the developers while wondering, "Who thought this would be fun?". And they take like 20 minutes because they go by only 1 or 2 at a time and you can't skip it, and you have to wait if you want to play God Hard.

 

[frizzlebyte]

I could probably think of a few games that are more appropriate, but the first thing that I thought of was the glorified tutorial that is Taris and Dantooine in KOTOR, and also the Malachor V sequence from KOTOR 2.

Taris and Dantooine have some really good parts, but on the whole they don't stand up to the rest of the game.

And Malachor V...yeah. That whole thing was a decapitated mess.

 

[CleverCover]

Hated The:
Escorting the Little Sisters in Bioshock 1
The Fade in DA:O
The Deep Roads in DA:O
Both openings in KotOR and KotOR II
Actually taking the horse to the required city in AC1

Wanted to skip:
Openings in.. DA2, ME2
The Palaven area in ME3

 

[Jfswift]

The entire swamp level in demons souls. It's annoying (especially without any items like the rusted iron ring in dark souls). It's an interesting level but too big and difficult to navigate through. Same argument can be made for tomb of giants in dark souls (as stated earlier). Interesting level design also but ultimately inaccessible. Why is the only light spell in the game so obscure and hidden? The lantern isn't a bad idea. I love how it forces you to drop your shield in an already difficult area. That being said, I personally think its bad level design awarding it to the player after they're already inside.


That stupid water temple in Zelda: OoT. It's not that hard but placing that tiny little moveable song block behind the damn treasure chest made me upset.

The interactive cutscenes in Resident Evil 5. All of them. Very fun game on multiplayer but omg those cutscenes were horrible.

 

[DustyDrB]

The whole "Earth" section in Darksiders II.

The game has these great melee/platforming elements and then it shoves all that third-person shooter stuff down your gullet.

Agreed. That whole section sucked. It was so repetitive. Walk five steps, a sound plays and a bunch of enemies run out. Walk five more steps, a sound plays again and more enemies come out. Rinse and repeat until you leave Earth. Thankfully, it wasn't too long. But man did it suck.

 

[Bombchucker]

The Fade in Dragon Age Origins. The most boring part to a great game.

 

[StormShaun]

So much hate to the fade in Dragon Age: Origins...honestly...I hated that blasted level. It didn't feel like I was progressing at all and it felt like a cheap attempt to make the mages tower longer...

I do admit it was cool transforming and getting your friends back.

Also the racing against the time and RACING parts in Jak 2...I hated the hell out of those parts. D:

 

[Gali]

Most of my picks were already mentioned, I'd like to throw in more Batman:
Arkham Asylum: Nearly every (boss-)fight were the camera is fixed. I don't know why but that just plays terrible on the PC. I grab my Xbox controller if I have to do them, but still, it doesn't help much. At least the sequel doesn't have any of that. Also, Killer Croc.
Speaking of Arkham City... The only part I hate about it are the Demon Trials before the Ras al Ghul boss fight. I know it's not difficult or even long but every time I play that section I ask myself "What's the point?". It is at best a tutorial for Batman's gliding ability, but it comes so late that you already figured it out by yourself.

 

[lacktheknack]

Myst IV was top-notch until it kind of crapped itself near the end. It was great until the exact moment the women in the temple said "you must enter the spirit realm".

Rayman 2 had the Tomb of the Ancients, and Rayman 3 had the caves of the K'narren (or however you spell it).

"TEAR OFF HIS FLEEEESH"

"STICK BAMBOO UNDER HIS NAILS"

"MAKE HIM WRITE BAD CHEQUES"

For a good two hours. Blargl.

 

[Sparky184]

I would say the space ship shooting sections in Kingdom Hearts 2.