Best single mission in a game

[Britishfan]

Horizon Sanctuary from Mass Effect 3 was probably the best written from that game, but it still fails in comparison to the Suicide Run at the end of ME2 or pretty much every main story mission in ME1.

 

[koroem]

The final mission of Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. For a long time transformers fan, absolutely nothing can beat playing those final moments before the cybertronians end up on earth. Playing characters from both sides flipping back and forth between both factions using the old tv show logo flip was amazing. Those tense moments and utter struggle to be the victors that flee the dying planet and seek refuge on a new world. A "final battle" between two titans Optimus and Megatron. It was just so well done nothing comes close.

A far behind distant second would probably be the train mission from Uncharted 2. A step beind that, maybe the suicide mission from ME2.

 

[Thedutchjelle]

Tuchanka in ME3, great mix of exploration, combat and cutscenes done well to create a sense of rising tension, then the ending that can make rocks weep.

Myth 2, Soulblighter: The level where the dwarves are introduced and the whole level is a fighting retreat through a canyon dropping land mines. So much fun.

Portal 1: The fight with GLADoS. You can finish it in less than a minute but I'll draw it out just for the dialogue.

The Walking Dead: Not really a "level" but Lee's final assault on the hotel through a crowd of walkers. The music was great and the story really gave you a sense of Lee's desperation and need that led to his suicide charge.

As for Myth 2, it's not the level where the dwarves are introduced (you get them in the very first mission) though it's definitly the level where they shine the most. And yeah, it was a ton of fun. The myth 2 mission where you cross a river with half a thousand units is also quite fun, the only real large battle in the entire game.

Other fun missions.. Deus Ex, breaking out of the MJ12 NYC prison. You barely have any weapons vs a complex of trained baddies. And then you leave and you're in UNATCO. Unbelievable. Also a favourite is the Deep Sea Lab for athmosphere.

I don't really have ONE favourite. All my favourites are favourited because of different reasons It's like comparing really good apples with really good oranges.

 

[thetoddo]

My bad, haven't played that game in over a decade.

Another: Operation Anchorage in Fallout 3.

 

[Terramax]

The custom missions in Shinobido are hilarious!


Shinobido and the PSP spin-off are the only games where I actually have satisfaction actually failing a mission, because it almost always ends in hilarity.

 

[KOMega]

Metal Gear Solid 5 when I got to pilot REX. After a short hallway section, I get into a big mech battle!

It was awesome.

 

[Lightknight]

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I can't remember the name of the mission but it's for the Dark Brotherhood. Basically, you are put into a mansion with an assortment of other people who think they're a part of a contest. Everyone believes that a large sum of gold is hidden in the manor and the one who finds it wins not only the gold but the key to the house. The twist however, is that there is no gold and you are charged with the task of killing everybody else in the mansion.

Oblivion had some amazing quests. Truly memorable. Morrowind did too (I always bring up the Cave quest in which three different monsters force you to answer riddles to allow you to pass deeper to eventually arrive at a treasure trove). I don't feel quite as strongly about Skyrim.

My favorite and most memorable quest was also in Oblivion. The last Thieves Guild quest, The Ultimate Quest in which you steal an elder scroll. The rewards, the fact that your previous quests built up to it, the look of the white tower, all epic.

Oblivion was filled with these kinds of quests. I remember freeing the spirits bound to a fortress and all kinds of other quests.

 

[AidoZonkey]

The Collector Base, Mass Effect 2, the music, the sound, the level design were just amazing. Every time i play it, I feel like im actually attacking a main base and not just a small group of enemies and subsequently makes me feel like a total bad ass everytime i play it. Also, the fact that you might lose your friends hurts at any turn make you fearful of what might happen. It is just brilliant.

 

[Xzavion]

The Secret World (though not very popular) has some really creative Quests/Missions.

The one I liked most was when I had to follow the Song of a Siren.

Also Borderlands 2 the party of Tiny Tina.

 

[F-I-D-O]

Hotel Lobby (dark and flooded) in Last of Us.
One of the single most atmospheric segments I've ever played in a game.
The noises of the infected, the slow trudging movement through water, and the excellent lighting are contributing to pulling you in.
I jumped at a door handle's shadow, would freeze upon hearing any floorboard creak, and throughout all that, enemies just don't show up. You're left imagining monsters and threats, and then when it all goes to hell...

 

[Griffolion]

Say what you want about the CoD series, I honestly believe number 4 was brilliant. Especially the "All Ghillied Up" sniper mission.

 

[Avaholic03]

Portal 1: The fight with GLADoS. You can finish it in less than a minute but I'll draw it out just for the dialogue.

I would just say the whole last part of Portal...after so many levels that basically were tutorials, the game let you put everything you learned to the test and suddenly went from "random puzzle game" to "holy shit this is amazing".

 

[Arnoxthe1]

I'm going to say the Halo Reach Lone Wolf mission. It's the very last mission. How it was set up and how it worked and how it played, all of it was just spectacular. A very fitting end to the last Bungie Halo campaign we'll ever see.

Second is Vorkuta from CoD: Black Ops. Every journey begins with a single step. And this is STEP ONE.

Third isn't really a mission but a part of the game. Dark Link in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I love missions where I have to face myself.

 

[Quazimofo]

Borderlands 2
The mission is called Shoot This Guy in the Face as all Borderlands missions have amusing names. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't played but it is the one that just made me appreciate true creativity.

Aye, that mission for me beats out even the one where you help sir hammerlock try to re-name bullymongs. So stupidly simplistic, but my god the last name he suggests just had me in stitches.

The Secret World (though not very popular) has some really creative Quests/Missions.

The one I liked most was when I had to follow the Song of a Siren.

Also Borderlands 2 the party of Tiny Tina.

Looking back, I kinda regret dropping The Secret World in beta. I tried it, had fun on my first run though the intro quest (since that was all the time I had. Was playing at a friend's house to see if I wanted to give it a deeper look). However, going as a different faction, just having to re-do that very same intro quest and the early training stuff, and then finding out that their "level free" MMO still had a pretty linear and clearly power-segmented early area(s), just killed my interest instantly.

Of course, I don't mind having levels and the like. I kinda enjoy it since it gives a clear indicator of about where one should be in the world. I love the voice acting, and how they actually have a number of mini cut-scenes to add flavor to the world. I love that missions are more than "go here kill this", but I just cant seem to get myself to try to play it again.

 

[jdogtwodolla]

There is this level in one of the WWII call of duties during the British campaign, or the Australian campaign if that's actually ever been one in any of them. Anyway, your in the desert to start and your a foot soldier among a massive line of tanks. At one point you go through tunnels of a hill while the tanks go above you and on the other side is a small village where the level ends after you kill all the Nazis.It's just an "immersive" war experience I've never felt again in any other cod level.

For the life of me, I can't remember which Call of Duty game this is. Someone please tell me if I didn't just imagine it. It might have been from Finest Hour but I just can't remember.

 

[Jolly Co-operator]

I'm not sure if this counts as just one mission, but I love the 6th chapter in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. It takes place on a train, over the course of three days, and you have to solve various mysteries, culminating in a boss fight at the end. My favorite chapter from one of my favorite games of all time

 

[Miss G.]

The Xenologue 1: Champions of Yore 1 from Fire Emblem: Awakening. I got the Bride special class upgrade for my unit and she became an even more unstoppable unit than she already was. Same for Lost Bloodlines 2 where I got the Dread scroll to upgrade my male Morgan to Dread Fighter class.

 

[HellbirdIV]

Gonna throw in another point for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare with not only All Ghillied Up, but also Death From Above. Both of those missions reshaped the landscape of the modern shooter - bad copies turn up everywhere, but they do not diminish the originals, to me.

 

[Glongpre]

I Forgot how awesome this mission was, oblivion and skyrim had some amazing missions, getting the wabajack in skyrim is an awesomely weird mission, if you haven't done it i suggest find it, i think it is someone asks you to drink with them and you black out and go from their if i tell you more it will spoil it.

Sheogorath always gives the wabbajack, you are thinking of A Night To Remember.

My favourite is from Gunstar Heroes, it is the mission against Green I think, and he has a machine that changes into a variety of models that you fight while speeding through a tunnel. Although the mission against Orange is pretty fun, an army dude that you fight on a helicopter in flight.

 

[The_Scrivener]

Suicide Mission in Mass Effect 2.

It's such a shame that no missions in ME3 match that level of epicness, imo.

Seconded. Nothing in ME3 really matched up with anything. Hashtag phoned in.

Red Dead Redemption's final hidden mission is pretty cool. I like the Department Store in Fourside in Earthbound as well as the monkey caves. FF7's Shinra Building assault. The prison in Silent Hill 2 always gets to me. Into the Pitt from Fallout 3 DLC was good. Super Mario World's hidden Star Road levels were a great surprise years after I finished the game.