Fraser.J.A post=9.73280.790979 said:
The part in Half-Life 2: Episode One (or maybe it was Ep. 2?) where you're underground, waiting for the elevator, and suddenly all the lights go out and you're swarmed by zombies with no way to escape until the elevator comes. MENTAL.
Definitely
Episode One. Famously, that part of the game was too hard for many players and was made easier (too easy, I think) with a patch.
I have to second the Citadel from
Half-Life 2. Okay, so it's not really much for gameplay, but aesthetically it's probably one of the most impressing, haunting things I've ever seen. The ride inside the cage transport thingy, seeing just how massive, otherwordly, cold, mechanical yet organic, and forboding the thing was, coupled with no noise except for that constant metal clanking, has to be one of the most awe-inspiring scenes in media in the last several years.
In fact, really everything about
Half-Life 2 is awesome. I particularly like the subtle changes in daylight to denote the passage of time in the story (it's all based on the map, not done in real-time, but it's still very effective as a narrative device) coupled with using both the Citadel and the rail system throughout the entire game as a way of guiding the player (i.e. following the trains to Nova Prospekt, the game gradually leading you towards the Citadel at the centre of City 17), as well as serving as a constant grounding for the game world and a visual metaphor for the game's structure/theme. It's the sort of stuff a lot of people don't really notice, but it's obvious that the amount of care and effort that went into figuring it out was pretty extreme. Hell, even the Combine's colour scheme - combining organic yellows and blacks (danger colours) with cold whites and blues (peace/safety colours) - is fantastic.