What makes sewer levels so bad?...

[Gray-Philosophy]

...or any other kind of themed level that seems to reoccur, like underwater levels or dungeon/prison levels or whatever you can think of.

Inspired by this thread:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.872794-Worst-Sewer-Level

I got curious as to why certain types of levels or level themes are usually considered bad, uninteresting or downright terrible to some. For you, what exactly is it about a certain type of level that just makes it worse than the rest of the game it's in? And if possible, how might it be possible to make said levels a better experience?

 

[DudeistBelieve]

The lack of radio active ooze?

I'm just thinking in my head, based on Left 4 Dead and the like, I suppose because they're like a maze and there really isn't much to them.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

Sewers...dark, linear and boring. The true horror of a real sewer is the stench and you can't really get that across in a game

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

For sewers, I guess it would be the maze-like design they often consist of, where you're going around in circles and everything looks the same. It's also dark and dreary. Sewer levels can just feel like a chore to get through, especially if the area preceding it was really good or colourful.

As for underwater levels, often because the controls are more sluggish and less responsive and visibility tends to be low. Underwater levels tend to be a lot better than your average sewer level, though.

 

[aozgolo]

Not ALL sewer levels are bad, but many suffer bad design. They tend to be very uninteresting to look at, contain the most annoying type of mazes (long corridor one way then double back down the same corridor on the opposite side), and are usually full of unavoidable encounters. They also seem to contain some of the more annoying types of gate puzzles that either involve finding switches to open doors or raising/lowering water levels to access certain areas.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Because sewer levels are, by necessity, water levels, which also have a poor hit or miss ratio. Also dark, filthy (meaning more likely to have poison/disease using enemies than anywhere else) monotonous and maze-like where every tunnel looks the same... and yet it's still a HUGE break from how unpleasant an actual sewer would be to get through.

You can always have a sewer level in any game where there's any kind of post 10th century civilization, and so any designer struggling for ideas can always fall back on it for the hero to escape through or sneak into a place through, or track rumours of mutant alligators, or just get dumped down there to die.

The last sewer level I enjoyed was Pump Man's level in Mega Man 10, probably because it's well lit and you can't get lost, and Mega's mobility is actually enhanced by water. You're also given the choice between a semi-dry route and an underwater route, allowing you to bypass the annoying slime Mets if you care to.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

A sewer is just a long dark concrete corridor that branches off into other long dark concrete corridors (most of the time). Everything looks the same and tends to look quite boring, which makes sewer levels boring to look at and play through. There just isn't much going on environmentally and you're just running down poop-filled hallways.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Usually just because they are annoying mazes where everything looks roughly the same, and as someone pointed out, a game can't project the smell, which is the most notable thing about them.

I thought 'Dishonored' had good sewer levels, mostly because they didn't turn into a maze, and it also captured the fact that the city you live in had fallen into such chaos and disrepair that people were living in the sewer, and you would often find them (or what remained of them) down there. It enhanced the atmosphere.

 

[Elfgore]

A majority of sewer levels are repetitive as hell. Usually in level design and environment wise. "Oooo! A needlessly complicated maze that is accented by boring, grey walls! My favorite!"

 

[Strazdas]

they are dark levels that are often very repetetive in their design and usually offer bland visuals, meanwhile the level itself is either very linear or turns into a maze.

Sewers offer no freedom of movement as most are just straight coridors and offers no tactical gameplay. This is not always the case though, for example Metro games managed to offer variety of methods of gameplay for "sewer" levels.

 

[laggyteabag]

Because they are usually dark, linear corridors (often like a maze), and then generally have very little in terms of scenery variety, which can generally prove to be difficult if you have to backtrack for whatever reason. Sewer levels also tend to be populated by the same kind of enemies: Slimes/Ooze/Goos, Giant Rats, sometimes spiders, and maybe bandits, with the rats, ooze, and spiders generally being poisonous (when applicable).

 

[hermes]

Because they are labyrinthine, comprised of mostly lineal paths and the same background repeated again and again.

I don't think they are that bad, but there are few things that allow for creative level design when making sewers.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

I like sewer levels, they generally mean some close quarters maze littered with traps.
Underwater levels suck though.
I seem to recall an awesome Ratchet and Clank sewer level though.

Anyway, to answer the question: Because they follow a trend, if you don't like said trend, you won't like the level.

 

[AT God]

I always hated "water" levels because of the original Mario games. That floaty control style was always horrible to me, I literally just now realized that it was essentially flappy bird because I always over-floated when trying to go through a gap and would get hit. The only other water level I notably disliked was the water areas in Sonic 1 and 2 because they were harder and that goddamn panic music that played when you were drowning.

Sewer levels I don't exactly hate but I do feel they are cliche, especially in games trying to be "realistic" because sewers are not like that. Even sewers that are large enough to walk through are usually only 5-6 feet tall, as far as I know there are no underground via-duct/subway sized tunnels that also serve as sewers in modern cities and that's usually where you see these types of sewers. Also, a lot of FPS games have sewer levels which is flawed for two reasons

One problem is that sewers are boring as hell for modern FPS games, there is logically no cover to use so most of the time it is just linear corridors where the enemy had cover because they get the advantage of having a corner to hide behind, while you have to fight through open ground to reach them. It is beyond tedious and many games make an actual "sewer level" where you spend a good 15 minutes repeating the same encounter over and over.

The other problem is that a sewer level makes no sense in a first person shooter because there is rarely any reason for two factions to meet in a sewer. The use of sewers for combat makes sense if you are some rebellion or guerrilla group since they aren't used by civilians and are inconspicuous. I recently played the 2009 Wolfenstein game and you are part of a resistance group that uses sewers a lot, that makes perfect sense. But there is a section of the sewer that is controlled by the Nazis an there is no reason for a military force like the Nazis to patrol the sewers routinely, guarding the exits from the sewers makes sense but there is no reason to patrol the sewers.

Despite my problems, I don't flat-out hate sewer levels, and they work in some games. Left 4 Dead had a few sewer areas and that made sense for gameplay: sewers are very confined and when a horde of zombies comes running down you feel claustrophobic and you have to hold your ground, plus being flanked on both sides makes for an interesting struggle.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

I don't really have a hatred for them, but I'm not particularly thrilled by them either. They're boring, uninteresting, and scream of laziness on the dev's part (usually). It's just a corridor, usually with only way, and everything's the same colour, the textures are shitty (haha puns), because it's not like they're going to put detail on the shit stuck to things. They're just, they're all the bloody same (95% of the time), and do nothing in favour of the game besides maybe saving time and money.

 

[Nazulu]

What most have said here, we just know what to expect. But some of them really worked well for me such as the sewer stage in Shadows of the Empire 64, where it was kind of scary with the new dangerous creeps and it had lots of secrets you need to search around for. You know, well designed.

 

[Rayce Archer]

What most have said here, we just know what to expect. But some of them really worked well for me such as the sewer stage in Shadows of the Empire 64, where it was kind of scary with the new dangerous creeps and it had lots of secrets you need to search around for. You know, well designed.

And oh my god, the Giant Dianoga was one of young me's scariest boss fights. Being dragged around underwater as you slowly drown, buffeted with tentacles, just freaky as hell.

 

[Nazulu]

What most have said here, we just know what to expect. But some of them really worked well for me such as the sewer stage in Shadows of the Empire 64, where it was kind of scary with the new dangerous creeps and it had lots of secrets you need to search around for. You know, well designed.

And oh my god, the Giant Dianoga was one of young me's scariest boss fights. Being dragged around underwater as you slowly drown, buffeted with tentacles, just freaky as hell.

Yes! I never actually defeated that boss and saw what was after. I'm planning on coming back to it eventually to get my revenge. Since I'm a lot more skilled now, I've been completing all the old games I could never beat back then, and this should be no different, though it will probably still give me the creeps.

 

[EyeReaper]

Everyone knows that sewer levels are kinda shitty.

Terrible jokes aside, I never really had a problem with sewer levels, outside of obscure jrpg Okage, fuck that level.

Ice levels though.. the fill me with a burning rage.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

They're linear, poorly lit and repetitive. The enclosed area usually means you have very little elbow room to dodge or run past something. And it's really hard to gauge your progress through a sewer level, making it a very boring are-we-there-yet experience.