Why does everyone hate the Sewer Levels?
- Thread starter brenflood
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Sewer levels are appealing to the developers for two reasons:
1. A shitty tunnel like, 2 texture, level will not consume many resources and thus the game will run on low configurations, this is the main reason why all the FPS classics have them (Blood 2, Kingpin, SoF etc)
2. Brain dead designers who are clues will integrate them because they can`t think of anything better.
BTW : Do you guys remember the ?Secret Lab? levels, where you had to go in, get somewhere and blow the lab up and then get the f*** out before it all collapsed on you ? Same clueless designer there too.
1. A shitty tunnel like, 2 texture, level will not consume many resources and thus the game will run on low configurations, this is the main reason why all the FPS classics have them (Blood 2, Kingpin, SoF etc)
2. Brain dead designers who are clues will integrate them because they can`t think of anything better.
BTW : Do you guys remember the ?Secret Lab? levels, where you had to go in, get somewhere and blow the lab up and then get the f*** out before it all collapsed on you ? Same clueless designer there too.
Because sewers are full of shit. Real shit. Nobody wants to spend an hour wading around knee-deep in shit.
Nonesense, Water/Ice levels are worse by far than sewer levels. Or at least I think so.
But yeah, going in the sewers isn't exactly a novel idea. Even some of my favorite games are guilty of it.
But yeah, going in the sewers isn't exactly a novel idea. Even some of my favorite games are guilty of it.
The sewers in Oblivion sucked, just like they do in every game. Honestly, at least do something a little classier from now one. Perhaps a cellar or basement? At least its a start...
They're a poor attempt to make the game seem gritty and realistic, when the levels themselves are usually unrealistic. Many sewer levels I've run into will boot anyone with even vague understanding of fluid dynamics or architecture out of the character's head, and give them a sense of unrealism and distance from the world, breaking the feeling of immersion. They're also cliched, overdone, unnecessary, and uncreative.
That isn't to say the sewers should be off limits to games as an area, but just that they need to be used responsibly, like any other level. Many games put them in just to lengthen gameplay, with no logical or no necessary connection to the rest of the game. The most responsible use of sewer levels I've seen was in Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth (DCotE) and in Deus Ex; In DCotE, you're trying to escape the inhabitants of the town, who have gone all gun happy, so hiding out below ground makes sense. In Deus Ex, the sewer areas either strictly made sense with the story or were an additional avenue of exploration or an alternate attack route, and thus not required by any means in those situations.
That isn't to say the sewers should be off limits to games as an area, but just that they need to be used responsibly, like any other level. Many games put them in just to lengthen gameplay, with no logical or no necessary connection to the rest of the game. The most responsible use of sewer levels I've seen was in Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth (DCotE) and in Deus Ex; In DCotE, you're trying to escape the inhabitants of the town, who have gone all gun happy, so hiding out below ground makes sense. In Deus Ex, the sewer areas either strictly made sense with the story or were an additional avenue of exploration or an alternate attack route, and thus not required by any means in those situations.
Sounds like Metroid games. They take place in mutating space ships, but to me anyway, they feel like one big, really confusing sewer level.juandonde post=9.74789.846814 said:
All the reasons listed above have a strong case study in Xenogears. I also disliked the various Star Wars sewer levels (Shadows of the Empire, Jedi Knight...), but that may have been due to the fact that they ALWAYS put Dianogas or some other tentacled horror in there as if dealing with strict oxygen limitations wasn't bad enough. Why oh why isn't there a Force power for underwater breathing?* Maybe telekinetically force yourself to consume oxygen slower.
*- Hasn't played The Force Unleashed, so it might have that.
*- Hasn't played The Force Unleashed, so it might have that.
I sort of agree, but up until just recently I had no idea anyone else was feeling the same way I was about sewer levels. In fact, I kind of cheered in my head when Yahtzee mentioned that, because it at least meant that I wasn't the only person who considers sewer levels completely irrelevant to the plotlines of most games and just boring in general.mark_n_b post=9.74789.847015 said:
And really, there's not much that we gamers CAN rag on that hasn't been in at least one ZP video. Yahtzee does a good job of stating the obvious... Although I'd like to see a few more topics about how Sands of Time is totally overrated. THAT's something that isn't likely to be in a ZP video for a while.
i think we all hate them sewers becasue they are usualy consisted of mazes. They usualy pose the most annoying enemies who prefer to come right out at you and bite you in the ass rather then kill you. And lastly the character you use awlays seems to never stop complaning about the sewer which makes it more annoying then it really is
The sewer level in Painkiller was a pain in the ass... And muddy water always mess with my head. (HL2 zombie in radiactive waste)
We hate the sewer levels for the same reason we hate ice levels, and why Old Man Murray had such a vendetta against boxes. It's a sign that the developers aren't even trying to be creative anymore and would just rather recycle the same basic designs we've been overexposed to since 1986 or so.
Also, the floors tend to be slippery. Nobody likes a slippery floor.
Also, the floors tend to be slippery. Nobody likes a slippery floor.
