10 Intense Video Game Levels NO ONE Beat First Time

10. We Don't Go To Ravenholm - Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2 may be one of the greatest FPS games of all time, but it gets its most gut-wrenching level out of the way relatively early, when Gordon Freeman takes a trip through the zombie-infested ghost town of Ravenholm.

We Don't Go to Ravenholm is a half-hour exercise in perfectly calibrated tension, steering the game quite unexpectedly into horror territory as players traipse through the blood-soaked, poorly-lit, resource-scarce, insanely creepy town.

The sheer atmosphere of Ravenholm throws most players for a loop, making it incredibly easy for a pack of Headcrab zombies to catch them off-guard.

But what offers the most potent threat of all in the town is the new Poison Headcrab, which with one quick dive towards your face will temporarily drop your HP to 1, making you an easy mark for any creatures in the vicinity.

Ravenholm marked a bold artistic departure for the series, yet was ultimately effective enough to permanently stamp itself on the brains of anyone who dared play it.