9 Polarising Levels That Almost Ruined Great Games

By Scott Tailford / July 6, 2015

Game developers have it tough, no doubt about it. What other profession do you come across where your chosen creative outlet takes multiple years to put something together, there are millions of dollars backing every subsequent feature shown to the public - and when it finally releases you get what, like a month of coverage before the it all simply dies off again? That's not always the case for everything (and smaller budget masterpieces like Her Story, To The Moon or Gone Home prove keeping things under wraps to the last minute can work a treat), but for the bigger studios, they have every movement tracked like a hawk - which goes triple when you're trying to make an impact or follow up on something special. It leads to crazy amounts of pressure, coupled with the inbuilt need to create and innovate despite all those surrounding aspects, research pointing you in certain directions or publisher demands to curtail to - the end result being strange abominations of design like what you're about to see, remember and shudder. The thing is, these aren't necessarily outright despised levels or designs - they've got just as many lovers as they do haters, and is customary now to debate every detail of something online, plenty fans always spring out of the digital woodwork to remark that it all "Wasn't that bad, really". Well, was it? Let us know in the comments what levels you never agree on with anyone else regardless of good or bad - as chances are, you're not alone.