10 More Brutally Difficult First-Person Shooter Levels In Video Game History

Arguably the game that kick-started the throwback shooter revolution, Dusk blends the challenging gunplay of retro classics like DOOM with modern polish, producing a game with all the fun and none of the frustration. Make the mistake of thinking it's gone soft, however, and The Dweller in Darkness will school you right quick.

The game’s penultimate level, E3M9, pits players against waves of enemies in a challenge to prove themselves worthy of facing the final boss. There is no cover and nowhere to run, only an open arena filled with every enemy type in numbers that will make your eyes pop. And once you’re done weathering that trial, the game throws its three meanest, toughest mini-bosses at you, just to make sure you truly are worthy.

It’s a level where standing still is death, and though ammunition and health is replenished and powerful power-ups made available, you burn through ammo so fast, and face such ferocious incoming fire, that every bullet counts, every move must be made with precision, and every power-up used strategically.

Surviving the gauntlet demands every shred of player skill, but play it well and you’ll feel unstoppable. Just don’t get cocky; you will be punished.