10 More Levels That Almost Made You Quit Video Games

There’s nothing inherently wrong with a tricky level, it can be great to have a proper challenge whether that comes in the form of expert platforming, clever puzzle solving, or a fearsome boss battle.

Of course, ‘challenge’ is a balancing act. Trying to make sure players of various skill levels need to illustrate their expertise with the game systems without creating a brick wall they’ll just be bashing their heads against is an art. An art that not every developer nails all of the time.

On this list we’re taking a look at some levels, and yes I’ve snuck some boss fights, bitchy locations, and exhausting missions in here too, that were so awful they almost made you quit the game you were playing. And maybe video games altogether. Some of them are just that bad.

We’ve dug into levels like this before but video games just keep serving them up so we’ll keep telling you about them.

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10. The Race - Mafia

While by all reports this infamous race has been massively improved for the Definitive Edition which released in 2020, in 2002 this one was, to put it lightly, about as fun as shoving bamboo down your fingernails. Sorry for the visual.

In the Fair Play story mission you’re required to sub in for an injured driver and win the Grand Prix in order to progress to the next level. In case you missed it, this is indeed a story-related level and not an optional race so it’s pretty much guaranteed to be a bad time for everybody. Before PC patches and the aforementioned Definitive Edition chilled things out this race was absolutely brutal. Essentially, your 50s race car handles like a nightmare, so your chances of winning this one are low and your chances of quitting and never even completing the game because of it are high. There are plenty of tips to help you out now but this is going to bring back awful memories if you tried to play it at launch.

If you got through this one without needing to replace your keyboard and/or mouse you’re better than us.