6. Water Hazard (Half-Life 2)
Released in 2004, Half-Life 2 is Valves most seminal work. Like Half-Life before it, HL2 raised the bar for melding interactive storytelling and tight gunplay. Its a practically perfect experience, held back (in my mind) by just one thing: the diabolical boating section. This is probably a risky inclusion, considering the typical gaming fan sees Valve as the pulchritudinous Olympians residing atop Mount Olympia; but it still doesnt stop Water Hazard being a crappy level.
So, why is it infuriating? This level defines dodgy controls. For the majority of the level you are forced to use an airboat thats harder to control than a masturbation aid for vicious Rottweilers. I hear the boat section plays a lot more smoothly on the PC, but on console youre destined to be crashing into walls and repeating the finicky jumps. This may sound more like a skill issue, but the airboat controls are genuinely too sensitive when playing with a gamepad. And if/when the boat gets destroyed, the game lets you continue until you reach a point where you cannot physically continue without the boat; essentially wasting a good five minutes. The section is just too drawn out and not at all particularly interesting. You explore a few drains, sewers and abandoned buildings, but it pales in comparison to the harrowing Orwellian world that came before. And that god forsaken Combine gunship can rust in machine hell - which I suppose the closest thing machines have to an emblematic plane of suffering is starring in a Michael Bay movie.