10 Most Underrated Video Game Levels Of The Decade
The cream of the crop.
A great video game level is something to behold, yet they often come few and far between, leaving some you'll play through and never truly appreciate. Also, due to the popularity of the open-world genre, it can be said that 'levels' are somewhat starting to slowly disappear, with increasingly huge sandboxes becoming the norm.
Despite this, the past decade in gaming has been very kind to us, with a number of fantastic titles coming out since 2010. They have easily provided some of the best, most detailed levels we've ever had the chance to explore, from zombie-infested hospitals to heavily guarded forts in the wild west.
There are a number of levels often touted as the best from a certain game, as fans build up a given set-piece or environment as a key moment, yet what's more interesting are the sections that end up overshadowed by the game's climax or ending.
This list aims to pick out a small selection of the most underrated levels of the past six years, and give them some well-deserved time in the limelight. Let us know your own in the comments below.
10. Max Payne 3 - Club Moderno
The third instalment in the Max Payne series is a criminally underrated game in its own right, and one of its most overlooked sequences comes in a very early chapter. Max has to counteract his drunken haze to protect the family he's been guarding, as a pretty ordinary night at Club Moderno goes sour before the second round.
The sequence starts with Max pushing a balaclava toting thug through a glass panel as time slows and you attempt to pepper the rest of the Comando Sombra in bullet-time, before hitting the floor.
If the gameplay wasn't exciting enough, the thumping Brazilian house music helps the adrenaline rush as you scramble to defuse the situation.
Max's excellent dry narration is heard throughout, chiming in with prescient quips about the "robotic" naivety of Club Moderno's rich patrons as you attempt to find where the intruders have taken the Branco sisters. It's an excellent level where Max Payne 3 finds its feet, and truly kicks off the story with a bang.