9 Oddly Terrible Levels In Otherwise Great Video Games

2. Dragon Age: Origins - Mage Tower (Fade)

This game is a wonder of an RPG. It seems to offer absolutely everything any RPG'er could ever wish for, while looking and playing great. But there is this one instance where it loses its momentum for a bit. It's the famous Fade portion of the game. While greatly changing atmosphere and bringing some new twists (such as transforming into a mouse or a lich), it does so at considerable cost. Namely, it's the fact that it takes way too long to complete this quest. Fade, while an interesting dimension, feels too distant from what makes Origins as brilliant as it is. The player character is alone most of the time, so there's no point in doing anything that you usually do to emerge victorious. It's enough to just prioritise your target and spam skills as fast as you can. Since the player is trapped inside the Fade for a good couple of hours, one would expect to find it as well-built and filled with things to do as the rest of the game is. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as all there is to do is collect codex entries and kill demons. Come on, now. This was a chance to create something that could terrify us. The Fade could have been the equivalent of Silent Hill (to a lesser extent), but it's not. While it might seem great for the first half an hour, you will be bored to death before the quest ends. It's a missed opportunity if I've ever seen one. A shame, really.