Best sewer levels?

[Stupid Bunny]

The sewer level is an ancient trope synonymous with phoned-in level design.  It's old hat to hate them and there's good reason why: they tend to be labyrinthine, repetitive, brown, murky levels full of low-tier monsters that are small and hard to hit.  And they make their way into a lot of games because, most likely, they're really easy to design.

 

So in the interest of posing counterintuitive questions I'd love to know if any of you have played a sewer level that managed to take the formula and somehow make it interesting, whether through good puzzle design or exploration or introducing more thoughtful denizens and society to the sewer than just rats and giant worms.  It can be from any game, including any mod (Doom or otherwise) you can think of.  I won't set out to offer a sharp definition of what should constitute a sewer level, so if you think it feels sewer-y enough to qualify then that's good enough for me.

 

The closest thing I have to an answer is the sewer level in It Only Gets Worse, because it's short and hinges around a dopey but somewhat clever poop joke that made me laugh unreasonably hard when I was 17.  See how low I'm setting the bar for you guys

[G19Doom]

This entire section was quite memorable.

[Mr. Freeze]

This entire section is amazing, def the best sewer level I can recall. 

[openroadracer]

It's not so much one level as much as an entire tunnel network; but I have to say, I actually kinda enjoyed poking around the old underground Metro tunnels and sewers of the Washington, DC area in Fallout 3.

Especially considering that there were multiple enemy types you could run into down there, from mutated wildlife to heavily armed Raiders to Feral Ghouls and Super Mutants.

[LadyMistDragon]

I feel like as if though you've got to take out the "best" part of your question and um.....no I'm kidding :p)

 

Toxic Touch from Alien Vendetta

 

That one early  Half Life map with green liquid (Blast Pit or was it Residue Processing?)

 

The sewers in Deus Ex (mostly New York).

 

 

[dasho]

The sewer system underneath Tarant in Arcanum wasn't too bad and could help you get into some key locations.

[Geniraul]

• The best example I could go with is probably the Sewers location in Grafield 2: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006) :D I remember having a lot of fun with its missions 13 years ago and more recently as well. Idc what major hype-chasing youtubers say. Fun, fast and with some music that is spooky and funky à la fois.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

• I actually rather do like E1M10 as I've already mentioned in another post. I wouldn't mind to say that I'm enjoying the level's overall atmosphere and the 'memory challenge' it brings.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

• The same thing goes for map 33: Betray. While I can understand LBF's and Decino's emotions about this level, I have to strongly disagree about the points that were given. I think this map is not about the variety in visauls' design, nor about any cleverly put togher puzzles or something. The level itself is not ugly and figuring out what to do seems fun to me, so for me it feels good enough to play through it. It doesn't have to be super distinctive design-wise nor it has to have an absolutely genius game progression — this map is about finding a right path, and as it is okay visually, I certainly can enjoy it. I think the same applies to E1M10.

 

Spoiler

 

 

• Also, an absolute chef-d'œuvre is the ..::LvL Experimental Single Player Comp 2010 winner Lo sota Olt aka DMEAT_SP02B, which is a single-player Quake 3 level by D-Meat. 

Edited July 24, 2023 by Geniraul : typo

[Coopersville]

TMNT: Hyperstone Heist has a sewer level I like.

 

EDIT: The sewer in Resident Evil 2 is cool. 

Edited July 23, 2023 by Coopersville

[Laocoön]

I like the one in Going Down. But it's basically just one room.

[xScavengerWolfx]

Sorry civvie 11, but might have to borrow the rotting sewer counter from you for this post

[Herr Dethnout]

 

[Tetzlaff]

The sewer level in Blood 2 is a very „classic“ sewer level, but I like it nonetheless. It’s like the granddaddy of sewer levels.

 

 

edit: here's a video.

Edited July 31, 2023 by Tetzlaff

[Andrea Rovenski]

Crash Bandicoot 2 of course!

[maxmanium]

13 hours ago, G19Doom said:

-snip-

 

HUUUUGE props for mentioning this game, one of my childhood favorites. Loved the atmosphere in this area too.

[Skronkidonk]

Toxic Touch
I mean come on, the DN3D music, the dark and creepy atmosphere
Really gives the feel of some "Aliens" inhabiting a random sewer under a castle.

[Firedust]

Ask Civvie, he's been documenting every single one

[Murdoch]

14 minutes ago, Firedust said:

Ask Civvie, he's been documenting every single one

 

I can no longer hear or read the words "Sewer level" without hearing a "Ding!" in my head.

[7Mahonin]

 

[LoatharMDPhD]

// Holland Tunnel...

[LoatharMDPhD]

// Enter The Matrix sewers were terrible...

[DJVCardMaster]

 

[heliumlamb]

sewer haters DNI

the depths+blighttown from dork soles might be the masterpiece of videogame sewers. they genuinely feel like a disgusting, harrowing place, especially in the depths when falling through a hole where a drainage grate once was, only to be turned to stone (subsequently halving your HP) from a mist emitted by some silly looking frog fiend. blighttown rules as well, a sort of rough/impromptu stronghold of wood and rope branching off from the runoff pipes, with the vile sewage swamp at the very bottom.

adamantine cruelty (for quake) and a good chunk of CZG's quake maps are all S tier sewers as far as i'm concerned.

i don't have firsthand experience (was watching a friend play a few years ago), but the subway leading into the sewers in silent hill 3 looked very well executed and like a good, fun (do not forget: fun is relative, not objective!) wastewater time.

[MrFroz]

6 hours ago, Coopersville said:

EDIT: The sewer in Resident Evil 2 is cool. 

 

I think the OG has some really nice visual storytelling with the corpses of the soldiers that were sent to retrieve the G sample. Add huge spiders into the mix and you got some spooky sewers there. And the REmake sewers' were certainly no slouch, I found the chase with the mutated alligator especially frightening.

[Individualised]

You know I've always liked the idea of sewer levels but now that the question has been posed I can't actually think of a sewer level I'd consider good.

 

I guess World 2-3 from New Super Mario Bros counts? Always thought that level had a cool design. That's a 2D game though so it doesn't suffer from exactly the same issues a sewer level in a 3D game would have.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Individualised

[xScavengerWolfx]

4 hours ago, Firedust said:

Ask Civvie, he's been documenting every single one

Poor thing had to be re animated to keep going. Forshame

[Stupid Bunny]

1 hour ago, Individualised said:

 

You know I've always liked the idea of sewer levels but now that the question has been posed I can't actually think of a sewer level I'd consider good.

I always kinda felt the same way. Like something of a dark, gritty environment with the potential of lots of traps, cool pipey designs and catwalks and grates and things, exploration and shortcuts, slime and societies of mutants à la Escape from New York…suggests that they can be something cooler than the lazy ugly mazes that they often turn out to be instead. Actually lots of good examples of this in the thread so far, though mostly none that I’ve played myself. Batman on NES comes in clutch as always with the crispy stylish artwork.

 

@Geniraul I’m here for hot takes like this, especially since you’ve thought them out a bit. Can’t say these were my own impressions lol but you’ve nonetheless made me want to give these maps another look at least

[Individualised]

Thought of another one I like; Labyrinth Zone in the 8-bit versions of Sonic 1 (a very different game from the Mega Drive version) is kind of a sewer level. The background is re-themed to have sewer like bricks and waterfalls but the foreground is still the same ruins from the Mega Drive equivalent of that level. It has a sewer level feel, either way (given its placement on the world map I'm pretty sure that's what it's supposed to be anyway).

 

Does The Wind Tunnels from Quake 1 count? Feel like I'm reaching at this point. I seem to recall a lot of people don't like that level but I think it's really cool.

[DynamiteKaitorn]

Does this count as a sewer level? XD

[Rudolph]

Does STALKER's Agroprom Underground count as a sewer level?

 

I would not say it is a great level, but it gives both the Bloodsucker and the Controller a very memorable introduction.

[RaRu Des2122]

Map10: Toxic Touch from Alien Vendetta

Map05: The Waste Tunnels from D2INO

Map13: Slime Falls from Doom 2 Reloaded