Video Gamers Podcast - Gaming’s Most Memorable Levels and Zones - Gaming Podcast

Episode Date: September 15, 2025

Gaming hosts Josh, Ryan, and Ace are diving deep into their all-time favorite levels and areas in video games. The unforgettable spots that define what makes gaming great. From haunting castles to neon-lit cityscapes, we're breaking down the zones that stuck with us long after the credits rolled. Which games nailed atmosphere, gameplay, and design all in one? And what makes a level truly iconic in the world of gaming? Whether you’re a nostalgic fan or discovering these places for the first time, this episode is your map to some of the most legendary locations in video games. Buckle up for a nostalgia-packed ride on the Video Gamers Podcast Thanks to our MYTHIC Supporters: Redletter, Disratory, Ol’ Jake, Gaius, Jigglepuf and Phelps   Thanks to our Legendary Supporters: HypnoticPyro, Patrick, NorwegianGreaser and PeopleWonder   Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: ⁠patreon.com/videogamerspod⁠ Join our Gaming Community: ⁠https://discord.com/invite/Dsx2rgEEbz⁠ Follow us on Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/videogamerspod/⁠  Follow us on X:⁠ https://twitter.com/VideoGamersPod⁠  Subscribe to us on YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@VideoGamersPod?sub_confirmation=1⁠ Visit us on the web:⁠https://videogamerspod.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the Volvo Fall Experience event, discover exceptional offers and thoughtful design that leaves plenty of room for autumn adventures. And see for yourself how Volvo's legendary safety brings peace of mind to every crisp morning commute. This September, lease a 2026 X-E-90 plug-in hybrid from $599 bi-weekly at 3.99% during the Volvo Fall Experience event. Conditions apply, visit your local Volvo retailer

or go to explorevolvo.com. This episode is brought to by Tron Aries. For the first time the captivating world of Tron breaks out of the grid. Aries, a highly advanced program, journeys into our world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind's first encounter with AI beings. Featuring an electrifying original soundtrack by 9-inch nails. Tron Aries is a must-see movie event filmed for IMAX and made for the big screen. Experience it only in theaters, October 10.

Get tickets now. Hello, fellow gamers, and welcome to the video gamers podcast. Gaming is an escape for many. It's a beautiful form of art for others, and sometimes it can be a horrifying glimpse into an alternate reality. But throughout the decades, some levels or zones in a game, stand apart from the crowd. On today's episode, we're going to be talking about our favorite levels or zones in gaming. But first, some introductions are in order. I am your host, Josh,

and joining me, he said his favorite zone is the auto one. It's Ryan. Get in the zone. Auto zone. Yeah. Please don't let this joke go to waste. Oh, man, that's just some dumb. Dad mode. Right off the bat. And joining us, he sent us his list to see if we'd heard of any of his nominations. And, well, let's just hope he's good at explaining weird obscure games.

Because apparently that's all he plays. It's Ace. These aren't even that weird. Most of these are mainline titles like Resident Evil and Assassin's Creed. I do. This is no joke. people for everybody out there like Ryan and I we share a list I'm like bro I've heard of every one of those I get it I had some of those like on my longer list maybe I'm not bringing them up today

but it's like and then Ace is like you guys have heard of these games right and it's like I've one heard of them I know one yeah we have one in common I know one of them I this is what I love dude Ryan like Ryan has only ever been like the triple A guy ace has only ever been the indie guy And it's like, and I'm a little bit of mix of both, to be honest. But I love that it's like Ryan is getting introduced to Indies, Ace is getting introduced to AAA games, and we're just broadening everybody's horizons now at this point. You know, yeah, it really is.

This is a reminder. Get out of your gaming comfort zone, man. There's a gazillion games out there, and you are missing out, man. Yeah. Like, that's like, bro. I know I'm getting off tan, off already. But it's like, you know, we have an amazing Discord server. 1100 gamers in there.

It's awesome. and we talk about it all the time. The number of people that have not played God of War 2018. Crazy. Cyberpunk. Red Dead 2. I mean, name like the top 10 games of all time. And like the number of people that are like, oh, yeah, I've heard that's really good.

I've just never played it. And it's like, what are you doing? I mean, you were part of that for a while. You hadn't played The Last of Us. That's fair. Okay. I don't know if I'd consider The Last of Us, even as much as I like. Like a top 10 game of all time, though.

It's an all-timer. Maybe a top 15 or something. Yeah, it's in the top 15. What did I rate? What did I rate Last of Us? What didn't I say like 8.8 or something like that? I mean, it's really good, but I don't know if it's like a top 10 game of all time. But okay, aside, yes, everybody should play Last of Us.

It is an incredible game. So I'll throw it into that list. But it's just, it baffles me that it's like, guys, there is, there are these peak pinnacle games that exist in the world that are the Mount Rushmore of games and it's like go play them people go play them you know they're they're highly regarded for a reason don't sell yourself short enjoy that experience like Ace we had to force we meaning the community had to force Ace to play Red Dead too man yep yeah and you know what that was like you know the final straw of things I will go play the more mainstream AAA games now.

It doesn't make you special for not playing the big games. It just makes you feel left out when people are talking about it. I played Red Dead before it was mainstream, bro. I know. I hate that. That's exactly what I was like. I do understand the hype can't possibly live up to this kind of thing. So what if I don't like it at that?

Like, I absolutely get that thinking. But if that is your thinking, you are selling yourself short. You were missing out on a crazy good experience in a lot of these just top games, man. I wouldn't say that about some in these two. Yeah, well, honestly, that's very true, dude. Like, that absolutely crosses all AAA and indie games. But it's like, the thing, the thing with these games, too, is they hold up, dude. Yeah.

You know, like, how old is The Witcher 3 at this point? But, and it's like, maybe it's starting to feel like a tiny bit dated, but it's like, it's still one of the best games ever made, like, just plain and simple, man. I remember pulling footage for something we were doing. And I was like, oh, my gosh, I want to play again already. Like just watching a couple of the levels, like in the bogs and stuff, like instantly, oh, I want more. Yeah. So, all right, guys, we're going to jump into this.

So we kind of left this a little bit vague. You know, this started off with like, hey, what are some of you the most memorable levels, your favorite levels in a game? But then we kind of went, level is a little bit niche almost. It's like, what am I going to do? Talk about like the sewer level and battle toads or something, you know? Like, so then we kind of went, what if we just? I mean, it is a really good. level but it's like then we kind of said well let's talk about like zones or even like an area

in a game like what we don't want to do is just say like all of skyrim right it's like okay cool that's a really immersive world but like can you name a place in skyrim that stood out to you or something like that so the goal here is to say hey this part of a game was very memorable to me based on the zone or the level the area or something like that so yes we are intentionally leaving a little open to interpretation there because man sometimes these things just stand out to you and we were talking you know pre pre recording we always have uh you know some banter and some just kind of off the record chat that we get into and it's a little less filtered and stuff like that if you would like access to that it is one of the perks for supporting the show so you can support us on

patreon and then you get access to that too we get comments all the time about how much people love the pre-show talk and the post-show talk. And again, if you want a little bit less structure and filtered stuff, well, that's definitely how you get it. But we were talking about, you know, these, these levels and these things that stood out to us that are memorable. And it's like, the things that come to mind first are sometimes the most memorable things to you. If you have to like sit there and really, really think about it, it's like, that might be awesome. But is it really that memorable if it wasn't right there at the front of your mind at the same time.

So, all right, let's kick this off, boys. Ryan, let's start with you, buddy. I want, because I'm curious, man. Like, I'm very curious what stands out to you from a level or zone standpoint. I feel like you were a wow guy. Do you, you don't have to answer this, like, name it, but do you have any, like, MMO, wow level,

like levels or zones in your list? I do. I do. And I guess I can, uh, start, start off with that, you know, right off. Oh, okay. Well, there you go. Right off with that. You're just going to lead right into it for me. So hopefully nobody steals some of my top ones that I have.

But I'm going with the original Wow Iron Forge, which is like the main alliance base in Wow. It was this the castle? Was this like a giant castle? No, it's like it's like a giant almost like imagine the Hobbit, like the dwarf dungeon area like with the, with the you're in the heart of the mountain that's what the iron force Oh yeah That's what the iron force looked like

Yeah it was so cool Oh you're looking at up base Yes so yeah so yeah if you're listening to you haven't seen it So you play dwarf then is what you're saying So um I forget what I was when I did alliance I'm a horde guy I played that alliance in the very beginning

When I first started wow in like 2003 Or whatever and that was Anyone who wasn't born then Frick you So don't don't at me bro I was there Wow was a little bit before my time. Anyway, it was just, it was one of those levels that was, especially for the time, it was just awe-inspiring.

It was something that you just, you saw the lava flowing down, you saw the forge, you saw all these shops. It was so expansive and so different than anything I'd had seen at that time. Obviously, we've talked about EverQuest a million times over with you, and I'm sure there's levels in that. but this was like the next iteration of that, the next stage of MMOs, and that was my awakening to that world and what they could be where it was just this vast, amazing structure and complex.

That was like a city. And so, yeah, it was my, one of the first real big level levels that I remember, you know, when I was younger. Dude,

this is 100% the minds of Moria. 100%, right? Yeah, like it looks amazing. It was so cool. Is this the dwarf starting area? It is, it is the starting area for the alliance. So you have the alliance and the horse.

So all alliance people start here? You start out there, you kill 500 rabbits like in South Park. And then, you know, you can go through there. But that's like the main, that's like the main hub in the beginning. And then other areas have like their own, you know, again, I was more horde guy. So like there's the undead city, you know, for the undead. And there's like, everyone has their own kind of area. but there's always the, like, the main one.

So this was kind of that, that main alliance one. I'm watching the video as you're talking. It's pretty cool, right? And I'm like, I'm in on this, dude, because this freaking looks cool as anything. So imagine like, like you said, the lava flows, like lighting up the area and stuff. It's like 2003, 2004, you've never, you've just playing like golden eye in these blocky games with polygons and everything.

And then you come into this and you walk into this world. Like, it was, it was something different at the time. and it just it sticks with me as like a very very memorable level yeah yeah i i intentionally am not going to talk about ever quest zones they are some of my favorite but it's like we were joking around this like there's five people out there that are going to be like heck yeah man temple of vishan you know and it's like i'm not going to do that to people so uh again those five people just fist pumped in there heck yeah well you mentioned it now anyway so you good you got yeah exactly see i snuck that in there you got the mention in all right

Give us one of your weird games here. All right. I'm going to have to explain the game first, I guess. But it comes from Assassin's Creed Rogue. What? Wait, Rogue? Which one is that? Rogue is the game that came out for the prior console when Unity came out.

And Rogue follows the story of a assassin turned Templar. So you're running the story of a Templar instead. It's super interesting. I really like it. But the climax of Rogue takes place inside of a giant glacier. in the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. And it's super freaking cool because you're chasing down your assassin

who was once your best friend in this giant glacier as he's removed this piece of Eden and the whole thing is collapsing around you as you're trying to catch up to him. That's pretty cool. That's neat. It's sweet. I'm not going to spoil how it ends, but it's freaking sweet. And I'll always remember it.

Because I replay Assassin's Creed Rogue probably like once a year. What do I not even know about Assassin's Creed Roke? What's this like between two and three? Like where did Rode fall into it? It was for the prior systems when Assassin's Creed Unity came out for the more modern consoles. So people could still continue to play Assassin's Creed without upgrading. Okay.

Interesting. It's very short. I will say I, it's great. I fell off the Assassin's Creed franchise, I think after three. So did I. And then I didn't pick it up again until Odyssey. The problem was Odyssey. was so bloated to me like it was a good game it's a good game it's not a good assassin's creed game

right exactly and that was kind of the thing and then because odyssey really didn't grab me i just i haven't gone back to the series to be honest but i also feel like i'm really not missing that much either because i haven't heard anything amazing about the series since then either mirage guy climb building jump in hay i like marage ascent's creed mirage is really fun but you know So this one is, like, the set pieces with the glacier, like, crumbling around you and stuff like that just made it really neat. The whole story is about them removing these, like, pieces of Eden, which are, like, holding the earth in place, basically. They're holding the gravity in place. And, of course, assassins are just pulling them out randomly because they're dangerous items.

It caused an earthquake in Haiti that killed, like, a ton of people or something like that. It was a freaking assassins. Always killing people, man. Yeah. That's kind of like you were. you feel very conflicted about hunting them down because they're your mentors and your friends

thanks right I was like come on man I don't they got something better to do anybody gave me credit for right here I'm not giving you credit for that when they're assassins I already know they killed people but they were killing innocent people like loads and loads of people

I think it's Lisbon you actually get to take gravity away I feel like that's a lot of people are going to die yeah no kidding but you know you actually get to run through the disasters like multiple times and this is when you're able to stop. So it's pretty cool. And you said it's like crumbling.

Is it like crumbling as you're running through? Oh, yeah. Yeah, you've got a dodge falling icicles and things like that. Those are some of my favorite levels is when there's that, that essence of just like sheer death collapsing around you and you just have to get out of there, but you got to survive and dodge and platform. Those are always the best. I know a lot of those games, they're programmed to not kill you.

Like it just is really meant to like enhance like the tension of the game. And it's like you're, it's pretty important. But man, do they work, dude. Because sometimes I'm just like, oh God, I'm not going to make it. Oh, I was panicking as I ran towards the cliffside. Like, oh, no, no, no. Yeah.

Yeah. Love it. All right. Well, I am going to start off with one of my favorite games of all time and one of my favorite zones in that game. God of War 2018, the Lake of the Nine is absolutely incredible to me. Not only is it visually impressive, right? Lake of the Nine, it's gorgeous.

The water, you know, you're paddling around on the canoe with Atreus and Mamir. You're hearing these awesome stories and banter and things like that. You've got the temples off in the distance, the background. But then you've also got like, you know, there's the giant trapped beast that you can free. There's like things sparkling in the water. You know, you've got the dwarven smoke towers that, you know, are just billowing pollution into the air. And it's like, well, what's that over there? And everything you see, you can go.

to and actually there's something there. So I don't know that there is a better like hub in a in a game than the lake of the nine in my opinion, dude. Like it is just an absolute masterpiece how they designed it. I love the fact that it's like there are so many little nooks and crannies and little beaches to explore. Uh, you know, again, this is where a ton of the banter for the game comes from, which I think really helps to set that tone of in the personality of like Atreus and mirror and even Kratos with his grunting and saying, hey, that's enough for now or something like that. But I could paddle around the Lake of the Nine and just explore for days, dude. It is instantly, this is like the number one thing that came to mind for me. The second I was like, what is an awesome level or zone? And I was like, dude, I freaking love the Lake of the Nine. I like how it changes depending on when you're in the game and whether it's frozen and fimbled winter's coming and stuff like that. It's just what an awesome. What an awesome zone, man. And whoever designed that, I think was just absolutely, it's, it's just peak.

Like, it's a peak level for me. And I love how the whole game is kind of centered around that. That's the thing is like, like you said, you know, there's so many nooks and crannies. There's something to be said for designing a level where it's in a lot of games where you pass through this zone quite often or it's like a hub for where you're at. A lot of times they get kind of mundane, boring. You see everything. This, there's just always something you find. It's unique.

week every time you're there and you explore and you want to you're not like oh i got to go through here you know you're excited because you look around oh i haven't seen that yet and you go over there and you can explore so there's just so much visually and then gameplay wise like it just it makes for one of the the best levels ever designed i agree with you wholeheartedly man yeah it's awesome it's super iconic and it says something that you've made a level i don't mind getting in the boat for like just going around that hub just getting in the boat every time I was like oh I can't wait to hear a story sometimes when you

had to leave I'm like oh man like I got to go here now like okay like I could just paddle around the zone forever man brother we'll pick this up later we're going to take a quick break and then we're going to have to speed this up a little bit boys because I know we got a lot to get through and we love just getting into the into the talking about this stuff so we'll be back in just a second with some more awesome levels

and zones What are the new technologies that will change aviation? Well, hydrogen would be one for sure if we got there. I mean, hydrogen is not just a alternative fuel. I mean, hydrogen would change it significantly if we ever managed to break the back of that. Today, I'm speaking with Kalin Rovinescu, the former president of Air Canada, and a trailblazer in global aviation. Join me, Chris Hadfield, on the On Energy Podcast. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

All right, we are back. Ryan, hit us, buddy. What's your next one? Ha ha ha. My name is Father Gagori. Aim for the head. Nope. No.

You guys don't know? Nata. Wait, oh, Resident Evil. Nope. What? That's not Resident Evil? No. Father Grigori?

No. Dude, I have heard this voice line, dude. man come on think hard people in their car are like I know what it is I know what it is it's Father Gregory

Half Life 2 Ravenholm Oh Ravenholm oh yes That level was freaky What what a A change in a In a game to where you're going through

The world of Half Life 2 And you're you're You know Just oppressed and there's all these guards And there's all this stuff going on And then you you know have to deal with everything that ensues in the half-life world and then you go to ravenholm and even them are they're like you don't go to raven home yeah we ain't going there you know you don't

go to raven home and so then you and then you got this father gregory guy running around just the level design the the areas where the alleyways are just pitch black and you got to use your your light your flashlight they have traps set up and then there's just all the uh uh crab head walkers and everything else running through there it's just it was such a different in that game from the rest of it to what that level all ensued like in the design of it. I just it was one that stood out and that timeline

again. It's that early 2000s. It was very unique and very ahead of its time for what they created. So yeah, Ravenholm is a dude. That is a great one. And see this goes back to like the ones I knew I was going to forget about. But like

you mentioned you have Half-Life 2. You've got the military guys. What is it? The combine, I think is the is the name of the bad guys. Citizen. They're all decked out. They've, you know, they're, you know, they've got guns and armor and all stuff. And then they're like, dude, nobody.

We're not going there. And then they put this like horror level. Yeah. In this game all of a sudden with a crazy Father Gregori run. I see, I knew I knew that name from somewhere, man. I couldn't remember where it was. This dude's running around. Like, he's just like, what are you doing here, man?

Like, you shouldn't be here. And he's like, oh, no, this is, this is the home, man. Just chilling with all the headwalker. crab thing people and you never played did you play half life two ace no i have it i did buy it i just haven't got it too yet yeah dude once once you play dude you'll be like ryan you'll hit us up ryan josh dude i played that i got the raven home this level's crazy that's a game i wonder if it holds up like i know that it was it was it the original half life with the black mesa because that's not half life two right oh the original black uh yeah the black mesas for half life

one the original that's the remake which holds up pretty well it does pretty well. Half-life-2 still, in my opinion, holds up some of the stuff, like, if you're on the air jet boat and you're like, the machine guns are kind of weird and janky, and some of the mechanics are a little off, but overall, you know, it's just kind of old school,

old school. Half-Five 2 is an all-timer, man. I've got some kind of massive bundle of just Half-Life games. I have to go through eventually. Yeah. Is it the Orange Box? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Dude, you talk about the old orange box. Poof. You got Portal. You got Half-Life. What else did it come with?

Team Fortress? Team Fortress? TFC and then and then Counterstrike Day Defeat Bro. Like just here have all these amazing games

in one box guys like and they're all absolute bangers. It was like three bucks. Yeah. Oh yeah. It was dirt cheap too, man. Yeah.

All right. A. What's up next on your list? All right. I really want to get to this one so I didn't want to leave it for last. But the garage fight with Jack Baker

and Resident Evil 7 Biohazard is possibly one of the best like level slash zones you could play through in a resonant evil game. Do you remember this fight, right? I missed this and I and I'm upset because I did not

play biohazard all the way through or I think I played like four or five hours and then something happened but you were talking about this and now I'm a little jelly because I'm like dude this sounds great man. So Ethan has made his way through this house, this horrible horrible house in Louisiana

and made his way to the garage where he thinks he's going to make it outside and he met up with a cop he called and managed to get the attention of the cop will not let Ethan pass to just leave and the garage door is slowly shutting behind them as Jack Baker gets behind this cop and takes off half his face with a shovel oh oh oh it's it's pretty gnarly Josh you it's not only so good with those moments dude you are trapped in a confined garage with a maddened hill Billy with a shovel. See, that's, I had the house as one of mine, like it was on my list or whatever. The whole house in general, because it was just so creepy. But, like, to narrow it down to the garage, that's, I mean, that's, yeah, that was crazy. Yeah, talk about suspense and, like, crazy paranoia.

Do you remember what he does halfway through that fight? Oh, dude, it's been so long. He goes and picks up the car keys and just starts ramming the car around in the garage. G-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-d. And eventually... Nine-point turn. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's insane, dude.

And eventually he pulls you into the car and drives you into the wall. Dude, that game is nuts, man. Try it in VR. I need to go back to that one. You got to play Resident Evil 7 in Biohazard, dude. I do. I love Village, you know? I mean, and Biohazard's supposed to be fantastic.

And you can play it in VR, which I might do. That would be pretty cool. That one would be pretty freaking soon. You want to talk about, like, setting the stage for, a game. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Biohazard does it well. I have a tie, and so this might be cheating a little bit, but when I'm thinking about different zones in a game, I can't not mention Eldon Ring. That's fair. Let's be honest, dude. Eldon Ring has some of the most memorable visually stunning

like areas in gaming, in my opinion. I mean, whether you're looking at the Erd Tree off in the distance or you know, any of these things, man. So I kind of have tie here because one is knock ron the eternal city that one's so good which is bananas to me because you're playing you're probably 15 20 hours into elden ring before you find this just ruins out in the wilderness and it's got an elevator in it and then you're like what the heck is this and you take

this elevator down and it goes so far underground i mean it's literally like a 60 second elevator ride and then you just come out in this absolutely gigantic underground city and there's stars in sky and it's just like what is this area man this is insane it was a really neat moment i cannot believe it like it gave you this kind of glimpse at the actual scale of elden ring yeah at that point because it's like how did i not even know this existed it's mysterious that like i said it's beautiful it's eerie like that is absolutely one for me that stands out and then the other one is crumbling for room azula you've got this ancient place i love love it. That one might

edge out knocker on for me, but it's like you have this ancient crumbling city that is falling apart that is levitating in the sky. You've got these gigantic tornadoes whirling around everywhere. To me that is one of the most memorable zones. Are you looking up I'm looking at Faribulah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It really is. It's so good, dude. Like the visuals in that it's closer to like the end of the game. So both of those just stand out to me. According to the lore, it's a ruin that's being ripped apart stuck in a time loop is what it is. So it makes it sound even cooler, to be honest. It is perpetually being ripped apart and put back together. Oh, my gosh. All right.

Ryan, let's hit us with another one, but let's speed this up a little bit. I know we all got some honorable mentions we want to get to as well. Definitely. I'm going to go with again, we talked about it kind of in some of the preamble and the pre-show stuff. but I'm going to go with Last of Us, the mall level. Yes. When you're kind of first starting out. So it is, it is, uh, where is the mall?

It's like, played this game. I don't remember being in the mall. It's, it's, it's in the beginning area. That's where, that's where Ellie gets bit. Yeah. This is real early. Are you sure you played the right Last of us? Wasn't some off brand or something?

I played the PC port, the remastered version. It's in the beginning when you're, you're walking through and then you, like, go into, um, you go into, like, the music center. and you go into... I think this is a DLC or something, guys, because I do not remember a mall in the last of us at all. No, no. Which is okay.

It's literally no, it is the main... You guys are blowing my mind here. Wait, no, no, no. Because I'm like, I remember the mall from the, from the TV show, which I watched before I played the game, but then I played last of us and I'm like, I don't remember being in a mall. They always put DLC in the TV shows.

Get out of here. It is in the TV show, though, because she's hanging out with the other girl. bit what do you mean but i dude i'm telling you right now this is not in the base game i thought you're all right we're gonna have to do this again and then everyone's gonna message in and comment right i mean hey the left behind d lc no no no that's something else okay no i don't know dude no i'm 100% 100 000% right look at them look at those uh listening right now they're both scrambling to look because they no it is the hundred last of us left behind DLC. Yeah, it is. Yeah.

I just Google it. It says, no, the abandoned mall featured in The Last of Us, the TV show is not a location from the original game. It is from the DLC. No, no, no. It's in the original game where Ellie gets bit in the mall when you're, when you're scrambling through out of the city. Yes.

You, you, you, bro. Bro. Bro. I'm telling, I just played this a month ago. Like, I just played this a month ago. Dude, I'm telling you right now, you do not see Ellie get bit. you go find her with with tess you have to go and and find her you this is when her and her friend her and her friend are exploring and then she i saw the tv show i understand the tv show is not the game i'm

talking i know but i'm saying this is not in the base game right let me i'm gonna go ahead i'm gonna read the description for this d lc and you tell me how it is it's set the first three weeks before the events of the last of us follows elli as she spends time with her best friend riley in an abandoned Mall in Boston. It takes place between the two chapters of the last of us and focuses on Ellie's attempts to scour an abandoned mall in Colorado for medical supplies to heal Joe.

This is DLC. So it was. It was DLC. It was not DLC. I'm just saying that this did not exist in the base game. Nope. All right. Listen, listen. I'm looking this up later. Whatever. I just looked it up. I have it right in front of me. I'm

fact checking this. I know. I know. I know. I know. I don't know. All right. Listen, that's one to one. Josh one Ryan won. You went on the rest of it thing and I went on that this is not being in the original Last of Us. I need to respite from this podcast. It's still a level in a video game. It is still a level.

All right. Yes. Why is it memorable? Anyways, it's freaking sweet. I just, it's the whole mall level? It's like, yeah, the exploration of the mall level. I love post-apocalyptic worlds.

I love if humanity stopped and seeing what it could be like and how people kind of portray that. And so I think this level did such a good job of, you know, when you think of a mall, you think of just a hustle, bustle, crazy, busy place. And then it's just empty and nothingness. And you see these stores that still have stuff on the shelves and stuff. And so to me, that one just really stuck out right away. Like you said earlier, Josh, it's the ones that really pop in your head right away. Like, that was one of them immediately, especially because it wasn't a DLC, so he was on the base game.

So it's just kind of everybody got to play it. All right. I know number one. I know I'm right on this one. But freaking Ryan making me think I'm going senile or something. Because I'm like, how do I not remember a mall, dude? Like, did I just zone out on like two hours of this game or what? I don't remember ever getting any DLC and I remember the mall. So I don't know what. I don't know what's going on here. Maybe you had it like a complete edition or something like. Old age is getting to me. I'm like, I'd be questioning myself. I'm like, am I really this old where I just don't remember this at all? So all. All right. Ace, what do you got, buddy? I have so many, man. It's so hard to pick one. I'm going to go with the most recent one for me,

which was the Monad Charity House and Liza P. Overture. This is the Liza P. D.L.C., which I have not played. Yeah, you have not played this. But I hear is awesome. It is incredible. So what makes this level so cool? It's the connection of the charity house to the characters, one thing. This is where Carlo, which is who P is, you know,

been made to replace. This is where Carlo was sent to live when his mother died mysteriously. And then he died there. So, you know, that was great. Oh, no. That doesn't sound like a very nice place. But you get there after Carlos friend Romeo has been kidnapped by an evil human puppet hybrid guy. And you get there.

And all the people who tried to take refuge inside the charity home are just corpses lying on the ground in the hall as you walk past. And it is just this dark and dower. moment where you get to the like the center hall of the charity at the charity house and you're just like those are human arms hanging from the banister

yeah this is horrible punches man yeah these these robots went off on humanity man and that game does not shy away from making it look like this is terrible yeah all right um okay I'll tell you what I'm gonna name one and then we'll just rapid fire a few

because we're running along here already um I am going to mention, I have mentioned this before, this is one of those memorable moments in a game, but the fire ritual level, I'm going to call it a level in Hellblade 2, where the guys are chanting and they're blowing fire. You can't see. She winds up crawling through this river of blood.

It is absolutely just nightmare fuel. It will always stand out to me as just a super, super memorable moment. You can say what you want about Hellblade 2, but my goodness, dude, that level stands out in my brain, forever like legitimately forever you hear the chanting it's all smoky and foggy so it's like you can't really see well there's these creepy dudes down there crawling under like the little bridge yeah remember

yeah and you're falling through this river of blood and there's sick and body parts falling down on you and stuff and i was just like this is a this is a good one man see that's what dude there's i didn't even think of that but that's totally totally exactly what we're talking about those iconic levels that just sit in your brain. So, like, yeah. Later on, when you're freeing the giant in that one, remember where you have to go and run behind the pillars and the giant lava explosions happen and stuff?

Like, that was another memorable one in that game too. So that's really, I'll tell you what, let's rapid fire a couple. Ryan, what else you got on your list? Just name some so we don't look like idiots for not naming a couple of these things. I got a fallout four, the Red Rocket area zone, if you will. The gas station.

Walking in, yeah, walking into the gas station, getting dog meat, just kind of that whole area kind of sets the stage for what that game's going to be. Some old school throwbacks like Counterstrike D-D-dust. That is iconic memorable level rats, you know, Aztec, all those good ones

back in the day. One that I really like is the Metal Gear Solid Tanker Incident level. It's where you start in the Metal Gear Solid game and you are Snake and you're going through this tanker and my favorite part of the tanker is when you walk through, this guy's given a

speech and there's just hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Marines or Navy guys or whatever they are all in a row. And if you, if you alert them, if you accidentally like one catches you, all of them go, like hundreds of them at once.

All turn and look at you. And then it's like, snake, snake, snake. You know, so I thought that was, I thought that was super unique and it was an awesome level design that that definitely stuck with me. What else you got, Ace? all right I want to go back

to Assassin's Creed with Assassin's Creed 2 fighting the Pope underneath the Sistine Chapel I'll never forget that Fighting the Pope can be memorable Yeah it can Devil May Cry 3 The very opening within inside Dante's Devil Hunting Shop

What was that? I've never played that I hear it's really good It's great You'd probably love it And then I'm going to go back to Liza P again with the Malam District Which is the

Rotted Town run by the Black Rabbit Brotherhood. Oh, I remember that one. Yeah, you walk in there and just like, oh, this place is terrible. Yeah. Yeah, it's not run very well, let's just say. Black Rabbit Brotherhood needs some lessons on civil engineering, civil, I don't know, what do you call?

Manors. Just management. Civil management, there you go. No, you get management's in the DLC, bro. Right. All right. For me, an older one, the D. Death Star Tunnel Run and X-Wing Alliance.

These are the old X-Wing Thai Fighter-type games. This is everything you ever wanted for a Death Star run in a video game. It is tight quarters. You're in the Millennium Falcon. You have to go fast. You're trying not to crash into things. You blow up the reactor and then you've got to get the heck out of there too. It was just an incredible level.

It literally is the best representation of the movies in a video game that I've ever seen. The tension there is awesome. Conpecki Plaza from Cyberpunk. This is the hotel where you pull off the heist for the chip that kind of sets the game into motion. That heist in general is just an amazing, what an amazing. Oh, Jackie. Yeah, dude.

You're a monster if you didn't send him back to his family, by the way. All of you. Yeah. What the heck. Anyone who didn't send him back to his family? Nobody would make that choice. I do what I want. You monster.

Where did you send him? Oh, no. Ryan. No, he went back to this. We'll have time to get into this. We'll get into this later. God of War III, the Kronos level where you're climbing up the Titan Kronos. That's so good. Oh my gosh. Yeah.

Is insane. There is the all-timer. This is probably one that everybody thinks about. Halo 3, the Warthog run at the end of the game to escape. That is an all-timer. And then more recently, because this one really stands out to me, guys, the collapsing star level in split fiction.

That's a good one. That's a good one. That one, I'll remember that level for a really long time, dude. Yeah, I can't even do the sound, dude. But that and the visuals behind it were incredible, dude. It helps because it was just so pretty. It was such a beautiful kind of representation. And the sound, dude, I wish that sound. My brain can kind of hear it, but I can't, yeah, oh, man.

And then finally, because I'd be remiss, the labyrinth level and Remnant 2 is really, really neat. With all the quirks and the things shifting around and going on, and then, of course, the boss fight at the end of that one. so all right listen we want to hear what levels or zones stand out to you leave a comment on this episode we see all the comments everybody else sees them we want to know what you all think out there is one of the most memorable levels or zones of all time so let us know about it come join our discord server you can chat about it there every time an episode releases there's always some awesome conversation that goes on around the topic and just gamers being

gamers and being awesome to each other there there's a link in the episode description remember to rate the show five stars write us a review it helps out for other gamers that are actually looking for a good gaming podcast that's going to do it for this one everybody until next time happy gaming see you peace out Thank you.