Top 10 WORST Final Levels in Video Games

“Fallout 3” (2008)

Bethesda’s first entry in the “Fallout” series brought a lot of wonderful new additions, but the original ending definitely wasn’t one of them. ‘Take It Back!’ has you lead an attack against the Enclave in Jefferson Memorial. Except, that’s not quite accurate as it’s a giant, militarized robot that does most of your dirty work. A final level where you don’t get to fight much is kind of dull. But the real sin comes when you make it inside. Despite having several radiation-immune companions, either you or Sarah must input a code for a water purifier and die in the process, causing the game to end. Players naturally complained, especially with any leftover side quests, and Bethesda had to issue DLC to fix it.

“Enter the Matrix” (2003)

Having a “Matrix” game set alongside the movies, and directed by the Wachowskis no less, was a great idea. That doesn’t mean it had a satisfactory ending, though. Players control Niobe and Ghost, perfecting their martial arts and gunplay. Unfortunately, the final level has none of that. Instead, the crew of the Logos ship flee from a horde of machines through a cave system. With endless ammo, all you do is shoot into the group of enemies. It isn’t visually interesting, nor is the gameplay much fun, and it goes on for a good ten minutes. If this had been a penultimate level, it wouldn’t be a big deal. It also lamely concludes with footage from the movies instead of giving us an actual ending.

“Super Mario Sunshine” (2002)

“Sunshine” doesn’t get as much love as other “Mario” adventures, though fans certainly have their reasons. One of them is the abysmal final level set inside a volcano. It’s divided into three annoying sections surrounded by lava, the first of which has you crossing platforms that produce either spikes or fire. It’s tricky platforming, to be sure, but the worst section is piloting a rowboat with your water pack. It’s never fun when you’re forced to do this in the game, and that goes doubly here. Finally, you’ll use a rocket nozzle to try and skyrocket your way up some moving clouds. It’s the type of challenging that feels cheap instead of being well-balanced.

“L.A. Noire” (2011)

Changing up gameplay for a final level can be a big risk, causing the experience to suffer as a whole if you don’t pull it off. Sadly, “L.A. Noire” didn’t. For the majority of the game, you play as a detective, meticulously gathering evidence and questioning suspects. For the most part, your final case still adheres to this. But it’s all thrown out the window when you reach the climax. As you descend into the sewers, the game descends into a bland, repetitive shoot out. We understand the desire to end on a bang, but that’s not what this is. It’s a boring disservice to the subdued, yet more engaging, majority of the game.

“Psychonauts” (2005)

Changing genres is one thing; a massive difficulty spike is another. “Psychonauts” is an endlessly inventive platformer that makes levels out of the psyche of its characters. ‘Meat Circus’ is the result of the minds of two characters melded into one. There are many elements that earned it a reputation for being overly hard. An escort section where the person has little health, unforgiving platforming, infrequent checkpoints, limited lives, and a general lack of clarity on what to do. In fact, it’s so soul-crushingly hard that it had its difficulty toned down in later releases. That would almost be impressive if not for the extreme frustration it caused so many players.

“Half-life” (1998)

“Half-life” is a monumentally important series in gaming, comprised of beloved and influential first-person shooters. It isn’t perfect though, which can be seen in the first game’s final level. Under the threat of alien invasion, badass physicist Gordon Freeman does his best to fight back. He eventually travels to the Xen dimension to stop them from taking over Earth. Although it’s not very long, it sure does feel like it is. FPS games may have gotten better with platforming elements in later years, but they were a chore to pull off here. Low gravity makes controlling Gordon unbearable, and the level’s enemies only add to the grind. It brings an otherwise fun game to a disappointing halt.

“Super Smash Bros. Brawl” (2008)

The Subspace Emissary was a great, albeit light story mode we wish had been expanded on for future “Smash” entries. But then we remembered the Great Maze. This expansive level is introduced right before the final boss and is a major test in patience. It recycles areas from previous portions, as well as fights against mini-bosses and bosses. Plus, as its name might clue you in on, it’s a maze. You’ll get turned around time and time again just trying to narrow down the proper path. It all feels like such a gigantic waste of time. It’s not as if the rest of the Subspace Emissary was short, so this definitely wasn’t needed. All it did was tarnish what came before.

“God of War” (2005)

In the Norse “God of War” games, Kratos doesn’t have a jump button. When we look back to levels like these, though, it’s completely understandable. Instead of leaning in to combat or puzzle solving, which was working pretty well up to this point, the Path of Hades shoehorns platforming in. Only, the controls aren’t the best for that type of gameplay, especially when spikes are sticking out of pretty much everything. Rotating beams are a pain to walk across, but they pale in comparison to the final climb. Kratos must ascend slow-spinning pillars with multiple blades protruding from them. One misstep, and you’re knocked straight to the bottom where you’ll likely question how badly you want to beat this game.

“Sonic the Hedgehog” (2006)

It may seem strange to criticize a bad level in an objectively bad game, but ‘End of the World’ is a special brand of awful. In it, players control seven of Sonic’s allies trying to revive him using the Chaos Emeralds. The game’s reputation for controlling like garbage is in full force here, made much worse by constantly spawning rifts in space. If you get sucked in, you’re dead no matter how many rings you have. Since it’s divided into seven sections, it’s also rather long with only a handful of lives to spare. All of this is compounded by the fact that you have to scour each area for their Emerald, increasing the likelihood of your death.

“Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” (2015)

At least with most bad final levels, developers try something new. But when it comes to the last mission in “Phantom Pain,” it’s blatant laziness that earns it the top spot. There’s a lot to love about the final mainline entry in the series. But when you reach the end, instead of giving you an actual challenge, it forces you to replay the entire opening sequence. It wasn’t that great of an opening to begin with, so having us slog through it again only made us angry and bored. Which, to be fair, is a hard combo to pull off. There’s evidence to support this was the result of time constraints and director Hideo Kojima’s firing from Konami. Doesn’t make it hurt any less.