The best FPS levels, EVER!

[Mindf!3ldzX]

PC Gamer recently ran an article titled "The best FPS levels ever" - decent article, the most note worthy part was the fact that

....Gloom Keep...
It shouldn't come as a surprise though.

Gloom Keep, Quake
A grim castle surrounded by a moat, dotted with deadly traps, and filled with unholy monsters. If you were playing on easy (boo!), this was the first time you’d come face to face with the terrifying Shamblers.

The best FPS levels ever - PC Gamer

[golden_boy]

Gloom Keep is one of my favourite levels too, the layout with the two branches (each with a key at its end), the three-tiered atrium and a few teleport shenanigans (entering backwards for the quad etc) is just very, very solid and classical. Always a joy to play and such a solid design.

I don't like the red theme much, I think the entire thing *looks* pretty horrible but plays great.

The Door To Chthon is my favourite Quake level, though, layout wise.

Atmosphere-wise, I gotta name The Grisly Grotto with the submerged buildings, that is admittedly pretty sick.

Doom E1M1 isn't such a great level per se, I don't think, but it works very well as a game's first level. It's pretty simple and linear, with some nice secrets. I find Doom E1M3 to be a better level all around, but Doom is chock full of great level designs.

Note how Quake E1M1 is also a U-shape and mostly linear just like Doom E1M1. It just works well as an introduction.

Other great levels... OK, those are not FPS, but the first and second Tomb Raider games have many great ones, and TR: Anniversary improved upon some of them, especially the Egypt levels. Mirror's Edge is full of good levels, and so are the Portal games.

FPS wise, Crysis (1) and Far Cry (1) come to mind, and I guess CoD has good levels if you like that kind of thing, and FEAR has some nice ones too. And I fondly remember STALKER's Lab X 18, the Brain Scorcher, Pripyat, and the power plant... oh and obviously Bioshock, especially Hephaestus comes to mind.

But yeah, Gloom Keep, yay.

[Mindf!3ldzX]

Gloom Keep is one of my favourite levels too, the layout with the two branches (each with a key at its end), the three-tiered atrium and a few teleport shenanigans (entering backwards for the quad etc) is just very, very solid and classical. Always a joy to play and such a solid design.

I don't like the red theme much, I think the entire thing *looks* pretty horrible but plays great.

The Door To Chthon is my favourite Quake level, though, layout wise.

Atmosphere-wise, I gotta name The Grisly Grotto with the submerged buildings, that is admittedly pretty sick.

Doom E1M1 isn't such a great level per se, I don't think, but it works very well as a game's first level. It's pretty simple and linear, with some nice secrets. I find Doom E1M3 to be a better level all around, but Doom is chock full of great level designs.

Note how Quake E1M1 is also a U-shape and mostly linear just like Doom E1M1. It just works well as an introduction.

Other great levels... OK, those are not FPS, but the first and second Tomb Raider games have many great ones, and TR: Anniversary improved upon some of them, especially the Egypt levels. Mirror's Edge is full of good levels, and so are the Portal games.

FPS wise, Crysis (1) and Far Cry (1) come to mind, and I guess CoD has good levels if you like that kind of thing, and FEAR has some nice ones too. And I fondly remember STALKER's Lab X 18, the Brain Scorcher, Pripyat, and the power plant... oh and obviously Bioshock, especially Hephaestus comes to mind.

But yeah, Gloom Keep, yay.

Definitely I tend to try and keep my ear to the ground about our beloved quake franchise & the internet rumor mill. lol

[talisa]

my fave without a doubt from quake is E4M4: palace of hate
another castle, with a big variety of enemies and enemy-paths everywhere, making for that enemies wont be found at the exact same spot

knights, scrags, deathknights, fiends, several shamblers, a shalrath, fish...
all of the best enemies from quake all in one map with a great castle-theme and a big open layout with lots of paths,
neat secrets and cool mechanics like the guillotine and the healing pool, and one secret which requires rocket/grenade-jumping.

[Dutch]

The Elder World levels were always my favorite. They were dark, terrifying, and felt old. Particularly Hell's Atrium and Elder God Shrine (which was also an awesome DM map).

That being said, the 4th episode has the sloppiest texturing and blockiest designs. I always wanted to remake that whole episode with better detail.

[exus]

gloom keep is a solid choice for sure. so many great classics. some personal favorites would be hong kong from deus ex, lambda core from half life, and bluff eversmoking from unreal. creamy old school goodness.

[Baker]

All the E1Mx levels are very nice. E4 levels are memorable too: Azure Agony, etc. (with the Sewage System and The Pain Maze not really being as good as the other levels of E4, imho).

The Wind Tunnels is the only level in E2-E3 that stands out.