[MP-Ryan]

Well, this is a tough one.  I don't know if I can narrow it down.

While I had some favourites in the original C&C and Red Alert series, I don't recall any of them well enough to pick a favourite, so I'll go with a couple of the most memorable I've played in the last decade, which are not from RTS games.

System Shock 2 - Level 1 - Med Bay/Science.  This level was perfection.  You begin the actual game thrown into a frantic escape for your life, having no idea what's wrong, what happened, but the vague notion that you should.  You learn your skills are limited, weapons nonexistent, and random threats appear from anywhere.  You get some scarce, precious resources, and slink around cursing the locked resource crates, pipe-wielding monsters, and neurotic computer.  The atmosphere of this level is perfection for a survival-horror RPG.

"The Cradle" from Thief 3 is also a great example.  It was terrifying.  Jesus.

Thief itself had some brilliant level design throughout; more people should replay these older games to realize the kind of effort that went into level design before the days of corridor 1 corridor 2 setpiece corridor 3 corrider 4 cutscene etc.

The original Deus Ex was a wonderful game of the same era as Thief and SS2, so no surprise it's level design was generally awesome too.  Vandenburg was probably my favourite of that from a sheer sense of "I am going to stand up here and wreck **** and there is nothing any of those puny mortals/robots are going to be able to do to stop me.". It gave a real sense of being an augmented badass.  Hell's Kitchen was also very well done.

BioShock Infinite had a good progression through Fink's areas too; from the initial slum, to the real slum's, the police station, then back and into the battle of the office tower, that was probably my favourite section of that game.

[Mongoose]

Actually, Secret Level 1 was my other favourite.

/opens door
RRRRRRRRRRGGRHHGHGHHH  *great big purple blobs fly at you*
/shuts door

That sound is pretty much imprinted on my soul.  *shudder*

[TechnoD11]

Actually, Secret Level 1 was my other favourite.

/opens door
RRRRRRRRRRGGRHHGHGHHH  *great big purple blobs fly at you*
/shuts door

That sound is pretty much imprinted on my soul.  *shudder*

How about this one? Scared the **** out of me first time I heard it
http://youtu.be/Wsuio4oboUU?t=42s
That squeal...

[Hobbie]

How about this one? Scared the **** out of me first time I heard it
http://youtu.be/Wsuio4oboUU?t=42s
That squeal...

No! Go away! Not the Drillers!

[watsisname]

Oh **** that **** that's not even funny dude.  Nooo.

Ahhhhg, that ****ing noise.



So I also liked all the platform puzzle worlds in Mario Sunshine where it steals your water jetpack thing.  Those were great.

[Edhotmetal]

Last level of SpyHunter for the GameCube and City Escape from SA2B
I've played City Escape at least 700 times. Mostly to collect chaos drives for my Chao, but its still a great level. Final Rush is also really good

[Scotty]

Most of a the first half of Half-Life 2 Episode 2.  Hunters are frustrating but cool.  The music is great.  The worst part of it is the last mission because **** striders, and even that's just hard, not bad.

[Lorric]

Something I can think of to bring up here is the level design in Twisted Metal 2: World Tour. Particularly Paris, New York and Antarctica. Honourable mentions for Amazonia and Hong Kong.

Just on their own merits the levels are high quality, but they have some things about them that make them really special.

On the paris level you can destroy the Eiffel Tower, and then use it as a ramp to take the battle to the rooftops.

New York, fighting on top of the Skyscrapers is epic enough, but the fact there are multiple levels of elevation and you can actually smash your way inside several of the buildings and fight inside them is amazing. There's also an Easter egg iirc that you can fire missiles off at the Statue of Liberty in the distance, and doing so strips her down to a bikini.

Antarctica is awesome. You're fighting on this massive Iceberg, and it's falling apart as you fight on it. This isn't just cool in itself, it changes your whole style of fighting on that level. Success in this game, a large portion of it aside from your fighting ability is based around level memorisation and running away. As the iceberg gets smaller, it cuts down your options for pickups and cuts down your space to run and makes it more likely you're going to get jumped by multiple opponents.

EDIT: Almost forgot, the music!

Paris has a frere jacques remix.

It's surprisingly good though.

But New York and Antarctica have epic music to go with them. Check it out, the New York one in particular is one of my favourite pieces of video game music.

New York:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7naLGn2o_k

Antarctica:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccGGL2yl6rc

[CP5670]

I think my favorite one is the Waterloo level in Psychonauts. I really liked the whole idea of becoming part of a board game at different scales. Some other I can think of, in no particular order:

Any of the other Psychonauts levels (they are all totally unique, and unlike any other game out there)
Into the Lion's Den in FS2 (the mission has its flaws, but it was just way cool back then)
High Velocity Weapons Research in Descent 3 (loved those high speed tunnels)
Hell in Painkiller (the final level, a creative twist on the phrase "war is hell")
Fear in Cryostasis (probably the trippiest level in this game, and full of symbolism)
Normandy level in MOH: Allied Assault (very immersive and cinematic for its time, although less impressive today since many games have since copied it)
Alien base mission in Crysis (great atmosphere and artwork, and had a very alien feel to it)
Rachni mission in Mass Effect 3 (similar to the above, but still very good)
Liberty escape mission in Freelancer (as mentioned by someone else)

Thief 3 was an excellent game, but I thought that Shalebridge level was a bit overrated. I guess those types of levels just don't do it for me.

Actually, Secret Level 1 was my other favourite.

/opens door
RRRRRRRRRRGGRHHGHGHHH  *great big purple blobs fly at you*
/shuts door

That sound is pretty much imprinted on my soul.  *shudder*

D2 unfortunately replaced both sounds with these really crappy mouse squeaks, although the D1 versions can be added back in.

[Mr. Vega]

Thief 3 was an excellent game, but I thought that Shalebridge level was a bit overrated. I guess those types of levels just don't do it for me.

It certainty doesn't have Return to the Cathedral's replay value. It's a card that could only be played once, but what a card it was.

[Grizzly]

Mechcommander 2: The final House Liao mission (esp. the first time, good atmosphere, run for your life feel)
Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries - Beach Fight ("If I didn't know you any better, I'd say you are enjoying this a bit too much, sir!") and the final House Davion mission sets.
Freespace 2: Bearbaiting and any mission involving defending an Arcadia station (Enif, and that one in Capella)
Mass Effect: the final assault on the citadel (gotta love that Zero-G)

Need for Speed 3: The Aquatica track.

[Mongoose]

Something I can think of to bring up here is the level design in Twisted Metal 2: World Tour. Particularly Paris, New York and Antarctica. Honourable mentions for Amazonia and Hong Kong.

This game pretty much defined a massive portion of my childhood.  Soooooo much fun.

(I think the music choice for Holland deserves some props too.  The level's just this huge flat rectangle crammed with enemies, and the track for it is this kind of screaming-fiddle hayseed rock thing that fits the resulting insanity perfectly.)

[Colonol Dekker]

Storm eagle.
Prologue level.
final stage.

Spark mandrill.


Magna centipede.


Tears of nostalgia....


All of them.


The YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS I spent mastering the snes megaman games.


That or bomberman.

[deathfun]

Oh my god I completely forgot Bomberman

I... I couldn't even fathom which ones were my favourite levels in those...

[Lorric]

Something I can think of to bring up here is the level design in Twisted Metal 2: World Tour. Particularly Paris, New York and Antarctica. Honourable mentions for Amazonia and Hong Kong.

This game pretty much defined a massive portion of my childhood.  Soooooo much fun.

(I think the music choice for Holland deserves some props too.  The level's just this huge flat rectangle crammed with enemies, and the track for it is this kind of screaming-fiddle hayseed rock thing that fits the resulting insanity perfectly.)

Me too. I played it for years. Eventually won it with everyone on hard. It has a special place in my heart. I'm sure I'll still go back to it.

Yes, the music works well, but talk about a lazy level compared to the rest. And with 9 enemies, it's the hardest in the game imo because with the smaller size of the level and all that wide open space you just get murdered. There's usually nowhere to run, there's always someone waiting for you wherever you go.

But yes, it's incredibly fun and incredibly challenging.

Oh and let's not forget the absolute pure terror of facing Darktooth the first bunch of times before you finally understand how to deal with him. Of running away and him storming up behind you to crush you like the insect you are...

[Boomer20]

Wow there are so many games that I missed out on purely because I was always miles behind in the technology, thousand year old pc for years, only got the ps1 at the end of its life, got the ps2 close to the start but got the ps3 like 2 months ago 

I also have to add any level from Godhand, that game was just the shizzle mahizzle fizzle.

[Mars]

The first Venus mission of D1, with the Shredders. Practically pissed myself first time through.

[karajorma]

Warhead - The Berserker missions. Slap bang in the middle of a war with the enemy you come across a threat deadly to both sides who proceeds to take a very personal interest in you. I especially loved the way they handled first contact with an alien being.

Hostile Waters has already been mentioned but I prefer the missions later on in the game, one special favourite though is the one where all of a sudden you have to defend the Cabal habitation island and you're faced with a choice between helping the enemy or doing your own thing to defeat the bugs.

Populous the Beginning - The final level. I AM A GOD! YOU CAN'T KILL ME NOW! HAHAHAHA! Finally a chance to rain firey death and destruction upon your enemies without the need to worry about the enemy picking off your Shaman when you leave her alone for a second.

[Grizzly]

Mechwarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy - the mission where you stand on a jumpship defending it from other mechs whilst preventing massive overheat.
Mercenaries: The solaris missions in both the games.
Mechwarrior 2 itself: The mission where you control a Jade Falcon Mad Dog, infiltrate a Jade Falcon base, take out the reactor coolant, and run the **** away

[Colonol Dekker]

Ooh ooh ooh!!!

Starsiege.  Pluto.