After my top ten train levels article, I figured I’d return to the gaming world to list my favourite wet and wild game levels. So, here’s Andy’s Top Ten: Videogame ‘Ship’ Levels (part one). For clarity’s sake, I’m using ‘ship’ as a catch-all term for nautical vessels of any kind, be it on the sea or in space, and ‘level’ for games not entirely built around being on a ship. Enjoy!
AVAST YE MATEYS! Here be spoilers!
Number Ten: USS Nautilus, Crysis 2
Cruising through the waters off New York, the Nautilus makes a good impression of the might of the US armed forces – until it’s sunk in the opening moments of Crysis 2, leaving the US Marine strike force trapped belowdecks, scrambling to get out before the mighty sub is left at bottom of the Hudson.
Pretty atmospheric when played late at night with the sound up, I can tell you!
It may of only been a fleeting moment, but this opening set the tone for the rest of the game – brutal, intense, and with the odds stacked firmly against you. Plus, the fact that it looks great graphically – and the music is perfectly pitched – adds to the experience.
Number Nine: The cargo ship, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Although the plot of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory was the kind of techno-drek that rattles around in Tom Clancy’s mind and is occasionally vomited onto a page and turned into a best-seller, the game itself turned out to be pretty good.
Peek-a-boo!
About half-way through the title, agent Sam Fisher finds himself infiltrating a cargo ship filled with terrorists, in order to have a nice chat with a bad guy up on the mess deck. Starting you off on the poop deck (no jokes, please, we’re British), the canny agent has to sneak his way through the superstructure of the aged lady.
Taking you through the noisy, hot engine room (which makes your thermal goggles useless) and along rainswept decks alike, sneaking around a ship at sea was never more fun – or more deadly.
Number Eight: U-4901, Medal of Honor
Although looking at it now you’d think you were fighting boxes of pixels in Nazi uniforms, at the time, Medal of Honor’s ‘Scuttle Das Boot U-4901′ mission was a thrilling battle.
Starting with the infiltration of the mighty, oversized Nazi U-boat, the mission saw OSS agent Jimmy Patterson storming through the metal guts of the boat, killing off its crew, stealing codebooks (for the real heroes of the Enigma tale, click here – that crap U-571 movie isn’t the true tale…) and finally forcing the ship to the surface.
"You're Jimmy Patterson!"
Sure, the level was linear as hell, but the close-range firefights left an impression on my 13-year-old mind, as did the angry Captain yelling “You’re Jimmy Patterson!” at me.
Exactly how he knew that remains a mystery… I had a hat on and everything!
Number Seven: The cargo ship, Final Fantasy 7
Another game which looks woefully awful when compared to today’s graphics, FF7 is nevertheless the best RPG of all time – and it has a pretty kickass level set on a ship as well.
Having snuck onto a Shin-Ra cargo ship, spiky-haired, psychologically deranged, cross-dressing hero Cloud Strife and his band of weirdos are on their way to Costa Del Sol for a much-needed break. Donning stolen uniforms, which don’t fit very well – leaving gun-armed Barret looking like a terrifying nightmare of a sailor, and talking wolf/lion/tiger Red XIII on his hind legs – with a tail sticking out – the team try to keep a low profile.
That is, until the calamity from the skies bursts in, and needs to be put back in her box in the cargo hold before she rips the ship to shreds.
Combining comedy with utter terror as Jenova makes an appearance, this ship-based level was both tricky and fun in equal measure.
Number Six: Pirate ships, The Curse of Monkey Island
Everybody loves pirates – and Guybrush Threepwood wants to be one. A shame he can’t get the hang of the insult sword-fighting…
Yes, The Curse of Monkey Island takes a break from it’s nautical point-and-clickery to indulge in a little piracy two thirds through the game, as Threepwood and his crew of singing barber/sailors taking on other pirates for their booty, cannons and kudos.
Once the crew have subdued an enemy vessel (or the tourist boat that is also cruising the Caribbean – “Oooh! Pirates!”), Threepwood must board and beat the enemy captain in insult sword-fighting, which is a hell of a lot less bloody than the Master and Commander approach…
Hilarious and fun, this challenging section of a great game has stayed with me for a long time.
Thanks for reading, Part two coming soon!
Recent Comments