Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,483
edits
Down the Drain: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
m (update links) |
No edit summary |
||
| (10 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:downthedrain.png|link=
{{quote|''"Were sewer levels ever compelling? From the beginning of gaming history, all they ever were was a way to needlessly pad out the game with mazes, insane jumping puzzles, bullshit death traps, switch flipping and giant rat stomping. It's just about the fastest way I can think of to kill my enthusiasm for any game [aside from [[Phantasmagoria 2|main characters talking to their pet rats]].]"''|'''[[The Spoony One]]''', '''''[[The Spoony Experiment]]''''' }}
Line 7:
See also [[Under the Sea]] for levels which are aquatic, but not set in a sewer.
{{examples}}
=== Action Adventure ===
* ''[[Blaster Master]]'''s Stage 4 takes place in a very large maze of a sewer. The on-foot sections contain pools of sewer sludge (some placed around precariously narrow foot paths), and if Jason falls into one, [[Super Drowning Skills|he dies]].
* There's a level in ''[[Cave Story]]'' where you have to be thrust along with the current, through huge groups of [[Malevolent Architecture|spikes and nearly-invisible foes]] - right after a ''boss'' that occasionally forces you to drown if you're not careful enough, all while firing extremely damaging projectiles at you. Thankfully, you can save first. Unfortunately, if you screw up in this area or the prior boss, the best ending is [[Lost Forever]].
Line 21:
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'' also has a literal sewer as the first level for Wolf Link.
* The second half of Lud's Gate, the definitive [[Scrappy Level]] of ''[[Tomb Raider]] III'', is a large underwater maze, compounded by the lack of air pockets and the clumsy controls of the UPV.
* ''[[Star Fox Adventures]]'' has an aquatic-themed dungeon focused on pipelines, pressure, and lots of other fun
* ''[[Ys]] II'' has a maze of subterranean canals beneath the Solomon Palace.
* ''[[Metroid Prime]] 2: Echoes'' features the [[That One Level|infuriating]] (even by
* ''[[Jak and Daxter|Jak II and 3]]'' have you go into plenty of sewer sections in Haven City, often to either get around barriers or do dirty work for Krew. Even Daxter hates it when Krew sends them off down there, but mostly cause he'll be running around in a smelly sewer [[Running Gag|without pants]].
** You also go under the Port to meet up with Sig near the end of ''II'', the entire first section of which has you traveling through an underwater section in the resident [[Mini-Mecha]].
=== Action Game ===
* The sewer level in ''[[Enter the Matrix]]'' was very long, full of difficult enemies, and [[Absurdly Spacious Sewer|for some odd reason]], had areas which were a several stories high ''underground'', requiring balance and platforming in order to successfully get through.
* ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'' has the [[Absurdly Spacious Sewer]] that is The Aqueduct.
Line 38 ⟶ 37:
* The Spider-Man 3 game had about three stages where Spidey tracked the Lizard through the sewers.
=== Beat 'Em Up ===
* ''[[Battletoads]]'' Stage 9, is a sewer level. It introduces previously unseen swimming controls, combined with an entire level full of imaginative one hit kills. There are even timed sequences where you run from giant underwater gears, with controls unique to this level. This is arguably redundant because [[Nintendo Hard|most every level in the game has this]].
* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtles in Time]]'' has Sewer Surfin' (which like the name says, [[Auto
== First Person Shooter ==▼
▲=== First Person Shooter ===
* ''Dark Forces,'' first in the ''[[Star Wars: Dark Forces|Jedi Knight]]'' series, features a sewer level plagued by the Death Star trash compactor monsters (complete with conveyor belt-like currents) and a series of places where water levels (if you can call the stuff water) must be changed in the proper order. Apparently, a sewer that's convoluted enough can double as an [[Elaborate Underground Base]].
** The Imperial City Sewers in ''[[Shadows of the Empire]]'', complete with Dianogas, and a [[King Mook|giant version]] as a boss.
* ''[[Redneck Rampage]]'' had a particularly terrible example towards the end of the first episode - a very big, labyrinthine series of grey corridors and tunnels with lots of swimming and switch hunts, resulting a jarring shift in pacing from the rest of the game, that wasn't helped much by having the level populated entirely by [[Goddamn Bats|turd minions]].
* ''[[Sewer Shark]]'' on the Sega CD exhibited this trope in an unexpected way: The entire game consisted of ''[[Full Motion Video|videos]]'' of sewers.
* ''[[Serious Sam]] 2'' has a level at which Sam is forced to go through the sewer system to enter a castle. As he sees the entrance to the sewers he complaints to <s>Cortana</s> Netricsa about it, and she says something about a mandatory sewer level in every game.
Line 63 ⟶ 59:
* ''[[Blood]]'' and ''Blood II'' from the same developers as ''FEAR'' both also have sewer levels, both at near-opposite ends of their respective games - the first game waited until the third episode (of four), while the second game shoved you into one after about three levels.
=== [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPGs]] ===
* In ''[[Guild Wars]]: Factions'', the Undercity is a massive underground sprawl of sewers. The atmosphere is dark.
* Sewer maps appear '''a lot''' in ''[[City of Heroes]]'' and ''[[City of Villains]]'' when your character gets sent out on missions. The later game lampshaded it.
{{quote|
** ''[[City of Heroes]]'' is simply packed with sewer missions where you're wading waist deep (depending on height) through toxic waste. These levels can be extremely infuriating, as some of them are remarkably easy to get lost in, not to mention the constant nagging feeling that you're wading around in the combined filth of an entire city.
* ''[[Ragnarok Online]]'' has the Prontera Culverts, which can house one of the weakest (and weakness is relative) Boss fights in the game.
* ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' has the clan dungeon of Hobopolis, the fabled city of underground hobos. In order to access the dungeon, a player must first track down the city via a system of sewers.
* Tech-based superheroes in ''[[DC Universe Online]]'' have to go down into the sewers of Gotham to take out Scarecrow in their first mission.
▲== Platform Game ==
=== Platform Game ===
* ''[[Earthworm Jim (video game)|Earthworm Jim]]'''s "Down the Tubes" is a cross between this and [[Under the Sea]].
* The original ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' had a drain/sewer portion in the second half of Wily Stage 3. (Also appeared in the remake, Powered Up.) It wasn't that frustrating, Megaman actually got a speed boost from the rushing water, although this meant that any powerups that enemies dropped that were passed up during the push forward couldn't be retrieved.
Line 81 ⟶ 74:
** Toadman's stage in ''4'', Venus's stage in ''V'' ([[Game Boy]], not NES)
** Toxic Seahorse's stage in ''[[Mega Man X]] 3''
** Pumpman's stage in ''10''.
** Aquaman's stage in ''8'' had areas where swimming was necessary (a skill which has not been seen since.)
** Heatman's stage in ''2'' takes place in the sewers, but with [[Lethal Lava Land|lava]] instead of water.
Line 87 ⟶ 80:
** ''[[Rock Man 4 Minus Infinity]]'' had Toad Man's stage, but also turned Cossack Stage 3 into one as well. It had various liquids with differing gimmicks.
** Well, at least water made your jump higher...
** Mr. X Stage 2 in ''[[Rockman 6: Unique Harassment]]'' is an homage to the Labyrinth Zone and Scrap Brain Zone Act 3 from Sonic the Hedgehog 1. The air-bubble is different, though. Every time Mega Man exerts himself in this section, he exhales an air bubble and takes 1 point of damage. Luckily, this gimmick isn't around for the boss fight against the Dr. Cossack clone.
* One of the most loathed sections of ''[[
** And if you hadn't collected enough [[Plot Coupons]] in the previous levels, you had to turn back.
** Bonus, the perspective was from directly behind Conker so it was pretty hard to tell how -close- you were to the damned things.
Line 93 ⟶ 87:
** A straighter example of this trope would be Clanker's Cavern, much earlier in the game. While a complete cakewalk compared to Rusty Bucket Bay, it was still fairly tricky, requiring you to spend quite a lot of time underwater and perform several tasks that were only hindered by the game's sub-par swimming controls.
* The Sewer Level in ''[[Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure]]'' is quite possibly the hardest in the game, which is [[Nintendo Hard|saying something.]] If the second locked-in battle room doesn't kill you, the merciless [[Advancing Wall of Doom]] directly afterward will.
* Seen in ''[[Crash Bandicoot]]'' quite a bit. [[Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back|Crash 2]] has its Sewer Or Later leves which just as fun as other stages and only remotely difficult on the Hidden and Skull Routes. [[Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped|Crash WARPED]] has it's underwater levels which are fun but become very annoying under Time Trial mode. It also had the 'Tomb Wader' level set in a nilemeter where the water level constantly shifted. [[Crash Bandicoot:
* ''[[Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal]]'': The snot-like amoeboids are ''everywhere'', sometimes spawning right behind and in front of you at once, the camera is awkward and won't turn unless Ratchet does, certain passages are blocked until you approach them from the proper side, the tunnels all look the same while the crystal locations are initially hidden, and best of all? If you want to find all of them, you have to find a special piece of equipment later in the game to explore the second half of the area...which is as lengthy as the first half.
** Thankfully, the sewers are (for the most part) not part of the major plot, but only for level grinding.
Line 100 ⟶ 94:
* The pipe levels in ''[[Donkey Kong Country]] 3'' provided quite a bit of variation. "Dingy Drainpipe" was your standard "swim through the sewers" level, but "Demolition Drainpipe" and "Surf's Up" removed the water and combined the sewer levels with [[Minecart Madness]], having you speed through the pipeline in a metal toboggan. "Low-G Labyrinth", another water-free level, added [[Gravity Screw]] to a drainpipe level, while "Poisonous Pipeline" rather sadistically added the water back and [[Interface Screw|reversed your left-right controls]].
* World 2-3 of New Super Mario Bros. is one of these. In a DESERT.
* "The Impossible Maze" from ''[[
* Slimy Spring Galaxy from ''[[Super Mario Galaxy 2]]'' also takes place inside a giant sewer.
* Stages
* Stage 3 in the arcade version of ''[[Bionic Commando]]'', and Stage 2 in the NES / XBLA version.
* "Trial by Water," the fourth stage of the ''Wolverine'' game for the NES, involved swimming through narrow underwater passages lined with spinning blades.
* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (video game)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' has the dam level, the second half of which has
=== Puzzle ===▼
▲== Puzzle ==
* Disney's ''Where's My Water?'', which is apparantly based on the [[Urban Legend]] concerning the myth of alligators living in sewers.
=== Real Time Strategy ===▼
▲== Real Time Strategy ==
* One of the underground levels in ''[[Pikmin]] 2'' is more similar to the sewer level. It's also a bit more difficult than other "dungeon" areas thanks to the ''invincible'' Waterwraith that chases you down if you dawdle around on one level for too long.
** Straighter is the Shower Room. It's basically just a bunch of shower floors and drainpipes.
=== Role Playing Game ===
* ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines
** Not to mention the absolutely insane amount of [[Nightmare Fuel]] in that
▲* ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines|Vampire the Masquerade]]: Bloodlines'' had a sewer level which was incredibly long and was full of high-level enemies around nearly every corner. It's even more difficult for the Ventrue class, as they cannot feed on the rats for health. Playing a Nosferatu requires you to stick to sewers for the ''majority of the game'', because you're so hideous looking that people seeing you is a violation of the [[Masquerade]].
▲** Not to mention the absolutely insane amount of [[Nightmare Fuel]] in that level--here's a hint: the first sub-boss, who [[Degraded Boss|then becomes a regular enemy]], is {{spoiler|a huge, spiderlike centaur-thing created by grafting three women together, who bounds after you}}.
* ''[[Star Wars]]: [[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' has a level where you sneak into the Vulkar base via the Taris sewers.
** They were quite spacious too since they could fit a rancor down there.
* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' games, the larger cities often have sewer areas. ''Morrowind'' has Vivec's underworks, which you thankfully don't have to spend too much time navigating. They are fairly wide-open, but have most of the annoying properties of sewer levels (diseased creatures, water that's hard or impossible to get out of, drab colors). The Imperial City sewers that feature in ''Oblivion'' are at least as bad as Vivec's, and are also dark and not particularly interesting, either. You are also forced through them several times in the
* ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' has an incredibly frustrating sewer maze in which Quistis, Zell, and Selphie get stuck and all the areas look exactly the same. Plus, you have to go all the way back to the start if you make a mistake. On the plus side, the maze doesn't have any layers, so always taking a left (or a right) where possible will get you to the exit eventually.
* ''[[Summoner]]'' (PS2/PC/Mac, Volition) has a semi-subversion…the sewer you have to enter in the big city is moderately well lit, plausibly plotted (most exits line up with the city above), and it's actually kind of fun as they're the size of the old Roman aqueducts. So what Goddamned monster do you find crawling in those tunnels? Bats? Rats? Giant bugs? no, GODDAMNED GOLEMS. And it's hella fun, as the topside fights with basic imperial soldiers and random encounters are the boring ones.
Line 129 ⟶ 119:
* The castle basement in ''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'', where the brothers have to fix the plumbing (they ''are'' plumbers, after all). {{spoiler|It ends up being a trap.}}
* There are sewer systems under the the [[Hub Level]] towns in both ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]'' and its sequel, ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]''.
* The first dungeon of ''[[Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance]]'' is a sewer. [[Absurdly Spacious Sewer|It is used as a warehouse and as a base of operations for the bad guys, and has entrances to the thieves guild and the church.]] It also helpfully shows off the games water graphics.
* ''[[Baldurs Gate 2]]'' starts with the player and the party making their escape via some sewers. Later on in Athkatla, there is another major quest (The Unseeing Eye) that takes place in the sewers.
* In [[Pokémon Ranger]], the player must explore a dungeon called the Waterworks. It's exactly what it sounds like... except it's infested with poisonous gunk Pokémon called Grimer and Muk, which are polluting the water for the entire city. These Pokémon create slippery slime literally everywhere they go. So not only do we have the usual sewer level fare, but we also get [[Frictionless Ice|Frictionless Slime]].
** The trope was [[Lampshaded]] as well; multiple characters complained about how bad it smelled down there, and one [[Red Shirt]] was close to vomiting every time you spoke to him (which is often).
* [[Dead Island]] had a rather long sewer level followed by a fairly short level then it was right back to the sewers.
* [[Dark Souls]] is home to the Depths. The area is a disgusting, pus covered sewer filled with giant evil rats, dangerous slimes, cannibals, the Gaping Dragon, and most dangerous of all, the basilisks.
* The Underground Waterway in ''[[Lust Grimm]]'', which is filled with slimes.
== Shoot Em Up ==▼
▲=== Shoot 'Em Up ===
* ''Turrican II'''s second level is like this, until you jump in the water and it becomes [[Under the Sea]].
=== Stealth Based Game ===
* The sewer level in ''[[Metal Gear]]: Ghost Babel'' is generally considered to be pretty good, although mostly because the music is cool. The sewer/swimming level in ''[[Metal Gear]] 2'' was also reasonably inoffensive, since it helped you get between the Zanzibar Building and the Tower Building without having to get through Maze Wood and the deeply annoying Nariko Sand stage - but if your finger slipped, you could find yourself washing up on the wrong bank and having to backtrack a good half of the game with next to no health and a face full of mines.
** Let's not forget Big Boss' escape from Groznjy Grad in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]''. This was fairly short and the challenge mainly came from the lack of equipment as opposed to typical sewer level mechanics.
* The New York Sewers in ''[[Syphon Filter]] 2''.
* The Cloaca Maxima Romulus Lair from ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood|Assassin's Creed Brotherhood]]''.
=== Survival Horror ===
* ''[[Silent Hill 1]]'' is a rare example of having all the problems associated with this trope, but actually making it work. The sewer level is repetitive, dark, filled with annoying enemies and removes your monster detector to boot. All of this combines to make for one hell of a claustrophobic and eerie run, exactly what the game is aiming for.
** As a direct sequel to the first game, ''[[Silent Hill 3]]'' recycles several locales as [[Shout-Out|ShoutOuts]]. The sewer level is one of them.
Line 154 ⟶ 142:
* Basically any ''[[Resident Evil]]'' games set in Raccoon City will have one of these so expect on in ''[[Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City]]''.
** Hell, take ''[[Resident Evil 4]]'', which is set in Spain. You get a regular urban-ish sewer level underneath an ancient castle that also introduces a rather annoying (as in ''invisible'') enemy type armed with a [[One-Hit Kill]] attack.
* ''[[Alone in
== Third Person Shooter ==▼
▲=== Third Person Shooter ===
* Inverted in ''[[Gears of War]]'' where you are required to go through a sewer, and you make the other people in your group go through it while your character laughs at them at every opportunity.
=== Comic Books ===▼
▲== Comic Books ==
* Parodied in the [[Jhonen Vasquez]] comic ''Everything Can Be Beaten''.
{{quote|
== Film ==▼
▲=== Film ===
* ''[[The Shawshank Redemption]]'': Andy's escape.
* ''Cyborg'' has a sewer scene where the water comes up to the characters thighs. Try not to think about what could possibly be floating around in there it too much.
Line 176 ⟶ 160:
[[Category:Video Game Settings]]
[[Category:Down the Drain]]
[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]
| |||