- 7 minutes ago
The exact moment Assassin's Creed 3 fell apart.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Alongside fetch quests, stealth sections and escort missions, chase sequences are another
00:05common type of level that's appeared in countless video games.
00:09And a common type of level that often sucks.
00:12Not every pursuit that's been included in a video game is able to match that edge-of-your-seat
00:16tension that you've got when you're running from the unstoppable enemies in Outlast or
00:21achieve the exhilarating spectacle of the Uncharted series.
00:24For every example of an excellent chase sequence, there are a bunch that fall flat on their
00:30face for an assortment of different reasons.
00:32I'm Jess from WhatCulture and here are 10 video game chase sequences that made you rage-quit.
00:3810. Batman Arkham Knight – The Excavator
00:42Despite having the slickest combat in the series and giving players a large and detailed Gotham
00:47City to explore, Arkham Knight disappointingly fell short of being the bombastic conclusion
00:52to the trilogy fans wanted it to be.
00:55Alongside a predictable plot, the game was also let down by the overuse of the Batmobile.
01:01As unenjoyable as the Batmobile's combat and puzzle sections were, an even more frustrating
01:06moment came when the Batman entered a tunnel system in search of the eponymous villain.
01:11After the Arkham Knight ambushes the Caped Crusader in a heavily armoured excavator,
01:16players must speed through the network of passageways and defeat their pursuer by
01:20luring them into planted explosives.
01:22Driving along the tunnels walls at high speed may make for an impressive looking set piece,
01:28however the Batmobile's squirrely controls quickly turn this section into a tedious nightmare.
01:34It becomes all too easy to lose control of the vehicle after crashing into the many
01:37obstacles that litter the tunnels. Navigation likewise isn't made any easier with the constant
01:43explosions that make it difficult to see what's ahead.
01:46When one minor slip-up can result in instant failure, this boss fight is another reason
01:51why the Batmobile was such an unpopular addition to the game.
01:559. The Warriors – Writer's Block
01:58Set before the events of the cult classic film of the same name, Rockstar's The Warriors showed how
02:04the titular Coney Island Street Gang made their enemies while they made their mark on the city.
02:09With its gritty atmosphere and exquisite brawling mechanics, there are few games as good as this one,
02:14but even a game as spectacular as this has the occasional misstep.
02:18In The Warriors, this came during the mission Writer's Block, where players must make their
02:22grand escape across the city's rooftops after their ambush by a gang of art-obsessed mimes
02:28known as the Hi-Hats. As exciting as this sequence sounds, any enjoyment was quickly extinguished
02:34from this mission by a plethora of unexpected drops which resulted in an instant death. And with no
02:40checkpoints to speak of, getting through this chase became a matter of memorizing exactly when to jump
02:45to make it to the end. This mission was made even worse when playing in co-op, as one player's
02:50death
02:50was going to result in a game over for both players. Make it through this thankfully short-lived low
02:55point though, and players get a chance to vent their built-up frustrations by destroying the mimes
03:00collection of Garrett artworks.
03:028. Assassin's Creed III – Chasing Charles Lee
03:06By revamping the series' combat and parkour, alongside being the first Assassin's Creed game
03:11to feature naval missions, Assassin's Creed III was a giant leap forward in the franchise.
03:16As visually impressive and expansive as this entry was, it nevertheless fell victim to the same
03:21irksome controls that have continued to plague the series. Nowhere was this problem more evident than
03:26during the climactic sequence in which Native American assassin Connor chased antagonist Charles
03:32Lee through a crowded harbour and burning ship. With the dramatic stakes raised high,
03:37this was the confrontation that players had been waiting for. Instead of being a slick sequence in
03:42which Connor smoothly parkoured his way over obstacles as they gave chase, players found themselves
03:47fruitlessly wrestling with the controls as the Assassin jumped in the wrong direction or tried to climb a
03:53wall they shouldn't. This section only became more infuriating when attempting the bonus objectives,
03:58which meant players had to stay within 50 metres of Lee, couldn't bump into any of the numerous NPCs
04:04blocking their path, or take any fire damage. There are a lot of fantastic things about Assassin's Creed III,
04:10but as you can probably tell by the end of this entry, this botched chase sequence was not one of
04:15them.
04:167. Amnesia Rebirth – The Maze
04:19The Amnesia games are frequently cited as being some of the most frightening horror outings ever made.
04:25Although some regard Rebirth to be the weakest entry, this game still delivered plenty of tension as
04:31players descend further down the plot's twisted rabbit hole. While there are numerous sequences
04:35in Rebirth that'll have players' hearts racing, there are unfortunately some moments that miss the
04:40mark and become more annoying than they do scary. One such moment came just over halfway into the game,
04:46when protagonist Tassie finds herself trapped in a maze with one of the game's monstrous creatures.
04:51Trying to solve a maze while being hunted is already a difficult enough task,
04:56but Rebirth adds to the frustration by including pressure plates that block off corridors.
05:01Since this is an amnesia game, players also have to play most of the section in darkness,
05:06or risk drawing the creature's attention. Though skulking around in the dark initially makes for a tense
05:11encounter, any suspense soon fizzles out after the first few times players make a wrong turn and get
05:17caught by the creature or after aimlessly wandering around for far too long after getting lost.
05:22Luckily, there's a far better amnesia game in store for players not long after this section.
05:266. Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
05:29Von Beck's Revenge
05:31An underrated gem from the PlayStation 2 and Xbox era, Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb is a
05:37globe-trotting adventure that sees players embark on a quest as the titular archaeologist to retrieve a
05:43powerful artifact before it falls into the wrong hands. From exploring lost ruins, solving puzzles,
05:49and a satisfying combat system, there was a lot to love about this game. However, Emperor's Tomb
05:53wasn't without its flaws. Namely, this game had some awkwardly clunky controls which made tackling the
06:00simplest of jumps a difficult test of skill and of patience. This issue became especially prevalent
06:05towards the end of the game when antagonist Von Beck arrives in a tank-like drilling machine and gives
06:11its chase. With Von Beck only meters behind, players run through a collapsing hallway avoiding
06:17countless pitfalls and using Indy's signature whip to swing across large gaps. The already imprecise
06:23jumping mechanics meant that players would die more by missing a precise jump than by being caught
06:28by Von Beck's diabolical machine. Moreover, the vehicle's protruding clamps frequently block the
06:33player's view of the screen, consequently making this level much harder than it should have been.
06:37Hearing Indy's triumphant fanfare has never been more satisfying than when players make it to the
06:42end of this section. 5. Silent Hill The Short Message
06:46The Final Chase Released during Sony's State of Play in January 2024,
06:51Silent Hill The Short Message took the long-running survival horror series to modern-day Germany. In it,
06:57players play as the teenager Anita as they wander through a creepy apartment building in a first-person
07:02perspective. Being a Silent Hill game, the in-game horrors are manifestations of the protagonist's
07:07trauma. For Anita, this comes in the form of Sakura Head, a humanoid monster covered in cherry blossoms.
07:14This creature appears regularly throughout the game to pursue players through the building's
07:18labyrinthian hallways. Although the initial encounters are tense ordeals that task players with
07:23finding the exit, the final chase was nightmarish for the wrong reasons. Unlike the previous encounters,
07:28this one requires players to find five photographs to unchain the door to the exit. With this level
07:34being much bigger than any of the others, it became far too easy to get lost within the looping corridors.
07:40And with the monster never far behind, players had no time to get their bearings.
07:44Even more frustrating is that the game never tells players they need to find the photographs.
07:49This means players could spend ages running around without knowing what to do.
07:52This disastrous finale ended this otherwise enthralling spin-off on a very flat note.
07:584. Close to the Sun – The Grand Theatre A slow burn atmospheric horror, close to the sun
08:04sees players explore a grand ship filled with Nikola Tesla's creations, in the role of a journalist
08:09who's searching for her sister. Not long after setting foot on the vessel, it becomes very clear
08:15something is really amiss on board. From here, players make their way through the eerie art deco
08:20hallways as they solve puzzles and uncover more details about the horrors that unfolded before
08:26they arrived. Disappointingly though, this game's suspenseful atmosphere is periodically shattered
08:31whenever one of the poorly designed chase sequences appears. Requiring players to frantically run
08:36through maze-like levels, it only takes making one wrong turn or not jumping over an obstacle at the
08:42exact right moment for the enemy to catch up to players. Not only do these sequences become a tedious
08:48game of trial and error to figure out where to go, but failure is made worse by being forced to
08:53endure
08:53a lengthy unskippable death animation every time you get caught. Although all the chases within the
08:59game are frustrating, the worst occurs in the Grand Theatre, where, on top of everything else,
09:04the dimly lit environment makes it difficult for players to see where they're supposed to go.
09:09Despite these rage-inducing chases, close to the sun is still an excellent horror outing.
09:133. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas – Wrong Side of the Tracks
09:18From taking part in action-packed robberies, high-speed car chases, and massive shootouts,
09:23the Grand Theft Auto series is brimming with some of the most exhilarating set pieces and unforgettable
09:28moments in gaming history. As incredible as these games are, they're not without their handful of
09:33aggravating low points, with one of the worst offenders being the infamous mission Wrong Side of
09:38the Tracks from San Andreas. After arriving at a train station with Big Smoke to interrupt a
09:44meeting between rival gangs, a group of the gangsters escape by jumping on the roof of a train.
09:49Players are then tasked with giving chase on a motorbike, while Big Smoke shoots the escapees.
09:54Although all players had to do was follow the damn train, anybody who's played this
09:58mission knows the hours of pain and despair it caused. Not only was maintaining a steady speed for
10:05Big Smoke to shoot the enemies a near-impossible feat, but the terrible driving physics would
10:10see CJ and Smoke thrown from the bike at the slightest collision. It was easier for players
10:15to get on top of the train and kill the enemies themselves rather than trying to complete the
10:19mission the way it was intended to be played. 2. Alone in the Dark – 2008 59th Street
10:26Although the 2008 reboot of Alone in the Dark featured an impressive fire system and a collection of
10:32intriguing gameplay ideas, this title is nevertheless considered to be the low point of this influential
10:38horror franchise for a bunch of reasons. Alongside some incredibly corny dialogue and cumbersome
10:44inventory management, this game had some of the worst driving mechanics in a video game. Like, ever.
10:50The most egregious example of this comes at the end of the second chapter, when the small group of
10:55heroes raced to Central Park after escaping a crumbling skyscraper. However, whatever evil force was in the
11:01building has also made its way outside and then proceeds to go after them. What follows is a
11:06high-speed car chase that sees players tear down the streets as the unseen force destroys the road
11:12behind them and causes widespread chaos. However, this section was rendered almost unplayable thanks to
11:18the car's twitchy and weightless controls, where the slightest error would send the car veering off course.
11:24After constantly replaying this level, the only way to succeed was to memorize the best route to take.
11:30Mercifully, this game's unique DVD-like menu meant that players could simply skip this mission, which
11:36you'd probably want to. 1. Jack 2 Renegade – Security Tank
11:41The follow-up to adored platformer Jack and Daxter, Jack 2 Renegade, was a different kind of beast.
11:48Beginning with Jack and his friends being sucked into a dystopian world before Jack is imprisoned and
11:53tortured, the sequel's tone was much darker than its predecessor. Likewise, the game had garnered a reputation for its
11:59fiendish difficulty, and it doesn't take long for the tougher challenge to become evident.
12:04Only a few missions after the exhilarating prison escape at the start of the game, the dynamic duo
12:09are tasked with entering a fortress to destroy an ammo cage. Defending the fortress is a security tank,
12:15which will chase the heroes at points during the level. Quickly running through a series of narrow and
12:20twisting pathways littered with bottomless pits is already a difficult enough ask. But what makes
12:25this encounter especially horrendous is that players also need to execute tricky maneuvers to avoid
12:30gunfire from the tank's turret. Coming at such an early point in the game, players won't have a firm
12:35enough grasp on the controls to make the difficult jumps that lie between them and success. Players
12:40consequently had to learn fast to avoid falling into this level's many pits. This level was a trial by
12:46fire in the least fun way.
Comments