Even the most engaging games can have moments that make you want to quit and never return. A gamer might become frustrated by an NPC’s irrational actions, subpar controls, or extreme difficulty. Sometimes, a playthrough is prematurely ended by a dull or unsuitable segment. We’ve gathered a few examples of such irritating instances in famous titles.
Blood Labyrinth in “A Cold Day in Hell” and “A Little Closer to Heaven” in Max Payne
The prologues preceding the second and third chapters of the first Max Payne game masterfully unveil the protagonist’s psyche. Haunted by the death of his family, Max plunges into surreal dreams, reenacting the tragic night. At the climax of both segments, the detective navigates by the sound of a child’s cries in his search.
Max traverses a labyrinth of narrow, discontinuous, blood-stained paths suspended over an abyss. The player is immersed in an unsettling nightmare, compounded by the developers’ questionable choices.
The risk of plummeting into the void is ever-present, as the guiding red path is only visible a few meters ahead, and the game’s controls are frustratingly unresponsive. Moreover, there are chasms in the path that require precise jumps to ensure a safe landing.
Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven “Fair Play” mission
To enhance realism, Illusion Softworks deliberately designed the infamous Mafia racing mission to be extremely challenging. The main character, Tommy Angelo, is compelled to race in place of a professional driver who suffered a broken arm just before the event.
Securing first place requires flawlessly completing five laps on a treacherous track. Any wrong turn or collision almost certainly dooms the mission. The car, prone to rapid acceleration, is difficult to control on turns, while aggressive opponents are quick to ram Tommy.
Originally, the developers intended for an even tougher race, but studio founder Petr Vokhozka, unable to complete the mission’s test version, advocated for its simplification. Post-release, responding to player feedback, Illusion Softworks introduced a patch allowing difficulty level selection for the mission.
The Destroyer mission in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
The episode often referred to as the “helicopter mission” is notorious among players. Named after a Sylvester Stallone movie, it proved too difficult for many, sparking widespread discussion.
On the surface, the objective seems straightforward: use a radio-controlled helicopter to place four bombs on various floors of an under-construction building. However, you can only transport one charge at a time. Since the building is glazed, navigating up and down a staircase is necessary.
Throughout the mission, any collision may cause the helicopter to explode. Moreover, construction workers will attack the helicopter unless they are dispatched before the mission begins. The most significant challenges come from the awkward control scheme and a strict seven-minute time limit.
GTA: Vice City features other difficult tasks, but some players may have given up before encountering them, especially after struggling with the Destroyer, which is just the twelfth of sixty-six story missions.
The mission “On the Wrong Side of the Rails” in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
In the GTA series, players often encounter frustrating tasks involving various vehicles. One notable mission features CJ and Big Smoke on a motorcycle, pursuing a train carrying rival gang members.
The player must maneuver the bike skillfully, enabling their partner to target enemies on the train’s roof. Caution is paramount in tunnels, where avoiding oncoming trains and obstacles is crucial. Despite the adversaries being sizable targets, Big Smoke frustratingly misses shots, even from advantageous positions.
Even if the player executes their role flawlessly and the foes survive, Big Smoke infamously exclaims, “All we had to do was follow the damn train, CJ!” This baseless blame has led players, on more than one occasion, to vent their frustration on the NPC ally.
Tutorial mission in Driver
The debut of the Driver series presented a formidable challenge to gamers. In the initial training, players were tasked with executing nine car stunts within a minute in a confined parking lot. They were given no guidance, only a scrap of paper from a notebook listing the stunt names. Players were left to deduce the correct keys for maneuvers like “Slalom” or “Burnout.”
One of the Driver creators revealed that prior to launch, the studio was unaware of the tutorial’s difficulty level. He could complete it in 23 seconds and believed one minute was ample time. The game was developed without focus groups to assess contentious segments, leaving the developers to make judgment calls.
Escorting Ashley in Resident Evil 4
Escort missions can be incredibly frustrating for players. Take, for example, the escort of Vinnie Gognitti in Max Payne 2 or the defense of the Little Sister in BioShock’s finale. But what happens when a character requires protection throughout most of the game?
Ashley Graham, the daughter of a former U.S. president, is kidnapped by a religious cult. Leon Kennedy, the hero of Resident Evil 4, rescues the captive. However, to safely bring her back home, he must shield her from the enemies they encounter along the way.
Regrettably, Ashley cannot defend herself; she doesn’t attempt to hide when facing an enemy. Instead, she remains stationary and calls out for the protagonist’s help. Patience is key to surviving the horror until the end. The cries for “Leon!” become particularly frequent in the game’s latter half.
Battletoads Turbo Tunnel Level
Many classics from the NES and Sega Mega Drive era presented a formidable challenge to players. Consider Prince of Persia or Earthworm Jim as examples. However, perhaps the most daunting memory for retro gamers is the cult platformer Battletoads, especially the notorious level featuring a hover bike ride.
Following a brief melee combat section, the battle toads took to hovercrafts. For two minutes, players navigated and leapt over emerging obstacles. Concurrently, the speed and obstacle density incrementally increased.
In the final 30 seconds, the intensity escalated to a frenetic pace, demanding exceptional reflexes and extensive practice to endure. Many gamers were unprepared for such a steep increase in difficulty, particularly at the platformer’s third level.
Stealth missions for Mary Jane in Marvel’s Spider-Man
Marvel’s Spider-Man is my pick for the “game with the most inappropriate stealth segments.” In Insomniac’s superhero action game, Spider-Man enjoys web-slinging, diving off skyscrapers, neutralizing hordes of thugs, and battling ostentatious bosses. Then, abruptly, the game shifts from controlling Peter Parker to Mary Jane, who is sneaking behind boxes in a dull lab.
The game’s pace suffers a jarring drop, which would be less frustrating if the missions involving the female character were thrilling. Unfortunately, the stealth mechanics lack innovation—the detection bar and the ability to distract enemies with thrown objects are rudimentary. Moreover, foes often fail to spot the character at close range, and when they do, they quickly forget about her.
Insomniac addressed player complaints about the stealth segments. In the sequel, Mary Jane received a stun gun, shortening mission completion times. However, this move sparked further outrage among gamers, who found it illogical that she could dispatch groups of enemies quicker and more effectively than Peter Parker.
Jumpscares with Cynthia Weaver in Alan Wake 2
In the original Alan Wake, a mysterious darkness engulfs the unfortunate town of Bright Falls, abducting the protagonist’s wife, a popular detective story writer. Cynthia Weaver, known as “The Woman with the Lantern,” actively assists the writer in combating the mystical force. Unexpectedly, in the sequel, the Lady of Light becomes a nuisance to players with her abrupt appearances.
In the game’s sequel, FBI detective Saga Anderson is tasked with rescuing the writer from the darkness. At a certain level, Cynthia, now an adversary influenced by a mysterious entity, poses a challenge. Throughout the mission, developers employ jumpscares featuring a grotesque Weaver to frighten players.
As the level progresses, the frequency of scares becomes excessive. Highly sensitive players may shut the game off to protect their nerves, while others may grow weary of the constant, irritating jumpscares.
Following the game’s release, players started creating mods to remove the jumpscares. Responding to player feedback, Remedy later issued a patch that introduced settings to adjust Weaver’s volume and appearance frequency.
The Plague City location in Dark Souls
Fans of FromSoftware’s games relish the challenge of overcoming tough obstacles. Yet, some concepts from Hidetaka Miyazaki, the creative director of the Dark Souls series, instill fear even in the most seasoned soulslike enthusiasts.
In the series’ first installment, Plague City, players contend with the environment more than adversaries. The upper level is shrouded in darkness, forcing players to navigate a labyrinth of beams while evading infected darts. Below lies a poisonous swamp teeming with foes, its mire impeding swift movement, preventing a quick dash past enemies to the boss.
Each action RPG from FromSoftware features a comparable locale. For instance, Elden Ring’s “Swamp of Aeonia” or Bloodborne’s “Edge of Nightmare.” Miyazaki recently confessed his fondness for crafting levels with toxic swamps and has concocted yet another for aficionados in the forthcoming Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree.
Covering every frustrating moment from otherwise fantastic games in a single article is an impossible task. Dear Aeons, in the comments, share which episodes, quests, or locations were so aggravating that they made you want to throw your controller.
