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OK, maybe we could have seen that coming, but it wouldn't have been easy.
Image Credit: Deep Silver
The open-world shooter Saints Row franchise recently took a daytrip to the underworld in Gat out of Hell, a standalone expansion that has players flying through an infernal city on broken angel wings. And in addition to that being super-metal, it also represents the latest in a decades-long gaming tradition: random, surprising levels set in the rough part of the afterlife.
Check out more of our damned vacations in the gallery below.
The Scribblenauts series never properly goes to hell, but you can conjure up that flaming building by entering “Hell,” “Purgatory,” “Inferno,” or “Underworld.” And then all of those demons you just created will have a place to hang out.
This 2000 pioneer of cel-shaded visuals starts out as a simple story about three mercenaries trying to rescue a kidnapped girl in order to collect the ransom themselves. But it turns out that the girl in question is part demon, so then the mercs have to descend into the underworld and face their fears, probably while wondering if it was still too late to go work at their dads’ companies.
The Jackass-infused Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 includes a level that has you doing tricks on giant ribcages and sweet jumps into the mouths of demonic statues. So it’s a literal hell to go along with the figurative one that comes from Bam Margera being in all of the cutscenes.
The special level “All the Sixes” in Lemmings had our dimwitted heroes navigating three stony, number-shaped formations over a lake of fire. The developer pulled it from some versions. For some reason.
Episode 5 of developer Telltale Games’ second season of its Sam & Max adventure games had our heroes descending to the underworld to rescue their friend’s soul. As it turns out, the infernal hereafter looks like a giant office building.
This 2003 Game Boy Advance title, based on the cartoon “Heavenly Puss,” has Tom trying to redeem himself after a piano crushes him and sends him to the fiery deep. Because that’s where bad kitties go.
Tomena Sanner is a runner for the Wii and mobile that has you helping a tardy businessman make it to a dance party on time. No, really. And Level 3-3 takes you to Deviltown, but by then you’ve also been to space and prehistoric times, so maybe it isn’t that surprising after all.
Level 6 of this Parappa the Rapper spin-off originally had guitar-hero Lammy slipping on a banana peel, fatally hitting her head on the street, and waking up in the bad place. The U.S. version changed this level to a volcanic island because we can’t have nice things here.
