It’s that time of year again folks, a time of over indulgence and frivolity, a time of family and friends. Of course what with an impeachment looming, Brexit being in its 56th year and the death of Peter “Chewbacca” Mayhew, I can understand if you’re not feeling festive. But fret ye not, I have the answer, and would you believe the answer is video games? That’s right, 5 snowy Levels that vaguely fit a winter theme…. I mean “will fill you with the holiday spirit”.
Thamur’s Corpse – God of War (2018)
“Come on Gerard, God of War is hardly a game I’d play to get me into the festive spirit!”. Well slow your roll friend; Kratos from God of War (2018) and Santa Claus are kind of similar, if you think about it, no stick with me! One practically lives in a sleigh the other slays the living, they’re both great with kids…sort of and they both have glorious beards….there’s no joke for that last one, it’s a fact! But torturous jokes aside there is a winter level within God of War that, despite its morbid name, is rather beautiful, Thamur’s Corpse. It has frozen lakes, snowy peaks and snow mounds where Kratos and “Boy” could make snow Valkyries, if it weren’t for the threat of deadly deicide it would be a winter wonderland!
Ice Cap Zone – Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Before they were considered a “Running” joke (and you bet your Christmas Hams I’m proud of that pun) Sonic games used to be some of the best around, and the majority of gamers agree that “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” is the best of the series. Now I can’t say for certain that it’s because it contains a (hold on let me check my 90’s vernacular…) “tubular” snowboarding level, but all I’m saying is Sonic fucking Boom didn’t have one! Ice Cap Zone took the radical 90’s tude of everyone’s favourite spikey speedster to its logical next step, snowboarding, officially the coolest thing anyone could do in the 90’s.
Cainhurst Castle – Bloodborne
To be honest it was a tossup between Cainhurst Castle and Frozen Eleum Loyce from Dark Souls 2 and while Dark Souls 2 is a great game, against Bloodborne? Sorry no d-ice… (It’s a sickness, I can’t stop). What would you get if you asked Tim Burton and H.P Lovecraft to design a winter wonderland? Well, you’d probably get sectioned but that’s beside the point, you’d get Cainhurst Castle, a beautifully bleak structure that belies its terrifying nature. Filled with ghoulish gargoyles rather than reindeer and the closest thing to Santa is Martyr Logarius who doesn’t have a naughty or nice list, he has a shit list…and you’re on it!
Lakeside Resort (Winter Season) – The Last of Us
Christmas with kids always feels more festive, maybe it’s the child like wonder, their little faces when they open presents, or maybe it’s how they hunt down and kill the men who’ve hurt their surrogate father. I am of course talking about the Last of Us, now you would be hard pushed to describe The Last of Us’ universe as beautiful (beautifully ball busting maybe), but the Lakeside Resort in the winter season is wondrous to behold. The opening sequence that has you traverse a stunning wintery woodland as you forage for supplies and for a moment you can forget the world has ended. It almost makes us forget about the murder and cannibalism.
Throat of the World – Skyrim
We don’t really have winners on these lists, but if we did The Throat of the World would win hands down. It has it all, freshly fallen snow, stunning scenic views and a wondrous aurora borealis hanging beautifully in the sky. You may get savaged by the occasional dragon but with views like this what’s a little aerial combat?
Well, those were 5 Snow Levels in Video Games, can you think of any that should’ve made the list or just disagree? Let us know in the comments below, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel and if you’re feeling generous feel free to donate to our Patreon, thanks for reading.
