Gaming's Best Nightclub Levels

It’s time to hit the clubs and dance the night away! Okay, perhaps that’s not the goal in every game that has a nightclub level. Regardless, what is it about such a setting that is so appealing when implemented in a video game? The glamorous lighting? The dance-inducing music? Or maybe it’s that nightclubs are a lot less glamorous than discos, and are, sometimes a hotbed of illegal, shady activities.

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Whether they’re from a goofy multiplayer shooter, or a brooding stealth-action title, nightclub levels in video games deserve a tribute. Instead of focusing on optional, visitable locations, nightclubs that are turned into proper levels full of shootouts, brawls, and the like are going to make the cut.

8 Club Doom

DOOM (PlayStation)

• Club Doom’ is a super-secret level for the PlayStation port of DOOM.
• Revenants can be found on the dance floor and in nearby dance cages, launching homing missiles.
• The console’s unique colored lighting feature is combined with rapid flickering effects to resemble a hellish dance floor.

What’s so great about ‘Club Doom’ as a super-secret level for the PlayStation port of DOOM is that it's a short but sweet romp that doesn’t exhaust its gimmick. The set-up makes it seem like a foreboding trek into another location in Hell… until the aggressive techno music starts blaring out, and what lies atop the stairs is a nightclub with a nearby bar and Revenants strutting across the dance floor and flailing around in cages.

It’s a short, action-packed duel that rounds off with a romp through a maze of translucent flesh walls to traverse around, which is a gruesome touch. Otherwise, the console port’s use of colored lighting really shines (figuratively and literally) here, with the dance floor flickering its lights in a dizzying display.

7 Ministry Of Fear

Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown

• ‘Ministry of Fear’ is the final level from the PlayStation-exclusive ‘Plug-N’-Pray’ chapter.
• The level has colorful, flashing set pieces and aliens popping out of the dance floor.
• There’s the option to defeat the final boss on the stage or outside in the city ruins.

Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown was the name of the PlayStation port of Duke Nukem 3D. It came with a new chapter, ‘Plug-N’-Pray’, and while it was inconsistent in quality, it ended on a high note with the underground nightclub-themed mission ‘Ministry of Fear’. Not only does it look cool with all its flashing lights and detailed layouts, but an infectious electronica track with catchy guitar riffs is heard chugging all the way through.

The foyer is spacious while the dance floors are compact, offering close-quarters combat and exciting ambushes against all sorts of alien scum, including the level-exclusive Magnum P.I.G.s (shotgun-toting Pig Cops in Hawaiian shirts and silly wigs). The final boss may not be anything special, but the choice to battle the Cyberkeef while it’s on the stage, or play cat-and-mouse with it in the city ruins, is a nice touch. As Duke himself would say: “Groovy!"

6 Milla's Dance Party

Psychonauts

• ‘Milla’s Dance Party’ is a level set within Milla’s mind.
• Its abstract design and vibrant colors make it an engaging level to progress through.
• Information about her dark past can be found throughout the level.

Deep within Milla Vodello's psyche is a non-stop party within a surreally-designed nightclub. A catchy dance tune chimes along while players bounce atop club lights, tambourines, and the like. To mix things up, there’s a fun racetrack to participate in, not to mention bubble vents to help players reach great heights and gradually glide down.

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The glamorously designed areas can be quite distracting, yet perhaps that’s Milla’s deliberate attempt to hide her anguish that is tragically touched upon in the level. Whether its somewhat disjointed level design is a deliberate example of clever symbolism or is just like that for gameplay reasons is debatable. However, it remains an engaging place to explore for any Psychonauts fan.

5 Ragna Rock & An Empire of Evil

Max Payne

• ‘Ragna Rock’ and ‘An Empire of Evil’ are two simultaneous chapters taking place in a Satanic-themed nightclub.
• Trigger-happy drug pushers are in abundance here.
• ‘An Empire of Evil’ rounds off the first chapter with a boss battle against deranged mob lieutenant Jack Lupino.

Ragna Rock, home to gothic decor, drug addicts galore, and, as Max Payne himself puts it, “[Jack] Lupino's goon squad, the worst stone-cold killers this side of Hell.” This stellar conclusion to the first chapter of the fantastic third-person shooter Max Payne has its titular protagonist storming in and blowing away nasty goons John Woo-style. They’re wielding shotguns, uzis, and Molotov cocktails, and offer enough of a challenge to keep any player alert and entertained throughout.

The Satanic scenery - including bloody pentagrams and books on the occult - all intensify the atmosphere and build up the boss fight with the drug-addled lunatic Jack Lupino in ‘An Empire of Evil.’ Lupino’s bodyguards hit hard from above and surface level, making it an intense battle of reflexes until Lupino himself appears, howling like a madman. Soaking up bullets, he’s a meaty boss and a befittingly unnerving boogeyman-type that really helps round off the first chapter on a high note.

4 Nightclub

TimeSplitters 2

• ‘Nightclub’ is an Arcade-exclusive level for multiplayer, part of which appears in the ‘Chicago’ story mission.
• Thin, tight corridors make gunfights and chases more surprising and exhilarating.
• The railings outside the building are great for running away from burning enemies in Virus mode.

Big Tony’s speakeasy from the ‘Chicago’ level in TimeSplitters 2 can be fully explored in multiplayer mode. The many thin, tight corridors interconnected by cramped staircases and corner-turns make it a great pick for fast-paced matches where an enemy is ready to pop out from out of nowhere. Virus mode, in particular, is an excellent choice, since there’s little chance of spotting a burning player from afar, which makes being the last non-burning player standing exhilarating (the apartment staircase outside is great for getting away from them, too!).

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The jazzy, upbeat track that plays in the level is a great listen, with bouncing drums, catchy brass melodies, and a manic keyboard solo that extends for about a minute. It’s a toe-tapping track that fits perfectly with a Tommy gun-fueled rampage.

3 ‘The Club’

SIFU

• ‘The Club’ has players fighting their way through a nightclub full of shady figures.
• It has references to traditional Chinese culture in a modern setting.
• The pulsating rhythms go hand-in-hand with the fast-paced combat.

There’s a fight club in this nightclub. Charging into its neon-lit halls and rooms, SIFU players find themselves engaging in the game’s signature fast-paced kung-fu to an evolving background beat. Simply put, it’s just so satisfying to deliver crushing blows to baddies galore in such a seedy location that partially embraces the aesthetics of ancient China in its decorations and designs, e.g. Keshans above seating areas combined with neon lighting and graffiti-tagged walls.

The boss of the level, Sean, awaits in his dojo hidden within the club. While the level ditches the nightclub setting and music as the player progresses further, the battle against him still delivers a gratifying challenge as he unleashes his fiery attacks in a heated battle. It’s all hot stuff.

2 Club Neon

Katana Zero

• ‘Club Neon’ is home to drug dealer DJ Electrohead, who must be killed.
• It starts with a brief but enjoyable stealth section.
• Its luscious lighting and detailed pixel art make it really stand out visually.

It’s interesting how a nightclub of all places would be turned into a stealth-centric mission, yet it certainly works well here in Katana Zero. Club Neon is home to a drug-dealing DJ that needs to be taken out. At first, players must hide among the dancers to bypass armed security, and conceal themselves within the shadows to prevent the cameras from closing doors on them. An unexpected start, but a welcome one nonetheless.

Sentries galore lie ahead, and planning out a perfect run isn’t easy, but when it clicks together it delivers so much serotonin. Flinging bottles and cleavers, bursting open a steam pipe to disorientate guards, and otherwise slashing up nasty goons on the lower and upper levels of the bright, ditzy club makes for one heck of a memorable level. Plus, it’s just so eye-catching and luscious to look at.

1 Apex Predator

Hitman: World Of Assassination

• ‘Apex Predator’ is a level from Hitman: World of Assassination set in an abandoned power-plant-turned-nightclub.
• Countless shortcuts, sniper vantage points, opportunities to get kills and more are on offer here.
• In the main story, the player is not assisted with killing five of ten total assassins who are after Agent 47.

Hitman: World of Assassination usually offers to guide players with potential opportunities that allow them to get a hit on targets. In ‘Apex Predator’, however, 47 is being hunted by assassins from his former employer, and he’s got no handler to bail him out this time. Already, it’s notably more tense and high-stakes compared to the other levels in the series.

Club Hölle is located within an abandoned power plant, with multi-layered dance floors, a nearby drug operation in a biker hideout, and juice bars operating outside. Each and every area offers so many clever ways to sneak past security and sabotage progress for these would-be professionals. Tampering with cranes, poisoning drinks, playing the DJ set, and causing a faulty lighting rig to drop - it’s an incredibly rewarding and replayable mission. Its remixed levels involve chasing targets dressed as white rabbits, pigs, and snooping around for clues for the deadly sin Lust, and they’re all great in their own ways.

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