This is not an entry. Of course. Why would it be, giveaway is over! But I couldn't very well pass up the opportunity to congratulate one of my favourite games on its remarkable anniversary! To be remembered after 15 whole years, to be remembered out of the best year in computer gaming history, is a feat only a handful of privileged classics share. Thief happens to be one of them. Congratulations!
Also, I thought I should rectify a few notable omissions from people's memories of levels. I must give a brief nod to a few remarkable multiplayer maps: Quake 2's "The Edge", StarCraft's "Lost Temple", Counter-Strike's "Dust 2". BOW DOWN BEFORE THE IMMORTALS!
But my personal favourite single-player level would have to be Half-Life's brilliant "Surface Tension." What isn't there in this gem of a level?! Attack helicopters, air-drops, tanks, guided missiles, land mines, energy weapons, gun emplacements, marines fighting aliens, air strikes, giant aliens, giant explosions, scripted sequences that still top anything your modern shooter could offer... IT'S EPIC! Play this level and you'll know how Half-Life came to be: a game to frame around this single, singularly awesome level! PLAY IT! NOW!
But before you do, thanks to innerring and congratulations to Falci for the awesome acquisition!
To reject
the Hammer
is to denounce
the Builder.