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The Top 7... Amazing video game maps that do more than just show the way to go

Pioneering navigation tools with more cool ideas than a few full games we could mention

Words: , GamesRadar_MattCundy, David Houghton on January 16, 2012
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63 comments

  • MetroidPrimeRib - January 16, 2012 9:53 a.m.

    Far Cry 2 had THE WORST map ever.

  • jackthemenace - January 16, 2012 10:37 a.m.

    Oh, STFU. Seriously, if everything on the site induces so much rage, bugger off.

  • Lucas - January 16, 2012 10:44 a.m.

    Communist, Socialist, Fascist. Opinions are opinions let the guy/girl have his/hers.

  • MetroidPrimeRib - January 16, 2012 10:58 a.m.

    Calm down. All I said was a shit game had shit mechanics.

  • MidianGTX - January 16, 2012 11:21 a.m.

    Something similar could be said about comments like these.

  • comaqi - January 16, 2012 11:34 a.m.

    The game might not have been good. And the map wasn't very good as far as maps go. But the presentation of the map was great. I wish more games did that.

  • yonderTheGreat - January 16, 2012 1:50 p.m.

    I win the race to the 6th-tier response!

  • EwoksTasteLikeChicken - January 16, 2012 3:01 p.m.

    oo lucky bastard ; )

  • birdman1041 - January 17, 2012 1:40 p.m.

    @MetroidPrimeRib, Just because you know how to type doesn't mean anyone cares what you have to say.

  • An_Awesome_Guy - January 16, 2012 9:52 a.m.

    To be honest I wasn't a fan of Skyrim's map. While at first it seemed like a cool visual feature, it soon became apparent that it was functionally useless, shrouded in cloud and displaying no roads or clear pathways through the mountains of Skyrim. It is for this reason that I still play Skyrim with the map that came with it spread out on the floor in front of me.

  • garnsr - January 16, 2012 10:27 a.m.

    Agreed. Zooming out and moving the right stick makes it even more confusing, since it doesn't just move to the side, it pivots. If you don't know where you're going it's hard to see anything, and you can't tell which side of a mountain is just straight up and which area has a path.

  • Y2Ken - January 16, 2012 3:51 p.m.

    I'm actually a little surprised by the number of comments from people saying they couldn't make out paths up or around mountains. I wouldn't say I have a particularly fancy TV or anything which makes it easier to see, but I use it quite a lot for those exact purposes and it works fine. But if I'm in the minority who find it user-friendly, then fair enough and it probably shouldn't have been here after all. Perhaps that discussion was had. (Also, "tropical facesat"? Really Captcha?)

  • Y2Ken - January 16, 2012 9:45 a.m.

    I honestly played through most of Doom II entirely in map view. There's a way to not only show the geometry, but also your bullets and the enemies. Makes it into an interesting top-down shooter where you can't tell what kind of enemy you're facing except by sound. Great fun. I'm a big fan of Skyrim's map, it's one of the first times I've actually been able to use a map to see the best way to navigate around (or up) a mountain. Admittedly it's also one of the first times that's ever been needed. Also I'd like to note Deadly Premonition's map, which had the great feature of showing the current locations of all the NPCs on it, along with the monumentally annoying feature of barely letting you zoom out at all, making route planning incredibly confusing at times.

  • CitizenWolfie - January 16, 2012 9:29 a.m.

    My God. Seeing the Doom entry bought back some repressed, terrifying memories I had long forgotten about. The horror. The horror.

  • Mezolitik - January 16, 2012 9:28 a.m.

    At least one of the Final Fantasys should have made this list, IMHO. I know everybody HATES FF now - even me, and I love it - but some of the earlier titles (4,5,6) had great maps. The overland map is a lost art, these days. I want to be a big man stomping on little cities again. Mass Effect 2 FTW!

  • codystovall - January 16, 2012 9:27 a.m.

    Im the map, Im the map, Im the map, Im the map, Im the map, Im the map, Im the map, Im the map, Im the map, Im the map, Im the map IM THE MAP!!!! -Sentient Map (^why maps shouldnt be alive)

  • DannyMB - January 16, 2012 9:25 a.m.

    I couldn't get the mass effect map music out of my head when I finished playing it. Not played Far Cry 2 but I love the map, very very nice. On a side note, why does the apple in your Super Mario image have leprosy? Seriously wtf is that?

  • jackthemenace - January 16, 2012 9:11 a.m.

    TEEEEETEEEEEEEE'S. Love the article, you guys, the UK team sure is brilliant :D Loved the Miyamoto e-mails bit, as well as the ME2 map explanation :D To be fair, I'm surprised, like, the Skyrim 3D map didn't make it onto this, since that was so awesome, but one's that really stuck out for me were Resi 4, for some reason, and- I have no idea why- The Pokemon TCG, on the Gameboy Colour. I just remember that I used to enjoy moving around on the map just as much as I liked playing the game itself :P

  • 435 - January 16, 2012 9:01 a.m.

    Good choice on Driver. Fantastic game, and the map system was most excellent.

  • lordgodalming - January 16, 2012 8:58 a.m.

    How how how did the Dark Souls map not make it into this list? I don't usually put links into forum posts, but this is a special circumstance: http://www.tekmology.com/downloads/DarkSouls_Map_EN.pdf

  • An_Awesome_Guy - January 16, 2012 9:09 a.m.

    Although Dark Souls' map is nice, it's not revolutionary. The maps in this article have the potential to change the face of maps forever.

Showing 41-60 of 63 comments

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