10 Best Snow Levels in Video Games

It's that time of year again and, with December upon us, snow has begun to fall in most parts of the world, coating areas in frost and ice as the holiday season begins.

Many people use this opportunity to go sledding or build snowmen outside, but most gamers will still play games inside to get away from freezing conditions outside.

Still, snow-covered areas are popular environments for games to take place either in singular levels, small sections, or as the backdrop for entire games, as cold climates present players with greater challenges due to freezing temperatures and volatile ice.

With December just beginning, here's a look at the 10 best snow-focused video game levels of all time based on how the levels utilize snow and cold climates to mix up gameplay and affect games' narratives.

10 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Hoth Mission

What is a snow level game list without mentioning the plethora of titles that have adapted Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back's famous Battle of Hoth?

The Battle of Hoth is arguably the most common Star Wars event to be recreated in video games, appearing in over a dozen Star Wars titles from the comical LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga to EA's Star Wars Battlefront II.

However, I'd argue the best game to showcase the Battle of Hoth is Star Wars: The Force Unleashed's Hoth Mission DLC set in the alternate timeline ending wherein Starkiller killed Darth Vader and became Darth Sidious' new cyborg Sith assassin.

This DLC level is a ton of fun as gamers get to play as Lord Starkiller goes about slaying swaths of wampas and rebels in Hoth's icy caves and Echo Base, culminating in an epic battle between Starkiller and Luke Skywalker resulting in the latter falling to the dark side.

9 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Heart of Ice

Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is filled with a ton of great moments taking place in cold climates, from the shocking opening of Nathan Drake waking up in a train dangling from a snowy cliff to swinging through icy caves with Tenzin.

The best snow level in Among Thieves, though, has got to be Heart of Ice as Nathan and Tenzin explore an ancient Tibetan temple full of platforming and puzzles to solve.

Heart of Ice's Tibetan temple is unlike any other level seen in the Uncharted series and perfectly showcases the artistic and technological advancements of the ancient inhabitants of Shambhala with the temple's intricate gears and stone statues.

Plus, Heart of Ice further displays the lethality and danger the hulking Shambhala guardians impose as they're able to easily throw massive stones, leap great distances, and climb on any surface despite the temple's icy surfaces.

8 Astro Bot

Bot of War

Team Asobi's Astro Bot is one of the greatest platforming games of all time, rightly earning the Game of the Year award at the 2024 Game Awards, and, as such, it features one of the best snow levels in recent memory with Bot of War.

Astro Bot features many fun references to PlayStation's many celebrated gaming franchises and characters and a perfect example of this is the Tentacle System's Bot of War level, based on 2018's God of War, and it's 2022 sequel, God of War Ragnarok.

Here, Astro gets to meet Astro Bot versions of Kratos, Atreus, Thor, and other characters from God of War's Norse duology as the robot explores a more comical iteration of Norse mythology and snow covered Northern Europe.

What makes this level an especially great snow level is Astro's ability to use the Leviathan Axe and its powers to skate on ice, freeze enemies, and solve icy puzzles, just like Kratos does.

7 Halo: Combat Evolved

Assault on the Control Room

The Halo rings from Halo are massive artificial installations filled with various biomes found throughout the cosmos, from deserts to temperate forests, but oftentimes the best levels in the Halo franchise are those set in the snowy environments of Forerunner sites.

The first level to explore a Halo ring's cold biome, and arguably the best snow level in the entire Halo franchise, is Halo: Combat Evolved's Assault on the Control Room.

This level has Master Chief and Cortana fight through Installation 04's central catacombs to reach Alpha Halo's control room, rescuing scattered UNSC marine forces including Sergeant Avery Johnson and fighting Covenant forces along the way.

Plus, this level is the first time in a Halo game, outside of multiplayer, where players can pilot a Banshee and drive a Scorpion tank, which are both a ton of fun to use against the Covenant.

6 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Cliffhanger

For many veteran gamers, 2009's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is one of the best Call of Duty games ever made or, at the very least, one of the best COD sequels released and this was perfectly showcased in the game's second level, Cliffhanger.

The level opens up with Captain Soap and Sergeant Roach carefully climbing up an icy cliffside with dual ice axes and stealthily sneaking through a Russian airbase in the Tian Shan mountains during a snowstorm.

Due to the thick snowstorm, Soap and Roach use heartbeat sensors to detect enemy combatants and are able to quietly take out patrols until a squad of Russian soldiers eventually discover the two recovering an ACS module from a downed satellite.

What ensues is an epic, action-packed chase of Soap and Roach hijacking a Russian snowmobile and speeding their way down through a snowy forest, avoiding fire from enemy helicopters and other snowmobiles until they reach their evac point.

5 Gears 5

Into the Wild

The Gears of War series is not particularly well-known for its wide variety of environments, with most of the series being set in war-torn cities or in underground caves, but a notable exception to those norms is Gears 5's Into the Wild.

Gears 5 is set during Sera's winter and here Kait Diaz and Del Walker get to explore how harsh Sera's winters can be at the base of Mount Kadar to find answers about the Locust's origins and their connection with Diaz's family.

Into the Wild is Gears 5's first true level to feature semi-open world exploration through the use of a wind-powered skiff, allowing players to explore side areas or complete brief side quests for potential upgrades and collectibles.

Aside from the fun skiff gameplay and exploration, fighting the Swarm in this frosty environment is a ton of fun, as frozen ponds can be shot at to cause Swarm to drown in icy waters, while windflare storms will cause giant chunks of ice to fall from the sky.

4 Kingdom Hearts 3

Arendelle

The Kingdom Hearts series features a good number of fun snow levels based on iconic Disney films, namely those based on The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I'd argue that the series' best snow level is Kingdom Hearts 3's Arendelle.

Based on Walt Disney Animation Studios' hit 2013 film Frozen, Arendelle has Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive at the Norwegian-inspired kingdom just after Elsa left her coronation.

Most of the level is a replay of Frozen's plot but with a Kingdom Hearts twist, mainly due to the invasion of Heartless, Nobodies, and Organization XIII member Larxene.

Arendelle is filled with a lot of snow-focused fun as it features unique Heartless inspired by reindeer, wolves, and ice dragons, plus Sora, Donald, and Goofy get to go sledding on Goofy's shield to avoid an avalanche.

3 Banjo-Kazooie

Freezeezy Peak

Some of the best snow levels in gaming are still featured in older gems and one such level is Freezeezy Peak from Rare's 1998 classic Banjo-Kazooie.

Freezeezy Peak is a true winter wonderland as it's constantly snowing and filled with cozy cottages and igloos to explore populated by polar bears and snowball-throwing snowmen.

Aside from avoiding pesky snowmen, exploring Freezeezy Peak is a complete joy with Banjo and Kazooie being able to open gifts and find Twinklies to eventually light up a massive Christmas tree.

Banjo can even go sledding down a giant snowman's scarf and transform into a walrus to swim through Freezeezy Peak's freezing waters as well as participate in a sled race with a polar bear!

2 It Takes Two

Snow Globe

Split-screen and couch co-op games are sadly a dying breed in gaming these days, but one of the best modern co-op snow levels to play through these days has got to be It Takes Two's Snow Globe.

Here, Cody and May are shrunk and sent into a snow globe they bought on their first skiing trip together by the magical Book of Love Dr. Hakim in order to rediscover the attraction they once felt for each other.

Cody and May must use two pieces of a magnet to help each other traverse the mountain and solve puzzles such as moving bridges to get over freezing rivers.

Plus, Cody and May can even go ice skating together, ride sleds, go icicle throwing, and go on several snowy carnival rides, making It Takes Two the perfect co-op game to play with loved ones in the winter.

1 Super Mario 64

Cool, Cool Mountain

Astro Bot and Banjo-Kazooie may have some fantastic platforming snow levels, but to this very day they still can't beat the absolute classic snow level, Cool, Cool Mountain from 1996's Super Mario 64.

The third world accessible in Super Mario 64, Cool, Cool Mountain is pure winter fun with Mario being able to freely explore the mountain by jumping around, climbing its snowy pine trees, or sliding down its many slippery slopes.

Of course, Cool, Cool Mountain is famous for its somewhat challenging sledding race against a giant blue penguin, but it's arguably more well-known for letting Mario comically drop a baby penguin off the side of the mountain.

Sure, later Mario games such as Super Mario Odyssey may have expanded upon snow levels in various ways, but none of them can beat the innate sandbox, or rather snow box, appeal of Cool, Cool Mountain.