8 Video Game Missions That Most Players Hated

Whenever we start up a brand-new game, we are usually chasing some kind of feeling, whether it is simple fun, an emotional beat, or just pure entertainment. We want to be immersed in a world, but every now and then, a game decides to throw a massive, frustrating wrench into those plans in the form of that one mission. That damned mission.

I know you know exactly what I’m talking about! It is that specific level that feels completely out of place, like a momentum-killer that suddenly makes you feel like you are playing a completely different game than the one you were enjoying before.

We don't play these missions for enjoyment. Instead, we force ourselves through them with gritted teeth just so we can finally get them over with and return to the actually good parts of the experience. It is not about the challenge, but simply surviving the annoyance.

I woke up feeling a bit bitter today, so I thought: why not lean into that frustration for a bit? It is time to air out our complaints and revisit some levels that turned our gaming sessions into pure tests of patience. Here are the eight most infamous game missions that everyone (or almost everyone) absolutely hated.

8 MJ Missons

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 isn’t just a sequel, but the follow-up to one of the most acclaimed superhero games in recent memory.

And it is a franchise built on high-octane action and adrenaline, so fans expected the second entry to crank that energy up to eleven with two playable protagonists (Peter and Miles) and even more known characters and villains – fortunately, the game delivers on that front. However, that heroic feeling is constantly interrupted by the MJ missions, which are the polar opposite of everything we love about being Spider-Man.

The real issue with these segments for me is the drastic shift in pacing and vibe. You go from soaring through the New York skyline to a forced, slow-paced stealth sequence. It feels less like an organic part of the story and more like a chore the game makes you do before you are allowed to have fun again.

Most players find themselves rushing through these sections as fast as possible, praying for the moment they can finally put the mask back on.

7 Scouting The Port

GTA 5

Grand Theft Auto V fans can argue for days about which protagonist is the best or which heist was the most epic, but the community is practically unanimous on one thing: everyone hates the scouting the port mission.

That’s because it is a repetitive task with unnecessarily complex controls that quickly becomes a tedious hassle. You spend what feels like an eternity slowly driving a crane and moving containers in a sequence that is beyond monotonous.

It is so notoriously bad that I have heard of players who actually gave up on replaying the story just because they couldn't face the prospect of doing this mission again. Ouch, right?

As for me, it simply feels like a mission that doesn’t fit into a Rockstar title, because unlike other slow moments in the game (like the yoga session, which at least serves a narrative purpose), this one feels like a pointless task that doesn't even reward you with a couple of bucks.

6 Water Temple

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Water Temple from Ocarina of Time is arguably the most infamous dungeon in the history of The Legend of Zelda franchise, so I know you saw this one coming!

It is so legendarily complex that it spawned an urban myth that the level was actually broken, with many players believing (even until today) that if you mess up the water levels too much, you can soft-lock your game and lose your save file. While that is technically a lie, the frustration behind the myth is very real.

Even without the fear of breaking your game, the temple is painfully unintuitive. It forces you into a repetitive cycle of backtracking through the same chambers while constantly pausing to adjust the water levels just to reach the next platform.

I make it a habit to replay Ocarina of Time every year, and while I have learned to navigate it now, facing it for the first time is a total cold shower (pun intended) to the game's sense of wonder.

5 Harper Boss Fight

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

This was the exact moment when the Call of Duty community collective thought: “What the hell were the developers thinking? Have they actually gone insane?”

Black Ops 7 had its fair share of issues, but the boss fight against Harper is arguably the peak of the game’s identity crisis. At a certain point in the campaign, Harper (the fan-favorite character from Black Ops 2, played by Michael Rooker) makes a return.

However, he doesn’t come back as a gritty soldier, but appears as a giant boss during a bad trip sequence caused by a hallucinogenic weapon. And yes, it is as weird as it sounds. Many players found the encounter to be embarrassingly corny and laughably bad, featuring cringeworthy dialogue and a concept that makes no sense.

In the end, Black Ops 7 struggled to win over the fanbase and eventually became the worst-rated launch in the history of the franchise. To this day, many players simply refuse to believe this fever dream is taking place in the same universe as the masterpieces that were BO1 and BO2.

4 Hallucination Level

Max Payne

Having dream sequences or hallucinations in a game is actually a common trope, but easily one of the worst offenders was the “nightmare” sequence in the first Max Payne.

In this segment, Max navigates distorted realities by following thin trails of blood through endless, dark hallways and across narrow platforms where one wrong step sends you plummeting to your death.

All of this is set to the haunting, looped sound of a crying baby in the background. It is meant to be atmospheric, but the simple task of walking towards the end quickly crosses the line into being slow and repetitive.

Sure, you can argue that it serves a narrative purpose, as the protagonist has just lost his family and is effectively flirting with insanity. However, the “it was just a dream” device has to be one of the weakest forms of storytelling, especially in a game with gameplay as tight and revolutionary as Max Payne.

3 Delicate Flower

Hollow Knight

If you have ever considered replaying Hollow Knight to see every possible ending, I’m willing to bet you hesitated the moment you remembered the Delicate Flower quest (more than any boss fight!) since it is, quite simply, brutal.

Its premise is pretty straightforward but agonizing: you have to transport a fragile flower across the map to a distant grave. The thing is that the flower will shatter instantly if you take a hit from an enemy or use Fast Travel. This forces you to traverse the dangerous world of Hallownest organically, praying that a stray projectile doesn't completely ruin your progress.

It is the kind of mission where you spend the entire journey holding your breath, and the relief you feel upon completion isn't even "fun", but pure exhaustion, since the “trial-and-error” nature of the quest is a true test of patience.

Interestingly, the developers seemed to realize they went a bit too far in this one because the sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, features a similar quest but makes it much more manageable by imposing a time limit instead of a "no damage" rule. It is a sign that even Team Cherry knew the original was just a bit too mean!

2 Lava Race

Conker’s Bad Fur Day

When I first played Conker’s Bad Fur Day and reached the hoverboard race in the lava level, I honestly thought I was doing something catastrophically wrong. I felt like I was just being stupid, missing some obvious mechanic that would make the whole thing click.

But no. It turns out this race is just a poorly designed mess, with unnecessarily clunky controls and a physics engine that feels like it is actively fighting you, making you want to throw your controller at the wall in this sequence.

The thing is that the controls are just as chaotic as the level design itself. Between the way obstacles spawn and how enemies target you, the race relies far more on pure luck and infinite patience than actual skill. So it is the definition of rage-inducing.

While Conker’s Bad Fur Day is famous for having sudden, brutal difficulty spikes, most of them have a trick or a rhythm you can master – except for the Lava Race. This one is a permanent resident on our hate list.

1 Guarma

Red Dead Redemption 2

I know there are some Red Dead Redemption 2 fans who actually enjoy the Guarma section, but let’s be honest: back in 2018, everyone reaching the end of the game was praising everything about the experience – except for this.

The main issue is that this chapter forcibly yanks you out of the open world you have spent dozens of hours in and traps you in a linear and non-explorable area. On top of that, the writing feels a bit rushed, and the whole segment drags on far longer than it needs to.

You just feel completely detached from the main narrative, and you find yourself desperately wanting to go back home to finish the story, especially since you are already so close to the finish line of Arthur Morgan’s arc.

However, there is an interesting theory that Rockstar actually made this chapter intentionally bad because you are supposed to feel like it sucks, since, due to the gang's terrible mistakes, you are stuck in a hellscape, and the game simply tells you to deal with it. In any case, if you did not rush the Guarma section, I know you are lying!