Line #201 Main/DownTheDrain


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5	[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sewer_levels_4.png]]
6	[[caption-width-right:349:Oh, ''yuck''! The sewer level! Okay, maybe this isn't so beautiful, but it sure is cool-looking, eh?\
7	[[labelnote:Clockwise from top left:]]''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland'', ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'', ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1989'', ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack'', ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'', ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''[[/labelnote]]]]
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14	->''"Ah, Toad Town Tunnels! Visit its scenic filthy streams that lead to who-knows-where! It's spectacularly disgusting! Come stay awhile! If you're not totally grossed out the first night, you stay for free!"''
15	-->-- '''Goombario''', ''VideoGame/PaperMario64''
16
17	A level that takes place in the [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer sewers]] or a flooded building or some sort of hydraulic plant. Common mechanics of these levels include maze-like layouts, SuperDrowningSkills (or SuperNotDrowningSkills, depending on the game), narrow passages obstructed by [[DeadlyRotaryFan rotating propeller blades of death]], [[DeadlyDroplets droplets falling from ceilings and pipes that hurt upon contact]], running water causing platforms to act like conveyor belts, and requiring the player to swim through sections of the level (sometimes the whole thing). Hitting switches to somehow divert the flow of water to flood or drain certain areas is also [[StockVideoGamePuzzle fairly common]].
18
19	These traits, combined with a heightened temptation to abuse CopyAndPasteEnvironments, make these kinds of levels highly receptive to becoming ThatOneLevel, especially if they are {{Marathon Level}}s. This can be aggravated in 3D games that require the player to swim freely in and under the water, usually due to the difficulty of controlling the player character in these situations, because swimming like this is a 3D movement, while most forms of input for video games are only 2D in nature.
20
21	See also UnderTheSea for levels which are set in more natural aquatic environments. See also AbsurdlySpaciousSewer and/or TunnelNetwork for this kind of setting outside the scope of videogame levels.
22
23	Not to be confused with DownLADrain. Compare TideLevel.
24	----
25	!!Examples:
26
27	[[foldercontrol]]
28
29	[[folder:Action-Adventure]]
30	* ''VideoGame/{{Afterimage}}'': The Columns area is a sewer level, complete with water-based creatures. According to the backstory, it's an aqueduct system that was built to lead the abundant waters of the Emerald Falls directly to the royal city.
31	* ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'': Freeway 42 starts off by progressing through an AbandonedLaboratory before entering an elevator leading into a [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer large sewer]] that contains an UndergroundCity with [[TheMorlocks inhabitants]] living alongside the massive pipes against a hostile BarbarianTribe blocking the path forward.
32	* ''VideoGame/BlasterMaster'''s Stage 4 takes place in a very large maze of a sewer. The on-foot sections contain pools of sewer sludge (some placed around precariously narrow foot paths), and if Jason falls into one, [[SuperDrowningSkills he dies]].
33	* ''VideoGame/CaveStory'': There's a level where you have to be [[RoaringRapids thrust along with the current]], through huge groups of [[MalevolentArchitecture spikes and nearly-invisible foes]] -- right after a ''boss'' that occasionally forces you to drown if you're not careful enough, all while firing extremely damaging projectiles at you. Thankfully, you can save first. Unfortunately, if you screw up in this area or the prior boss, the best ending is {{Permanently Missable\|Content}}.
34	* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'':
35	** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia'' gives us two water themed worlds. The first of which is the Kalidus Channel, which you travel through on the way to the Minera Prison Island, and return to fully explore after finding a relic that allows free underwater movement. The second is the Somnus Reef, which is filled with enemies such that it's a chore to kill or even to sneak by, and most of them can poison you.
36	** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'': The underground caverns, being filled with deep water pits and rushing waterfalls and all.
37	** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCircleOfTheMoon'' has the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Underground Waterway]], worse yet, unless you get a certain item from a less likely location you'd think of, most players would [[SequenceBreaking Sequence Break]] and tackle this level first, making all the water in it poisonous. Doesn't help this level is filled with DemonicSpiders as well!
38	** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDissonance'' had [[NonIndicativeName The Aqueduct of the Dragons]] which is actually just uneventful and filled with Fishmen and Mermen.
39	** ''VideoGame/SuperCastlevaniaIV'' had The Dungeon which feels more like this trope due to the abundance of toxic slime, and bullshit death traps.
40	* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'': The Spring in the Sky is literally ''up'' the drain. And to get the item which prevents water from continuously damaging you, you have to do a little painful swimming first. You also need to buy a helmet first from a DungeonShop to have a chance to getting past the waterfalls, at which point, [[AmbushingEnemy Surprise Fish!]] The Tower of the Goddess doesn't appear to have water at first, but partway through you have to detour back to an earlier level to raise the water level. The swimming controls are not good.
41	* ''VideoGame/Shantae2002'': The Dribble Fountain, which is some kind of aqueduct/sewer thing, is the very first dungeon.
42	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series has had its share of water dungeons that fit this trope:
43	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': After the first bit of castle and dungeon, Link has to escort Zelda out through the sewers. Later on, the second dungeon of the Dark World, Swamp Palace, involves manipulating the flow and/or level of water.
44	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'': The Great Bay Temple is a huge hydroelectric plant where Link has to operate the color-coded pipes to carry water and make elevators with them. At one point, he also has to reverse the entire flow direction of the water to access previously inaccessible areas.
45	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'': The first floor of the Tower of the Gods is flooded with water due to it being connected to the open sea, allowing you to move between rooms in the King of Red Lions. Most of the puzzles force you to rely on tides as they come and go, arranging wooden crates into a pathway when the water flows in and using them to depress switches when it drains away. Later in the game, there's the basement of the Private Oasis, which contains a Triforce Chart at the end of a murky sewer system that's infested with Rats and even a pair of [=ReDeads=].
46	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'' features Hyrule Underground, a sewer that connects various parts of Hyrule Town from below, namely the well, a cave Link can dig through with the Mole Mitts, the yard of the Mayor's house, and surprisingly the school from beneath the principal's chair; entering through the former three entrances is necessary to push the small boulders into the holes and pull a treasure chest's column across the now-built path into another hole so the chest itself can be opened. Relatedly, Hyrule Town also has two areas that serve as the respective sources of the small river and the fountain; Link can get inside them in his Minish form, and doing so is necessary because there are major items in them (the Bracelet in the fountain's source, the Flippers in the river's) that will help him in the quest to eventually reach the Temple of Droplets.
47	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' has a literal sewer as the first level for Wolf Link. The sewer is revisited at a later point, but it's a briefer visit. There's also the Lakebed Temple, which involves changing water flow to make flywheels move, which cause platforms to move, as well as draining water into the center area to reach the boss's chamber.
48	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'': The Ancient Cistern is this in the upper areas, with pipes that enable water-based elevators when the Whip is used, and a giant, golden statue raised or lowered with the help of two side waterwheels operated from a wall-placed lever (that is manipulated by the Whip as well). The lower areas of the dungeon, meanwhile, are BigBoosHaunt type.
49	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'': The Swamp Palace resembles a big sewer in the middle of a swamp and requires you to solve elaborate water-raising/water-lowering puzzles to traverse.
50	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': Divine Beast Vah Ruta is a giant mechanical elephant capable of generating a vast amount of water that it sprays out of its trunk. Its innards consist of various pumps, water wheels, and waterfalls that Link must traverse to free it from Ganon's influence. The [[MiniDungeon Shrines]] found in watery areas have similar interiors.
51	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'': The Water Temple is a set of ancient Zonai structures levitating over the Lanayru region that is the source of the sludge pouring onto Zora's Domain. Link and Sidon have to work together to open valves, all while solving various water-manipulation puzzles, in order to flush out the Mucktorok producing the sludge in the main fountain.
52	* ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'': The Boilerworks become an example of this once Clem floods the place. Reaching him requires shutting off the water to reverse this state.
53	* ''VideoGame/TombRaiderIII'': The second half of Lud's Gate, one of the most difficult areas, is a large underwater maze, compounded by the lack of air pockets and the clumsy controls of the UPV.
54	* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' has an aquatic-themed dungeon focused on pipelines, pressure, and lots of other fun stuff--the Ocean Force Point. It's not an actual sewer, being a rather pretty temple, but this is the closest place for it.
55	* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
56	** ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' has Maridia, at least the areas that have an artificial base. You have to retrieve the Gravity Suit from the Wrecked Ship beforehand, as it lets you traverse the water unhindered.
57	** ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' has Sector 4, a section of the BSL station designed to hold various aquatic creatures. The first time you visit, exposed wires keep you from safely entering the water without getting electrocuted; you must lower the water level to change this.
58	** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'': Certain sections of both [[JungleJapes Tallon Overworld]] and [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Phendrana Drifts]] are filled with pools of water. The Tallon Overworld section in particular requires you to traverse the crashed Frigate Orpheon from the beginning of the game with the Gravity Suit.
59	** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' features the [[ThatOneLevel very difficult]] (even by this game's standards) lower levels of Torvus Bog, which is otherwise a BubblegloopSwamp level. It's not the first underwater level in a ''Metroid'' game, but it might be the first that forces you through half of it without the Gravity Suit (or in this case, the Gravity Boost).
60	* ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'' and ''VideoGame/Jak3'' have you go into plenty of sewer sections in Haven City, often to either get around barriers or do dirty work for Krew. Even Daxter hates it when Krew sends them off down there, but mostly cause he'll be running around in a smelly sewer [[RunningGag without pants]]. You also go under the Port to meet up with Sig near the end of ''II'', the entire first section of which has you traveling through an underwater section in the resident MiniMecha.
61	* ''VideoGame/{{Messiah}}'' has an entire level set in sewers with some jumping puzzles and brushes with squads of [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized Chots]] who live there.
62	* ''VideoGame/MissionImpossible1990'': Most of the first stage is spent exploring the massive sewers underneath Moscow to find the hidden Sinister Seven base. Naturally, [[SuperDrowningSkills falling into the water kills you,]] and there are multiple traps and a few PushyMooks trying to shove you in. Sewage pipes discharge at regular intervals over walkways, posing a hazard when crossing them.
63	* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'': The Royal Waterways are the sewer system of the City of Tears, with outlets to dump sewage into the Fungal Wastes and Kingdom's Edge, a connection to the Ancient Basin further below, and a large junk pit where the kingdom's refuse washes up. They're not huge, but the mapmaker is easy to miss, making it easy to get lost in the winding pipes. Its enemies consist primarily of a variety of giant, aggressive flukes; the area's primary boss is Dung Defender, a dung beetle who lives in a secluded room in the waste pits and who fights by throwing projectiles of... locally-sourced waste, while a secondary boss fight is had against the flukes' progenitor.
64	* ''VideoGame/OverlordI'': In order to bypass the closed bridge entrance into the castle city of Heaven's Peak, the player has to traverse a sewer-like network in order to enter the fortress from below. The sewer entrance is found in a nearby swamp that can only be accessed after the Overlord has obtained the aquatic Blue Minions in order to remove the piece of rubble blocking the sewer entrance. The Heaven's Peak sewers is filled with a variety of [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]] that the Overlord and his Minions need to fight through to reach the city.
65	* ''VideoGame/{{Urbanoids}}'': Each level has a sewer system which is grey and full of robots. Stenchburg is a town that's small on the surface but has a vast network of these sewers, so the majority of the action takes place there.
66	* ''VideoGame/YsIIAncientYsVanishedTheFinalChapter'' has a maze of subterranean canals beneath the Solomon Palace.
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Action Game]]
70	* The sewer level in ''VideoGame/EnterTheMatrix'' was very long, full of difficult enemies, and [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer for some odd reason]], had areas which were a several stories high ''underground'', requiring balance and platforming in order to successfully get through.
71	* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' has a few of these, they tend to be long, full of SWAT teams, Agents and have really high places you have to cover allies...and blow up.
72	* ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' has the AbsurdlySpaciousSewer that is The Aqueduct.
73	* Killer Croc's Lair in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum''. While it isn't overly large, the lack of your usual area map and the need to move as slowly and silently as possible make it one of the longest (and to some, most tedious) sections in the game. [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity The sequel]] had a sewer level too but it was shorter.
74	* ''VideoGame/XMenLegends'' has you trudging through the old sewers of New York city, the level itself is fairly straightforward, but the challenge comes from fighting off dozens of Morlock mutants. As you fight further in, the Morlocks only seem to grow in number, but it gets particularly frustrating once you encounter the [[GoddamnedBats Morlock Goth]], a mutant who can ''teleport and revive her fallen comrades'' and has a tendency to stay hidden in an entire mob of Morlocks who can easily slaughter your team without good crowd control.
75	* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'':
76	** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry1'': Dante has to go through the underground sections of Mallet Island's castle at some points. Early on from Mission 6, he has to traverse a maze-like waterway system, and it's where he first encounters the Death Scissors. Near the end-game, Dante falls through this same sewer area, where he has to [[spoiler:fight Mundus for the last time]].
77	** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'' had Dante go through a sewer in the third mission (Lucia had this as her second) and Lucia later got an aqueduct level.
78	** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'': The Chamber of Sins is a small sewage area of the tower, first accessed in Mission 5 if you fall down the chasm without the Soul of Steel item. After defeating the enemies, a portal sends you back to the previous room.
79	** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'': Mission 3 has you go through a sewer area after jumping across the rooftops of the flooded buildings. Qliphoth Roots have infested this area as well, and you end up in a library afterwards.
80	* The ''VideoGame/SpiderMan2000'' game for the [=PS1=] and PC had Venom's lair be in the sewer (with lava in What If mode).
81	* The ''VideoGame/SpiderMan3'' game had about three stages where Spidey tracked the Lizard through the sewers.
82	* ''VideoGame/DinoCrisis2'' has one such underwater level that's actually a ''very'' fun part of the game. You wear a diving suit that gives you [[SuperNotDrowningSkills unlimited air]] and is too heavy to swim (meaning you walk around only ''slightly'' slower than normal rather than screwy swimming controls) and the suit has built in jets allowing for a moon jump ability. Adding to this is the enemies here are slow moving large targets, allowing for a ton of free experience points. It could actually be considered a mid-game BreatherLevel.
83	* A creepy example is featured in ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami2WrongNumber'', with bodies dissolving in acid pools and chilling background music.
84	[[/folder]]
85
86	[[folder:Beat 'em Up]]
87	* Even the Power Rangers manage to [[https://youtu.be/TvANZRUvmWM?t=6m12s dive into the sewers]] on the SNES. Which, notably, they never did in their own series.
88	* ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'': Stage 9, is a sewer level. It introduces previously unseen swimming controls, combined with an entire level full of imaginative one hit kills. There are even timed sequences where you run from giant underwater gears, with controls unique to this level. This is arguably redundant because [[NintendoHard most every level in the game has this]].
89	* ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTurtlesInTime'' has Sewer Surfin' (which like the name says, [[AutoScrollingLevel scrolls automaticallly]] as you surf).
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:First-Person Shooter]]
93	* ''VideoGame/DarkForces,'' first in the ''[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Jedi Knight]]'' series, features a sewer level plagued by the Death Star trash compactor monsters (complete with conveyor belt-like currents) and a series of places where water levels (if you can call the stuff water) must be changed in the proper order. Apparently, a sewer that's convoluted enough can double as an ElaborateUndergroundBase.
94	* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' features an entire chapter, Route Kanal, where the player must traverse the canals and sewers of City 17 to escape from the Combine. While the chapter is not exclusively sewer-action, a good chunk of time is spent there.
95	* ''VideoGame/RedneckRampage'': the first episode's fifth level, aptly named "Sewers", is a very big, labyrinthine and [[BlackoutBasement dimly-lit]] series of identical-looking grey-brown corridors and tunnels with lots of swimming and switch hunts. A few things make it even more aggravating than the average Down The Drain level: [[GoddamnBats Turd Minions]] are the whole cut of opposition, the layout is confusing enough to get most players turned around several times, and there's absolutely no indication of what switch messes with what lock, forcing anyone who doesn't have perfect memories of the level's layout (or a walkthrough handy) to backtrack repeatedly to check each passageway for any changes after every single switch, and the drab environment has nothing for Leonard to drop a funny quip about. Overall it's a jarring change from the straightforward and quick pace of the previous levels that seems more like [[FakeLongevity padding the shareware]], and to the surprise of no one, it's considered by many to be among [[ScrappyLevel the worst parts of the game]].
96	* All ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' games aside from ''BFE'' feature one of these.
97	** ''The First Encounter'' has a brief sewer section while moving through Karnak. It's a BreatherLevel before [[ThatOneLevel Metropolis]].
98	** ''The Second Encounter'' has a fairly large underwater maze near the start of the Courtyards of Gilgamesh – NETRICSA even says she (somehow) can smell water, and a lot of it. The swim through is a real test of the OxygenMeter, especially if you're going for all the secrets, but as a small mercy, there are very few Electro-Fish to worry about, and once you find the exit, it can be entered from either side, making searching through for secrets much more comfortable.
99	** ''2'' has a level at which Sam is forced to go through the sewer system to enter a castle. As he sees the entrance to the sewers he complaints to Netricsa about it, and she says something about there being a mandatory sewer level in every game.
100	* ''VideoGame/DeadSpaceExtraction'', a rail shooter, features a sewer on a space ship. It's a pretty big ship, though, with a standing crew of over a thousand, plus water for the hydroponics area, so it's justified.
101	* ''Franchise/{{Doom}}'' and its mods:
102	** [=MAP02=] of ''VideoGame/DoomII: Hell on Earth'', "Underhalls", is a sewer level, possibly the earliest one in a first-person shooter game. It's hard to notice, though, considering the "real-world" levels are incredibly abstract even ''before'' the forces of Hell [[EvilTaintedThePlace start warping things]], and that it's not particularly annoying compared to any of the other levels.
103	** This kind of level, or at least location within a larger level, is common in {{Game Mod}}s. Two examples that comes to mind is the entire second part of ''Eternal Doom'''s [=MAP04=], "Nucleus", and the final stretch of ''Hellcore 2.0''[='s MAP02=], "Baron Streets".
104	** ''VideoGame/BatmanDoom'' throws you into one of these as soon as you finish the first mission and the game proper begins ("Follow Killer Croc through the sewers"). Like in most such examples, the sewers are green, drab and moist, with enemies leaping at you from under the water, and several catwalks above big water tanks.
105	** ''VideoGame/MyHouse'' has the Bathhouse, inspired by Level 37 (Poolrooms) of WebOriginal/TheBackrooms.
106	* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' and ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' both have maps where you spend a brief time within a sewer:
107	** Part 3 of No Mercy, aptly named "The Sewer", has an AbsurdlySpaciousSewer with many passageways that lead to the hospital. Interestingly, only about a third of the level actually takes place in the sewer.
108	** Death Toll gets special mention for having an entire chapter, "The Drains", take place in a sewer. Unlike most other sewers, it's accessed through a building on a cliffside rather than a manhole.
109	** The Passing has the second part of the underground tour at the end of "The Underground" take place in the sewer, with a gauntlet to wrap it up. Also an AbsurdlySpaciousSewer, but wide open rather than maze-like, so the only reason to go in any direction other than straight towards the exit is to dodge infected.
110	** The Parish, near the end of "The Cemetery". It's basically a straight shot that only goes about twenty feet before you get back out; the real danger is that it's cramped to the point a Charger is almost a death sentence in it, and it opens up into [[spoiler:a field of alarmed cars]].
111	** [[ThatOneLevel Cold Stream's gauntlet finale]] also takes you on a short romp through a sewer tunnel, right after the scripted Tank attack.
112	** The Suicide Blitz [[GameMod custom campaign]] takes its sweet time taking the player through Fort Harris County's sewer system. A lot less time is spent in it in its sequel, Suicide Blitz 2.
113	* The original ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty1'' has a brief one early in the Soviet campaign, but it's not too sewer-levelish and contains no puzzles.
114	* ''VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon'' has a few examples. Interestingly, they're ''not'' considered low points in the games, thanks to avoiding the usual sewer level trappings -- the layout is not difficult to navigate, water is rarely and barely a hindrance, lighting and music differences from room to room keep the environments from feeling same-y, and there are multiple intense firefights. Last but certainly not least, the murky and enclosed industrial environments lend themselves to [[NightmareFuel some huge scares]].
115	** The South River wastewater treatment plant (Interval 3) and part of Interval 5, in the lower levels of the Armacham HQ, both are very sewer-like.
116	** One of the first levels in the ''Perseus Mandate'' standalone ExpansionPack takes place in a storm drain system a la DownLADrain. You start at the surface and eventually into the drainage tunnels.
117	* ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}''
118	** ''VideoGame/Blood1997'' waited until the third episode of four to have a dedicated sewer level ("Raw Sewage", which thankfully isn't too bad), though it also has several times when you have to dive in more primitive outhouse pits. One such pit [[{{Squick}} connects to the aquifer leading to a lake]] and features an entrance to the FireAndBrimstoneHell you must pass through to get to Tchernobog.
119	** ''VideoGame/BloodIITheChosen'', on the other Choking Hand, shoves you into one right in the fifth level of episode 1 ("Steam Tunnels"), which is [[MarathonLevel an annoyingly long]] but not extremely difficult area. The third level of episode 2 ("Sewage Treatment Plant") is mercifully a lot shorter, but also quite a bit harder, with several spots where Cabal's Fanatics wait in ambush with {{hitscan}} weaponry, including a Howitzer. Episode 2 also has "Love Canal", an older and more open style of sewer, [[BlackoutBasement with plenty of dark areas]]. At one point in the game, Caleb muses that, were he to obtain godlike power, one of his first steps would be to completely eliminate sewers from the universe.
120	%%(ZCE)* The Kosovo and New York missions in ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune'' have a few sewer/drain levels.
121	%%(ZCE)* The first ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' has the Sewer Chase level at the end of the first mission.
122	%%(ZCE)* In ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'', Corvo escapes from prison via a sewer tunnel.
123	* ''VideoGame/SlayersXTerminalAftermathVenganceOfTheSlayer'', in 90s FPS tradition, has a sewer level: The Steel Sewer is said to be the X Slayers' base of operations, which the [[NebulousEvilOrganization Psyko Sindicate]] has invaded and stolen [[{{BFG}} the Hackblood Talismen]] from.
124	* ''VideoGame/{{Ultrakill}}'': In The Wake of Poseidon (5-1) has segments that resemble a sewer complex, particularly at the final arenas of the level - fitting that a sewer would be in the Wrath layer of Hell, given how much ire they tend to invoke. [[spoiler:A hidden secret in The Burning World (1-2) also has a sewer which the [[WebVideo/Civvie11 Very Cancerous Rodent]] emerges from]].
125	[[/folder]]
126
127	[[folder:MMORPG]]
128	* In ''VideoGame/GuildWars: Factions'', the Undercity is a massive underground sprawl of sewers. The atmosphere is dark.
129	* Sewer maps appear '''a lot''' in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' and ''VideoGame/CityOfVillains'' when your character gets sent out on missions. The later game lampshaded it. There are many sewer missions where you're wading waist deep (depending on height) through toxic waste. These levels can be extremely infuriating, as some of them are remarkably easy to get lost in, plus there's the constant nagging feeling that you're wading around in the combined filth of an entire city.
130	-->Sewer missions have always been beneath you. Hopefully someone will understand that someday.
131	* ''VideoGame/RagnarokOnline'' has the Prontera Culverts, which can house one of the weakest (and weakness is relative) Boss fights in the game.
132	* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' has the clan dungeon of Hobopolis, the fabled city of underground hobos. In order to access the dungeon, a player must first track down the city via a system of sewers.
133	* Tech-based superheroes in ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline'' have to go down the sewers of Gotham to take out Scarecrow in their first mission.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Party Game]]
137	* ''VideoGame/MarioParty3'':
138	** In the minigame Spotlight Swim, all characters are in a dark basement where a small cistern surrounded by pipes lies. One of the four characters is swimming in the water, while the other three use color-coded searchlights. If the solo player avoids being spotted by all three searchlights at once during 30 seconds, they win. If the three players manage to illuminate them at the same time, then they win. The solo player can evade the lights by diving underwater temporarily.
139	** In the minigame Cheep Cheep Chase, the characters are swimming in the waters of a dungeon's underground sewer, and do so because they have to flee from a big Cheep Cheep that wants to eat them. They must also avoid the floating mines, which the Cheep Cheep can eat just fine.
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	[[folder:Platform Game]]
143	* In the ''Zelda'' segment of ''VideoGame/DistortedTravesty 3'', there's the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCbeZy3ZDYM water temple]], with all the joy of drowning over and over while raising and lowering the water level to solve puzzles. All while GoddamnBats assault the player every moment.
144	* ''VideoGame/{{Batman\|Sunsoft}}'' for the NES's Stages 3-1 and 3-2 (Underground Conduits I and II), part of Gotham City's AbsurdlySpaciousSewer system.
145	* ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim'''s "Down the Tubes" is a cross between this and UnderTheSea.
146	* ''Franchise/MegaMan'' examples:
147	** ''VideoGame/MegaMan1'' had a drain/sewer portion in the second half of Wily Stage 3 (also appears in the remake, ''[[VideoGame/MegaManPoweredUp Powered Up]]''). Mega Man actually gets a speed boost from the rushing water, although this means that that it's impossible to pick up enemy drops again if they're passed by.
148	** The third Wily stage in ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' was also a sewer, lined with SpikesOfDoom exacerbated by Mega Man's higher underwater jumping height.
149	** Toad Man's stage in ''VideoGame/MegaMan4''.
150	** Venus's stage in ''VideoGame/MegaManV'' (UsefulNotes/GameBoy, not [=NES=]).
151	** Toxic Seahorse's stage in ''VideoGame/MegaManX3''.
152	** Pump Man's stage in ''VideoGame/MegaMan10''.
153	** Aqua Man's stage in ''VideoGame/MegaMan8'' had areas where swimming was necessary (a skill which has not been seen since.)
154	** The optional underground section of the intro stage in ''8''.
155	** Heat Man's stage in ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' takes place in the sewers, but with [[LethalLavaLand lava]] instead of water.
156	** ''VideoGame/MegaManXtreme2'', aka ''Soul Eraser'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoy, added instant death ''electrified'' water to Volt Catfish's stage.
157	** ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity'' had Toad Man's stage, but also turned Cossack Stage 3 into one as well. It had various liquids with differing gimmicks.
158	** Bifrost's stage from ''[[VideoGame/MegaManZX Mega Man ZX Advent]]''.
159	* ''VideoGame/SpiderTheVideoGame'' have a stage where you get washed down a kitchen drain and ends up in the pipes infested with slugs. Note that this game have you playing as a sentient, regular-sized ''spider''.
160	* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'':
161	** The chapter Bats' Tower doesn't start like this (the first sections you explore are a river and a tall tower), but once Conker enters the catfish ladies' safe, he has to venture through a dark underwater pipe network. It's easy to get lost, and the keeping an eye for the OxygenMeter is a priority, but the paths are coded by luminiscent signals that tell how close Conker is to the goal: Blue for the first path, green for the second, and yellow for the third.
162	** A very difficult section in the aftermath of the Sloprano chapter, "U-Bend Blues", has you swimming through a long pipe filled with spinning fans that can instantly kill you with a single hit. And you have a dwindling OxygenMeter. And once you get ''out'' of the water there are platforms with lethal blades revolving on them. ''And'' getting killed at ''any point'' in the process sends you back to the beginning. And you must have collected enough money (namely $1000) in the previous levels to proceed, or else turn back.
163	* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'':
164	** Rusty Bucket Bay, where the oil-contaminated water drains your OxygenMeter even on the ''surface'', doing so at twice the normal rate when you are submerged. The part involving swimming past instant-kill propellers to get a Jiggy is one of the most difficult tasks, even by Rare themselves.
165	** Clanker's Cavern, the third level. It's a large sewage network with many parts flooded, requiring efficiency when swimming in search of items to avoid drowning.
166	** ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'' has Jolly Roger's Lagoon, which includes various mechanical underwater sections like a metal fish and pipelines leading to other levels. Luckily, Mumbo's spell gives you SuperNotDrowningSkills for the entire level, making things a bit easier.
167	* The Sewer Level in ''VideoGame/HenryHatsworthInThePuzzlingAdventure'' is quite possibly the hardest in the game, which is [[NintendoHard saying something.]] If the second locked-in battle room doesn't kill you, the merciless AdvancingWallOfDoom directly afterward will.
168	* Seen in ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' quite a bit. ''[[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack Crash 2]]'' has the "Sewer Or Later" levels which feature electric eels, sentient electromagnets and scientists with flamethrowers. ''[[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot3Warped Crash WARPED]]'' has the underwater levels, where Crash can swim safely unlike in all other levels, though there are rotating spiky pieces that are harmful; the game also has the 'Tomb Wader' level set in a nilemeter where the water level constantly shifts. ''[[VideoGame/CrashBandicootTheWrathOfCortex Wrath Of Cortex]]'' has underwater sewers as well.
169	* The Moaning Well level in ''VideoGame/NappleTaleArsiaInDaydream'' does not have any smelly sewage (it's a well; that would be unsanitary,) but it does involve a number of water level switches and a [[MinecartMadness water slide sequence]].
170	* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'':
171	** Story-critical path on Rilgar on ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002'' takes place in a city sewers. The first part is easy as only it includes a few Hydrodisplacer puzzles and no enemies. However, the hard part starts once you slide down a sewer pipe since when you step on suspicious button on the ground, the water starts to pour in. You ''can't'' outrun the water, the idea is to get as much of a head start as you can so you can swim through the rest [[OxygenMeter before you drown]].
172	** ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal'': The snot-like Amoeboids are ''everywhere'', sometimes spawning right behind and in front of you at once, the camera is awkward and won't turn unless Ratchet does, certain passages are blocked until you approach them from the proper side, the tunnels all look the same while the crystal locations are initially hidden, and best of all? If you want to find all of them, you have to find a special piece of equipment later in the game to explore the second half of the area...which is as lengthy as the first half. The sewers are rarely part of the major plot, but only for level grinding.
173	* The first chapter in ''VideoGame/{{Gish}}'', called Sewers of Dross. However, this is one of the easiest chapters.
174	* SNES game ''Mr. Nutz'' had the character go through a witch's cabin, only to find a shrink potion, fall off the top shelf in the kitchen and then finding himself ''literally'' having to go down the drain.
175	* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble'': The pipe levels provide quite a bit of variation. "Dingy Drainpipe" is your standard "swim through the sewers" level, but "Demolition Drainpipe" and "Surf's Up" remove the water and combine the sewer levels with MinecartMadness, having you speed through the pipeline in a metal toboggan. "Low-G Labyrinth", another water-free level, adds GravityScrew to a drainpipe level, while "Poisonous Pipeline" adds the water back and [[InterfaceScrew reverses your left-right controls]].
176	* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
177	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'': Mario is too tiny to enter the house in MacroZone through the front door, so he travels up the plumbing to emerge out of the kitchen sink.
178	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland'':
179	*** "The Impossible Maze" from World 4, which provides the page image, involves no swimming, but has currents that can push you to other parts of the pipeline. Getting through it requires pushing crates into position to get to pipes that are normally out of reach, and falling down the wrong path or losing your crate means starting over. It also has shades of BlackoutBasement, as one half of the level is totally in the dark.
180	*** Naval Piranha's Castle, the last regular level of World 3, takes place in a sewer or storm drain. In slopes, the falling water makes it impossible to go up, as the current's strength cannot be overriden. As a gameplay novelty, Yoshi learns to make the eggs go through the water's surface when he throws them from a certain angle.
181	** ''VideoGame/YoshisIslandDS'': "Big Bungee Piranha's Lair". It's a waterlogged sewer with outdoors areas where Yoshi has to manipulate corridors whose positions can be toggled by pressing (or shooting at) color-coded switches, tackle an underground maze with ponds of water, and defeat a large Piranha Plant monster rooted from the ceiling.
182	** ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros1'': World 2-3 is a partially-dry sewer found in a desert. The manhole covers can be ground-pounded from above, but it's not possible to go through them from below. At one point, certain switches can be pressed to temporarily raise the water's level (notably, reaching a certain high spot with the help of the raised water leads to a secret exit).
183	** ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' has Wet-Dry World, where it's possible to control the water level.
184	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'': Slimy Spring Galaxy from World 6 takes place inside a giant underwater cave. Due to the lacking number of bubbles and coins, the galaxy is a race against the OxygenMeter.
185	** ''VideoGame/WarioMasterOfDisguise'': Ancient Waterworks, the setting of Episode 6, is a temple that features an internal watery passageway. It serves as the location of the third piece of the Wishstone (after Wario was told that it wasn't in the pyramid), and to reach it Wario has to find a way to cease the flow of a strong waterfall (for which he has to use stone statues to clog it).
186	* Stages 2-2 and 5-4 in ''VideoGame/{{Purple}}'' take place in sewer systems complete with fish and mines (that are out there to kill you). 4-2 has two with a strange background consisting of moving cherries (and creepy music to boot).
187	* Stage 3 in the arcade version of ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'', and Stage 2 in the NES / XBLA version.
188	* "Trial by Water," the fourth stage of the ''Wolverine'' game for the NES, involved swimming through narrow underwater passages lined with spinning blades.
189	* ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1989'' has the dam level, the second half of which has DownTheDrain mechanics. It's not as hard as MemeticMutation would have you believe, but [[ThatOneLevel that still doesn't mean it's]] ''[[ThatOneLevel fun]]''.
190	* ''VideoGame/{{Turrican}} II'''s second level is like this, until you jump in the water and it becomes UnderTheSea.
191	* Parts of the colonial levels in ''VideoGame/JazzJackrabbit 2'' take place in the sewers.
192	* The level ''Wishy Washy'' in ''VideoGame/TheCatInTheHat'' is a very sewer-like environment.
193	* "Browntown" in ''VideoGame/TheAngryVideoGameNerdIIAssimilation'' is a very large sewer where, apparently, the Nerd is swimming not through water but through ''raw'' shit! He also finds himself facing electric kelp like the TMNT game on NES.
194	* ''VideoGame/GianaSistersDS'': Many Castle levels take place in the strongholds' storm drains, which are home to large numbers of enemies.
195	* ''VideoGame/EdEddNEddyTheMisEdventures'': Scam 2 of the console version mostly has the Eds going through the Cul-de-Sac sewers to sneak in to Jimmy's party. The sewers are flooded with shallow water, and introduce sewer gator and clam enemies. One segment involves lowering the water levels to distract Jonny.
196	* ''VideoGame/PizzaTower'' has a classic sewer level, rather bluntly named [[PrecisionFStrike Oh Shit!]]. [[ToiletHumor No points for guessing what’s strewn across the level]]. You even get [[AchievementMockery a new outfit for crouching on a pile of shit]] for ten seconds!
197	* The second stage of ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheNinja'' is the Underground Sewer, with a variety of pipes to platform around on. Much of the stage has a pit of grimy water across the bottom, with ninjas swimming around that jump out to attack you.
198	* Chapter 2 of ''VideoGame/GreyArea2023'' has a hidden level set in the sewers, in which Hailey runs across pipes while jumping over pits of sewage and evading {{Blob Monster}}s made of sewer sludge. It's the only dangerous place in [[BreatherLevel the entire chapter]].
199	[[/folder]]
200
201	[[folder:Puzzle]]
202	* Disney's ''VideoGame/WheresMyWater'', which is apparantly based on the UrbanLegend concerning [[SewerGator the myth of alligators living in sewers]].
203	* The Wondertown Sewers in ''VideoGame/WonderlandAdventures'' are in fact sewers.
204	[[/folder]]
205
206	[[folder:Racing Game]]
207	* ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacing'' has Sewer Speedway, which has the racers driving along a large drain while avoiding giant barrels.
208	* ''VideoGame/MarioKart'':
209	** ''VideoGame/MarioKart7'': Piranha Plant Slide features the drivers going down a sewer system that's mostly dry, until reaching a water-filled section. It returns in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' and ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' as a NostalgiaLevel.
210	** ''VideoGame/MarioKart8 Deluxe'': Added as part of the Booster Course Pass DLC, Squeaky Clean Sprint features a more literal interpretation of this, as drivers eventually find themselves getting sucked down a bathtub drain with screws and a diamond ring clogged inside it.
211	[[/folder]]
212
213	[[folder:Real-Time Strategy]]
214	* ''VideoGame/Pikmin2'':
215	** A few dungeon sublevels (including an entire dungeon, appropriately named "Shower Room") look like partially flooded bathrooms; the two-player level [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Tile Lands]] and the Giant's Bath in Challenge Mode are of the same design. The Shower Room also features a rest floor set within a compact pipeline network. These are are primarily home to aquatic and amphibious enemies, such as frog-like wollywogs, their wogpole young, water-spraying watery blowhogs, and water dumples.
216	** One of the underground levels, the Submerged Castle, is more similar to a true sewer level due to consisting of partly flooded tunnels and pipes, and can only be entered enter with blue Pikmin. It's also a bit more difficult than other underground areas thanks to the invincible Waterwraith that chases you down if you dawdle around on one level for too long.
217	[[/folder]]
218
219	[[folder:Roguelike]]
220	* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'':
221	** The ''Afterbirth'' expansion added the Flooded Caves, a version of the Caves that is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin completely flooded]].
222	** ''[[VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaacAntibirth Antibirth]]'' has the Downpour as the first floor of the mod's new path. It's a massive storm drain. ''Repentance'', in addition to canonizing the Downpour, also added the Dross (an outright AbsurdlySpaciousSewer) as an alternate version of the floor. Main difference between this floor and most other examples? It's got a ton of poop. It even has two extremely rare poop based elements to find!
223	[[/folder]]
224
225	[[folder:Role-Playing Games]]
226	* ''Franchise/BaldursGate'':
227	** ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'': There's an entire sewer area under each of the eponymous city's town areas (Meaning you could traverse the city underground) this is generally not needed aside from a sidequest or two.
228	** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'' starts with the player and the party making their escape via some sewers. Later on in Athkatla, there is another major quest (The Unseeing Eye) that takes place in the sewers. Then there is the area connecting the [[WretchedHive Copper Coronet]] and the slavers' base.
229	** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateDarkAlliance'': The first dungeon is a sewer. [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer It is used as a warehouse and as a base of operations for the bad guys, and has entrances to the thieves guild and the church.]] It also helpfully shows off the games water graphics.
230	* ''VideoGame/BugFables'': [[spoiler:Upper Snakemouth, an abandoned lab that had been flooded with water after years of dissuse. The water and pipes are not the main focus of this location -- that would be the Cordyceps experiments -- but they are involved in some puzzles, namely Leif learning the ability to freeze platforms in water and using that on some of the lab's rivers.]]
231	* ''VideoGame/ChildOfLight'' has the Capilli Village Well, which contains the sacred Water of Lethe necessary to lift the curse on the village.
232	* ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' has the sewers under Viper Manor. Despite a somewhat annoying quantity of enemy encounters (which are usually difficult to avoid due to the cramped passageways), the area itself is mercifully short.
233	* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' has the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Sewer Access]]. Although it is accessible when you first visit 2300 A.D., it is entirely optional at that point. By the time you're actually required to go through it, you're likely to be significantly over-leveled compared to the enemies there.
234	* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'' is home to the Depths. The area is a disgusting, pus covered sewer filled with giant evil rats, dangerous slimes, cannibals, the Gaping Dragon, and most dangerous of all, the basilisks.
235	* ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'' has the player need to go through the sewers to reach first the Town Hall, and then the Supermarket, and then back out the same way in the second act. In Ryder's Campaign, you need to use the sewers to get into the prison.
236	* ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' has the sewers of Fourside. Ness and his friends have to go through here to find one of Ness's "Your Sanctuary" locations, but not before having to fight the Plauge Rat of Doom.
237	* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
238	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'':
239	*** Vivec has plenty of {{Absurdly Spacious Sewer}}s (though they are justified due to Vivec being a CityOfCanals). They are fairly wide-open, but have most of the annoying properties of sewer levels (diseased creatures, water that's hard or impossible to get out of, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking drab colors]]).
240	*** Mournhold in the ''Tribunal'' expansion also has plenty of sewers, though they are once again justified by the city being built atop the ruins of "Old Mournhold", which was destroyed a few thousand years in the past. Although you could spend a lot of time in Mournhold's sewers, they are well-lit and feel like just another dungeon. Plus, they lead to the cavernous ruins under the city, which, while not underwater, are certainly something worth seeing.
241	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' has the Imperial City sewers. Much like Mournhold above, they are parts of the ruined [[AbusivePrecursors Ayleid]] city on which the current city was built. You're forced through them several times, including several times in the main quest alone.
242	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' has the town of [[WretchedHive Riften]], which has extensive sewers which double as the lair of the ThievesGuild.
243	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has an incredibly frustrating sewer maze in which Quistis, Zell, and Selphie get stuck and all the areas look exactly the same. Plus, you have to go all the way back to the start if you make a mistake. On the plus side, the maze doesn't have any layers, so always taking a left (or a right) where possible will get you to the exit eventually.
244	* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VI'' has the Free Haven Sewers, ''X'' has the Karthal Sewers -- both need to be passed as part of the main quest. ''VII'' has the Erathia Sewers, but they only play a part in sidequests (although if you have a Thief in the party, it is ''almost'' obligatory, as their class promoter is in the sewers).
245	* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' features several contenders, the most obvious being the sewer labyrinth within the city Docks District, which players must run through to collect the fourth reagent needed to cure the plague in the first chapter.
246	* ''VideoGame/PandorasTower'': Wellspring Steeple and Torrent Peak. In both towers, Aeron has to make use of a giant waterwheel and its attached hooks to reach hard-to-access areas. Both towers also have a room where a big body of water is rising upward.
247	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
248	** ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' takes you into the Castelia City Sewers, complete with Grimer, Rattata and [[GoddamnBats Goddamn Zubats]]. At least if you find the small above ground abandoned lot area, you get a shot at wild Eevee for the first time in history (not counting Gen IV's trophy garden).
249	** In ''VideoGame/PokemonRanger'', the player must explore a dungeon called the Waterworks. It's exactly what it sounds like... except it's infested with poisonous gunk Pokémon called Grimer and Muk, which are polluting the water for the entire city. These Pokémon create slippery slime literally everywhere they go. So not only do we have the usual sewer level fare, but we also get [[FrictionlessIce Frictionless Slime]]. The trope was {{Lampshaded}} as well; multiple characters complained about how bad it smelled down there, and one RedShirt was close to vomiting every time you spoke to him (which is often). Granted, the abundance of living pollution Pokémon didn't help the smell any.
250	* ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' has a level where you sneak into the Vulkar base via the Taris sewers. They were quite spacious too since they could fit a rancor down there.
251	* ''VideoGame/{{Summoner}}'': The sewer you have to enter in the big city is moderately well lit, plausibly plotted (most exits line up with the city above), and it's actually kind of fun as they're the size of the old Roman aqueducts. You mostly fight golems here, instead of the expected rats, bats or insects.
252	* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
253	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'': Kero Sewers. Mario comes through here with Mallow in search of a star piece only to be flushed out and sent down the river.
254	** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'': The castle basement, where the brothers have to fix the plumbing (they ''are'' plumbers, after all) while dodging giant flies.
255	** ''VideoGame/PaperMario'':
256	*** ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'' provides the page quote. The Toad Town Tunnels are the sewer system beneath Toad Town proper, and contain -- besides the typical unrealistically spacious and empty sewer tunnels interspersed with flooded areas -- a network of pipes that can take you to most areas in the game.
257	*** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'': The Rogueport Sewers are a combination of a sewer system and a maze of buried ruins beneath the eponymous port town.
258	*** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'': The Graffiti Underground, a sewer area connecting Toad Town proper with Peach's Castle, consists of several levels of {{Absurdly Spacious Sewer}}s and their associated maintenance tunnels, incorporating some basic puzzles themed around lowering and raising water levels and inhabited by bats and rats. They also overlap with BlackoutBasement, as several sections are pitch black until Mario hits a light switch.
259	* ''VideoGame/TSUnderswap'' adds a small sewer level to the first area. There's only one real puzzle to be solved and no random encounters with monsters, but [[spoiler:you do get chased by the Mad Dummy through it, forcing you to avoid their attacks as well as the leaks in the pipes their attacks cause]]. Optionally, you can backtrack into it afterwards as part of a sidequest for extra G.
260	* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' had a sewer level which was incredibly long and was full of high-level enemies around nearly every corner. It's even more difficult for the Ventrue class, as they cannot feed on the rats for health. Playing a Nosferatu requires you to stick to sewers for the ''majority of the game'', because you're so hideous looking that people seeing you is a violation of the {{Masquerade}}. Plus there's the absolutely insane amount of terror in that level--here's a hint: the first sub-boss, who [[DegradedBoss then becomes a regular enemy]], is [[spoiler:a huge, spiderlike centaur-thing created by grafting three women together, who bounds after you]].
261	* The Kislev Sewer in ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' is often considered ThatOneLevel due to a complicated maze-like layout, a high random encounter rate, and ThatOneBoss at the end.
262	[[/folder]]
263
264	[[folder:Stealth-Based Game]]
265	* The sewer level in ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel'' is generally considered to be pretty good, although mostly because the music is cool. The sewer/swimming level in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' was also reasonably inoffensive, since it helped you get between the Zanzibar Building and the Tower Building without having to get through Maze Wood and the deeply annoying Nariko Sand stage - but if your finger slipped, you could find yourself washing up on the wrong bank and having to backtrack a good half of the game with next to no health and a face full of mines. There's also Big Boss' escape from Groznjy Grad in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater''; it is fairly short and the challenge mainly comes from the lack of equipment as opposed to typical sewer level mechanics.
266	* The New York Sewers in ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter 2'', and the Warehouse District sewers in ''The Omega Strain''.
267	* The Cloaca Maxima Romulus Lair from ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood''.
268	* The Thieves' Guild level from ''[[VideoGame/{{Thief}} Thief Gold]]'' consists mostly of navigating through a series of sewers in order to reach different locations where treasure is stashed. Problem is, not only are the sewer treks long-winded and many, the tunnels are usually stuffed with bad guys that it can be tricky to overcome because of the level design. And because of the game's extremely minimalistic map system, it can be very hard to tell which way you're going, let alone which way you're supposed to go. It's so bad that fans often label it as the worst level of the entire ''series''.
269	* Vattic and Jayne escape from the insane asylum through the sewers in ''VideoGame/SecondSight''.
270	* The sub-chapter named "The Sewers" in ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' features a sewers environment involving yet another pallet puzzle to bring Ellie across a body of water, along with several infected encounters that take advantage of the sewage system's dimly lit and maze-like layout.
271	[[/folder]]
272
273	[[folder:Survival Horror]]
274	* ''Franchise/SilentHill'':
275	** ''VideoGame/SilentHill1'' is a rare example of having all the problems associated with this trope, but actually making it work. The sewer level is repetitive, dark, filled with annoying enemies and removes your monster detector to boot. All of this combines to make for one hell of a claustrophobic and eerie run, exactly what the game is aiming for.
276	** As a direct sequel to the first game, ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' recycles several locales as {{Shout Out}}s. The sewer level is one of them.
277	** ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' has the Labyrinth and the flooded DarkWorld hotel basement.
278	** {{Subverted\|Trope}}, though, in the ''VideoGame/SilentHillShatteredMemories'' re-imagining: the sewer level comes across as the next big scenario, but turns out to be a minor, brief, uneventful sequence lasting a short stretch and holding no encounters with anything or anybody.
279	* Any ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' games set in Raccoon City will have one of these, such as the [[SharkPool shark-infested]] flooded basement of the guest house in the first game. ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', which is set in Spain, has a regular urban-ish sewer level underneath an ancient castle that features an invisible enemy.
280	* ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDarkTheNewNightmare'' has a sewer level early on in Edward's scenario. Though not very long, Edward's speed is halved by being partly submerged in water, and the place houses a particularly nasty EldritchAbomination that will pop from beneath to OneHitKill him if he takes too long to reach the exit. Except trying to speed up catches the creature's attention. You spend the level alternating between slow/fast pacing and trying to hold off the creature with all your ammo, which can knock it back unconscious for a few seconds AT BEST.
281	* The fourth (out of five) level in ''VideoGame/{{Oakwood}}'' occurs in an AbsurdlySpaciousSewer that never even fully finished construction due to it ending up becoming the lair of a vicious dilophosaurus...which proves itself a dangerous foe for player character Madison to avoid as she tries to travel through the sewer in search of her few surviving missing friends at the camp.
282	[[/folder]]
283
284	[[folder:Third-Person Shooter]]
285	* Inverted in ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' where you are required to go through a sewer, and you make the other people in your group go through it while your character laughs at them at every opportunity.
286	* ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'': The second level of Mizar's Palace is Flume, which serves as a highly-advanced network to store water and also doubles as an extended aquarium for fish. Vela is the only character who can swim underwater, so this level is exclusive to her.
287	[[/folder]]
288
289	[[folder:Turn-Based Strategy]]
290	* ''VideoGame/BattleForWesnoth'': "The Sewers of Southbay" in ''The Rise of Wesnoth'' takes place in the titular AbsurdlySpaciousSewer, where the sewer water is represented by swamp hexes and the enemies are monsters led by two banished mages.
291	[[/folder]]
292
293	!!Non-video game examples:
294
295	[[folder:Comic Books]]
296	* Parodied in the Creator/JhonenVasquez comic ''Everything Can Be Beaten''.
297	--> ''"SEWER ADVENTURE!"''
298	[[/folder]]
299
300	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
301	* In ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'', Andy makes his escape by tunneling into the jail's sewer system and using it to both get away from the jail and mask himself from the bloodhounds used to track him.
302	* ''Film/Cyborg1989'' has a scene where a pair of protagonists try to escape from a post-apocalyptic gang of marauders by traveling through a sewer. The water in the sewer comes up to the characters' thighs, and at one point an unconscious character has to be set down in a place where her head is just barely above water. It's probably best to not think too much about what might be floating around in that water.
303	* Much of the Polish film ''Film/{{Kanal}}'' takes place in the sewers of Warsaw during the late stages of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, as the last survivors of the uprising try to get away via the sewers.
304	* The climactic chase in ''Film/TheThirdMan'' takes place in the AbsurdlySpaciousSewer system of Vienna.
305	* ''Film/AntMan1'' discovers that the good 'ole AirVentInfiltration won't work as the ProperlyParanoid BigBad has put micromesh across the ventilators. But he realises that they won't have covered the water pipes.
306	* ''Film/AbbottAndCostelloGoToMars'': While fleeing the police, Lester and Orville end up escaping into a storm drain and making their way out of town that way.
307	[[/folder]]
308
309	[[folder:Literature]]
310	* In book 29 of ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', the Animorphs' initial plan in book 29 is to break into the heavily guarded Yeerk pool by morphing eels and navigating the city sewer system until they reach a sink outlet there. They end up getting lost in the pipes and getting spewed out of a firefighter's hose.
311	[[/folder]]
312
313	[[folder:Live-Action Series]]
314	* In the first episode of ''Series/GamersGuideToPrettyMuchEverything'': intentionally invoking a sewer level in a video game complete with a video game style [=HUD=].
315	[[/folder]]
316
317	[[folder:Pinball]]
318	* One shot in ''Pinball/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesDataEast'' sends the ball down a manhole for a bit, only for it to pop back up.
319	[[/folder]]
320
321	[[folder:Web Original]]
322	* Sewer levels are constantly {{discussed\|trope}} in ''[[WebVideo/Civvie11 Civvie's Dungeon]]'', to the point where Civvie keeps a running count of how many sewer levels he's encountered on the show.
323	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DownTheDrain