David Brevik, the acclaimed designer behind the original Diablo, has shared his thoughts on the worst game ending he has ever encountered: the abrupt conclusion to the 1991 dungeon crawler Eye of the Beholder. Despite its "amazing" qualities and significant impact on him at the time, Brevik cites the game's anticlimactic finish as its most notable failing.
Brevik, whose career began with titles like Lode Runner and The Oregon Trail on the Apple II, found Eye of the Beholder to be a standout experience upon its release. He was particularly impressed by its immersive pseudo-3D graphics and turn-based, grid-based exploration. "I had mapped out all the levels on graph paper," Brevik recalled. "I was super into it." However, after finally defeating the final boss, the game concluded with little more than a "Congratulations, you win!" dialogue box before quitting to the desktop, leaving Brevik with a sense of profound disappointment.
Despite this frustrating finale, Brevik maintains a deep affection for Eye of the Beholder, highlighting its strengths in graphics and immersion for its era. This sentiment echoes his broader perspective on gaming, as he continues to engage with both classic and modern titles, and even plays a resurrected version of his own game, Marvel Heroes, on a fan-made server. He also recently returned to Minecraft with his family and maintains an enduring fondness for the original EverQuest, a game he describes as a "unique experience" that redefined online gaming for him and his wife, despite its notorious difficulties.
Brevik's extensive playtime is reflected in his Steam library, where Marvel Heroes boasts over 540 hours, closely followed by his own It Lurks Below with 529 hours, and No Man's Sky with over 400 hours. The latter, a space exploration game, continues to draw him back with its frequent content updates. His enduring passion for game development is evident in his continued programming work and the prototypes he creates, fueled by the hope of making new games in the future. His desktop, he admits, is a "complete mess" filled with icons for games, development tools, and project notes, a testament to his ongoing engagement with the world of interactive entertainment.