Have you ever wished you could just explore a video game's map without being bothered by all those pesky puzzles, enemies, pits, and bosses? Well now you can and you can do it from the comfort of your web browser too, thanks to Noclip.website.
NoClip features a number of maps ripped right out of a wide variety of games and you can roam around all of them without clipping, so you can look behind walls, peer behind the curtains, and look under the skirts of your favorite levels from a wide selection of titles.
At the time of writing you can pick from games like Mario Kart and Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Wii, there's Paper Mario and Luigi's Mansion from the GameCube, Sonic Mania and Banjo Kazooie, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Ocarina of Time 3D, Splatoon, Psychonauts and even Dark Souls. If you don't mind being restricted to collision data, you can even look at the entirety of Dark Souls 1 and 2's game worlds in one go.
For the other games, however, everything is restricted to one map at a time. To look through them all you need do is visit the NoClip website, select a game, select a map, and you're off and running.
Not only is this site interesting to look through from a gamer perspective -- having a sneak into all the nooks and crannies of your favorite level without worrying about being killed is great fun in itself -- but academically. It can help you appreciate the design of these levels and how they were crafted.
What are some games you'd love to explore unimpeded by walls or enemies?
