I’m almost certain we’ve had this discussion before, but I want to have it again! What are your very favourite video game openings?
By openings I mean ‘levels’ or ‘beginnings’ or whatever word you’d like to use to describe it.
I’m struggling to think of ones that stand out here. I always like the way the very first Halo started. I’ll never forget playing the first hour of Mario 64 either, but those aren’t traditionally incredible openings.
Oh wait, I have one: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past with the rain and the drama. So good.
I suspect I’m going to go through the comments on this one saying, “why didn’t I think of that one?”
Comments
125 responses to “Tell Us Dammit: Best Video Game Openings”
Mass Effect 2 hands down one of the best openers ever. Brutal Legend is tops as well
I love The Last of Us and how it contrasted Joel’s old life with the new. Same deal with Heavy Rain, getting to see Ethan before and after. This is my 40,000 post. What have I done with my life?
The Last Uf Us was going to be my suggestion, too. Made me bawl like a toddler.
I thought the beauty of the Left Behind DLC was giving us something just as strong from Ellie’s perspective. That could easily have been an amazing start to the game, too.
Left Behind was fantastic, too. That whole damn package is. Every last one and zero.
Indeed. Starts with a light exchange with a dad joke, It shows you what the world will be like, throws you in the thick of terror, then takes your heart and rips it out of your chest.
And then the game starts.
For a moment, I thought you were talking about commenting on Kotaku. Then I realised you probably are.
Metroid: Fusion’s opening cinematic completely blew my mind and made me fall in love with the game/series right then and there.
The rain and drama thing there made me think of when I first played Golden Sun. Quite possibly equally mind-blowing, I don’t think I’d seen anything like either of those before then.
The GBA was a pretty cool guy.
Chrono Trigger of course (and Zelda III, but Mark already took that). The tolling of the Millennial Bell and Chrono’s fist pump before he jumps through the gate to save Marle the first time. So damn good.
Dammit gemini, you stole my intro. 😛
Agreed CT for me is one of the tops
I have two favorite’s
1) Mass Effect 2, where the Normandy gets destroyed and Shep sacrifices himself to save Joker, you see Shep’s lifeless body floating in space and then the credits start playing over scenes of his re-construction. Such a cool opening. Damn, makes me want to re-play that game again sometime.
2) The Last of Us, so much emotion in that starting scene with the outbreak and the death of Joel’s daughter. Actually teared up a bit at that scene. What a way to start the game.
+1 for ME2. After getting so attached to the Normandy, it was a weird feeling seeing it blow up. And then even moreso when you go to the crash site.
Dragon Age is bedda!
Dirty confession: I never really played any of the DA games properly. 🙁
Oh wat? You like ME just for the setting? Cos if no, DA is ME with swords.
Gameplay too. I tend to like games where you play as a single protagonist (or generally just control him/her) which is probably why I never got into DA.
Ditto with why I loved Fallout but couldn’t really get into the new Wasteland 2.
The only time you *have* to play as other party members is stuff like unlocking does with a thief etc.
You may not like it as much, but it’s so similar.
It’s like the bits they cut from Kotor to make ME
FINE then… FINE JIMZLES! I’ll have to go out and get Inquisition.
You should really start with Origins :p
@miketarno
+1 for both of these.
Both very cinematic style introduction levels.
It’s strange, I always forget that part of the intro in ME2 and think waking up is the start. I think the facility being under attack and learning who you’re tangled up with just sticks with me more. I mean that whole ‘wait, did you just say Cerberus?’ thing put me inexactly the same frame of mind as the character for the rest of the game.
The Last of Us.
Bioshock, it’s more of an interactive video than a level though so for that I’d probably say Super Mario World on the SNES, still got it and love playing it.
EDIT: Everyone’s saying Last of Us… How did I forget that one? The cover is literally on my desk next to me 😛
Lost Odyssey where they just drop you in the middle of a war.
Medal of Honour: Frontline was a favorite of mine.
Cranking up my PC speakers to full as I stormed Omaha beach, hearing artillery fire and bullets whizzing by was definitely memorable.
Wasn’t that the first level of MoH: Allied Assault?
I think you’re right.
It was some time ago and my beer addled brain can fail me sometimes!
It was both. I remember being blown away by this when my brother bought Frontline for the PS2.
Fallout 3 – starting off as a child in the vault. Integrating your skill point assignment to your “growing up”. Giving a reason to having a pip-boy. I remember the first time I played through that opening part…I felt claustrophobic. The vault…so enclosed and small. How could people live there?
Then everything goes to shit. People start killing people. Then you finally get out and open that cave door entrance. The sun hurts your eyes and you finally see the post-apocalyptic world that remains.
I have to urge to play Fallout 3 again now, damn. It really is the perfect intro 🙂
Deus ex HR had a good opening level and cut scenes. Got thrown through a glass wall. 10/10
Probably not the best opening level out there but one of the most iconic and recognisable would be the opening level Hanger from Doom.
Hell yeah. Grabbed me from the instant the map screen melted away to reveal, for the first time, what should become my #1 of all time.
Max Payne.
Walking through your house as a psycho runs ahead, then watch helplessly as your wife and child are murdered by said psycho…. Totally fucked up, but totally set the tone for Max’s emotional state for the rest of the game [and subsequent games!]
I might be the odd one out here but I really enjoy the opening to REmake. I also enjoy the opening of Xenoblade Chronicles. A much older one is Mystic Quest Legend. Oh and Majora’s Mask.
Edit: Secret of Mana too!
Final Fantasy 6/7/8/9/10. Always had fantastic openings, those games
FITHOS. LUSEC. WECOS. VINOSEC.
I must’ve played FF8’s intro a few hundred times. All those cinematic clips together, hinting at a powerful drama… Intense.
Final Fantasy 8 for me too! I came off from playing FF7 from borrowing my friend’s PS1 to finally getting my own PS with FF8. I remember the opening beach scene completely blowing my 15 year old mind.
Basically this would have been my answer, though I’d replace FF10 with Chrono Cross’s.
Oh man, dat music… Time’s Scar. I actually grabbed the OST for that.
The CC OST is magnificent. I usually don’t like game OSTs outside of games but I’m always happy when any of those songs pop in my playlist.
Oh, not the opening level or anything but the cinematic that plays when starting up Little King’s Story… that was just magical.
Resident Evil 4! From the cinematic with the Spanish cops through to “time for church”. So eerie. So good.
That sick acoustic guitar track that opens the scene in the car!
I love many but the Last of Us is the only one to hit me so hard in the feels, so effectively & quickly.
Special mention to Persons 4 Golden’s intro song for melting my eyeballs with so much colour in Vita’s glorious OLED. It also drops major plot spoilers without you realising.
It looks like people dancing on rooftops but it’s actually
dead bodies hanging upside down.No opening to a game has ever delivered the kind of impact The Last of Us did. That game opens and ends with two of the biggest punches I’ve ever experienced in gaming.
Super Metroid. The opening scene in Ceres Station not only set the theme, but did a great job of introducing you to the game mechanics and controls in an incredibly subtle way.
I second all of The Last of Us comments.
Mass Effect 2 and 3 are both pretty good
Not Twilight Princess.
Honestly it’s probably Earthbound, that whole opening segment where you wake up in the middle of the night. A close second would be The Last of Us, it’s impossible to not shed manly tears at that.
Fallout 3 for me too. While not quite the start of the game, when I left the vault for them first time …. man-o-man!!!
I’d been out of then hobby for quite some time.
When I walked out, from the top of the rocky outcrop saw that amazing blasted landscape. It was the first time the true impact of open world gaming hit me. I suddenly realised the whole world was there for me to explore, and no one was telling me how I was to do it!
I actually hit the crouch button, I suddenly felt exposed and small.
It’s a special memory. I’ve been hooked on open world RPGs in the first person perspective ever since…
Assassins Creed 3. We all loved the 10 hour intro before Connor came in right? RIGHT??!!
Hell, I did. I thought Hatham was the better character. And call me oblivious, but dat reveal actually took me by surprise. It was the only good thing about AC3.
I certainly wish the whole game was before Connor came in.
Metal Gear Solid 1 or 3 is the correct answer to any question..
2 was ok as well.
I’ll go with the opening cinematic for Resident Evil 2. Simply epic, blockbuster shit happening right there on your Playstation.
Snake’s infiltration of Shadow Moses in MGS1 set the context and gameplay perfectly – right down to the relevance of Codec conversations and the overall story.
Oh, and one other thing… Half Life’s train sequence. Boy oh boy, did that rock my world, or what!
1) Half-Life. So clever – just a mundane trip to work through this amazing complex…
2) TLoU, dammit.
3) ME2 – I was astonished
4) Deus Ex – the Liberty Island level introduces the world, and drops huge hints about what’s to come.
5) Far Cry. I love that cinematic of the yacht being destroyed, swim into the cave and then creeping through the first corridors with glimpses of the jungle… then you’re out on the beach and it was HUGE. Wow.
The HL intro is amazing the first time… after that the train ride is basically a 15 minute unskippable cutscene that drives me bonkers. The stuff walking around in the facility is great, though.
I did like getting off that train in Armadillo in Red Dead Redemption. And moseying to the saloon. Taking in the expanse around you.
You wrote that just so you could say moseying!
Yeah.
( ̄ー ̄)
I really loved the original Borderlands opening, still listen to Cage the Elephant.
Not one mention for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine yet? I think that’s the first ever opening where I felt like a true god of death and destruction!
I loved that too, but it was just an FMV. Does that count? 😀
Well I think the short level itself on top of the Ork ship is part of that opening though.
Never mind me. I was thinking of dawn of war. Doh!
Half Life, Half Life 2 to a lesser extent, Metal Gear Solid, Deus Ex, Deus Ex HR to a lesser extent. I think Portal 2 had a pretty fantastic opening as well. Many others I’ve probably forgotten, but HL1 for me is the greatest beginning I’ve ever played through.
Yeah, original Half-Life for me, I hated the HL2 opening to be honest.
Why did you hate it? I (obviously) quite liked it, although they were definitely a little heavy handed with the old engine to new engine dramatic reveal type of stuff, which does date it quite a bit now.
fallout 3
The HL2 intro will always have a special place in my heart.
ME2 was mind-blowing. The Last of Us hit my emotions hard.
But Bioshock….WOW…that takes the cake.
The Last Of Us
Uncharted 2 (the train!)
Bioshock
Shadow of the Colossus… when that first Colossus stomped into view… holy shit.
Oh yeah! Uncharted 2! Good call. Awesome intro.
StC was fantastic – the credits/cinematic really set the tone, the music is just perfect, and then yes, the first Colossus… eeep.
Totally forgot Uncharted 2. That was cool.
Excellent choices. Loved Uncharted 2 and Bioshock.
I’d go Shadow of the Colossus.
Set the tone for the game perfectly. The isolation, the desperation…
This is a hard one. I get the feeling Mark was more talking about the opening of the game that you play, rather than any cinematic. It’s hard to think of ones like that though.
Metroid Prime’s opening on the frigate was pretty cool. Kinda surprised it wasn’t mentioned, actually 😛
New games tend to have the opening be interactive any ways, so it’s only tougher going back to older games. 😀
I loved the opening of FFX, though to did love the whole game really.
Bioshock infinite would be right up there too. Wondering what was going on during the whole boat section, then that weird church you arrive in. I spent about 2hrs just wandering around the carnival.
Resident Evil 4.
The ominous trek into the village, and then the frenzied, frantic defence section when the villagers attack you. Barricading doors by pushing shelves in front of them, only for the Ganados to eventually break through. Holing up in an upper floor, only for the villagers to put up ladders to gain access. Then you realise you can knock them down. But then you discover they just put them back up again. And then the guy with the chainsaw shows up…
Arkham Asylum deserves a mention but I don’t think the opening is particularly special compared to any other part of the game.
There’s something I know I’m forgetting. It’s on the tip of my tongue and it’s like the entire first game in a trilogy is just the intro to the series. Sort of like how you play Final Fantasy VII for hours and then you leave Midgar and it’s like ‘oh, that full length game was just the intro’, or like how when you take a step back almost the entire game in Mass Effect 3 is the ending.
Also on a technical level I find Mass Effects ‘stuck on the Citadel’ to be one of the most impressive intros to a sci-fi universe. The whole ‘you can rush through it and not ask questions if you want, or you can take a little longer and question everything, but once you leave the Citadel you’ll know exactly as much about the lore as you want to/need to’ thing was brilliant. From that point out they didn’t need to stop for exposition on subjects a resident of the ME universe would already know. They never have to tell you what an Asari is again. You either already know from the Citadel or you don’t really care. It’s a little painful but it makes all the dialogue that comes afterwards flow so much more naturally.
Say what you will about BioShock Infinite but that incredible non-violent world building of the first two hours was just brilliant.
Rage by id Software
Was Killer7’s opening good? I can only really remember the chess game part between Harman and whatsisface.
I know there are many games I’ve played with fantastic beginnings but can’t for the life of me remember them. Prince of Persia had a great beginning. You get dumped into the dungeon and the gate slams behind you, leaving you on your own to figure out where to go next.
GTA Vice City – The Commodore 64 opening + switching to classic 80’s music + Ray Liotta voice acting = Gaming gold
Fallout 3 – Walking out of the vault. hashtag greatgame
I was just thinking how amazing the start of Mass Effect 2 was just yesterday!
But Deus Ex: HR was also great. Plus the original Half Life. OMG! And System Shock 2. Feck yeah!
Ok. REAAALLY showing my age here. 😀
Half Life, up to the point of the incident. I’d consider that an opening, at least for me one of the most memorable.
FF8 cinematic. So dramatic. So intense.
And speaking of intro cinematics, every fallout game ever with its old-timey catchy-as-hell music and cheerful pipboy propaganda.
System Shock 2‘s training and description of your time spent at the academy will always have a fond place in my heart.
Dead Space: with the cinematic sweeping view on approach of where you’re going to be running around scared shitless.
AC3: Hatham Kenway before the ‘real’ game started with Connor. Best opening ever. Totally took me by surprise.
GTA5: Ludendorf in North Yankton. Not so much for the artistry of the tutorial as much for the aesthetics. I loved that snowy setting. Gorgeous.
Destiny: With an intro cinematic that provided some wonderful sci-fi details and a hint of awe-inspiring wonder at the traveller, and the tightly-directed almost-cinematic first level. If only they had been able to keep that up for the rest of the game.
Dragon Age 2: The story ‘as told by Varric’ was well-introduced. The art direction for the stylized moving-fresco storytelling was gorgeous and new.
The Witcher 2: I don’t know how much smoke and mirrors was involved in it, but when Geralt is sat down at that table, and the door opens, streaming light into the room… that’s some gorgeous next-gen graphics shit right there. That ONE moment I could watch over and over as a benchmarking routine.
FF8’s cinematic was pretty mindblowing at the time. For some reason, the thing that always stands out to me is that blood splash on the ground. It was the most real CGI liquid I’d ever seen.
Resident Evil 2. Just starting abruptly in the middle of the city street, surrounded by zombies and forcing your way from one near death situation to the next all the way to the police station. It was tense and didn’t let up and you really got a sense of the scale of the outbreak as you see the whole city basically burning. I remember playing that as a kid and thinking, this is some next level sh*t.
This thread has a serious lack of God Of War…
The original opened with a Hydra fight, which for the time was pretty damn incredible.
The sequel followed up with a fight with the Colossus of Rhodes, that sprawling first 1-2hrs of the game spanning the entire city is still mind blowing today.
God Of War III comes along and you think how can they possible top the Rhodes battle, yet they throw you against Poseidon, whilst riding on the back of the titan Gaia.
These games also work for the sake of getting and keeping your attention via gameplay first, then after the fight you get a more detailed explanation via plot after.
Hell yes. How did I forget those? Maybe because by the time Ascension came along I was over the series. Really wish they’d give it a rest and do something else for a while.
Yeah, Penny Arcade nailed GoW II’s start – http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/19/good-god
Prince of Persia 2 had an awesome opening, escaping/swashbuckling across rooftops and jumping on the back of a ship…
For me as i have a real mental blank right now.
NBA 2k11 Michael Jordans arrival in 2k was to me fantastic. The who Intro sequence then turned into the first game you played which was a matchup between the Bulls and Lakers Jordan v Magic. From a sports fans pov that is one of the greatest gaming moments.
Abe’s oddysee opening just beautiful! That music though ^.^
I really enjoyed the beginning of the original Kingdom Hearts. There was a genuine sense of tragedy surrounding the whole thing. Firstly, the Simple and Clean cinematic was great, but what really stood out was the splitting up of Sora and Kairi. It sort of made me genuinely sad that this young romance was severed.
I dunno… maybe I’m just a softy,,,
I’ll sometimes start up “Sam and Max: Hit the Road” just to watch the intro. It’s more like a separate short cartoon, though. “Grim Fandango” has a nice intro too.
I really like “Uncharted 2” as well. That train sequence was great.
Even seen the cartoons? Brilliant. Bonkers. 🙂
My vote goes to Farenheit – that shit was hectic!
Honourable mention goes to Uncharted 2.
I really enjoyed the Shenmue opening, but most people probably haven’t seen it.
Shenmue is soooooo 1980’s…
Yep, still one of my favourites. It still looks so damned pretty too! I love Shenmue – haters be damned.
Resident Evil: Outbreak
I’ll give the same answer I gave last time:
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.
Saints Row 3. I didn’t actually like the game but I thought the intro level was great.
Katawa Shoujo. You instantly relate to the protagonist and the downward spiral of his life after his heart attack. You feel so sorry for the kid.
Dead space 1 and 2 had some fantastic opening.
Dead space one was very tension building, you knew something bad was gonna happen.
Dead space 2 was Hey wake up fuck you there are necromorphs and they’re gonna kill you and here they are now you better run.
Last Of Us, FF7-9, Mass Effect 1-3, Grim Fandango, The Curse of Monkey Island, Deus Ex HR.
I’ll nominate Final Fantasy IX. Garnet’s dream, then the theatre ship arriving, Vivi’s introduction along with all the play shenanigans!
I can’t believe it took until the 2nd page for Half-Life to be mentioned!
At the time it was an absolute game-changer after a diet of scrolling text and static custscenes.
Michael Jackson Moonwalker , followed closely by Uncharted 3
Some great choices here. Nothing much I can add to modern games so I’m going to pick a few retro ones that I really enjoyed.
Streets of Rage 2. That opening music was so good.
Thunderforce III and IV. Again, the music and the visuals the first time you load a level was pretty cool back in the day.
Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth. Creepy game. I miss my OG Xbox.
Wonderboy III: The Dragons Trap. I think it’s cool you kind of replay the end of the second game and are turned into a dragon to start the proper adventures of the third game.
Fantasy Zone.Was blown away by the psychedelic colours and catchy music the first time I played this cute’em up.
Yeah, I guess I was a Sega fanbot in my younger years. I still love (and have) my Nintendo games though!
Brütal Legend and Day of the Tentacle for non-interactive openings. The Last of Us or Bioshock for interactive ones.
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain – dark and grim, fighting an endless wave of thugs until you inevitably die.
I skipped over most of the comments but did anyone mention Chrono Trigger? That intro still gets my blood pumping, it makes you think “Yeah, this is going to be one hec of a ride!”
My other favourite intro would be the original Prince of Persia =)
Sonic 3 – Coming off the back of defeating Robotnik’s mechasuit, super sonic aquaplaning through the ocean, tales in check, then BAM! knocked back by this evil looking dude, drops all the chaos emeralds, evil dude takes them and runs off. Short and sweet, span me out when I was a kid. I wanted Knuckles dead.
Little did I know, that by the time I’d played through SnK, I’d be crying because I thought Knuckles got killed by Robotnik playing as sonic in the hidden palace scene.
Day of the Tentacle.
HANDS DOWN WINNER!
Enslaved Oddysee to the west – simply a brilliant opening level (was the demo for the game too and convinced me to get it)