I'm currently playing through Gears of War 3 at the moment, which I am enjoying very much. My favourite part so far - and I'm halfway through the third act - was the first couple of hours. And it got me too thinking: what is the best opening for a game ever?
I can think of a few great examples - God of War II's battle with the Colossus, the opening level of Halo - but what about you guys? What have been your favourite openings?
Let us know in the comments below.
Comments
Halfway through 3rd act= haven't seen your favourite part yet.
If anyone spoils it here you deserve a paddlin.
oh man, that's a good one... I'm stumped. I've played too many games, I've enjoyed too many games... I'm not even sure if I have a standout opening level/chapter.
If I had to pick one, the one coming to mind is Borderlands. On the bus, picking your character, getting off the bus, meeting CL4P-TP, then straight into fighting bandits... great amount of humour in the opening of that game.
Yeah, the Borderlands intro was really classy.
Yeah, that was probably my favourite opening too.
BTW does anyone know what the name of the song in the intro is?
"Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" by Cage The Elephant
'Aint' no rest for the wicked' by Cage the Elephant
No Rest For The Wicked - Cage the Elephant
Great band.
The opening to Space Marine is pretty epic
Also, the original Starcraft
God, there have been so many, though - i'll get back to you shortly.
Yeah I agree with this.
F*ck the Codex Astartes, get the jetpacks out.
True that it was most awesome
I think the beach-head level from one of the World War 2 games (and the Killzone copy of it) will get a few mentions... but I'm going to choose the cinematics from the Mechwarrior games.
"Die clanner!"
BioShock was all kinds of atmospheric. I loved swimming through the wreckage of the plane, finding the light house, taking the bathosphere down to Rapture, seeing the city, meeting my first splicer... I could go on. :D
Mass Effect 2 goes without saying too.
(Let's pretend I spelt Bathysphere correctly too.)
This.
Bioshock had the best intro to a game i've seen in a long while. By far.
yep in full agreement
Bioshock and Mass Effect 2 are the most impactful openings i can remember.
Ocarina of time will always hold a special place for me though
I'm there have been plenty of modern 3D extravaganzas with explosive openings, but none are springing to mind. Strangely the one that does is the opening to Landstalker on the Mega Drive. It starts you in a massive, mysterious temple, like you're in an Indian Jones movie, with the credits rolling. It turns out that they've actually started you at the end of the game, and then you spend the rest of the game playing up to that point!
Enslaved?
Actually yeah, Enslaved was another great opener... The used the opening level to form the demo, I played the demo and was immediately hooked.. Very underated game Enslaved.
(please don't bitch on about the gameplay mechanics, the story and atmosphere were what the game was about)
You're probably right, but I haven't played it yet!
Is that because there's no leaderboards for you to completely dominate us on?
Seconded - if you want to see one of the greatest game openings ever - play the demo for Enslaved. Convinced me to buy the game.
Yeah, I agree. So damn immersive.
As D.C. said, BioShock's opening was brilliantly atmospheric and was a great way to introduce to the world of Rapture.
Also, Planescape: Torment. Waking up in a morgue with autopsy stitches and not knowing who you are? Awesome.
this, so much this ^^
planescape torment was epic through and through
While I wasn't a huge fan of the game when it was all said and done, Mass Effect 2's opening sequence was amazing.
BioShock's would have to be my favourite though. Good call, D.C.!
I'm Commander Batguy and this my most agreed with post in the Tell Us Dammit (except for the bit about not being a fan of ME2).
No More Heroes, 'nuff said
NSFW:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncuR0qZpglc
I still can't pick between Half Life and Half Life 2, they did such a great job of creating character and immersion.
Portal did a fantastic job of introducing people to a new concept, and Portal 2 did a wonderful job of twisting the commonplace tutorial.
But my all-time favourite opening would have to be Full Throttle. From meeting Malcom Corley to Ben riding over the hover limo and crushing the cherub hood ornament to the music of The Gone Jackals, even to waking up to Maureen in a gas mask.
Manhunt!
Final Fantasy 8 opening cinematic
+ 1
The whole first hour really.
OMG! I was just thinking of this - Squall V Seifer with magic and gunblades was epic!
I remembered restarting the game over and over only to watch this opening cinematic!
OHHHHH!!
SECOND!!
BEST FF EVER!!!
NO ARGUING! JUST ACCEPTANCE!
+1. Easily my favourite.
Like some others I think Bioshock is my favourite opening.
I liked the beginning of Morrowind.
'You are a prisoner'
Um... okay...
'Describe yourself'
Sure thing...
'Leave this building'
...
Now where the hell do I go?!
I loved that though! They say go to Balmora but no clue on how to get there You were a stranger in this strange land. They gave you no clue and it helped with my immersion.
Exactly! The huge open world, just beckoning you into it...
Thats what was so great about Morrowind - no map markers. You literally had to discover where everything was.
The opening of Uncharted 2, with the train and the cliff...
Incredible!
There are so many contenders, but I found this intro to be profoundly exciting! Agreed: Uncharted 2 is the best.
All in favour: AYE!
All opposed: ...
There we go. Discussion over.
agree x100000000000000000000
uncharted 2 was amazing, the camera work where they swing you around when nate realises he's hanging off a cliff was amaxxxxing
Yer, im with the other dude regarding Uncharted 2! That was EPIC! Aside from that, the original Gears of War was pretty darn cool.
The opening for Brutal Legend is my hands down favourite. That opening cutscene, then breaking apart that temple with METAAAAAAL and seeing this giant metal world was awesome. Then going down on that giant metal spider thing and breaking out with Ophelia! AWESOME.
That WAS pretty damn awesome, I loved how the prompt for the language filter was intergrated into the game too.
Oblivion, Patrick Stewarts monologue with the overview of the imperial city was pretty awesome... Halo 3, ODST and Reach were all pretty wicked...
Mass Effect 2 would have to be a personal favorite walking through the half destroyed normandy is pretty amazing
The opening of the original Dead Space. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and after being chased by necromorphs down a dark hallway with no way to defend myself, I was hooked.
Yep, really well done that one. DS2's intro was tops too.
...Minecraft
Where the FUCK am i
Yeah, actually, I love the 'drop, now you're in the world, do whatever' and you're all 'awesome, cut down trees, build a penis, walk around, hey, night time, FUCKING ZOMBIES AND SKELETONS AND I'm dead.'
The first one I found memorable was Day of the Tentacle. It was pretty special seeing that as a youngin.
Of the others, getting your first pokemon in red and blue, Harli mentioned FF8 and I actually enjoyed Lost Odyssey’s opening. I'm sure there is heaps more.
Don't drink that... It looks bad for you.
Say what you will about Heavy Rain (I personally loved it...), the opening with Ethan's day-to-day life contrasted awesomely with what was gonna happen next. Really immersed me into the world. Stepping off the train in Armadillo in Red Dead Redemption was great. Looking around seeing this huge world in front of you.
And then there's Fahrenheit. Committing a murder and covering it up while you see the approaching cop on the 24-like split screen. That moment in the demo basically sold the game to me instantly. I'll stop now before I list all my favourite games... like Beyond Good & Evil when-
I'll stop.
I was waiting for someone to say Farenheit...
by far the best start to a game ever, original xbox (ps2 i guess also?)
***Spoilers i guess, but please play this game!***
literally no instructions, you just killed someone (you think?) and you are just left standing there, in a cold, damp bathroom, covered in blood.
BEGIN!
do you cover it up, do you hide the body, do you walk out of the diner, run, stop at the door when you are asked to, talk to the cop????
*** end spoilers***
SO MANY THINGS TO DO RIGHT AND WRONG
Seriously the best start to a game ever. It was this start of a game that made me buy a ps3 specifically for heavy rain. I honestly only bought the console when HR came out and actually owned the game before i even bought the console!
best start to a game even in Farenheit for sure.. everyone else is wrong^^^ lol.
also available on pc, cause that's what i have... and i agree, that was pretty damn cool intro
hehehehehe... hey Mark, you really love GAF don't you! :p
Though, I think you are right, all the opening sequences to the God Of War games have been bigger and better than the last.
Hydra, Colossus of Rhodes, Poseidon
They really did grab you by the nuts and make you want to continue on.
My fav opening has got to be Final Fantasy X.
the whole blitzball in Zanakand was awesome, and sin coming to totally destroy it all.
cool music too :D
My favourite is FFX too. As far as opening videos go, The Beatles Rock Band was also good too.
Will have to think about this a bit more but as far as character generation goes I really liked the way that fallout 3 did this.
Build it in as part of the gameplay rather than a static, removed from the world choice
I loved how Fallout 3 began. This may well be my pick.
The whole sequence in the vault was phenomenal, and ramped up perfectly to that moment when you stepped out into the open world.
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