The Most Beautiful Opening Stages In Video Games

35 responses to “The Most Beautiful Opening Stages In Video Games”

1. 

   mikeockertz

   March 4, 2013 at 2:03 pm

   Skyrim opening near Helgen, GTA:SA – Los Santos at dawn, Vietcong intro flying to Nui Pek over the jungle, First level of Starcraft II…

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2. 

   gunnie

   March 4, 2013 at 2:15 pm

   I wouldn’t say it was beautiful, but the opening for Mass Effect 2 was awesome!

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3. 

   soulblade64

   March 4, 2013 at 2:16 pm

   Opening for Uncharted 2. Nuff said.

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4. 

   Spruppet

   March 4, 2013 at 2:17 pm

   Metropolis in Ratchet & Clank and the Tanker level in MGS2 (at the time)

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   1. 

      mrbs

      March 4, 2013 at 2:53 pm

      Tanker is still awesome! I really appreciated the HD remake for Crysis 3 recently 😉

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   2. 

      ethanw

      March 4, 2013 at 4:31 pm

      Metropolis isn’t an opening level, but it’s certainly one of the most impressive levels I’ve seen to date. On that note, there are a few awesome levels in Psychonauts, although the opening one isn’t that amazing.

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5. 

   Raff

   March 4, 2013 at 2:23 pm

   opening to half life

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6. 

   spaghett

   March 4, 2013 at 2:30 pm

   The opening for Fallout 2

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7. 

   fruitlewp

   March 4, 2013 at 2:32 pm

   Uncharted 2 – max thrills, pretty snow, half-bloodied Drake climbing up a falling train. Hands down. 😛
   The God of War games usually have good openers too.

   And I dunno about anyone else, but when I first played Doom 3 on release, mars city was amazing; from the scanners at the very beginning to the massive airlocks and the planet outside – not to mention the game’s shadows/lighting were pretty groundbreaking at the time 😛

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8. 

   sernobulus

   March 4, 2013 at 2:36 pm

   Its not really a stage but in Fallout 3, the first time you exit the Vault. Never have I been blown away by anything that spectacular.

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   1. 

      tails

      March 4, 2013 at 3:00 pm

      Was gonna say that. That vista blew me away more than any other games have.

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   2. 

      Paparoni

      March 4, 2013 at 5:20 pm

      +1

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   3. 

      smigit

      March 4, 2013 at 5:55 pm

      That was a good one. The landscape itself wasn’t necessarily stunning in my eyes, but the way you got momentarily blinded and everything fades in was a really great effect.

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9. 

   shads

   March 4, 2013 at 2:37 pm

   The opening of FFXIII was beautiful.

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10. 

    sharmona

    March 4, 2013 at 2:44 pm

    Probotector 2: Alien Rebels

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11. 

    edenist

    March 4, 2013 at 3:06 pm

    Going through a Jump-Gate for the first time in Freelancer! WOW!

    PS: And fitting as today is Freelancer’s 10th Birthday! 😀

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    1. 

       mikeockertz

       March 4, 2013 at 3:13 pm

       For serious?! I have to play me some of that when I get home. Cheers for reminding me that I still have it!!

       And yeah, there was nothing about that game that wasn’t gorgeous!

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12. 

    jusking3888

    March 4, 2013 at 3:35 pm

    I’m gonna go ahead and say it… the first mission of Crysis3. Battlefield3 SP first mission. The opening race of Forza4/Horizon. I’m sure there are more but that’s what I can think of right now. Oh and any cutscene from any Final Fantasy game pre XI.

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13. 

    toasty_fresh

    March 4, 2013 at 3:36 pm

    AC2 needs to be mentioned. Absolutely excellent opening sequence, my favourite of all.

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    1. 

       Inquisitive

       March 4, 2013 at 10:57 pm

       +1, easily my top pick, so great

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14. 

    Reign

    March 4, 2013 at 3:59 pm

    After having played it for a while it would seem tame, but the starting zone for my first character in WoW.

    There was just this massive feeling of… “Right. Where to now?”

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15. 

    screamface

    March 4, 2013 at 4:07 pm

    That first level of Crysis, where it starts off at what the time was amazing character graphics. You parachute to the island, its dark, not very open. You play a little bit of the level, and then you head over that hill, and the sun rises over that bay, fucking stunning!!!

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16. 

    HB

    March 4, 2013 at 4:08 pm

    Alan Wake, BrightFalls

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17. 

    vinayp

    March 4, 2013 at 5:05 pm

    red alert 2

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18. 

    McNulty

    March 4, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    I’ll add Red Dead Redemption: great atmosphere from the music and the moment where you first hop off the train to hear the chatter and piano sounds from the distant saloon combined with the dust drifting across the street; I knew the game would be something special (and it was).

    Another is Fallout 1 where you get pushed out of the vault with the only journal entry being: “find water chip,” without a clue as to where to start – Oh theres also a countdown timer before the vault dies of not having said chip, so you better starting walking.

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    1. 

       jarvgrimr

       March 4, 2013 at 6:07 pm

       RDR was the most… engrossing game I have played, I adored everything about it and the intro, like you said, just solidified the kind of world you were entering.

       Comix Zone was also bad-ass.

       I will also do a shout-out for X-Men 2: Clone Wars for Sega Mega Drive. That first level, where you instantly spawn when the game is turned on and have to fight your way through a snowy wasteland full of ninjas as a random X-Man… ba’dass!

       Reply
19. 

    Nexi

    March 4, 2013 at 5:34 pm

    Is there no love for Ocarina of Time.
    The jump from 2D to 3D was incredible and we had no idea what we were getting into.
    When Navi did the fly-through of Kokiri Forest I guarantee that everyone thought “This is gonna be epic”

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    1. 

       smigit

       March 4, 2013 at 5:57 pm

       Personally the moment that got me was later on when you first hit Hyrule Field. After Mario 64, I wasn’t as blown away by the very start area as I was when the more expansive fields were hit a few hours later.

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20. 

    vonsack

    March 4, 2013 at 5:39 pm

    FFX
    FF9
    Bastion
    Spec Ops the Line

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21. 

    smigit

    March 4, 2013 at 6:01 pm

    I prefer Half Life 1’s intro to City 17’s personally. I felt there was a better sense of scale to it all.
    Donkey Kong Country’s first level to me was stunning in the day.
    Landing on the beach in the original Far Cry
    Mario 64’s start too is another I feel was great and has aged well

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22. 

    jusking3888

    March 4, 2013 at 6:55 pm

    Oh wait I got another…the beginning of that one mission from any of the WORLD WAR 2 Medal of Honor games. Those new ones were craaaap.

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23. 

    hotdamn

    March 4, 2013 at 7:19 pm

    The opening stage of Halo was impressive on the Xbox. Seeing a FPS on a console of that quality was a pivotal moment in gaming too.

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24. 

    HERETICwil

    March 4, 2013 at 7:25 pm

    Lost Odyssey

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25. 

    life

    March 4, 2013 at 8:27 pm

    I always loved the opening to FFVII, the way the scene portrayed Midgar with the final pan to the train, and then followed the scene with cloud looking up at the Shinra building.

    More recently, the opening to mass effect 3. (Everything about it really set the scale of the rest of the game) and the ice citadel in Darksiders 2.

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26. 

    daedalus

    March 4, 2013 at 9:32 pm

    Nobody has mentioned Far Cry 3? For me, that’s the best intro I’ve seen in years. It really blew me away.

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27. 

    stu

    March 4, 2013 at 11:32 pm

    Tallon IV in Metroid Prime. The space station tutorial introduced the controls and the mechanics, but once you jump into Chozo Ruins and are left to your own devices – with all those inaccessible areas and gorgeous alien architecture – its one of my favorite moments in gaming, let alone opening levels.
    Other noteworthy openers? Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, and, personally, Quake, Half Life,Wipeout 2097 and Crash Bandicoot.
    And anyone’s first foray into Minecraft.

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28. 

    t4sc

    March 5, 2013 at 7:58 am

    Starting area for Night Elf in WoW. I want to frikkin live there!
    First section of FarCry 3.
    Portal 1 & 2 – both set a big stage for the rest of the game.
    Abe’s Odyssey – brilliant.

    Reply