Video games have an important job in their opening moments to try and convince players that this game is worth playing past the first few minutes of pressing that start button on the controller.
Some video games fail to grab the attention of consumers within the opening moments, but there are a select few video games that excel in blowing us away with their intros that set the stage for an incredible experience.
The Last of Us
The intro cinematics in The Last of Us shows us the relationship between the protagonist, Joel, and his daughter Sarah.
Surprisingly, we get to take control of Sarah for most of the opening of the game, seeing the zombie outbreak happen right before our eyes when an infected man run towards their home, resulting in Joel using his gun to shoot him down.
Moments later, you get to sit in the back of a truck as Sarah, with the game allowing you to look at any direction of your choosing while the chaos in the city ensues. This could’ve easily just been a simple cutscene, but Naughty Dog wanted players to truly be immersed in the experience and boy did it work.
Moving Sarah around in the backseat to watch as the city erupts in commotion is thrilling and horrifying. Depending on where you decide to look, you can see a ton of different things going on around them. You might see a burning farm, or a zombie chasing after their truck, and it really affects Sarah and her view on the world around her.
Once Sarah gets hurt from a car accident, the player then takes control of Joel, running through the city trying to get away from the flames and blood-thirsty creatures. One of the most poignant scenes then occurs, resulting in the untimely death of his daughter.
The first 20 t0 30 minutes of The Last of Us will always be remembered for making us cry and weep, starting this adventure in the saddest way possible.
Spider-Man PS4
Video game openings can sometimes take quite a bit of time until the player gets into the meat and potatoes of the experience, but in Spider-Man PS4, Insomniac throws the player immediately into the Spidey suit with a rocking song playing in the background.
Peter Parker gets a notice that Wilson Fisk is up to no good, causing him to get in the suit and start swinging towards the action. At first, the swinging is shown via a cutscene, but then, surprisingly, the game gives players control of Spider-Man without a moment’s notice.
Considering that swinging in this game feels so dang good, it was such an amazing feeling taking control of Spider-Man so early on in the game without having to sit through boring tutorials or a dialogue-heavy cutscene. The developers knew that fans have been waiting to play as Spider-Man and that’s exactly what they gave players right from the get-go.
BioShock
Set in the 1960s, BioShock opens up with our protagonist on a plane that happens to be flying over the Atlantic Ocean. The plane then crashes, thrusting Jack into the middle of the ocean, to which then he swims towards a strange lighthouse.
He finds an elevator that brings him down below into the ocean, in which the players gets a first look at the underwater utopia of Rapture. Well, it was meant to be a utopia built by a businessman named Andrew Ryan, but once you get into the swing of things, you soon realize that this decrepit underwater city is not the utopia that it was planned to be.
Exploring Rapture for the first time and investigating the mysteries behind everything is one of the most immersive first-person experiences ever. And once you run into a Big Daddy for the first time, you’re gonna wish that you had drowned in that plane crash.
Far Cry 3
Far Cry 3 immediately opens up to a bunch of annoying 20-something-year-olds partying it up on a tropical island vacation, taking shots, going parachuting, and acting a fool. Vaas, the main villain in the game ends up capturing Jason and all of his friends, resulting in a rescue mission that ruins their trip.
Little did they know that the island they partied on was full of pirates who plan on selling them all into slavery –not my ideal vacation that’s for sure.
Vaas’ introduction as a villain is enthralling as he scares the living crap out of Jason, threatening him in more ways than one.
With the help of a man that Jason encounters on the island, he ends up getting super-powered tribal tattoos that give him special skills to aid him in defeating the pirates. It’s a very wacky opening to a video game, but definitely one of the best in the Far Cry series.
Persona 5
The opening gameplay moments of Persona 5 actually take place towards the end of the game, with Joker and the gang attempting to steal treasure from a bustling casino.
We get to go right into the action, jumping on chandeliers and sneaking around not knowing exactly what’s going on. Eventually, Joker gets caught and ends up getting arrested with one of the cops telling him that he was “sold out” by one of the members of his team.
The rest of Persona 5 is then told through flashbacks as Joker is telling the investigator everything that happened that led up to the casino heist. It’s quite compelling as it makes the player really want to find out what exactly happened and most importantly, figure out who the backstabber is.
Metal Gear Solid
The opening of Metal Gear Solid 1 tasks our hero, Solid Snake, with two main objectives; the first being to rescue the DARPA chief and the president of ArmsTech who are being held hostage, and the second involving a nuclear attack that Snake must put a stop to.
Being a one-man infiltration mission, the game throws a lot at the player from the get-go, also mentioning that there are six villains that Snake will have to deal with once he enters the facility.
Snake enters the compound in his scuba gear, hiding his face, but once he gets into an elevator, Snake disrobes his gear and reveals his polygonal face, giving players a look at the war hero who they’ll be in control of for the rest of the game.
We’ll never forget the moment of seeing Solid Snake for the first time ever.
Uncharted 2
Uncharted 2 drops players right back into the shoes of Nathan Drake with an impressive setpiece of a train hanging off the edge of a snowy cliff. A dazed and confused Drake wakes up to find himself on the brink of death, with the player having to maneuver around the side and inside of the train in order to get back up to safety.
How did this happen? Why is Drake hurt? Why is it snowing? These are the questions that pop into the players head and it’s all very compelling, making us wonder just how Drake ended up in this shitty situation.
But since Drake is Drake, he finds a way out and then the game goes back in time to lead the player back to this point later on in the game. There are many set pieces to come across in Uncharted 2, but this one takes the cake for sure.
Silent Hill
For some strange and stupid reason, our main protagonist (Harry) decides to go on vacation to a quaint little town called Silent Hill. We’re not sure why someone would take their daughter to a creepy place such as this for a trip, but hey, it’s how this terrifying adventure starts, so thank goodness for Harry’s decision.
After losing his daughter to the darkness, Harry must now explore this desolate and eerie town to search for Cheryl, and in the opening moments of the game, you start to encounter some pretty terrifying stuff; there’s blood all over the place, the town gets darker without a moment’s notice, and the camera angles leave you confused and slightly dizzy.
This rollercoaster of gameplay elements sends the player on a wild mind trip that sets the tone for the rest of this classic survival horror game. Remember this: Do not go on a trip to a place called Silent Hill… ever.
Final Fantasy VII
The opening music to Final Fantasy VII is reason enough to give it a spot on this list, but it’s not just the thrilling soundtrack that makes the intro great but instead, the opening fights with the Ex-Soldiers playing as Cloud.
Jumping off of a train with his ragtag crew, Cloud and the gang are set on a mission to destroy a Mako reactor in Midgar, in which they succeed in doing so, but unfortunately, Cloud ends up in the slums of Midgar where he meets Aerith.
Fighting through the army of soldiers and getting a grasp on the combat system was very engaging and starts off the story of Final Fantasy VII in the best way possible.
Halo: Combat Evolved
After completing a brief tutorial session in the opening moments of the first Halo, Master Chief is sent to combat the Covenant without any gun practice at all.
Running through the space station, Master Chief finds himself encountering the strange alien creatures while watching his comrades die right in front of his eyes.
The player’s not really sure at the moment what’s going on, but the only option is to kill whoever stands in your way. Master Chief ends up escaping the ship with Cortana, the ship’s artificial intelligence, and winds up on a rescue mission that he did not sign up for.
Halo leaves the player with no time to rest and we’ll never forget blasting through the corridors of the exploding ship watching our friends fall to the enemy.
Published: May 2, 2019 04:17 pm