Jump to content

 

Favorite Videogame openings


DarkReign2021
 Share

Recommended Posts

Glad to see people taking to this thread so well ^_^ Thought it was time we had something new to discuss and it makes up for the derpy thread I made on the XB1 board a few days ago. lol

 

I'm loving the variety here. In the #51 posts so far, I'm pretty sure we've had more than 50 unique titles listed, which goes to show just how much the opening of a game can draw a player in and hook him instantly.

 

 

DarkReign's Openings- Round 2- FIGHT!... erm... BEGIN!

 

Advent Rising-

This game was strange because it was running 3 different graphics engines. It had the in-game graphics, standard cutscene graphics that utilized prettier version of the the in-game models, and than 4 or 5 cutscenes randomly distributed throughout the game that utilized CGI. The opening scene of Advent Rising utilized said CGI and it was gorgeous. You immediately start off in a bright and strange world with these floating creatures that look almost Human, except they're flying and they do not speak. One floats over to another group of two, than it suddenly cuts out without so much as a howdy-do and jumps over to a ship flying through a rainstorm. It eventually breaks free of the atmosphere and you find your character in a space ship floating away from the planet's gravity... upside down.

 

As a huge sci-fi fan, this cutscene gave me every reason to be excited for the rest of the game and even better, right after the cutscene ends, you assume control in the middle of space and are expected to gracefully guide your shuttle to the space station for a landing while avoiding a fatal collision with the others ships moving in every direction (and resisting the temptation no to slam into the giant alien ship after your brother kindly asks you not to) although the beginning level starts a little slow with the tutorial bits, it quickly picks up as you make your way to the enormous alien ship to make first contact.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inuqhfYfWj4]Advent Rising The Game Movie Part1 - YouTube[/ame]

 

Breakdown-

Another excellent game from the original Xbox and EXTREMELY underappreciated, this is quite possibly my favorite game ever, topping even the Halo and Mass Effect franchises. The opening to this game has you in a room staring at a ceiling with a broken angel suspending in the air. You overhear somebody discussing you and mentioning total memory loss and being in a comatose state. As you fall back into sleep, you are quickly awakened to find yourself in a lab. A woman comes out of some kind of portal and begins shaking you while speaking in gibberish before vanishing again. Having now recovered from your coma, a nearby scientist sends you on a combat course and gives you a refresher on how to use martial arts combos and do backflips and combat rolls (keep in mind, this game is 100% in First-Person at ALL times during cutscenes, flips, physical attacks, and even eating, using vending machines and picking up items off of people's corpses.)

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cydo9t6CK6c]Breakdown Walkthrough - Part 1 - Awakening - YouTube[/ame]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 155
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I like threads like this. It's nice to see videos and hear music. It speaks on its own, whether I agree with the opinions people write or no.

 

I'm with DarkReign on Mass Effect 2's intro being really good. I think it stands in stark contrast to the original Mass Effect, which starts out incredibly slowly and, despite throwing you into a battlefield immediately, didn't grab my interest until I was thoroughly embroiled in pointless mini-quests on the Citadel. Mass Effect 2 was sudden, and surprising, and it worked because it played on the emotional investment the player (hopefully) already had with Shepard and her crew (or his, if you enjoy wooden voice acting). I know that for me, the reason it worked was the little details, like the reminder of Joker's frailty, and the few words spoken with your romantic interest, and the fact that Shepard had on the same armor I equipped her with. Mass Effect 3's beginning tried to be surprising and engaging as well, but I was too busy wondering why everyone had their heads so far up their asses to be impressed at the immediacy of a danger I'd spent the last two games warning them about.

 

Halo 2 did have a great intro, and set the stage for its dual-mission setup. The talented storytelling displayed by the contrastive intro is only matched by the ham-handed failure of an ending that Bungie squeezed out of their empty idea jar. Still, considering how important a role the Arbiter plays in Halo 2, it was completely appropriate to give him his ironic beginning in the ashes of John 117's victory. I personally have loved Keith David since I saw him in John Carpenter's The Thing, so you'll hear no complaints from me.

 

Half-Life 2 deserves a mention. Nothing the G-Man says can ever touch his closing lines in the original Half-Life, particularly his "It's time to choose.", but waking up and smelling the ashes of a police state never felt so sinister. Waiting in bureaucratic lines can be surprisingly anxious.

 

Dead Space 2 was good throughout, and genius in a few parts. The intro would have to be one of them. Most games practically tie your hands together during the introductory parts while they assume your tiny brain struggles to understand the concept of moving two joysticks at the same time. Few games have the balls to literally put your character in a straight-jacket and make the introductory bits a scramble to get away from insane, blood-drenched monsters who will easily and quickly kill you if you simply make a wrong turn.

 

Halo: Combat Evolved wins for me, though. And it's a really stupid, simple thing. In the beginning, the technician who wakes you up from cryo-sleep asks you to calibrate your helmets HUD by looking at two lights, one high and one low. Obviously, this is just a chance to invert your controls if you're a fruitcake, disguised as a reasonable task in the game's universe. But in a world of gaming where I just spent 10 minutes customizing the eyebrows on Femshep, because somehow the imported face took on green eyebrows, a game that didn't break immersion before shunting you right into the action was really, really nice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Halo 2 did have a great intro, and set the stage for its dual-mission setup. The talented storytelling displayed by the contrastive intro is only matched by the ham-handed failure of an ending that Bungie squeezed out of their empty idea jar. Still, considering how important a role the Arbiter plays in Halo 2, it was completely appropriate to give him his ironic beginning in the ashes of John 117's victory. I personally have loved Keith David since I saw him in John Carpenter's The Thing, so you'll hear no complaints from me.

 

Hey, Frag.

 

Nice to see some Halo 2 Intro love coming from you. However, I'm surprised - well not really (I'll write why soon) - that you're disappointed by Halo 2's ending. Why is it? I feel like everywhere I read on the internet, people say it was the worst (or one of) ending to a video game. I don't know, I usually like cliffhangers, and Halo 2 probably had the biggest cliffhanger in any video game I have played. The war is raging on, John left behind his A.I., Arbiter just murdered a huge threat, we learn that the Prophet is ape-shit-nuts and going to activate all the other rings…and boom, "Master Chief. You mind telling me what you're doing on that ship?" "Sir, finishing this fight." Maybe it is the Halo nerd in me, but that is a "badass" ending to the game given the events that kept on piling and piling up towards the last level.

 

On an agreeable note though, Keith David was great for the role of The Arbiter. His voice work was fantastic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only ones I can think of are Hitman and Dishonored myself :/ Hitman because he gets a contract to kill his boss, and Dishonored because the dude gets framed for murdering a queen.

 

These are my two favourites as well. You pretty much get to be a part of what's happening from the start, and it really draws you into the story :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

These are my two favourites as well. You pretty much get to be a part of what's happening from the start, and it really draws you into the story :)

 

The stealth genre just knows how to draw the player in it seems ;)

 

Fallout 3 obviously. Name one game where you climb out of the womb in the introduction and walk around as a baby.

 

Hmm…Fallout 3?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion-

This is one that you would really have to have been there back in 2006 to truly appreciate. Less than a year into the new generation of consoles and coming off of the more-than-a-little-dated graphics of Morrowind, it was already obvious from screenshots that this game was going to be gorgeous, but you never really grasped the scope of it's beauty until you start the game with an airborne camera flying gracefully around the entirety of the enormous Imperial city, shown in all of it's glory. As if that weren't enough to make you tear up, couple the beautiful scenery with a beautifully narrated summary of the games opening plot by none other than Patrick Sterwart, the second sexiest voice in America. Before you've even created your character, you already know you're in for a treat out in this world of beauty and mystery.

 

Totally agree about this one. The intro is amazing. Seeing the Imperial city and the White-Gold Tower and hearing Uriel Septim talking about the 'final hours of his life...' Whoooo... GOOSEBUMPS!

 

Love Oblivion. Shame it loves to crash on my PC, and it has a serious stuttering problem (not just me). Still runs great on PC with insane frame rates. Got over 3000 at one point.

 

 

Almost forgot... QUAKE 3 ARENA INTRO!

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xCJOL0_0LM]Quake III - Arena (Intro) - YouTube[/ame]

 

And of course Quake 2! This one gives me serious chills.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBz-Lh1kGIU]Quake II [intro - Outer Base] Part 1 - YouTube[/ame][ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyW-yyLGhAo][/ame]

Edited by Nevander
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've always liked the Dynasty Warriors openings. The sheer over the top actions just really get you in the mood:

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVsl618cjc4]Dynasty Warriors - All Opening Cinematics (1997-2013) - YouTube[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YpgYgU3Y18]Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2 - Opening - YouTube[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XutEjL6bmlI]Samurai warriors 3 Title sequence intro - YouTube[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6YMvU3A7Xs]Musou Orochi 2 (Warriors Orochi 3) - Opening Intro [HD] - YouTube[/ame]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, Frag.

 

Nice to see some Halo 2 Intro love coming from you. However, I'm surprised - well not really (I'll write why soon) - that you're disappointed by Halo 2's ending. Why is it? I feel like everywhere I read on the internet, people say it was the worst (or one of) ending to a video game. I don't know, I usually like cliffhangers, and Halo 2 probably had the biggest cliffhanger in any video game I have played. The war is raging on, John left behind his A.I., Arbiter just murdered a huge threat, we learn that the Prophet is ape-shit-nuts and going to activate all the other rings…and boom, "Master Chief. You mind telling me what you're doing on that ship?" "Sir, finishing this fight." Maybe it is the Halo nerd in me, but that is a "badass" ending to the game given the events that kept on piling and piling up towards the last level.

 

On an agreeable note though, Keith David was great for the role of The Arbiter. His voice work was fantastic.

 

You've done most of my explaining for me, to be honest. Even the developers have admitted that they ended Halo 2 "Thelma and Louise style" because they ran out of time to polish it before release. They piled on the suspense until the very end when suddenly--the credits rolled. There was no conclusion, no real sense of accomplishment. For example, look at Mass Effect 2. The game made no bones about the fact that the story wasn't finished, by the time you got to the end, but that didn't keep it from having a satisfying, climactic ending. And notice that Halo 2 didn't seamlessly transition into Halo 3. My general opinion (which is sure to draw hate from the Halo fans) is that Halo was a good game that became much more popular than originally intended, and as a result much of the backstory and extended universe was filled in along the way. It's not all inspired or genius, and that's to be expected. Star Wars is pretty stupid, if you're brutally honest, but it's inspired the imaginations of some really cool people to dream up really cool lore. It's no secret that Bungie didn't originally want a Halo trilogy, and it's obvious that they didn't have all the answers thought up when Halo 2 shipped.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You've done most of my explaining for me, to be honest. Even the developers have admitted that they ended Halo 2 "Thelma and Louise style" because they ran out of time to polish it before release. They piled on the suspense until the very end when suddenly--the credits rolled. There was no conclusion, no real sense of accomplishment. For example, look at Mass Effect 2. The game made no bones about the fact that the story wasn't finished, by the time you got to the end, but that didn't keep it from having a satisfying, climactic ending. And notice that Halo 2 didn't seamlessly transition into Halo 3. My general opinion (which is sure to draw hate from the Halo fans) is that Halo was a good game that became much more popular than originally intended, and as a result much of the backstory and extended universe was filled in along the way. It's not all inspired or genius, and that's to be expected. Star Wars is pretty stupid, if you're brutally honest, but it's inspired the imaginations of some really cool people to dream up really cool lore. It's no secret that Bungie didn't originally want a Halo trilogy, and it's obvious that they didn't have all the answers thought up when Halo 2 shipped.

 

But the execution in the cliffhanger, while simple, was effect as I'm sure fans around the globe were stoked for Halo 3 and hyped it up during those three years between '04 and '07. But huh? How did Halo 2's ending not transition into Halo 3? The opening cutscene in Halo 3 was when the Chief had ditched the Dreadnought (whatever it's called) that he had got on at the end of Halo 2 and fell on Earth, where the Prophet was going? Eh, either way though, I see where you're coming from. I still loved the ending myself. I don't know for certain if they never intended to create a trilogy or not, but from what I know, they NEVER wanted to make Reach but Microsoft kinda forced it down their throats.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But the execution in the cliffhanger, while simple, was effect as I'm sure fans around the globe were stoked for Halo 3 and hyped it up during those three years between '04 and '07. But huh? How did Halo 2's ending not transition into Halo 3? The opening cutscene in Halo 3 was when the Chief had ditched the Dreadnought (whatever it's called) that he had got on at the end of Halo 2 and fell on Earth, where the Prophet was going? Eh, either way though, I see where you're coming from. I still loved the ending myself. I don't know for certain if they never intended to create a trilogy or not, but from what I know, they NEVER wanted to make Reach but Microsoft kinda forced it down their throats.

 

Fans around the globe were absolutely hyped, but that's no excuse for delivering an incomplete ending. I'm still mad at Half-Life 2: Episode 2, and that's a brilliant game. And no, I don't think it transitions at all, since the Chief's final effort of Halo 2 was getting aboard the Forerunner ship. And then he just leaps off? He shouldn't have that much brain damage BEFORE he leaps off a ship reentering atmosphere. I'm no Halo lore expert, but aren't there events that transpire between Halo 2 and Halo 3 involving the Chief? Again, I'm no expert, but I have faint memories of that being the case. What I am sure of, though, is that Halo wasn't intended to be a trilogy originally, any more than Halo Wars was intended to be in the Halo franchise originally. Don't look at the Halo games through rose-tinted glasses. Halo 2 was fun, and I have many fond memories of it, but I hold no illusions of how objectively good it was. About the best thing in it was the presentation. It's still my least favorite Halo, even worse than Reach (and I share your distaste for that game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fans around the globe were absolutely hyped, but that's no excuse for delivering an incomplete ending. I'm still mad at Half-Life 2: Episode 2, and that's a brilliant game. And no, I don't think it transitions at all, since the Chief's final effort of Halo 2 was getting aboard the Forerunner ship. And then he just leaps off? He shouldn't have that much brain damage BEFORE he leaps off a ship reentering atmosphere. I'm no Halo lore expert, but aren't there events that transpire between Halo 2 and Halo 3 involving the Chief? Again, I'm no expert, but I have faint memories of that being the case. What I am sure of, though, is that Halo wasn't intended to be a trilogy originally, any more than Halo Wars was intended to be in the Halo franchise originally. Don't look at the Halo games through rose-tinted glasses. Halo 2 was fun, and I have many fond memories of it, but I hold no illusions of how objectively good it was. About the best thing in it was the presentation. It's still my least favorite Halo, even worse than Reach (and I share your distaste for that game.

 

Alright, that is true. Can't speak for Half-Life. I never played the game :/ Started the intro at my friends house, never went back to it.

 

I'm not as much of an expert as DrakReign, but I know a good amount and I'm 99% certain Chief is still aboard the ship between Halo's 2 and 3. While you do make a good point about him struggling to get on, only to leap off, there is a comic that details some events that took place while he was on the ship:

 

http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Halo:_Uprising

 

Perhaps the reason of him ditching out is explained in there, I'm not quite sure.

 

Nah, when it comes to Halo, I don't let nostalgia take the best of me. I've stated in other forums that the two big reasons I liked Halo 2 were because of innovation in story-telling and game mechanics. Since Halo 2, no installment has been invented anything that pushed the series forward, and I guess that's a part of the reason why I believe Halo 2 to be superior. If that is hidden nostalgia somehow, maybe I'm wrong, but I think that stands valid. Not sure if I just talked in circle there, actually.

 

One other game, rather. :p

 

Ha, got ya :p

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nah, when it comes to Halo, I don't let nostalgia take the best of me. I've stated in other forums that the two big reasons I liked Halo 2 were because of innovation in story-telling and game mechanics. Since Halo 2, no installment has been invented anything that pushed the series forward, and I guess that's a part of the reason why I believe Halo 2 to be superior. If that is hidden nostalgia somehow, maybe I'm wrong, but I think that stands valid. Not sure if I just talked in circle there, actually.

 

That's fair. I'm likely falling into the opposite error: judging older games by today's standards. For the same reasons that Goldeneye was great, I'll allow that Halo 2 was great, too, even though there are obvious flaws by today's standards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Minus the heartbreaking mispelling, I sense my name and the call of Halo Lore once more.

 

John didn't immediately make an attempt to escape. He was actually wreaking havoc across the ship in an attempt to reach and assassinate the Prophet of Truth, but was taking a bit of a beating himself and after an unsuccessful attempt, he is forced to make a quick retreat to survive the Jiralhanae honor guard in pursuit. As he flees the ship, he's informed that the UNSC is planning an attack on the Dreadnought and he is within the blast radius and needs to evacuate quickly, thus leading him to exit the ship as it's entering the atmosphere and attempting to survive the crash (a maneuver attempted by 22 of the other Spartan II's during the attack on Reach.) The splitoff we see in the beginning of Halo 3 is actually the Ghost John had commandeered and used to absorb most of the impact during re-entry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Minus the heartbreaking mispelling, I sense my name and the call of Halo Lore once more.

 

John didn't immediately make an attempt to escape. He was actually wreaking havoc across the ship in an attempt to reach and assassinate the Prophet of Truth, but was taking a bit of a beating himself and after an unsuccessful attempt, he is forced to make a quick retreat to survive the Jiralhanae honor guard in pursuit. As he flees the ship, he's informed that the UNSC is planning an attack on the Dreadnought and he is within the blast radius and needs to evacuate quickly, thus leading him to exit the ship as it's entering the atmosphere and attempting to survive the crash (a maneuver attempted by 22 of the other Spartan II's during the attack on Reach.) The splitoff we see in the beginning of Halo 3 is actually the Ghost John had commandeered and used to absorb most of the impact during re-entry.

 

And there's the other illustration of my point I was hoping for. Obviously, there's a perfectly good reason for the disparity between Halo 2's end and Halo 3's beginning. But considering how much BiggD considers Master Chief's final moments in Halo 2 to be a cliffhanger, there's no immediate resolution or even hope of one at the start of 3. The edge of the cliffhanger, his presence on the ship, just vanishes with no explanation. And even though there is an explanation, as DarkReign has pointed out, if the games can't tell a coherent story without having to rely on outside materials, then I call foul in the storytelling department.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortunately, the point you made about Halo never being planned as a trilogy is correct. Halo 2 was being built as the final entry in the series, or at least that particular story arc, but between time constraints and Microsoft's interference, they ended up cutting out half a dozen levels and rewrote the last couple levels to be an ending that left the series open to another entry. That's why the ending felt so haphazard and the Halo 3 storyline felt so weak overall.

 

To be fair, though, I enjoyed Halo 2's ending for the most part. I had no problem with closing with the Arbiter instead of the chief and I enjoyed the final cutscene with John's closing line. I do admit I wasn't expecting credits after that point though. He said that and I was really expecting at least one more level. Even if it didn't conclude the series, just getting to Earth and having the Ark open up to a new world would've been cool with me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fallout 3 is my favourite opening, It was a genuis idea to start as a baby

 

Batman : Arkham Asylum, I've only played this game lastm onth for the 1st time, but man this was amazing

 

Silent Hill 2 : not much to say really, just a perfect intro to a masterpiece of a game!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Minus the heartbreaking mispelling, I sense my name and the call of Halo Lore once more.

 

Nope. I meant it. You're Drak now.

 

By the way, I wish you could tag people in forums like on social media, lol. I'd be tagging you every time Halo comes up when I don't know something.

 

Uprising information...

 

As DarkReign has pointed out, if the games can't tell a coherent story without having to rely on outside materials, then I call foul in the storytelling department.

 

To be completely fair and unbiased, I finally see myself agreeing with Frag. Perhaps Halo has, does, and will continue to rely too much on its other forms of media at times (comics/books).

 

Unfortunately, the point you made about Halo never being planned as a trilogy is correct. Halo 2 was being built as the final entry in the series, or at least that particular story arc, but between time constraints and Microsoft's interference, they ended up cutting out half a dozen levels and rewrote the last couple levels to be an ending that left the series open to another entry. That's why the ending felt so haphazard and the Halo 3 storyline felt so weak overall.

 

Just a little thing, what game nowadays only has two entries though?

 

I've always thought - or found - that a game will usually do one of three things:

  • Be a very successful IP, and then the devs move on, leaving it a single installment
  • Be a VERY successful IP, that it pans out into a trilogy (Mass Effect [first one was created without the plan of having future installments], Halo, Uncharted)
  • Be SO SUCCESSFUL, that annualization happens (CoD & Assassin's Creed)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Minus the heartbreaking mispelling, I sense my name and the call of Halo Lore once more.

 

John didn't immediately make an attempt to escape. He was actually wreaking havoc across the ship in an attempt to reach and assassinate the Prophet of Truth, but was taking a bit of a beating himself and after an unsuccessful attempt, he is forced to make a quick retreat to survive the Jiralhanae honor guard in pursuit. As he flees the ship, he's informed that the UNSC is planning an attack on the Dreadnought and he is within the blast radius and needs to evacuate quickly, thus leading him to exit the ship as it's entering the atmosphere and attempting to survive the crash (a maneuver attempted by 22 of the other Spartan II's during the attack on Reach.) The splitoff we see in the beginning of Halo 3 is actually the Ghost John had commandeered and used to absorb most of the impact during re-entry.

 

This is why you are uber lord of the Halo facts I suppose :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share


×
  • Create New...