Top 5 Game Beginnings

"I would say top five game intros, but that’s a bit too limiting. This encompasses not just the intro cutscenes, but also the initial gameplay and concepts introduced in a game. A good intro sequence doesn’t necessarily mean a good game, but it does mean that the developers took their time to build the foundation for something great." Explosion.com

[Ranma1]

Start of FF10 was awesome.

My favourite game of all time, and my first FF and the last FF to have an epic story

[maximus1985]

well said, the intro was great for not being traditional. i also agree its the last epic ff.

[victorGma21]

Mass Effect 2 had an epic one.

[Blastoise]

I still think of Final fantasy XII as the last epic one. Even if it was different to the others, it was still a beast of a game.

[PoSTedUP]

uncharted2 was one of the most epic. FF12 is in my top 5 that one was sick. and you cant forget about MGS1 and MGS4 thoes intros were so epic they brought me chills. (mgs1 was just a masterpiece front to back)

[slayorofgods]

I still remember how blown away I was with the CGI when playing FFX for the first time. Of course they used a trick of making the cgi run off of dvd format instead of just using the system gpu, but the result was something we never really seen before and made the game look well ahead of it's time when it was released.

[The Great Melon]

I was late to the Metal Gear Solid series, but I still fully enjoyed MGS 1 even though I played it during this generation from the original PS1 disc.

[pixelsword]

Rock of Ages.

Cracked me up.

[Knushwood Butt]

Seen as I just watched it again the other night, MGS2's tanker opening is awesome too.

[NukaCola]

I think the shear amazement of the ES/FO series always brings something gorgeous. Those first steps into their massive worlds always blow me away.

I think I got to give a huge shout out to Bioshock. That intro is untouchable. The way it brought you into the world of Rapture was unbelievable and no one could ever forget that.

[PoSTedUP]

@ the great melon

nice!!!

[Nevers]

NES - Ninja Gaiden (1988)

This was the first opening "CS" I remember seeing. It's still one of the best openings, imHo.

[bwazy]

It's what got me into Metal :P

[nevercloser07]

Agreed. When is the remake coming out?

[cozeh]

If only you started out from 7-9. Now that was epicness. :D

[C_Menz]

Agreed. The beginning "act" really brought you into the FFX world and made you both care and wonder about the characters/setting.

[The Great Melon]

FFX was the game that ultimately converted me from a Nintendo fanboy to a Playstation lover. I realized that I had been missing out on so many amazing games by keeping that artifical allegiance. FFX had the power to convert fanboys.

[badz149]

where's GoW3?

[Y_5150]

The people disagreeing with you might of thought you were talking about Gears of War 3! -_-

[-Superman-]

I liked Stalker. You wake up, going outside and boom, big world, and when you playing first time, then you dont know where to go, what to do, but you will look houses and people beucasue its all so interesting, kinda like Fallout 3.

[moredekai]

I'm gonna have to say replace oblivion with witcher 2, it is a great beginning, has so many different ways to unfold the rest of the game, like aryan lavalette's side, or louisa's side. You can also escape the prison in so many ways, that also effect the way the game goes. Honorable mention for me would be mass effect 2, it was unforgettable.

[Spydiggity]

that opening cut scene on the boat in witcher 2 is one of the best ever.

[snipes101]

All of his choices are justified quite well, but I do think Bioshock could have gone on there over, say, Fallout 3 or MGS4.

[Philoctetes]

Yep. Bioshock is the first game that springs to mind when you mention "great beginnings." Just stellar.

[OhMyGandhi]

totally agree. bioshock's opening was brilliant. I love the whole "you have no choice but to go there" setup, and when lights go on, and the big commentary by Andrew Ryan...just brilliant.

[joab777]

Leaving the vault in fallout was amazing. But Bioshock deserves to b there for sure. And uncharted 2 was damn good too.

[PooEgg]

I agree, his list was good, but I would have replaced Kingdom Hearts or MGS4 with Bioshock. I do think the Fallout 3 beginning was good enough to be on the list though.

Actually, this could have easily been a top 10 list, since I can think of a number of other games that have very good beginnings.

[goldwyncq]

The beginning of Uncharted 2 is without doubt, one of the best opening scenes of all time.

[dragon_rocks]

These are also good ones:

* God of War
* God of War 3
* Bioshock
* Uncharted 2
* Darksiders

[guitarded77]

God of War 3 was F'n epic in the opening. Overall, I like your list better than the author's.

[scrambles]

Bioshock's beginning is god tier.

[peowpeow]

Good list. Only personally I liked Mass Effect 2's in addition to those. SHEPARD

[Irishguy95]

Yeah, having your ship blown out of the...vacuum and shepard getting taken out of it was good. Good imagery as well
http://www.gamezenith.com/w...

God of war 3 gets my vote though

[Kamikaze135]

I would say:

Final Fantasy X
Oblivion
Metal Gear Solid 4
God of War III
Final Fantasy VI

[HeavenlySnipes]

Oblivion? Lolwut

[Kamikaze135]

Not the actual story because it sucked...but when I first got the game at launch (my first "next gen experience"), the moment I walked out of the first area and out to the open was just so unforgettable.

[Fyflin]

Bioshock was incredible. Fire and water has never looked so good. It really captured the feeling of not knowing what was happening around you.

My personal favourite this gen is Mass Effect 2. Simply stunning opening half hour.

[SneeringImperialist]

Fallout 3 or Fallout Tactics <3

[bwazy]

Fallout 3 had an absolutely fantastic opening, it really set you up to feel like you're going on an adventure.

[TheLyonKing]

Kh was brilliant, the music worked perfectly with the beautiful cgi intro to the story and showed how well the game is.

I prefere ff 8 intro to 10, 8 had beautiful Latin choir with a great video intro showing some animation which was a huge leap from 7 added that it built up slowly from calm scene to a great fight scene which was how the game started when squall got slashed by Seifer.

[Sharingan_no_Kakashi]

Kingdom hearts definitely. MGS4's intro was so-so.

[jjdoyle]

lego star wars the complete sage!

[Hicken]

Final Fantasy VIII.

[mantisimo]

Stop with all the top 10, tedious, visit my website hit scripts.

Enough.

[Nimblest-Assassin]

welcome to weekends on n4g, filled with filler articles, since no news ever comes out on the weekends

[DragonKnight]

Welcome to the summer lull on the internet. Have you looked at the releases for games in the coming 2 months? Pitiful. We are going to be stuck with so many "Top ____" lists it's going to be very sad indeed.

[PooEgg]

The only time top 10 lists bother me is when the list gets spread out over several webpages in order to force you to open 10 different webpages (and view the crappy advertising) to get to the end of the list. That is indeed tedious, but in this case it's just one page, so I'm fine with it.

BTW if you really hate top 10 lists, wouldn't you be better off just ignoring the thread? No offense, just saying.

[pr0digyZA]

Loved
god of war 3 intro
Bioshock
Prey
Uncharted 2

[TheDivine]

Lost Odyssey had one of the best openings ever. In Lost Odyssey your in a massive LOTR style battle with you decimating the enemy and tanks until a meteor falls and destroys the whole battlefield. You wake up in a huge crater with everything smoldering and destroyed and walk out of there wondering wtf just happend. It kicks off the most epic journey. Classic.

Also Uncharted 2 and Mass Effect 2 had me more excited than nearly every other game this gen just from the intro.

[WitWolfy]

Was waiting for someone to name Lost Odyssey.. Epic game that!

[Hassassin]

Bioshock
Batman AC
Deadspace 2
Have awesome beginnings as well

[omarzy]

Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy 10, Persona 3 FES, and Persona 4

[SeekDev]

Kingdom hearts opening, meaning the entire beginning on the island, is amazing. Freakin' awesome stuff. I loved the way they develop these characters in a short time, and then move into the real action. It sucks you in.

[TheRichterBelmont]

Lost Odyssey! The transition into the first battle is epic.

[MerkinMax]

Great list I have some more to add. The games that had the biggest impact on me this gen with their openings
Mass Effect 2
God of War 3
Uncharted 2
Bioshock

[Spydiggity]

Halo 2 "...to give the Covenant back their bomb"

[ShinraE5]

I only agree with one on the list. FFX is one of the best games ever made and it set the bar from the minute you started playing =)

[Rainstorm81]

I have to agree, when i first got that game i was enthralled in every second of it....from the opening with To Zanarkand playing tile the end.....after thinking about it and replaying other FF titles i think FFX is probably my favorite.

[Imalwaysright]

Half-Life

[taquito]

starcraft 2

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

dawn of war 1

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

warhammer mark of chaos

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

dawn of war 2

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

world of warcraft lich king

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[CLOUD1983]

For me that's the most EPIC beginning on all the games I have play so many crazy things happen from the start and so many questions pile up on your head, that makes for an excellent start:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

in the end your village exile u after u kill enemies & friends alike ιn your effort to save every1 and u start on your own to seek answers devastated by the deaths of so many ppl, and one of them was the girl u grow up with & she was secretly in love with u one day before her marriage, her little brother who survive blame u for the loss of his sister & hate u for that..

& then the game start and u r all alone..

& this ladies & gentleman is the start of one of my all time favorite games & a true MASTERPIECE from the one & only GENIUS Tetsuya Takahashi! ^__^

[izumo_lee]

Personally i love the title screen intro for Xenogears. Seeing an entire space craft be decimated by an unknown entity was compelling & to see a woman standing all by herself surrounded by a complete wreckage. That for me made me even more pumped to play the game to find out what really happened. Also that music that plays 'Dark Dawn' is & forever will be intense.

To this very day it is my ALL TIME favorite RPG game & i still have the PS disc & guidebook. I still have the game saves which i can put into my PS2 to play again.

Once the Vita is able to support PS1 games that will be the first game i add.

[TheHardware]

uhmm, those are all great CS,s but where in the world is onimusha 3? is probably in the top 3 all time...its fricking incredible....

http://vimeo.com/3050546

seriously...

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

THANK YOU! I have never even played the game, but I've seen that cut scene so many freaking times and it's just epic!!!

[TheHardware]

@mySworrd

The even better part about that intro is that, he uses all the moves he does in the actual game, the sword powers...the absorbing the souls and going all demon its all in the game.

[The_Hooligan]

I totally agree with Onimusha 3. I think DMC 3 had a pretty awesome opening. The reason why God of War 3 was epic, at least for me, was because of the anticipation of concluding the trilogy.

[Cgalla2679]

"So, wake up Mr. Freeman. Wake up and ... smell the ashes."

I made an account just to write that, it had to be done.

[Mr_Kuwabara]

Onimusha 3

[STEWIE_PLAY_PS4]

GTA IV was best sense.

[refocusedman]

God of War 3 had the best opening I can remember. The opening fight with the sea creature while you were climbing the titan was epic.

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

"the sea creature"

O_o

[Xalaris]

Lol @ your disagrees, this site is full of retards.
Poseidon isn't a creature you dumbasses.

[L30N4KU]

God of War 3...

[NyGiants7]

Sonic Unleashed http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[jonnyvivid]

Soul Reaver Legacy of Kain

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Shakespearean voice acting and brilliant music.

[Elderly_Cynic]

I said the same thing before noticing your comment.

[Xenomorph]

These all suck. It's like some FF/Anime nerd just looked through his library of favorite games. Where are the classics? Nothing like Chrono Trigger on there? How about Uncharted 2? Bad list is bad.

[DarKnightDave]

Both Batman Arkham games had great openings, tho Arkham City was better.
Assassins Creed II
Uncharted 2
Fallout 3
MGS3 had the best opening out of all MGS's
Red Dead Redemption

[izumo_lee]

All the games mentioned in the article are very good examples.

Some personal additions i would add are.

Parasite Eve 1 - Seeing Eve burn away an entire audience while standing there was haunting. And seeing Aya in her iconic little black dress what else do you need for an intro.

Catherine - A dude in heart undies climbing blocks to escape an unknown being while passing sheep...dude!

Shadow of the Colossus - A warrior carries the body of his beloved to an ancient castle only to be asked by a mysterious voice if he would do anything to save her...thus begins your epic journey.

[GodHandDee]

I would add God of war 3 to the list and maybe even Gravity Rush (a very artistic intro)

[The_Hooligan]

Yea MGS 3 was great.

[titans9999]

My favorite intro was Pac Man!!!

[DaReapa]

Personally I would have picked MGS1 and/or MGS2 over MGS4 in terms of impact. Esp MGS1.

[Kratoscar2008]

God of War beggining was great, God of War 2 too and Medal of Honor (first PS2 one) on the D-Day awesome too.

[Sizzon]

I have bad memories over the generations before this when it comes to beginnings, but from this generation I like the beginning of games like:

God of War 3 (fighting on Gaia, epic scale)
Uncharted 2 (the falling train-sequence, incredible)
Gears of War (the prison)
Bioshock (incredible how they let you in the water city of Rapture)
Assassins Creed 2 (with Ezio's family and such)
Metal Gear Solid 4 (Epic)

[Kluv]

Good list, but a bit too mainstream. I think the first colossus in Shadow of the Colossus could be considered one. The opening to any particular god of war. The first for innovation, or the last for technical spectacle. Bioshock's opening is intense. Portal 2 had a verry interesting opening. Heck even Onimusha has as epic cg opening scenes as squeenix's best.

[Unlimax]

I can't believe you guys miss the classic opera Scene from Parasite eve ~

[AIndoria]

I'd probably add Final fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy VIII.

[IronFistChinMi]

A lot of my faves listed in the comments. Have to give a shot out to Halo: ODST to, the drop sequence was amazing.

[Zweihanders]

Super Mario RPG and Chrono Trigger has some great openings. Super Mario RPG especially... I feel bad for anyone that missed this game.

[Harelgur]

Half life 2, Bioshock

[Rifkens]

Half-Life

[Eske]

Solid choices, but personally, I'd have Bioshock in there over any of them. I just don't think game openings get any better.

[Robotronfiend]

I really loved the beginnings of ME2 and Portal 2.

[GuyThatPlaysGames]

Where is MGS2:Sons of Liberty??

[3GenGames]

Can we get "of recent memory" added to the title? The SNES RPG's completely destroy these.

NES Earthbound (Unreleased, but it still exists) has an amazing start, making you feel so sad for the characters and a sense of mission during the whole game. Not much can top what it does to you listening to the sad story of those people and how their lives were changed. Especially not when you complete the game and everything comes together and (SPOILER) they were *technically* with you the whole time.

[Machina]

Meh, MGS4 and Oblivion have pretty mediocre openings.

[WeedyOne]

Why is Bioshock 1 not on this list?

I remember starting Bioshock 1 and being thrown in the water and i kept staring at the screen thinking something was going to happen, then i realized it was NOT a cutseen and started playing!

[TronEOL]

Metal Gear Solid 4, Mass Effect 3, God of War 3, Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3 for me. There may be more, but those are the ones I remember the most.

:EDIT: Aaaand, Half Life 2. Thank you, Cgalla2679.

[NeXXXuS]

Final Fantasy VIII

[Elderly_Cynic]

I'd have to put Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver somewhere on the list:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Y_5150]

Here's a clue on what game should have been on this list...
"Zues! Your son has returned. I bring the destruction of Olympus!"

[txchris89]

Ahh...I remember the beginning of the first God of War...I felt like such a badass!!!