Best game intros

[ElephantGuts]

No one ever mentions this but I always remember the intro to the original Ghost Recon game on the Gamecube as really cool. I can never find it though, only the PC and PS2 versions. The Gamecube version was much improved and very cool.

PS: Don't ask why I got Ghost Recon for the Gamecube. I was young and my Dad made the decision that it would be best for the Gamecube because he wanted to get some use out of the piece of shit. Though the original Conflict: Desert Storm was for the Gamecube and that was pretty good.

 

[dukethepcdr]

Many of those games had great intros I agree. I also really liked the intro in 007 Nightfire. It was a classic James Bond movie intro with an original song and everything. I actually like the song in that intro as well if not better than the ones in some of the actual movies. That intro made you really feel like you were in a James Bond movie.

 

[dukethepcdr]

What I like about the intro to Final Fantasy 7 is that for an RPG it is extremely short. It does a masterful job of setting the scene, and BANG, you're in the middle of a mission. Come to think of it, FF10 does a pretty good job of this too.

I like FF intros too for the amazing animation. It's too bad that the in-game animation usually looks so much worse by comparison though.

 

[FLSH_BNG]

Without a doubt... I would have to say that it would be the intro cinematic for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. I don't car if it's all prerendered, it looks awesome and is packed full of severed limbs and explosions!

Just the perfect thing for the kid in me.

 

[crimsondynamics]

Super Mario 64 - seeing the Mario universe in 3D for the first time is unforgettable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXcRfMTF3ZY

MYST - its use of seamless FMV and stereo audio (at a time when such features were considered luxuries, unlike today) to weave in and out of the gameplay sucked you right into the game and didn't let go. Even my non-gaming girlfriend at the time would be mesmerized just watching me play and helping me with the puzzles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obyfx3gi2aE
(it's RealMYST, but the introduction is virtually identical)

Vagrant Story - although the graphics are crude by today's standards, the great thing about the intro was how you don't even realize you are suddenly in control of your character in the intro scene. You play the intro scene! I was hit several times before I realized I was expected to fight the enemies onscreen. The way the developers introduced the combat system in the cut scene where you couldn't die was absolutely brilliant and I wonder why nobody has done anything similar (at least to my knowledge If I recall correctly, GRiD has an intro where you are suddenly set into a race. It doesn't matter what position you come in, as long as you finish the race - and is the equivalent to the game's tutorial).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chO8hTZylA8
(at the 3:20 mark - and what a superlative combat system!)

 

[Devil's Due]

Battlefield 2142
Gears of War 2
Call of Duty 4

 

[errorfied]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6HMczCElPaI

Baten Kaitos. A brilliant game which could have done so well. Shame it didn't.

 

[Robyrt]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned God of War's intro on here. A truly masterful way to set up the story, include a tutorial, and still have you fighting a boss in the first 5 minutes.

Another standout is Total Annihilation, whose one-minute FMV intro hits all the high points of the game - the fantastic score, the sense of scale, the increasingly ridiculous far-future technology. It took them another 10 years to make a game that let your guys do that stuff in-game, but oh well.

Call of Duty 4 almost had it - the first couple levels are dynamite, but the beginning tutorial ruins the flow. You can tell they had to tack it on later.

 

[Ranooth]

Sonic Adventure 1
Dungeon Keeper 1 (Best kill EVER!)
Dawn of War
Ocarina Of Time

 

[teh_gunslinger]

Day of the Tentacle was an awesome game and I think that the intro deserves to be mentioned here. It was really good. As was the intro for Monkey Island 3. I can't actually remember the title of the game? Curse of Monkey Island maybe?

 

[Axolotl]

In order
Fallout 2
Half-Life
Call of Duty 4

 

[clarinetJWD]

Super Mario 64 - seeing the Mario universe in 3D for the first time is unforgettable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXcRfMTF3ZY

MYST - its use of seamless FMV and stereo audio (at a time when such features were considered luxuries, unlike today) to weave in and out of the gameplay sucked you right into the game and didn't let go. Even my non-gaming girlfriend at the time would be mesmerized just watching me play and helping me with the puzzles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obyfx3gi2aE
(it's RealMYST, but the introduction is virtually identical)

Vagrant Story - although the graphics are crude by today's standards, the great thing about the intro was how you don't even realize you are suddenly in control of your character in the intro scene. You play the intro scene! I was hit several times before I realized I was expected to fight the enemies onscreen. The way the developers introduced the combat system in the cut scene where you couldn't die was absolutely brilliant and I wonder why nobody has done anything similar (at least to my knowledge If I recall correctly, GRiD has an intro where you are suddenly set into a race. It doesn't matter what position you come in, as long as you finish the race - and is the equivalent to the game's tutorial).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chO8hTZylA8
(at the 3:20 mark - and what a superlative combat system!)

I didn't even think of Mario 64, but you're absolutely right. That alongside the Half-Life games isthe most memorable intro for me.

As for MYST, well, I have to agree again. I never played it when it first came out, only realMYST, but it certainly is one of the all time greats.

Nice picks!

 

[Altorin]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6HMczCElPaI

Baten Kaitos. A brilliant game which could have done so well. Shame it didn't.

It was stuck on a system that didn't have the major JRPG gamerbase setup to support it.

 

[Sporadic]

I'm going to have to bow down to the Half Life 2 intro. Fantastic! But the new Warhammer online is to be noted, as well as Warcraft 3. All of them were great in my book.

 

[RetiarySword]

Rainbow Six 3. Amazing!

 

[Galletea]

Metal Gear Solid 2
FFVIII
Onimusha 2. Best intro song ever.

 

[Anarchemitis]

Half-Life 2 Episode 1, Homeworld 2, Trilby Art of Theft.

 

[Ronwue]

Starcraft
Baldur's Gate 2

 

[Toiboi]

Racen games always have great openings so do fighting games but I am going with legend Of Zelda The Ocarina of time lol sorry to sound like a fan boy