Favorite Game intro of all time

[meepop]

Hmmmm...this is a tough one! I never really thought about it before; I've had some favorite game ending but not intro. But if I had to pick one I'd definitly say The Ship by Outerlight and Steam. "Good evening, everyone" says Mr. X the Rusky, and the end (SPOILER ALERT!) throws you into a sense of deja vu in the hospital of the same ship: As a nurse stands over you, the speaker comes on and says "Good evening everyone." Favorite opening because of its insidious-ness. Second and third places belong to World of Goo and Portal respectively; World of Goo is creative and Portal throws you into portals almost immediately.

 

[DustyDrB]

I loved Arkham Asylum's intro. That long walk, just knowing everything is about to go to hell and you've had a sneak peak of some of it (who wasn't getting ready for a fight when you first saw Killer Croc?). Plus, the Joker always has great dialogue and Luke Skywalker is such a great voice actor.


Mass Effect 2 also had a great intro.

Also, even though I'm not a fan of the art style, I have to give it to The Wind Waker for its narrative intro and music.

 

[NotAPie]

Mass Effect 2.
God I cried a little bit, oh not because it was emotional, but because it was fucking SEXY.

 

[Meilow]

For some reason I want to say Metro 2033. It's not the greatest ever, but it introduces you to the story in an eirie (sp?) fashion.

 

[ksn0va]

Mass Effect 2(If you count the part where Shep gets blasted into space all the way to him/her being reconstructed) pretty damn epic for a sequel.

 

[Jubilant]

Not to jump on a wagon or anything, but I liked BioShock's intro. As well as Left 4 Dead 2 and Gears of War 2.

 

[Signa]

So many games try to make such a high-impact intro to get you excited to play the game. Zelda just doesn't care. It knows it's baddass, and makes no effort to impress you, but it just does anyway.

After a rather dry and mysterious title intro, you are shown a lot of gameplay footage with some very haunting music which sets the mood for the whole adventure. I was shocked to find that Jeremy Soule did the music for this game. If you don't know who that is, then hopefully you would at least recognize his modern works with games like Morrowind, Guild Wars, Supreme Commander and Company of Heroes.

I don't know how many times I decided to not skip the intro video on this one. The dialogue was chilling and the graphics were epic at the time. They still look pretty passable now too.

 

[kurupt87]

Mass Effect 2.
God I cried a little bit, oh not because it was emotional, but because it was fucking SEXY.

Completely OT, but this is a fan made ME2 movie by a dude called OmegaNovae, it's shockingly good. It contains one or two very minor spoilers.

 

[deth2munkies]

Chrono Cross [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHQ7yEYwEnE&feature=related]

Something about that music just gets me amped up. Plus this was back when just seeing that Squaresoft logo made my trousers a little tighter.

Beat me to it. Best music in any game ever (in my opinion), although the actual cinematic is merely the pre-rendered scenes from the game thrown together randomly enough to conceal the plot.

 

[NotAPie]

Mass Effect 2.
God I cried a little bit, oh not because it was emotional, but because it was fucking SEXY.

Completely OT, but this is a fan made ME2 movie by a dude called OmegaNovae, it's shockingly good. It contains one or two very minor spoilers.

I think I might have came a little.
Seriously though, that was very very good.

 

[DragonChi]

I think the one that has impressed me the most was the Diablo 2 one. Diablo 2 has a lot of great cinematics, but the expectations and the exhilaration was SKY high when marcus finished with "from then on we traveled east...always...into the east" -> Diablo 2 logo! My god...breathtaking...

Yup, that would be my choice too. Baal talking to Marius in the what I think is an Insane Asylum, but not really sure. In any case, it just totally captures me.

 

[Yeager942]

Bishock (yay for originality) and Half Life 2 (Yep, lone wolf. Thats what I am).

Edit: Holy shit, How could I forget about Mass Effect 2.

 

[Guitar Gamer]

I'm not very original for saying this, but Bioshock had one of the best intro sequences ever. The music, the atmosphere. It was... delectable.

IT was perfect, there wasn't anything I woukld change about it, Yahtzee said it best when he elaborated on how Bioshock 2 should have taken that aspect if anything from the first game

 

[GODoftheRIGOVERSE]

"Super Mario World" (1990,1991)
[http://photobucket.com/images/super%20mario%20world]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0qAj3cbNGY

 

[hamsterkilla]

Sometimes it sends shivers down my spine! And it reminds me of the good ol' days

I completely agree the inro to 1942 was awesome not to mention the song will never leave my head.

 

[GODoftheRIGOVERSE]

A wee bit of nostalgia first....
The music that meant serious business back in theI would also include Mega Man 3, if only for the badass opening music, but ehre's no fancy opening animations, so ah well.

As for more current releases, they've already been said here (Borderlands, Bioshock, REmake, Fallout 3). However, if only in regard to fangasm potential, the intros to the Super Smash Brothers games have always been fantastic.

i wonder what a live action version of that would look like

-Grand theft Megaman-

Officer: don't jump

(megaman looks and continues to stand)

helicopter cop: sir do u need help

(megaman puts his hand and blaster up)

helicopter cop: GUN!!!TAKE HIM DOWN!!!

(cops open fire and shoot MEGA MAN)

(Megaman loses a life)

(Megaman respawns)

(Megaman uses bomb man's attack on the helicopter)

KING KONG MAN AIN'T GOT nothing on me, *****!

 

[Colonel Alzheimer's]

Maybe it's not the best, but I think Portal deserves a mention. It manages to show you what a portal is in a completely interactive setting, not to mention introducing you to GLaDOS and the decay that has occurred in the facility.
As for the best, I would have to say Bioshock and Mass Effect 2.
Yeah, pretty much a lone wolf. Born to roam, you might say.
http://www.woosk.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/wolf-shirt.jpg
Wear that shit everywhere.

 

[Infernai]

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver...someones already posted the clip for it though, so i won't bother.

 

[1066]

Wild Arms. The original