Favourite/best opening sequence in a game?

[Vrex360]

Bioshock was... breath taking.

A close second goes to Mass Effect (though the ending scenes were something to behold as Shepard Ashley and Wrex saved the galaxy, especially Wrex as I brought him along to prove that there did still exist good honest noble Krogan)

Halo 1 had a good opening that felt really cinematic as did Halo 2 with the Arbiter and Halo 3 with the great music. Halo 3's ending (the first one) where the Arbiter shook the commanders hand as a symbol of peace between humans and elites was great too actually.

You know Oblivion had a descent one too.

The Call of duty opening where you get trudged out for execution I had to grudginly admit was well done.

Hell there are a lot, and so many helped to immerse me into the game world.

 

[Llil]

UFO: Enemy Unknown [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX0Cm3N_n6k] (or X-Com) has a great intro, though it's a bit misleading, as rushing into battle with guns blazing is not a good idea in the actual game.

And of course Dawn of War [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFkFo5SBx-g].

 

[WeedWorm]

Dead Rising's (slightly hidden) opening sequence in which a woman and her daughter are driving through Willamette. Everything about it was creepy, all the lines were delivered surprisingly well for a Capcom game, and it set the mood perfectly for the game. "Mommy, what was that noise?" "Nothing, sweetie...I just ran over a big frog."

I remember that, creeped the hell outta me. I always imagine situations like that in any game where a lot of people die, the nuke scene in CoD4, Fallout, Resident Evil. Cant help but think about the average guy whos on his way to work and theres suddenly theres zombies every where or a nuke has gone off and then think, what would I do? How would I react? What if I survive and every single person I know is dead? Its the only thing in life that scares the living shit outta me. Sorry, went a bit off topic there.

Anyway, the intros to Dawn of War 1 and 2 are pretty badass, especially DoW 2.

 

[Daniel Cygnus]

Dead Rising's (slightly hidden) opening sequence in which a woman and her daughter are driving through Willamette. Everything about it was creepy, all the lines were delivered surprisingly well for a Capcom game, and it set the mood perfectly for the game. "Mommy, what was that noise?" "Nothing, sweetie...I just ran over a big frog."

I remember that, creeped the hell outta me. I always imagine situations like that in any game where a lot of people die, the nuke scene in CoD4, Fallout, Resident Evil. Cant help but think about the average guy whos on his way to work and theres suddenly theres zombies every where or a nuke has gone off and then think, what would I do? How would I react? What if I survive and every single person I know is dead? Its the only thing in life that scares the living shit outta me. Sorry, went a bit off topic there.

Anyway, the intros to Dawn of War 1 and 2 are pretty badass, especially DoW 2.

Ehh, I wouldn't say that's too off topic, I think that's part of what they were trying to create; this feeling that you're one of the few survivors and that nowhere is safe.

You might not think of this one right off the top, but Mega Man X has an AMAZING opening stage. It's got some killer music, too.

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

Medal of Honour: Frontline. I'm not usually too bothered about the MoH series, but that opening is just...superlative...

However, I really like the intro to Dawn of War 1, as well.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

The opening to Oblivion, Fable 2, the car ride from CoD4 (not really the opening since it actualy doesn't happen until an hour in or so), and the opening to Final Fantasy 8 was pretty sick, too.

 

[T-Bone24]

Resident Evil 4: You're thrown right into the middle of a not-zombie infested village with no idea what's going on. And it's not revealed for ages.

 

[GuerrillaClock]

The opening sequence of Resident Evil 4 was terrific. You stumble into a cosy village and discover some policemen on a fire. Then you are confronted by more and more angry villagers, and there's no way out, then the chainsaw guy comes, and then... they all shamble off at the ring of the bell.

Unsettling, pulse-pounding and utterly brilliant, it is probably the most brutally effective intro to a game I have ever seen.

 

[Fadedfeather]

soul blade/edge. good old times.

 

[Aedwynn]

Cheesyness aside, I thought the intro to Mechwarrior IV: Vengeance was awesome. An honourable mention goes to the first Mechcommander which is one of the first intro's I saw which was in any way relevant or representative of gameplay.

"Panther, move out - follow this path." (As the commander guy in the video draws on a screen with a light pen for his pilot to follow)

CoD 4 and Bioshock have both been mentioned, so I won't say anymore about them.

Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom had a superb opening. It was (at the time) visually stunning, exciting, and had just about the right amount of mystery to get you into the game to find out what happens.

Half Life 2 had a very atmospheric opening. Seeing Dr. Breens face for the first time welcoming me to City 17 and just wandering around the place painted a very compelling picture of a dystopia for me. All I could think was "Whoa! How long have I been asleep... what happened here!?" I realised later I had thought "I" and not "Gordon".

and finally, as I have gushed enough in this thread:

Neverwinter Nights 2, despite all it's flaws, really did the opening well. Taught you the game, provided you with just enough plot, had some good characters (Including Elvis - the King is alive and living in the Forgotten Realms, folks!), and generally turned a massive fantasy RPG cliche

Spoiler

Nooooo! My beloved peasant village!!!

into a generally fun and engrossing game experience.

Of course, YMMV with all of the above.

 

[Jupsto]

bioshock intro is ace

also the start to medal of honor 1 is unforgettable, where you come in on land ship and get blown into water and generally just see everyone dying around you.

 

[JokerGrin]

Dawn of War. When they included that in the demo, it nearly made me buy the game that instant. Incredible. I rarely skip it.

 

[Thrasher4567]

Big fan of any of the devil may cry intros, actually most capcom games have god intros

 

[Biek]

Half-Life has the best opening sequence out of any game I have ever played. It draws you right into the game.

I loved the beginnings of those games when your helpless and being bullied by guards into picking up cans and stuff. Its almost too bad that you get a gun eventually, though youll still have the "Allright, now were cooking with GAS" feeling.

 

[painfull2006]

Dawn of war games have had good entrance videos, although i have to say, kingdom hearts 2!

It was just great, the music went so well with it

 

[Bubble]

Prince of persia warrior within is quite cool.

 

[pillaysteven]

Probably Metal Gear Solid. Music and gameplay are unforgettable.

 

[oldMcDouche]

Far Cry 2

 

[Weaver]

half life!

 

[D_987]