"Wow" moments in gaming

[TheGreenManalishi]

Super Paper Mario, when you hit the switches that screw the gravity up so you're walking on the walls. I know you're gonna think "he ain't seen nothing yet" but it was surprising that a game that is so superficial looking can actually go out of it's way to do 'new' things.

 

[oAmadeuso]

First time I played battlezone at the arcade and realized you can put 10p in the 50p slot it gives you 50p of credit.

Or the music of monty on the run (spectrum 128k version)

 

[Aries_Split]

When I first saw Crysis running in full 1920x1200 4xAA 8xAF all settings on high.


WOW.
It also convinced me that every cent I spent on my 9800GX2 was well spent.

 

[Cheesus333]

Ragdolling (press F for fake death) straight through 2 windows in Unreal Tournament 3. Gravity was off, so I could only imagine the sight for a spectator as I soared through both windows -without skimming any edges- straight off a cliff. Brilliant xD

 

[Graustein]

When I first got a GBA, and turned it on, and it did that chime that it does and then that ding it makes?
I was amazed. I made a big deal out of the fact that it was 32 bit while my N64 was 64 bit, and noted the relative sizes.

Also related, playing Advance Wars 2, and it says "mission complete", that was the first I'd heard actual spoken dialogue in a handheld game. I was astounded.

 

[fedpayne]

Portal. When you start doing levels by flying around everywhere. Graahgahsnnargly.

 

[Tomdoodle]

Knocking turrets over with portals and boxes in Portal.

 

[LewsTherin]

Watching the Diablo 3 demo vid...

PUNCH OUT THE FREAKING WALL!!

 

[Space Spoons]

Finding the first "secret" area in Portal. Believe it or not, I had heard nothing of the game and it's ending prior to playing it, so finding that area was the first hint that Aperture Science might not be completely altruistic in it's methods. It was a "wow" moment for me, because I just wasn't expecting the twist that it was implying.

 

[hondommond]

1 vs 12 in world of warcraft as a warlock....i won and almost cried

 

[Amnestic]

Beating Emerald Weapon for the first time.
My first (and indeed, my guild's) first Ragnaros kill in WoW.
Final cutscene of Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction with Tyrael. That wow'd me.

 

[Johnn Johnston]

Playing Oblivion, and being attacked by an archer. I press the left bumper on the 360 controller, and I wonder why I haven't been hit. I realise I pressed LB at the exact right moment to stop the arrow in mid-air, inches from my face.

 

[Jamanticus]

I have several, and these aren't in any particular order of awesomeness...
-Oblivion, like John Johnston said, except the part where Martin Septim turns into a giant flaming dragon
-Grabbing an enemy in Crysis and hurling him into the side a vehicle
-The first time I warped in a building as a Protoss in Starcraft (hey, I was easily impressed back then)
-Ocarina of Time when Link played a song for the first time to teleport somewhere
-The Witcher when Geralt smiled at the end before beating the living daylights out of an assassin

 

[Johnn Johnston]

-Oblivion, like John Johnston said, except the part where Martin Septim turns into a giant flaming dragon

Just before that bit, using invisibilty and legging it to the Temple Of The One. I see what looks like two pieces of a broken arch. I think, "Hmm. I don't remember there being an arch there." I look up, and I actually said "Wow" out of shock. They weren't five-foot thick chunks of marble.

Spoiler: They were legs.

 

[Jamanticus]

-Oblivion, like John Johnston said, except the part where Martin Septim turns into a giant flaming dragon

Just before that bit, using invisibilty and legging it to the Temple Of The One. I see what looks like two pieces of a broken arch. I think, "Hmm. I don't remember there being an arch there." I look up, and I actually said "Wow" out of shock. They weren't five-foot thick chunks of marble.

Spoiler: They were legs.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com
/1194/527522738_872dd46fd0.jpg

Oh, yeah... Oblivion could be bland sometimes, but it definitely delivered in that final sequence

 

[Shadowtek]

anytime in HL2DM when you deliver a crossbow bolt toward another running player and he fires one at you at the same time, and you both get one hit kills. WOW

 

[Unmannedperson]

When I first went online on Garry's Mod (I had been playing around on single player for about a week) and the first thing that happened was someone killed me by smacking me with a gigantic pink dildo using the physics gun.

Oh the embarrassment...

 

[David Allen]

A great moment for me was working out that you could starve enemy guards in Metal Gear Solid 3, if you blew up food storage warehouses. Or possibly the moment in Portal when you upgrade the portal gun to fire two portals. No longer are you told where you can pop out; you have the power to do anything you want, without feeling restricted. Suddenly you feel in control of the game. And it feels good!

 

[snakeys]

Knocking turrets over with portals and boxes in Portal.

Hey, it's me!

 

[snakeys]

Probably one of the best moments I can recall in gaming, at least from a "wow" perspective, is the first scene in Bioshock, when you have to swim through the water that is filled with the flaming jet fuel. Very impressive graphics.