It’s always good to make a strong impression, especially now, considering our short attention span for content.
Video games have a similar bar in entertainment, and you could lose people if your title doesn’t satisfy them in the first hour of playtime.
You want to grab the player’s attention as they step into your world and make them feel they will get their money’s worth.
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Whether it’s ashooter,platformer, orRPG, setting the tone for how the game will play along, is how you’ll keep them locked in for the rest of the journey.
Most titles open up by either highlighting the story beats and impressive game mechanics or just going all-out blockbuster Hollywood on you in the introduction. Here’s a look at those examples that swing for the fences in their opening stages.
10Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
All Aboard
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
We could forever debate the topic of video games vs. movies, but never has a game felt more like a movie than the opening sequence ofUncharted 2: Among Thieves.
The cinematic quality of Nathan Drake hanging on for dear life as he scales a train dangling from the icy mountains of Tibet is undeniable.
I should mention that the whole level feels as if you’ve been thrown into a Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movie now that I recently replayed it. Perhaps that’s why the seventh MI movie chose to take a lot of inspiration from it in its ending sequence.
As you help Nathan Drake make the dangerous climb to safety, you’ll realize that no one does interactive gameplay quite like Naughty Dog.
9Sonic Adventure 2
A Thrilling Escape
Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Adventure 2finally gave players firm control of the Sega icon in 3D on the Dreamcast. In the opening stage, ‘City Escape,’ this Sonic outing showcased the exciting thrill and glory of handling the iconic blue Hedgehog in a level that is a downhill delight.
The level sees Sonic trying to evade a massive military truck as he skateboards down the steep hills of San Francisco. Within its fast-paced setup, the level effortlessly balances each transition between platforming, set-piece loops, and rail grinding.
One of the biggest highlights of this level is the rocking pop-punk title track “Live and Learn” that plays throughout the sequence. Every time you hear it, you may’t help but bob your head to it, and it stands as one of the best themes from Sonic’s gallery.
8Super Mario Bros
A Beloved Relic
Super Mario Bros.
We would be amiss if we didn’t mention the amazing opening level fromSuper Mario Bros.
Even though this pick doesn’t possess the same level of theatrics as the others we mentioned beforehand, World 1-1 doesn’t need to. It represents the quintessentially accessible enjoyment for which Super Mario as a series is known.
The platformer genre owes a lot to the building blocks thatNintendo’s most iconic herolaid down (and destroyed with his head), offering countless stages with a focus on unadulterated fun.
The level guides you through the basic gameplay of handling Mario without actually teaching you, which is quite genius. To put it simply, the level just makes sense.
For instance, when you encounter the first Goomba, the game indirectly guides you to jump on without ever mentioning it. This genius-level design is why the first level in Mario is often considered the best tutorial ever made.
It might not be far-fetched to say that World 1-1 might have been a factor in making the original Mario one of thebest platformers of all time.
7Psychonauts 2
Mind Bending, much?
Psychonauts 2
From one platformer that started it off with simple mechanics, toPsychonauts 2, who proceeded to blow your mind with a psychedelic trip through a demented brain.
The series was never afraid of pushing the limits of weirdness, but the introduction of the second game takes the cake where zaniness is concerned.
We spot Raz hard at work during his internship, but instead of doing fieldwork, he’s stuck in a cubicle at a desk, clicking away at a computer.
However, it soon becomes apparent that there’s more going on, and you’re trying to crack a secret inside the mind of the enemy, DR. Loboto, by staging an act. But, once this ruse falls through, the seemingly normal world transforms into a bizarre anatomy-themed rollercoaster.
Shattering the Illusion
Here’s another title that pulls the rug out from under you at the start.Prey (2017)starts by throwing heavy plot beats as you check in on the opening level, aptly titled First Day on the job. Everything seems to be going eerily normal as you sit down for a test checkup with a research team.
A heavy curveball is thrown your way, taking away all your stranglehold on this reality. A coffee mug transforms into this dark parasite that lunges at the doctors.
You would then unravel theshocking twistthat you’re being used in a simulation. It is later revealed why this illusion formed as you piece the puzzle together.
These moments of genius in theirstandout gamesare a huge reason why Arkane is still highly regarded as a team of creators, even after their recent closure.
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5Spec Ops: The Line
Helicopter Minigun Barrage
Spec Ops: The Line
One of the very first shooters that hooked me wasSpec Ops: The Line, and truthfully, little has come close to hitting those lofty heights ever since.
The first chapter throws you into the deep end as Captain Walker and his team make your way into a reimagined ruined desert city of Dubai.
The opening sequence provided a perfect mix of third-person action, only hinting at the story that would later devastate us.
After all, what more do you need when you’re shooting a barrage of bullets at your enemy on a helicopter amidst tall buildings with a minigun? In short, anyone who loves rapid gunfire will be as happy as a pig in dirt.
4Resident Evil 4
Fight the Entire Village
Resident Evil 4
In arguably one of the best openings to a horror game, inResident Evil 4, Leon S. Kennedy makes his way to a rural village, suspecting something has gone wrong, only to wind up getting hunted.
The whole adrenaline-filled sequence is based on surviving the barrage of violent villagers. Whether it’s frail-looking townsfolk with a pitchfork or a chainsaw-wielding maniac, your job is to dodge them or throw down some melee action.
If you survive long enough, the church bell will ring and draw all the crazed villagers away in a trance, leaving you with more questions than answers.
3Detroit: Become Human
Making Life-Saving Choices
Detroit: Become Human
It doesn’t get more tense than life or death, right? Quantic Dream’sDetroit: Become Humancertainly knows this, as they put you in the driving seat, tasked with saving another person.
The gripping sequence sees you take control of an android named Connor as he searches for a homicidal deviant at large.
You gather clues at the scene of the crime until you pick up the perpetrator’s trail and reach a balcony to find him holding a young girl as a hostage on a ledge.
The tension is ramped up tenfold in conjunction with the music playing, as your choices dictate if you’ll effectively use Connor’s ability.
It’s all up to you to strategically communicate with the deviant and make the right decisions so that he will trust you enough to save the girl’s life.
2Battlefield 1
Stories of War
Battlefield 1
Battlefield had been dwindling in popularity due to past mistakes made in the franchise (We’re looking at you, Hardline), but all that changed in 2016.
Battlefield 1was a shot of adrenaline for the series as EA took the game back to a historical, boots-on-the-ground epic, marking WW1 as the setting for this first-person shooter.
The game drops you right into the nitty-gritty with an opening tutorial level for the ages, even going as far as to tell you that it doesn’t expect you to survive.
The opening gives you a harrowing look at the horrors of war, where worthy soldiers are sometimes sent off as sheep for slaughter.
Once the chaos ends, you breathe a sigh of relief as you prepare to enter the next battle against another formidable enemy.
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1The Last of Us
Immediately in the feels
The Last of Us
If there’s one game out there that immediately sets the tone with their opening chapter, it’sThe Last of Us.
The creators delivered a heartbreaking story in the microcosm that showcased the outbreak of the Cordyceps virus, which plagues post-apocalyptic America in the game’s later chapters.
It’s staggering just how immersed and invested the player becomes in this short opening sequence. When it all reaches the crescendo, that’s when you know that TLOU isn’t going to pull any emotional punches.
The sight of Sarah being held by her father as he screams in terror didn’t leave one dry eye in the house and deserves to top this list.
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