Best Intro to a game?

[Punisher A.J.]

Borderlands. Best. into. ever.

but seriously, every time i hear aint no rest for the wicked i have to go back and play it

Mine would have to be mass effect 2, because it felt like the perfect ending, and should have been the ending to mass effect 1.

Now go play this awesome game..... and Tannis needs FREAKING DLC.... or at least a cutscene. No seriously, she is the main NPC in the original story and yet she is not in T-bone Junction or has a cutscene. Moxxie is not even in the Main story(ok well she is...kinda) but she has DLC and two cutscenes......
so anyone want a Moxxie shot?

Spoiler

I was walkin down the street when out the corner of my eye
I saw a pretty little thing approachin me
She said I never seen a man, who looks so all alone
and could you use a little company?
If you can pay the right price, your evening will be nice
But you can go and send me on my way
I said your such a sweet young thing, why you do this to yourself?
She looked at me and this is what she said

Oh there ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees
I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed
There ain't nothin in this world for free
Oh no I can't slow down, I can't hold back
Though you know, I wish, I could
Oh no there ain't no rest for the wicked
Until we close our eyes for good

Not even 15 minutes later after walkin down the street
when I saw the shadow of a man creep out out of sight
And then he swept up from behind, he put a gun up to my head
He made it clear he wasn't lookin for a fight
He said give me all you've got, I want your money not your life
If you try to make a move I won't think twice
I told him you can have my cash, but first you know I gotta ask
What made you want to live this kind of life?

He said there ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees
I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed
There ain't nothin in this world for free
Oh no I can't slow down, I can't hold back
Though you know, I wish, I could
Oh no there ain't no rest for the wicked
Until we close our eyes for good

Well now a couple hours past, and I was sitting in my house
The day was winding down and coming to an end
And so I turned on the TV, and flipped it over to the news
And what I saw I almost couldn't comprehend
I saw a preacher man in cuffs, he'd taken money from the church
He'd stuffed his bank account with righteous dollar bills
But even still I can't say much because I know we're all the same
Oh yes we all seek out to satisfy those thrills

You know there ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees
We got bills to pay, we got mouths to feed
There ain't nothin in this world for free
Oh no we can't slow down, we can't hold back
Though you know, we wish, we could
Oh no there ain't no rest for the wicked
Until we close our eyes for good.

 

[Hutchy_Bear]

Mine has to be either: Just because it is damn epic!

or

 

[Jack_the_Knife]

Super Mario Bros.

It's like 3 seconds from turning it on, I push start, it tells me World 1-1, I have 3 lives, and I'm running and jumping, no BS, get to the end, grab a flagpole, save the princess.

In terms of narrative and atmosphere and stuff, it's gotta be Half-Life and its sequel. It's really what you can do with the medium without just mimicking movies and just making it a cutscene. Here you are, some guy, going to work, taking in the atmosphere, walk(sprint) into work, get greeted by everybody, and go mess with a microwave. It just sort of leaves you to figure out the world on your own.

Ross Scott's fan narration obviously improves the experience.

 

[Jaqen Hghar]

I think my favorite one is Fallout 2. War... War never changes.
I think what really makes it so damn good is the last thing you see. The vault opening, a family standing as silhouettes due to heavy backlights. Enclave soldiers standing outside the vault, seemingly to pick them up. The family waves and the soldiers open fire. It was a sobering moment for me when I saw that. The same with the bad ending video in Fallout... damn those games are good.

For a recent game I have to say Red Dead Redemption. I loved the whole intro. The view of the river, with the clean looking riverboat. Piano music, which suddenly bursts into proper cowboy guitar. Marston, who reluctantly enters the train. Then the ride to Armadillo, hearing what the people around you gossips about. I think that train trip really did a good job showing who Marston is. He is always alert, listening intently to everyone around him. And he is uncomfortable on the train. He doesn't want to be there. Really good intro, which I am sure a lot of people felt was to slow because there was no action in it.

 

[evilengine]

Probably Grim Fandango, an fine example of good exposition.

 

[e2density]

I personally loved Crisis Core FF7's cinematics very much.

 

[Wolfinton]

I love the Mass Effect 2 intro. Amazingly done.

 

[Code_Red]

How about the intro to a sequel? Set to awesome music, it managed to sum up the events of the previous games in the series without spoiling anything: showed the characters, summarised events, and introduced where the new game was starting. My personal favourite:

I completely agree with this, I love that intro video.

OT: I thought the intro to Killzone 2 was brilliant.

 

[Sephychu]

Dawn of War, for sure. I still watch that cinematic for kicks. If the upcoming Ultramarines movie manages to be half that epic, it will be a spectacular success.
I must embed it, to subject those who have not seen it to the copious amounts of win.

Although Warcraft III and Borderlands had pretty great openers too.

I love the intro.
They really wanted that fucking hill, huh?

 

[Zhukov]

...but the best ones are always the simplest ones that tell more than they show.

Really? I mean... really?

I can understand your appreciation for less flashy fare, but to you really prefer to be told rather then shown? Surely a text scroll (a la Star Wars) would suffice for that.

You've heard the old adage of "show, don't tell", right? Suffice to say, whoever came up with that knew what they were talking about.

Ya being able to play the into added absolutely nothing to that game at all.

It's a game. I like to play games, not watch them. A good game introduces itself while I play, not before I play.

Although, considering that you listed the MGS4 intro as a favourite, perhaps I'm just talking to the wrong person.

The whole idea actually seemed rather dumb to me. Your plane sinks so you swim to the lighthouse and take a minisub thing down to the bottom of the ocean? Not you know use commin sense and atleast wait in the lighthouse for awhile.

Uh... what? You did play the whole game, right? You remember the big twist?

Basically, common sense wasn't a factor. That was half the point.

While most game intros are basically just cool cinimatics (see Lost Odyssey...

Wait, do you mean this Lost Odyssey? [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/unskippable/736-Lost-Odyssey]

I, um... I think we have very different notions of "cool".

Mass Effect 2's prologue.

My jaw was at the floor once the title screen rolled. Just incredible.

Agreed. ME2's intro might not be my favourite but it was certainly impressive. Stepping through the doors and out into the breached section was a very effective "whoa" moment.

 

[The_ModeRazor]

Warcraft III.
Hell, it has two of them!
And then an expansion one! (although that's a bit less epic, but it makes up for it with the most awesome ending scene evar.)

 

[imaloony]

Borderlands had a hell of an intro, and I also really liked Assassin's Creed 2's.

 

[Altorin]

You mean cinematic? Probably a blizzard game.

But the best opening I think was The Force Unleashed..

Being Darth Vader, wandering around Kashyyk flinging wookies off cliffs..

That should have been the whole game.

 

[notyouraveragejoe]

Borderlands. Best. into. ever.

but seriously, every time i hear aint no rest for the wicked i have to go back and play it

It was pretty awesome. The whole intro was epic. I also love when you're finally getting off the bus and the driver goes "Get off my bus" after he was really nice to your character. Also Bioshock/Bioshock 2 are completely awesome. Bioshock is brilliant just for the interactivity, Bioshock 2 is really cool to watch and I feel it hits you quite hard.

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2... Every time I watch them I'm just wow'd even now.

 

[Gauntes]

Armored Core 2 comes to mind
the graphics were mindblowing for the time and my undying love for giant robots.....
...forgot where I was going with that

 

[-Seraph-]

...but the best ones are always the simplest ones that tell more than they show.

Really? I mean... really?

I can understand your appreciation for less flashy fare, but to you really prefer to be told rather then shown? Surely a text scroll (a la Star Wars) would suffice for that.

You've heard the old adage of "show, don't tell", right? Suffice to say, whoever came up with that knew what they were talking about.

I accidentally phrased that the wrong way, I meant the other way around, but there was no need to really call me out on something like that.

 

[julian_simon]

I made an account just for this

Someone said X-Com Ufo Enemy Unknown, and laughed. This is hands down one of the best video game intros of all time.
Back when the game was new that graphic was so hardcore it made Commander Keens eyes bleed.

I remember watching it first time at a friends, his older brother had a large monitor for that time, and a REAL stereo (this was the boomblaster era). So watching that video with the creepy music was mindblowing (not to forget that the game is still one of the best strategy games out there).

For you youngsters that have no idea what im talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX0Cm3N_n6k

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

How about the intro to a sequel? Set to awesome music, it managed to sum up the events of the previous games in the series without spoiling anything: showed the characters, summarised events, and introduced where the new game was starting. My personal favourite:

I have to agree with this person. Kingdom Hearts still rules the opening sequences, sequel or not.

Utada Hikaru provides some amazing music with these very cinematic and beautiful cutscenes.

both KH intros were great

Dawn of War, for sure. I still watch that cinematic for kicks. If the upcoming Ultramarines movie manages to be half that epic, it will be a spectacular success.
I must embed it, to subject those who have not seen it to the copious amounts of win.




Although Warcraft III and Borderlands had pretty great openers too.

also epic

for the fanboys (skip the first minute):

Epic indeed, i watched it twice.

OT: Probably that, FF II, or Sonic Unleashed

the disidia intro made me buy the game

The DoW ones are pretty good, but I just love this little gem

Spoiler

Ah, not as common a game, but still brilliant, one of the best RTS games I have ever played, even if it can get a bit difficult.

damm beaten to