The Best Video Game Beginnings and Openin Sequences
There's no second chance to make a good first impression. These games didn't squander the unique opportunity and delivered some of the most outstanding opening sequences in the industry.
Table of Contents
- The Best Video Game Beginnings and Openin Sequences
- Medal of Honor: Frontline – like Saving Private Ryan
- BioShock – Underwater world with a touch of decadence
- Mass Effect 2 – Biggest earthquake? Death
- Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Getting on the wrong train
- The Last of Us – Idyll to apocalypse in 15 mins
- Nier: Automata – a masterpiece that surprises everyone
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain – whale and unicorn burn in the sky
- Final Fantasy VII – a bombastic start
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – yellow subtitles always promise an "epic" introduction
Nier: Automata – a masterpiece that surprises everyone
- Developer: Platinum Games
- Year: 2017
- Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
During the first 30 minutes of the prologue of Nier: Automata there is so much going on that it could be used for five different games, each of which would be original and complete. The developers at Platinum Games have proven that you don't need a film crew from Hollywood to create an interesting, engaging opening. Classic arcade games' methods will easily suffice.
Nier: Automata begins with a fight sequence in a futuristic fighter jet, which is viewed from above, like in the venerable River Raid. After a while, you can see the ship from the side, and the game becomes a 1980s', Defender-style side-scrolling action shooter. The pace doesn't slow down and right after that, when we seize control of the protagonist proper, with the game turning into the TPP slasher. Small enemies are replaced by a large machine, then standard enemies appear again, and we get back to top-down perspective. And for the creators ofNier, this is just a warm-up, as the game completely switches the perspective, and with it, gameplay modes, several times.
The interweaving of various classic genres is accompanied by an amazing soundtrack and original designs of enemies and the entire Nier aesthetics in general. This world is already interesting as such, and on top of the whirlwind of struggle, questions arise: "Who are we?"; "what do we fight for?" Automata is a masterpiece both in artistic and gameplay terms – a total game right from the start, and it gets even better and more interesting later on.
