11 Best Video Game Intros Of All Time

Posted on Sunday, March 3 @ 12:53:01 Eastern by Alex_Osborn

9. Halo 4

Technology has come a long way, and Halo 4's jaw-dropping intro is evidence to this. With the advancements in motion capture and facial animation, the opening moments of 343 Industries' first entry in the Halo franchise is no doubt a memorable one. Not only is it pretty to look at, but it also fleshes out a substantial chunk of the series' backstory—something fans have been clamoring for quite some time. I couldn't imagine a better way to kick off a new trilogy.

8. Half-Life 2

"Wake up Mr. Freeman." That line will be etched in gamers' minds for years to come. The iconic intro to Valve's Half-Life sequel was not only groundbreaking for the time visually, but the way it introduced the player to the world was engaging on a level we had never seen before. The studio's approach to interactive storytelling was made clear right from the outset and pulled gamers in the minute they were given control. Since then, many have tried to emulate Valve's stunning accomplishment, but very few have succeeded.

Tags: Mario, Batman, Halo, Half-Life, BioShock, Final Fantasy, Uncharted, Kingdom Hearts, Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid

Comments

Lien
Joined: Feb 2008

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 1:23 pm
I groaned at the halo 4 being picked. Sure, it's a great intro, one of the best in years especially with facial rendering and all that. But i doubt it should count as one of the best "of all time".
Everything else does stand out though. I would of picked or give an honorable mention to Starcraft, the one where those unfortunate miners get blasted by a higher form of intelligence or even diablo 2 where it looked like the game starts like a western feel but all of a sudden... BAM! demons! Heck i could stretch and even say warcraft 3 with the bad omen appearing in the middle of a duel and the demons appearing in Thrall's vision.
Oh and what about Onimusha 3? Demons in Paris and it got jean reno! Or any other random Japanese games where it starts with a war to end all war intro.

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SolidSevchinko78
Joined: Jun 2012

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 1:53 pm
I agree with you about Halo 4 there were several other intros I could have put in that position.

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reiandcoke
Joined: Jul 2011

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 2:34 pm
I played Halo 4 less than 4 months ago and honestly don't even remember the intro.

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 4:09 pm
Seriously?! How could you forget that look on Dr. Halsey's FACE???!

:D

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oblivion437
Joined: Nov 2006

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 1:33 pm
Fallout 2 is probably one of the best intros ever. Every once in a while I involuntarily hum the bars to "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" and I haven't played Fallout 2 in years. Command and Conquer and Red Alert contained intros beyond good. Both System Shock games had great intros. Then there's Descent: Freespace; non-stop panic and misunderstanding until the very end, when the panic and fear is demonstrated fully wise.

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SolidSevchinko78
Joined: Jun 2012

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 1:54 pm
Those are the best intros! Ones that stick with you long after you finish the game.

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omega711
Joined: Aug 2012

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 2:03 pm
i must say, i didn't think of command and conquer intros until you mentioned them, but they do have some above and beyond openings that should gain a shout out

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Jobin_Wendy
Joined: Mar 2012

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 2:30 pm
I just started playing Fallout 2 again recently, and I had forgotten how great the intro was.

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reiandcoke
Joined: Jul 2011

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 2:35 pm
Fallout 3 was great too. Leaving the Vault for the first time was epic

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cyberjim2000
Joined: Feb 2010

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 3:23 pm
They should've had Louis Armstrong's music for the radio in Fallout 3. The intro was the greatest in Fallout 2.

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cyberjim2000
Joined: Feb 2010

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 1:40 pm
Mechwarrior 4... well... pretty much all of the Mechwarrior games have pretty good intros:
youtube.com/watch?v=QxfKZZ4RNng

Witcher 2 Intro:
youtube.com/watch?v=tEA_wUk5pUs

And the intro of CoD4 was pretty good where you're the president of a Middle Eastern country and they drag you around, tie you up, then executed you.

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 2:05 pm
True. Call of Duty 4 had a great opener. That first level was pretty epic, too.

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oblivion437
Joined: Nov 2006

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 3:12 pm
Both Witcher games have great intros. I love seeing just how brutally efficient Letho is.

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sliverstorm
Joined: Jun 2007

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 8:39 pm
Witcher 2's opening was just stupidly good. I bought the game solely based on that cinematic.

...which led me to be super disappointed in the combat when I realized it was more standard RPG and less Fantasy DMC.

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xDUMPWEEDx
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 1:54 pm
What about A Link to the Past?

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 2:04 pm
It came awfully close to making the list!

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reiandcoke
Joined: Jul 2011

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 2:35 pm
What about Twilight Princess.... oh wait

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reiandcoke
Joined: Jul 2011

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 2:40 pm
I would also like to add Super Metroid and Metroid Prime to this list. The boss fight/escape to start the game is awesome.

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Master_Craig
Joined: Jul 2006

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 2:40 pm
That's a good list, but I'm surprised Final Fantasy VIII's intro didn't make it (the full motion video sequence of Squall and Seifer fighting, with the orchestrated music in the background). That's a lot more memorable to me than Final Fantasy VII.

I LOVE the intro of Fallout 2. It's done so well. Now I want to play that damn game again...

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Chunibrow
Joined: Mar 2010

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 2:44 pm
I would give Half-Life 1 the top spot. Putting it in context with when it came out, it was mind-blowing. Never had a video game immersed you like that, and it was the most cinematic intro yet seen.

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cyberjim2000
Joined: Feb 2010

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 3:22 pm
I remembered the tram ride. For me, it was different because when the guard walks up and supposed to open the door for you, he mysteriously dies. I stood there for 20 minutes before I figured out something was wrong. After I reinstalled Windows due to a virus, it finally worked.

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MandaloreHunter
Joined: Aug 2012

Posted: Mar 4th, 2013 at 8:05 am
Agreed, Half-Life should be on there. Hell Half-Life should be on just about any "best of" list by default, I mean it's freaking Half-Life!!

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Beta_GR
Joined: Jun 2006

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 2:52 pm
I'd replace Mass Effect 2 with Mass Effect 1.

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Crackman
Joined: Jul 2011

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 3:26 pm
Where the hell is Soul Edge? This is a travesty.
Best intro ever

youtube.com/watch?v=Yxrpyv8SNS4

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Crackman
Joined: Jul 2011

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 3:30 pm
Soul Blade, sorry

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reiandcoke
Joined: Jul 2011

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 3:41 pm
I would also like to add Super Metroid and Metroid Prime to this list. The boss fight/escape to start the game is awesome.

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HorriblePerson
Joined: Sep 2011

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 3:52 pm
I'd include Persona 3 on this list, but to each his own. The list is pretty solid, though.

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Alex_Osborn
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 4:07 pm
I'm going to YouTube Persona 3's intro right now.

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JerryW
Joined: Feb 2013

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 4:08 pm
I thought FF8 and FFX had better intros than FF7. Especially FFX. The intro to Lost Odyssey and Xenogears were pretty cool too.

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JerryW
Joined: Feb 2013

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 4:10 pm
I thought FF8 and FFX had better intros than FF7. Especially FFX. The intro to Lost Odyssey and Xenogears were pretty cool too.

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De-Ting
Joined: Nov 2006

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 4:19 pm
Diablo II.

Face.

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Ivory_Soul
Joined: Nov 2005

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 5:05 pm
BioShock's opening was amazing. I personally like Mortal Kombat: Armageddon's intro.

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TheJx4
Joined: Jun 2011

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 5:31 pm
Hmm, surprised Borderlands wasn't on here.

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friggest
Joined: Mar 2008

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 6:04 pm
RE 2 or RE 3 here good to set you up for the game.
Company of Heros had great intro as well.

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Klandathu
Joined: Apr 2008

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 11:27 pm
Bioshock's spot on there is well-deserved absolutely stunning. I remember the demo of the game ended at the part where you're locked in the room with the Splicer's smashing at the windows trying to get in to you. I was pants-pissingly terrified.

I also think that Portal 2 should get at least an honorable mention.

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Klandathu
Joined: Apr 2008

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2013 at 11:29 pm
Bioshock's spot on there is well-deserved; the intro is absolutely stunning.*

Little bit of a grammar fail on my part there.

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Nick_Tan
Joined: Jul 2006

Posted: Mar 4th, 2013 at 12:13 am
I still remember Final Fantasy VIII's intro vividly. That song is so dramatic. In fact, I don't even have to play FFVIII again. I can just watch the intro and say, "Yep, pretty much."

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Kakulukia
Joined: Nov 2005

Posted: Mar 4th, 2013 at 1:29 am
I would agree if not for that stupid meaningless text ruining it.

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ballabert
Joined: Jul 2011

Posted: Mar 4th, 2013 at 5:39 am
Nice! Mass Effect 2 and Metal Gear 3, great picks, but I kinda like the intro to ME 3 better, but thats not really an intro I guess, more of an early cutscene.

still remember the first time landing in the jungle with Snake

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Mobius_Sean
Joined: Sep 2006

Posted: Mar 4th, 2013 at 7:15 am
I'm going to posit the radical notion FF7 made the list simply for being FF7. Judged on intros alone 8 and 9 blow it out of the water. And now to feel old, the ones that stuck with me the most:

Homeworld:

Mechwarrior 2:

Total Annihilation:

Descent: Freespace:

All that made the list were great, though, as well as what everyone else has mentioned. The ones I linked to above are just some of the ones I can say definitively shaped me as a gamer.

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Mobius_Sean
Joined: Sep 2006

Posted: Mar 4th, 2013 at 7:17 am
Or would have linked to if I hadn't forgotten links are disabled here... Grrr

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CaptainPicard
Joined: Sep 2010

Posted: Mar 4th, 2013 at 9:02 pm
I absolutely LOVEd Total Annihilation, it did have a great intro. I even got so into that story i read some fanfiction on it

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Dirtywalnuts
Joined: Feb 2012

Posted: Mar 4th, 2013 at 7:39 am
Wrath of the Lich Kings intro. Arthas was such a badass.

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MandaloreHunter
Joined: Aug 2012

Posted: Mar 4th, 2013 at 7:56 am
I would also say Arkham City also. Starting as Bruce and then beating the crap out of Joker!!! And then seeing the Batsuit for the first time in the game, absolutely awesome intro!!

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Lethean
Joined: Jan 2001

Posted: Mar 4th, 2013 at 10:35 am
The Witcher 2 should definitely be on there. Maybe even replace Arkham Asylum. Sure it was awesome the first time but after that not so much. I'd also put the FFX intro up there. Oh and Skyrim! Best intro ever. (Kidding about Skyrim).

Honestly I'm surprised there's no Blizzard titles on this list

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