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Top 5 Game Intros - #1

Skrivet av Peddi93 den 14 augusti 2013 kl 16:24

1) God of War III

The grand daddy of intros:
God of War III has the most epic intro that I have experienced.

This is the only time I can recall having to pause a game in order to just cool down due to my mind not quite being able to comprehend what I just went through.

While The Last of Us truly makes one emotional, God of War III overwhelms you in terms of sheer epicness.

It constantly builds up and surpasses your initial reaction to the point where you are left with your jaw on the floor. The overall idea is insane so lets get started.

"The measure of a man is what he does with power

Plato"

We then hear Gaia narrating about Kratos "...The hands of death could not defeat him, the sisters of fate could not hold him, and on this day, the man, the legend, Kratos will have his revenge."

As the cinematography has you in awe, Zeus is delivering a speech regarding Mount Olympus and its past. As we travel higher and higher, we see several titans climbing up the mountain.

As Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hermes and Helios look down upon thee, each of them getting ready for battle with Zeus also giving a nod to Hercules: We finally see Kratos. Let me remind you that we have not seen Kratos since God of war II, this game is a direct continuation of off it.

"Zeus, your son has returned, I bring you the destruction of Olympus!"

As you battle mininons ontop of Gaia who in turn is climbing Mount Olympus with the amazing soundtrack playing, if you were to look up goosbumps in the dictionary, it should be right next to God of War III.

Poseidon leaps down and tackles down a titan as they both fall into the ocean. Something similar to an arm comes out of the ocean, which is pulling down Gaia. You can also see the same thing happening to many other titans in the background.

Suddenly this huge sea horse appears from the wrist of Gaia. You engage in battle as the camera pans from normal to major zoom out where Kratos looks as an ant while you still have control. This happens several times. Gaia turns her hand due to the pain and everything is flipped upside down. She moves her arm upwards to resume climbing and you yourself climb her wrist upwards to finish the monster. It's crazy!

As you break its jaw and kill it, Kratos latches onto the mountain itself and starts to climb up. He sees Hades pulling down another titan and leaping onto it. Moving on after some basic platforming: You see Helios firing at another titan.

You meet up with Gaia as another sea horse appears out of her neck this time and she grabs onto it. You go around the whole area and as you open a door, the sea horse throws himself at you with its tail, trying to impale you. As you grab onto it with your blades and ascend to the top of Gaia again. You cannot start to wonder:
How many of these are there?!

After stabbing the sea horse in its "heart" with its own "tail-leg", you are given some time to cool off. You climb into the body of Gaia where you even see her heart. You then make your way out of her body and then up to her head.

Suddenly you are presented to another sea monster and to the left of it... the revelation hits you.

"You challenge me, mortal? A god of Olympus?!" as the text pops up showing: "Poseidon".

Poseidon has taken a giant water form and the sea monsters we have been fighting are like legs in contrast to the several headed sea horses he is sitting on.

"A true warrior does not hide Poseidon! Leave the sea and face me"

"You have disrespected the gods for the last time, Kratos!"

And so you fight Poseidon through several stages. Toward the end: Gaia punches the giant solid form of Poseidon and sends Kratos flying through it. As he emerges out, Kratos is seen grabbing Poseidon and the sea figures all fade back to plain liquid.

Lastly we are left with one of the most brutal and gruesome death scenes. For the first time ever: you actually see how it is to die by the hands of Kratos, due to the camera being from the point of view of Poseidon.

After having snapped the neck and poked Poseidons eyes out (literary), Gaia and Kratos climb to the top where Zeus sends both of them falling down through a lightning bolt. Gaia then betrays Kratos by saying that he was a simple pawn, nothing more.

As Kratos narrates his past and why he needs vengeance, he falls into the river of styx losing all of his powers and the game intro finishes.

Everything from the overall gameplay, soundtrack, writing in terms of design on the encounters, the narrator and character dialouges, the insane over the top scenario and execution in general is masterful. The result is the most epic intro that I have gotten the pleasure of playing. This IS the reason I want a God of War IV.

Santa Monica Studios said that it took the entire man power behind all of God of War I to successfully pull off this 30-45 minute intro.

It sure was worth it.

Link => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9AcOMJDEig&hd=1

Top 5 Game Intros - #1

Sony Santa Monica Studio, 2010

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Top 5 Game Intros - #2

Skrivet av Peddi93 den 13 augusti 2013 kl 18:34

2) The Last of Us
SPOILERS BELOW!

I have to be honest. Upon making this list, The Last of Us was #1 in my mind. However after actually replaying it along with.. the upcoming #1, I had a change of heart.

It really is a toss up. #1 and #2 are vastly different. Choosing one was extremely difficult and they are both leading in their respective genres.

The game begins by showing Sarah. A little girl who'm is absolutely adorable. As soon as the game started, I instantly knew what was coming. Considering the fact that Sarah is not on the cover of the game:
You know that she has to go.

Naughty Dogs brilliant execution here allows for an already known event to still hit hard. Very hard.

You actually get to control Sarah and as much as she is confused and lost in this world as the outbreak is starting: So too are we, the player.

As we are woken up by a call from our uncle Tommy, you realise something is wrong. After meeting up with our dad whom kills the neighbour next door for acting like a diseased zombie: we are then inside the car of Tommy as the three of us are heading out of the city.

You are able to look around in the car and see the police cars passing by, a barn is on fire, people are running around in fear. It is chaotic and the sheer atmosphere is untouchable.

Suddenly a car approaches from the left side and hits us. Sarah suffers an injury to her leg to the point where her dad, Joel has to carry her. We are now playing as Joel as we hold Sarah in our arms running through the city.

There's fire everywhere, explosions are frequent, cars are colliding.

"Quick, we'll go through the alley" Tommy shouts. As we see more of the infected climbing over the fence, I can only think about running and keeping Sarah safe.

"I'll hold them off, you got Sarah, go!" Tommy shouts as Joel decides to run on his own. You are able to see the bridge in the distance and you know that it is our ticket out of this hell hole. As you're sprinting, you see the shadow of two infected behind you as you are running for everything you're worth.

Bullets are fired and the infected behind you fall. It is someone from the militia. Thank god, we're safe.

"Listen buddy, we've just been through hell..."

As the milita is given orders from his superiors, he raises his carbine and fires directly at Joel and Sarah.

Sarah shouts as we see Joel falling down pleading for his life with the militia ready to finish him. A gunshot puts the militia man down and Tommy emerges as the one who saves Joel.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Sarah whom is bleeding from what appears to be her abdomen. Joel holds her dearly as Sarah is slowly fading and leaving the world. "Don't do this to me baby, don't do this" And then.. she's gone.

The intro credits begin with the amazing main soundtrack of Gustavo Santaolalla explaining the event more thoroughly.

F*** me... This is by far the most powerful intro of them all and just typing this made me almost consider putting it at #1. It really is that close. I don't weep very easily although it does happen if I am invested but I cannot recall a game ever having me fall tears within the first fifteen minutes of playing it.

From a story, narrative, character and pure atmosphere perspective: The Last of Us has the greatest intro. There is however one game that has a more memorable one from an epic, scale, music, gameplay, pure "idea" and overall satisfaction level. Infact it is so good that the rest of the game rarely ever gets up to that high point again.

Anyhow, this intro will not be forgotten by anyone who touches it and it is a part of the many highlights of The Last of Us. It is truly tragic and heartbreaking.

Lastly, the ending parallels the intro in a similar fashion and I would argue it reaches even higher than it. Bravo Naughty Dog.

Link => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gk-QXZkUL8&hd=1

(I recommend people to look for "Let's Plays" of this game. They are highly entertaining as people try to hold themselves from shedding tears.)

Top 5 Game Intros - #2

Naughty Dog, 2013

Top 5 Game Intros - #3

Skrivet av Peddi93 den 13 augusti 2013 kl 14:28

3. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Partially due to the amazing Uncharted 2: Simply seeing Nathan Drake with Victor Sullivan at the beginning of Uncharted 3 had me lose it.

The way the game begins was a complete shocker to me and it also is one of the main reasons as to why I loved the game as a whole. The theme of deception is used throughout and it is made very clear early on.

Unlike Uncharted 2s intro, Uncharted 3 contained some really unexpected plot twists that I do not think most saw coming, at all.

Prior to the games release: Sony and Naughty Dog had marketed the game rather heavily which to some extent felt like there might not be much left in the bag. This was completely shattered during the first few minutes though.

The actual soundtrack for the intro is called 'The Setup'. I imagine if I knew that before hand, I would've been more prepared. It truly is an amazing way to setup the game. Pun intended. Anyhow let us get down to it!

Like the two games before, we are initially presented to a quote which is being read by Nolan North, himself =>

"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find... that it was vanity.

But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.

This... I did."

T.E. Lawrence
"Lawrence of Arabia"

Following shortly: 'The Setup' starts playing, and we see a bunch of british folkes hanging out in a local pub in London. Making a transition: we also see Drake and Sully walking in the streets. A car is passing by, Sully ditches his lit cigarr (that must've been hard) and the two friends enter the pub going upstairs.

There they are searched by a man who goes by the name of Charlie Cutter. As Drake is about to sell his beloved ring which has been passed down from his great ancestor himself (to some evil James Bond look-alike I might add), Sully claims that the money they are selling it for is "phony like a three dollar bill".

Long story short: A brawl breaks out within the bar and the game displays the new contextual sensitive combat system found in the game.

I didn't even realise there was such a system prior to launch...

The "first round" of sorts is more of a tutorial and the "second round" is where you get more of the control back. While the feeling of hitting people with bottles and such is rewarding, the truth is that the way the actual brawl is coreographed at first and later given to you to continue is marvelous. You can really tell that The Last of Us melee combat was an evolution off of Uncharted 3.

We also get to fight a brute of sorts who'm nearly kicks Drakes ass only to have him end up with his face into the toilet.

Moving on: Drake and Sully almost make it out. Unfortunately Cutter and his company catches them and starts beating them down.

Shortly there after: Drake has his ring stolen by a woman who seems to be the leader of some organization. And then Cutter shoots Drake and Sully in cold blood as they both drop dead in an alley.

Flashback is given and voila! Twenty years earlier in Cartagena, Colombia. Welcome to the origin story of Nathan Drake and how he aquired his precious ring while meeting a young Victor Sullivan.

Yeah, I was pretty shocked to say the least. Was Drake and Sully dead? Was the entire game going to be flashbacks? Nope, it turns out that Cutter is revealed to be working with Drake.

Nevertheless, wandering around in Colombia (Not to be mistaken for Columbia from Bioshock Infinite), was absolutely amazing as well. The writing in terms of the setting, dialogue and of course the execution from the voice actors truly shine and did I mention that Drake is playable as a fifteen year old kid?

The fact that you don't get to hold a gun until the whole introduction stage is over is quite refreshing. By simply fist fighting, walking, platforming and having chase sequences on rooftops in Colombia is insanely wicked.

This introduction isn't the kind that I jump in, experience and then quit by saying "Wow". This is the kind of introduction that keeps you playing. I have literary struggled to stop playing the game from when I start a new playthrough due to how well it immerses you. Unlike some of the other games, this intro isn't leaps ahead of the entire game as well. The game actually matches and even surpasses the intro later on which sadly a few games struggle with.

Link => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftD19PWpHok&hd=1

Top 5 Game Intros - #3

Naughty Dog, 2011

Top 5 Game Intros - #4

Skrivet av Peddi93 den 13 augusti 2013 kl 03:19

4) Bioshock: Infinite

Similar to Uncharted 2, the game starts with a quote:

"The mind of a subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist...

Barriers to Trans-Dimensional Travel,
- R. Lutece, 1889"

Without spoiling the game as a whole: Bioshock Infinites intro is filled with cryptic messages that one will not quite understand the first time around.

It takes a rather long time until one realizes what all of that was about. I'd argue you actually need to finish the game once before being able to grasp it.

Despite from the game having one of the most ambitious and fantastic stories: The overall art direction, visuals and music of the intro in particular is stunning.

Seeing Columbia for the first time is by far the highlight of the entire game for me. While there isn't much to be had in terms of gameplay: It simply does not matter.

As the "pod" you are in launches up and you see the city among the clouds, fireworks in the far distance and the music starts playing... It displayed an atmosphere like only a handful of other games have.

Columbia is quite the city and I cannot do it justice by actually typing and trying to explain it from a visual standpoint.

Wandering around the first few minutes was absolutely breathtaking and I enjoyed being able to move the camera like I was showcasing the game similar to what Naughty Dog does when they demo their games. Infact I reckon my friend was a tad annoyed by it.

This is a intro that truly won't ever leave you.

Unfortunately I have not played the original Bioshock but I can imagine that game having a similar kind of effect.

Link => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXayE6pHHjI&hd=1

Top 5 Game Intros - #4

Irrational Games, 2013