Best opening levels in gaming

VM writes: "Since we're on Level 1 of 12 in the game of 2012, we look back at classic first levels/opening sequences in gaming. Here are 10 of the best."

[MrGunny94]

Ah yes.... Goldeneye, Impossible to forget such a great game... This was the game that made me get a N64 :)

[DarkBlood]

your telling me :P this was my first game i bought when i got the n64 lol

[aCasualGamer]

My favorite is God of War 3, without a doubt.

Climbing on mount Olympus on a Titans shoulder was the greatest thing i've ever seen. Little did i know, seconds later i was gonna kill the God of sea Poseidon after one hell of a bossfight.

Best opening of a game, ever.. period.

[Tainted Gene]

I still remember trading my copy of MK Sub-Zero Myth. on the N64 for Goldeneye with a friend. Probably THE best trade I have ever made in my life.

[n4f]

poor guy

[Pozzle]

Amen to that! :D
I still remember the epic music that played during that first level: http://www.youtube.com/watc... - Such a great way to start a game :)

[nevin1]

The God Of War games and MGS2 boat level.

[Disccordia]

I was gonna say MGS. Truly the first cinematic game to my knowledge. The whole direction with the credits rolling were very innovative back then.

[DaReapa]

Took the words right out of my mouth. I'd never witnessed anything like it up to that time. Still to this day, I have never seen presentation innovation to the degree that MGS provided during its time.

[Solid_Snake37]

oh yeah! hahaaha the Tanker level was absolutely amazing. Mgs3's opening level was amazing too, finding out the Boss 'betrayed' you was memorable too

[Genghis]

I loved how that awesome credits sequence rolled after you beat the tanker in MGS2, then you're Raiden...for the rest of the damn game. Awesome.

[Sizzon]

Goldeneye 007 for the N64 had a great opening, and also God of War, starting on that ship ^^

[Pikajew]

Golden Eye was one of the first games I played and I still remember the first level

[gillri]

great picks there, all of them but ME2 reasonated with me the most, very emotional

[peowpeow]

Yayaya me too :)

[Genghis]

Yeah, that's my favorite on the list. Honestly, I'm surprised Saints Row 2 isn't on the list.

[OhMyGandhi]

Metroid Prime 1.
Halo 1.
Dead Space 1.
Killzone 2 did a good job at bringing you in, but from a level design standpoint it was rather average and not terribly memorable.

I also want to say the first or second modern warfare (I keep typing 'warefare' for some reason) with the whole sinking boat section was rather spectacular.

they mentioned Half Life and I couldn't agree more.
I also enjoyed the opening sequence from "The Darkness" with the car driving sequence.

Goldeneye has one of the most memorable opening levels, I could probably draw that entire section with my eyes closed.

Doom 3 had a pretty damned cool opening section, too.

[TheDivine]

Demons Souls was pretty damn awesome. Didnt know what to expect with that i tried so hard to beat that boss. Didnt know you were supposed to lose.

Uncharted 2 of course. Set the tone for the game.

Me2 was epic. Racing through a destroyed ship just to get blown up and float away. I was hooked from that point.

Lost Odyssey was the best jrpg intro. Starts out in a massive battle where you just keep mowing down people and big ass machines for what seems like an eternity until a meteor falls and kills everyone except you.

The worst opening EVER had to be Infinite Undiscovery. Made me want to slap myself for even buying the game and slap my mom for giving birth to someone who bought that game. If you tough it out the game gets really good down the road but man that sucked balls. You had to escape from jail with this big ogre like enemy chased you down and i think i remember you had to shoot these barrels or something else i didnt figure out for like 20 minutes. It was just annoying and frustrating.

[xYLeinen]

You forgot to add Red Dead Redemption..

[DaReapa]

At first, I was like "RDR??", but then I started thinking about the opening credits where you're eavesdropping on the women's conversation of the state of the West which basically reveals the backdrop of the entire game. Not to mention, the ensuing developments with the McFarland family. Good choice.

[iamnsuperman]

Frontline had a great opening level

[BlmThug]

God of war games. Opening levels re pure gold and so is the rest of the game

[shamrockroll]

Dead Space 2!Fantastic!
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[MWH]

short list but far from bad.

[rattletop]

ME2 and the witcher 2. the witcher 2, i like because of triss. lol

[eARThRiot]

Good list!

[The_Devil_Hunter]

The Uncharted 2 beginning level was jaw dropping indeed my favorite opening a game has have.
I might get bashed but I also enjoyed The opening mission in Devil May Cry 3. The badass meter went up as soon as Dante started talking.

[linkratos]

For me it had to be Bob-Omb Battlefield (combined with the castle courtyard). Learning how to run and jump in 3d and then applying it in a really fun level with cheerful music was awesome.

Also all 3 God of War games had epic intro levels

[MizTv]

kz2 it was awesome

[MidnightSpecial]

Can't really argue with much on here, apart from the fact that a list of ten is a little too short. There's always going to be ommisions in a list like this :(

[Trevonn]

UNCHARTED 2! UNCHARTED 2! UNCHARTED 2!

[edwoods]

final fantasy 7 had the most exciting opening for me throwing u right into the action off the train

[bozebo]

Some other awesome ones: FF7/10, Losy Odyssey, TW2, Halo 1/2/3, MGS 1/2/4.

And many more :P

[Zephol]

Dead Space 1, Mass Effect 2, Uncharted 2, Metal gear Solid 2.

[PandemicPrawn0]

Goldeneye for sure.
KOTOR.
Super Mario Bros.(NES)

Halo CE has one of the best 2nd levels of all time.

[Venjense]

excellent list

[nik666uk]

James Bond Nightfire

[nik666uk]

COD4 and GTA4(after the long painful wait for it to be released!!)