Greatest Opening Scenes in Gaming History

Everyone loves a good scene setter. Something to get you hooked, something to open your eyes to a new experience and most importantly, to make you give a damn.

This last part is especially important for games. The opening moments can make or break the success of a game, thats why we have demos. The modern gamer has a try before you buy mentality and this has led to developers constructing ever more lavish opening acts in the hope of garnering the favour of the masses. This has produced some of gamings most cherished moments Shock and awe is a marketable commodity and the games presented here are the absolute epitome of scene setters.

Ok, so this isn't technically at the beggining of the game, but it does set up the story and kickstart the events of COD4's awesome single player campaign. Borrowing wholesale an Idea from a certain high ranking game in this list (clue: its at number one), this scene puts you in the body of a Middle Eastern official as he is driven to his own execution. As the car slowly approaches its destination, the player is allowed to observe the events of a bloody coup de tat. Vicious dogs scuttle through alleyways and terrified bystanders hide from the site of your captors. Then things get darker as we witness beatings and firing squads before the scenes shocking conclusion. Its a perfect example of COD4's action movie narrative mechanics and a brave choice for developers Infinity Ward, who prove they are as confident telling a story as they are at constructing a good shooter.

BEST BIT: That ending. Al Fulani is dragged from the car and tied to a pole in the middle of a courtyard. One of his captors bellows a speech into a camera then casually approaches Fulani/you, points the gun in his/your face and pulls the trigger.

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