When I was younger, the excitement upon acquiring a new video game was not solely due to the anticipation of playing it. The start of a new game meant poring over the game manual (which in those days were weighty tomes of knowledge, unlike today's 5 page leaflet abominations) preparing myself for the experience to come. In addition, the first time that game was booted up, I was treated to the opening cinematic sequence, a (sometimes lengthy) introduction to the story and world which, before modern computing power, often consisted of pre-rendered of filmed sequences whose graphical quality were far superior than the actual game. To this day I still enjoy the opening sequence that greets you like the title sequence to your favorite tv show. The more impatient gamers may simple skip these sequences to get to the gameplay meat, but I've always though of the intros as a little treat from the designers to get me pumped before I play.

With that in mind, I scoured YouTube and dug up a collection of opening cinematics from games that I remembered fondly. In some cases the pieces themselves are not wholly remarkable, but are valuable simply in their ability to evoke the good memories associated with a particular game. Titles link to the relevent video clip.

Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (1988)
LucasArts adventure games were known for, among other things, their catchy themesongs (see: Maniac Mansion). The opening was a little baffling (it is a dream sequence after all) the meaning of the images becoming clear as the game progressed. I never did find that chainsaw.




Prince of Persia (1990)
Before fancy renderings or video, programmers had to work with a limited palette and a paltry number of pixels. The into to this classic game is short and to the point. Prince of Persia's graphics were notable for their fluid character animations achieved through a process similar to rotoscoping.



Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers (1991)
I was a big fan of Sierra adventure games back in the day. If it had "quest" in the title, I probably played it. Space Quest was a favorite for its humor and countless sci-fi and pop culture parodies (as well as amusing death sequences). The fourth entry in the series was probably my favorite and one of more memorable (though I believe I had the non-talkie version).

Star Trek: Judgement Rites (1993)
Judgement Rites was the sequel to Star Trek: The 25th Anniversary released a year earlier, adventure games both being set at the time of the original Enterprise. The games featured the voices of the original cast and did an excellent job of evoking the feel of the show. Each mission started with the classic establishing shot of the Enterprise and writing credits, and the opening cinematic, not surprisingly, recreates that of the television show.

X-COM: UFO Defense (1993)
Also known as UFO: Enemy Unknown, is of the great turn-based strategy games of all time. The intro was surprisingly cheesy and seemingly heavily influenced by Japanese animation (not to mention the music). Even still, the opening brings back great memories.




Tie Fighter (1994)
Tie Fighter and its predecessor, Star War: X-Wing, were my two favorite space combat games of old and wore out at least one joystick. Voice-overs were still relatively new, especially if you didn't own a CD-ROM drive, and seeing anything relating to the Star Wars universe recreated on the computer made me tingle. Added bonus was the appearance of Admiral Thrawn in the opening, a character created in Timothy Zahn's excellent trilogy that started with Heir to the Empire.

Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within (1995)
Sierra (and others) briefly experimented with full-motion video for their adventure games, thinking it would be the "wave of the future". With all these actors around and with digital sets, I guess they felt compelled to create exceptionally long cutscenes and opening sequences, like this one. It is fun to hear them say Schattenjäger, though. I thoroughly enjoyed the first game in the series, which was appropriately dark and featured the voice talents of Tim Curry, Mark Hamill, and Michael Dorn.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity (1995)
Although the CGI renderings of the Enterprise-D crew in this Next Generation title are "crude" by today's standards (Blizzard has spoiled us all), it was hailed as groundbreaking at the time. Still, the foreshortening on Worf's arm bothers me to this day.




Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight (1997)
Each of the openings in the Dark Forces series of games opted for a different technique. The original was done in non-photorealistic renderings, Jedi Knight uses filmed actors and CG elements, and the sequel opted for an opening rendered using the game engine. I particularly enjoyed the actor's portrayal of the blind Dark Jedi Jerec in this and other cutscenes. The creepy mouth movements are killer.

Deus Ex (2000)
I had never heard of Deus Ex when I received it free with either a sound card or video card I had purchased for my PC. It quickly become one of my all-time favorite games. The mixture of first-person shooter and RPG elements made it greatly appealing and fun. The complicated and mysterious backstory and plot made the game more than just a shooter, and made me want to keep playing just to uncover more details. The PS2 version had a pre-rendered intro, apparently.

Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
The darling of the Xbox console, Halo sets its futuristic first-person shooter action to the backdrop of a relatively complicated and mysterious narrative. The games opening sequence introduces us to the Earth-Covenant conflict and our hero, Master Chief, for the first time.




Max Payne (2001)
"They were all dead. The final gunshot was an exclamation point to everything that had led to this point." The titular character's memorable first lines introduce us to the story in media res, an excellent storytelling device that allows the game to come full-circle by its conclusion. The brilliantly conceived graphic novel cutscenes and overly drawn-out dialog cemented the heavy film/pulp noir atmosphere of the game.

Star Trek Armada (2000)
Armada was the obligatory real-time strategy game based on the Trek license. The single-player was fun, if short, though to me it felt a little strange having these starships constrained to a square map and having to collect resources. The intro was awesome, though.




Thief 2: The Metal Age (2000)
Thief was the father of modern stealth gameplay. The cutscenes were appropriately dark and stylized, and helped to reinforce the fantasy steampunk setting. Of particular note were the quotes from fictional "religious" texts sprinkled throughout that fleshed out the philosophies of the game's important factions.



Neverwinter Nights (2001)
The first computer implementation of the 3rd Edition ruleset for D&D met with a great deal of success, particularly due to the inclusion of a toolset that allowed players to create their own adventures for others to play (in single or multiplayer). The opening cinematic is interesting because, although it is certainly cool, it really has nothing to do with the plot of the actual game.


Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (2002)
The undeniable king of modern stealth gameplay opted for a "here's are some of the things you're going to be doing while playing the game" type intro, interspersed with a CGI Sam Fisher. The most memorable part about it for me was the licensing of "Name of the Game" by The Crystal Method, pumping me up to, ironically, sneak around quietly and avoid enemies.


Battlefield Franchise (2002-2006)
I've been a fan of the Battlefield series since 1942 which helped popularize large-scale multiplayer combat with vehicles. The games in the series which span from World War II (intro) through modern and near-modern times (intro) to a century and a half in the future (intro) have always had interesting and exciting opening movies. The main theme is one of my favorite pieces of video game music.

Far Cry (2004)
Although the gameplay difficulty was terribly unbalanced, Far Cry set the bar for gameplay realism with its lush and beautiful jungle environs and enemy AI behavior. The reverse-time opening is somewhat unique in video game opening cinematics and the whole piece does a nice job of setting up the story without a single line of dialog or narration.


Halo 2 (2004)
Halo 2 builds upon the universe established in the first part of the series, giving players their first look at the conflict from the Covenant side. Master Chief manages to still be a badass even when he only has one line of dialog.





Saints Row (2006) (NSFW)
The opening cinematic (and game itself) is unashamedly profane and violent, finally taking full advantage of the game's M rating. 2006's surprise hit, Saints Row took Grand Theft Auto's sandbox style play and tweaked it, with HD "next-gen" graphics to boot. The voice acting in the game was superb (Keith David and Michael Rappaport play major roles) and the cutscenes were surprisingly well done.