Top 10 Video Game Cutscene Introductions (PS1, PS2, Xbox and GameCube eras)

I posted a couple of videos on YouTube a while back and I decided to post them here, as well.

Both videos contain my top 10 favourite videogame cutscene introductions from the previous generation of consoles (PS1, PS2, GameCube and Xbox).  

The first video countdown features number 10 - 6.

10. Tomb Raider II (played on PlayStation 1) - The first Tomb Raider game is my favourite of the series, but I prefer the introductory cutscene of the sequel.  I always thought the imagery of ancient monks battling a dragon outside the Great Wall of China was a great sequence.  Also, the cutscene put emphasis on the dagger, showing it to be a powerful ancient artifact, which was a good premise for a Tomb Raider adventure.

09.  Splinter Cell (played on PlayStation 2) - The intro for the first Splinter Cell was not in the original Xbox version of the game (although, I believe that the cutscene was in the GameCube version).  The cutscene concentrated on two agents, Alice Madison and Robert Blaustein, infiltrating Georgia and revealed how they were caught before the events of Splinter Cell.

I liked this cutscene as there is no talking for the first half of the cutscene, and instead an epic orchestral score plays in the background whilst the agents undergo their mission.  Splinter Cell, for me, was the first stealth game that I enjoyed after playing the Metal Gear Solid games.

08.  God of War II (played on PlayStation 2) - The first scene opens up as Kratos (Spoilers for the first God of War) sits on his Mount Olympus throne as the Greek God of War - having defeated the original God of War, Ares in the first game.

Kratos returns to earth, all giant God-sized, to assist his army in conquering Rhodes.  Then, all of a sudden the colossus of Rhodes, one of the ancient wonders of the world, is engulfed in lightening and comes to life During the same time Kratos has been struck down and shrinks to human size as the scene ends, thus eluding to an epic boss fight.

07.  Final Fantasy VII (played on PlayStation 1) - Ah, Final Fantasy VII, a game that is beloved by many game-players across the world.  Final Fantasy VII fans have been crying out for a remake ever since the intro was remade to showcase the graphical capabilities of the PlayStation 3.

The scene opens up looking up at the stars in the night sky, which then cuts to a woman walking down an alleyway, (she would become a key character in the story and be the highlight of one of the most remembered moments among game-players) then the camera pans out to a vibrant and bustling city full of traffic.  The camera continues to pan out until the whole city is seen in a birds eye view, the Final Fantasy VII logo is shown, then the battle music starts and the camera quickly zooms back into the city and focuses on a moving train that eventually comes to a halt at a station.  That's when the characters jump out of the train and immediately become controllable.  

That is what was so impressive at the time - the fact that a FMV sequence would play, then what appeared to be seamless, the player could take control of the characters.

06.  The Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (played on PlayStation 1) - I did not actually play this PlayStation 1 game until the early days of the PlayStation 3.  I played a demo of the game, way back in 1999, and that was when I first witnessed the opening scene to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.

The scene details how Raziel was betrayed by his master - Kain.  Both Raziel and Kain are vampires and they live in a future where the world is overrun by demons and vampires - it is all a very Gothic affair.  The voice acting is superb, the characters have a very distinctive feel to them and the dialogue is rather excellent.  A lot of games today, even two generations later, do not have dialogue and voice acting that matches LOK: Soul Reaver - it was truly ahead of its time, in terms of she script and dialogue.

The second video countdown features number 5 - 1

05.  Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (played on PlayStation 2) - The opening cinematic begins with this memorable quote of the narration from the main character:

                        "Most people think time is like a river, that flows swift and sure in one direction but I have seen the face of time and can tell you that they are wrong.  Time is like an ocean in a storm, you may wonder who I am and why I say this, sit down and I will tell you a tale like none you have ever heard."

I as soon as I heard these opening words for the first time, I knew that it was going to be a memorable game, and it certainly was.

04.  Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem - An exclusive title to the Nintendo GameCube and one of my favourite horror games.  The opening scene is narrated by Edward Roivas who tells the player that, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, the human race has been on the verge of extinction for two millennia.  

As Edward Roivas narrates, the camera stays focused on the 'Tome of Eternal Darkness' - a key element in both the game-play and the cutscenes that will play out as the story continues.  The background music has dark brooding undertones, which help to set up the story that is to come.

03.  Half Life 2 (played on PC) - The actual movie part of the introduction does not last very long, but i feel the real introduction also includes the game-play at the beginning of the game.  That is what the whole of Half Life 2 was about - it was a game that could have a great story without having to take control away from the player and showing them a 10 minute cutscene.

"Rise and shine, Mr Freeman, rise and shine" - the G man says to Gordon Freeman as he (or should I say the player) is awoken from his slumber.  At the beginning of Half Life 2 Freeman awakens to a very different world he knows.  The world has changed while Freeman has been in his slumber - awaken by the G man for unknown reasons.  Now, Freeman is walking around a dystopian world that is not far removed from George Orwell's classic novel, 1984.  

Humans are now dressed up in uniformed greyish prison-like clothing and appear to be slaves to the invading combine soldiers.  Whilst walking around the area, the player (or Freeman), may notice a man, acting quite crazy, telling you not to drink the water because they (the combine) put something into it - is it true what this man is saying or are they just  paranoid delusions of a man who has lost touch with reality? (maybe both).

After playing the first Half Life, I did not expect the sequel to start quite like the way it did.

02.  Shadow of the Colossus (played on PlayStation 2) - The sequel or Prequel to Ico?  It has been confirmed that it happens in the same world, but it is a very ambiguous game just like Ico.  There is not much dialogue in the game and when it is spoken it appears to be in some unknown language - that is understood by the player in subtitle form.  Does it take place in the past and are they speaking an ancient earth language that is yet to be discovered?  Maybe the game takes place in another world on the other side of the universe in a galaxy far, far away (sorry, bad Star Wars pun).  Or perhaps, it takes place on a parallel earth?

Anyway, game players will talk about the philosophical aspects of the game for years.  The Introduction of the game involves a young man riding his horse through the beautiful landscapes of his world and it is all set to an amazing piece of music full of haunting vocals and stirring sounds of violin strings.  The young man finally reaches his destination, an ancient structure with a seemingly endless bridge connecting the building and land together.

The second part of the introduction (not in the above video, because it was would go over my YouTube time limit) shows the young man entering the building and riding into a throne-like room where a stone pedestal sits at the far end.  Something wrapped up in a blanket is draped over his horse; he takes the blanket from the horse and gently places it over the stone pedestal.  He casts the blanket aside and a girl lying silent is revealed to be underneath the blanket.

It is at this time the player will realise why the young man has come to this place, he wants to bring this girl back to the world of the living.

01.  Silent Hill 2 (played on PlayStation 2) - The first scene of Silent Hill 2 opens up with the main protagonist, James, staring at a reflection of his face in the mirror of a disgustingly dirty and empty public restroom.  He lets out a huge sigh of relief, as if he is releasing a great weight from his mind, or psyching himself up for what is to come.

After the short scene in the restroom he walks outside and takes in the view of the mist covered trees and lake in front of him.  A brief monologue begins spoken by the wife of James, the music is eerie and captures the mood of the ghostly empty town of Silent Hill.  After, the brief monologue from his wife, the music changes and a monologue from James begins.  James speaks of how he has been receiving letters from his wife asking him to come to their 'special place', which James interprets to mean somewhere in Silent Hill.  What really is strange though, is that Mary has been dead for three years, and yet he has been receiving letters from her, which apparently appear to be in her handwriting.

This was the first game I fully played in the Silent Hill series and it remains to be my favourite Silent Hill.  The developer dropped the idea of occult rituals that were seen in the first Silent Hill (although they were to be brought back in later sequels).  I thought by not using occult devices in the story, then the characters and the story became more meaningful, and a lot of what happens is up to interpretation rather than just explaining it away with occult reasons.

The idea, that was seen in the introduction, of a man receiving letters from his dead wife, grabbed my attention and resulted in my interest in the Silent Hill series.