Greatest intro movies ever?

Shinn Langley Soryu · Post by **Shinn Langley Soryu** » 2006-09-01 02:55am

Stofsk wrote:Diablo 2's movies were nice... up until you realise the whole Marius plot has absolutely NOTHING to do with what YOU'RE doing, and at the end it's all for naught anyway (meaning there's like 30 minutes of movies all up that serve no useful purpose).

Well, they do provide a nice exposition for Lord of Destruction, but...yeah. They may only have a tangential connection to the original game, but they're still nice and shiny nonetheless.

Karza · Post by **Karza** » 2006-09-01 03:00am

The usuals: Fallout 1 & 2, I-War, DoW.

Also, X-Com: Ufo Defense. The intro had it all: Shit that didn't exist (the X-Com transport craft), people doing what they can't do in-game (soldiers in Personal Armour flying), and Mutons being defeated easily by said soldiers armed with just the usual rifles and an auto-cannon (if you pull that off in the game itself, I'll give you an Internet Dollar). And still I love it

.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-01 03:05am

I thought they were just ninja-jumping, not flying. But yeah, it was excellent to see the aliens attack in a method they never use in the game. And that guy on the throne? What was the go with him?

DesertFly · Post by **DesertFly** » 2006-09-01 03:08am

Dang, Brood War's been mentioned about seventeen times. Well, then, I'll have to go with the Warcraft III intro (wait, that was mentioned too), and the opening movie for Age of Empires II. I don't care if they were fake looking, knights riding around killing each other wins.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2006-09-01 03:15am

Meh, I still can't get worked up over StarCraft or Brood War movies. My complaint is similar to Diablo 2's - they were nice, but often didn't really serve the plot.

StarCraft's opens up with some scavengers tooling around an alien derelict, then they get wiped out by some UFO. The end. Who were they? Who cares? I sure don't.

Brood War has some trench fighting, a marine suffering PTSD and the Admiral being a cunt. Again... so what? We don't even know which colony this was. It wasn't even significant enough to get a name. So why should we care about it if the writers don't?

DesertFly · Post by **DesertFly** » 2006-09-01 03:21am

Stofsk wrote:Brood War has some trench fighting, a marine suffering PTSD and the Admiral being a cunt. Again... so what? We don't even know which colony this was. It wasn't even significant enough to get a name. So why should we care about it if the writers don't?

That was all about atmosphere, and the people on the ship. Yeah, the colony got no name, but it didn't need one: it wasn't important. The whole point of the battle was to show that there are people fighting and dying against the Zerg, and these people, who could help, are pricks and have misplaced ideals.

And besides, it was cool, and it had atmosphere.

Lazarus · Post by **Lazarus** » 2006-09-01 08:23am

I loved the Freelancer intro, it was well written as well as having ood visuals. RA2 was obviously great, and Halo was pretty good too. I wish they'd bring back more live action sequences in games though.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-09-01 10:07am

I have to agree that while it isn't (at least maybe not yet) an actual game opening, that Warhammer - Mark of Chaos teaser FMV is hands-down simply one of the greatest things I have ever seen. That guy looks so real, it's amazing.

If the opening for Dawn of War is what a Warhammer 40,000 movie should look like, then the teaser for Mark of Chaos is definately what a Warhammer movie should look like. It's like something out of fucking Gladiator and Excalibur...

Post by **Edi** » 2006-09-01 10:09am

I-War intro was great.
HoMM3. It would be nothing special if not for the battle sequence when Katherine tries to decipher what happened from the ruins of the town. My favorite part of that is the harpies swarming over the naga and then being stomped flat by a titan.
Might and Magic VII. The intro is great, what with the division to the elves reporting to Gavin Magnus and the goblins reporting to Archibald and the spin both sides put on the events. Especially the goblins.
I also liked the intro to Thief. Thief 2 had a rather meh intro.
Age of Wonders (the original) had a great intro. It's all hand drawn art, sequenced to a movie and the narrator's voice rocks, even if the story premise is rather cliche.
Th Summoning, if anyone remembers this old game. The intro captured my imagination anyway.

Edi

Lord Insanity · Post by **Lord Insanity** » 2006-09-01 10:16am

Stofsk wrote:

Diablo 2's movies were nice... up until you realise the whole Marius plot has absolutely NOTHING to do with what YOU'RE doing, and at the end it's all for naught anyway (meaning there's like 30 minutes of movies all up that serve no useful purpose).

I always thought that was the brilliance of them though. You could watch the cutscenes indepentent of the game, but they also sereve to show what the evil ones were doing. Marius was simply the eyes through which the player gets to see what needs stopping.

ThatGuyFromThatPlace wrote:

Honorable Mention: the relatively unknown Conquest: Frontier Wars

I forgot about that game. That was a pretty cool intro.

Rekkon · Post by **Rekkon** » 2006-09-01 10:48am

Jade Falcon wrote:Mechwarrior 4. Pity the game wasn't as cool as the intro, especially the last stand of that Vulture pilot.

Mad Dog! And you call yourself Jade Falcon...

The MechWarrior 3 intro always was my favorite from the series, though everything from 2 was good as well. The Mad Dog pilot from Ghost Bear expansion intro always reminded me of a Sherman crew bumbling into a Tiger. "KODIAK!"
I was never so disappointed as I was when I fired up MechWarrior 4 Mercs for the first time expecting the next cool intro movie...

Hmmm, the intro to the original Medal of Honor has not been mentioned. Not so high on the awesome scale, but it had my friend and I in stiches the first time we watched it.
"The American has dog biscuits in his pocket..."

Karza wrote:Also, X-Com: Ufo Defense. The intro had it all: Shit that didn't exist (the X-Com transport craft), people doing what they can't do in-game (soldiers in Personal Armour flying), and Mutons being defeated easily by said soldiers armed with just the usual rifles and an auto-cannon (if you pull that off in the game itself, I'll give you an Internet Dollar). And still I love it .

You could get flying suits for your soldiers. They were pretty far down the tech tree though.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2006-09-01 11:04am

Hmm. I don't remembering the intro to M&M V...but I remember how awesome the bit in the ending is, when Corac owns what's-his-name in the back with a bank-shot energy bolt off two walls.

Ar-Adunakhor · Post by **Ar-Adunakhor** » 2006-09-01 11:22am

Dungeon Keeper 2. Not only was the intro movie cool, but every single one of the cutscenes had that great dark humor that made the game worth playing.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2006-09-01 12:15pm

Half-Life 1's opening intro was not a movie, but a sequence. The first time I played through it I kept sprinting around trying to see everything at once. The people at work, the missles, the quick view of the Gman as he goes the other way. It's memorable to say the least.

Vanas · Post by **Vanas** » 2006-09-01 01:24pm

The Mothership has cleared the scaffold.
We are away.

In terms of summing up the entire game in one scene, Homeworld's in-game intro is just perfect.
Not a word wasted, celebratory yet mournful, enough atmosphere to make Jupiter look small and the perfect music.

Jade Falcon · Post by **Jade Falcon** » 2006-09-01 05:03pm

Freelancers was good, but the original uncut intro was even better, complete with music from Wrath of Khan.

Starlancers sneak attack as well was pretty decent.

D.Turtle · Post by **D.Turtle** » 2006-09-01 05:14pm

Does someone have a link to the I-war intro?

I couldn't find it either on youtube or with google.

I think that the terrorist attack (nanite bomb) in the Deus Ex 2 intro isn't that bad.

Sharpshooter · Post by **Sharpshooter** » 2006-09-01 05:14pm

Jade Falcon wrote:Freelancers was good, but the original uncut intro was even better, complete with music from Wrath of Khan.

"Uncut"? Got a link?

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2006-09-01 05:19pm

Stark wrote:And Deus Ex? Are you crazy?

Two people you don't know talking portentous and pretentious gibberish? What's not to like?

Of course, it makes fuck all sense until you're about three quarters of the way through the game, which helps it's post-modern nonsense-cred.

Jade Falcon · Post by **Jade Falcon** » 2006-09-01 05:59pm

Sharpshooter wrote:
Jade Falcon wrote:Freelancers was good, but the original uncut intro was even better, complete with music from Wrath of Khan.
"Uncut"? Got a link?

Sure, took me a while to find it....trawling through Lancer's Reactors archives is...interesting. Much of the early part of the movie is the exact same as the games, but I think you'll agree that it becomes interesting

http://www.lancersreactor.com/t/downloa ... .asp?id=49

BTW, its a long download.

DrMckay · Post by **DrMckay** » 2006-09-01 06:46pm

Halo. The intro really pulled me in, the first time I saw it, also, Age of Empires II with the two kings playing chess and the chess game morphing into an actual battle.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2006-09-01 07:13pm

Hmm. You know, if they'd run with that intro, Freelancer's single-player storyline could have had so much more oomph. Instead of 'Wtf is that? Ohgod, it's killing us!' it'd be, 'What the...oh HELL no, it's on now, bitches.'

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2006-09-01 08:15pm

White Haven wrote:Hmm. I don't remembering the intro to M&M V...but I remember how awesome the bit in the ending is, when Corac owns what's-his-name in the back with a bank-shot energy bolt off two walls.

Oh yeah, that was totally awesome. But you only get to see it once each time you beat the game.

ThatGuyFromThatPlace · Post by **ThatGuyFromThatPlace** » 2006-09-02 02:10am

Stark wrote:Man, the Fallout 2 intro is a pale imitation of the Fallout intro. And Deus Ex? Are you crazy?

I have to say, I liked the Fallout 2 intro better.
and I only included the Deus Ex. intro because I had nothing better to add and Deus Ex is the greatest game ever.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-02 02:20am

Really? Fallout had the whole '50s ambiance way better, I thought, and the 'lolz teh enclave shotz people' part was just lame. I mean, how can you go past the one with Canadian troops executing prisoners and having a big belly laugh over it?