now this is how you make a great first
impression welcome to watchmojo.com and
today we'll be counting down our picks
for the top 10 opening levels in gaming
and it's not out of the question that
you might have a very minor case of
serious brain damage for this list we're
taking a look at the levels that are
either regarded as the prologue or the
first stage that instantly sucked gamers
in with their inventive designs riveting
Exposition or insanely fun
gameplay number 10 world 11 Super Mario
Brothers no we didn't rank this list
backwards we're instead starting with
the level that laid the foundations of
Ideal opening game
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design the platform genre not to mention
the Gaming Community was forever changed
when players first took control of the
little plumber and set off into the
Mushroom Kingdom World 11 is still
nothing but sidescrolling mushroom and
in Block breaking glomba smashing
Fireball throwing coin collecting hidden
oneup finding flag pole jumping fun
opening levels just got better from here
so let's see what comes
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next number nine prologue The Last of
Us look
out often feeling like an interactive
movie The Last of Us effectively
immerses players not only into its
action but its drama too those people
keep looking at me baby
the game's for boating atmosphere slowly
builds tension as a girl named Sarah
explores her dark empty house Daddy when
her panicked father returns home things
really go from bad to end of the world
bad we're then taken on a car ride
that's reminiscent of Children of Men
capturing the horrors of a world gone
mad from a youth's perspective plus if
you didn't get all choked up before that
title appeared you probably have no
soul please please please don't please
number eight prologue world of chaos
Bayonetta 2 you're about as sweet as my
Nona's Grappa you know that how do you
start a game that opens up with
Bayonetta doing her Christmas shopping
in her elegant Sunday
dress yeah that'll do it you know I try
to avoid doing this in my Sunday
Best from there it only gets more crazy
having her quad wield a set of pistols
while on the back of an angelic centur
with an upbeat pop version of Moon River
playing in the
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background yeah hardly a second ever
goes by without something over the top
taking place with cars driving on the
sides of the buildings and a giant Beast
climbing up an even taller building
Bayonetta 2 lets players know right off
the bat that it doesn't have a subtle
bone in its body and that's why it's so
popular number seven freeway Mega Man X
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where some games gradually ease the
player into the action Mega Man X
instantaneously plunges you into combat
whether you're ready or not prepare to
blast and dash your way through an army
of inventive robots across a crumbling
freeway bridge you might assume that
you've reached the level's boss upon
encountering that massive be
blader though this helicopter is just
the tip of the iceberg as you soon find
vile waiting for you in his best Boba
Fett costume throw in zero sudden
appearance and it's impossible not to be
excited for the rest of the game that's
ahead number six TIE fighter Factory
Star Wars the Force Unleashed I've
finally drawn you out of hiding no not
the prologue section where you play as
Darth Vader but rather the mission where
the real game starts and captures all
the kinetic energy that epitomizes Star
Wars at its
best as Star Killer you must raid a TIE
fighter Factory to assassinate General
Kota although you're armed with a
lightsaber you'll likely have more fun
using the force to toss your enemies
around after storming through the
factory like a wrecking ball Star Killer
finally comes face to face with Koda
their big Showdown makes for a heart
pounding action sequence pumping the
player with adrenaline and of course the
force number five black Mesa transit
system half life this automated train is
provided for the security and
convenience of the black m research
facility Personnel a 5-minute train ride
might not sound like a rousing way to
start a game but half-life's opening
creates an absorbing sense of mystery
and ominous atmosphere as Gordon Freeman
takes a trip on the black Mesa transit
system much like your arrival to City 17
in halflife 2 this intro is about
immersing you in the setting instead of
blowing [ __ ] up in your face if you have
not yet submitted your identity to the
retinol clearance system you must report
to Black Mason Personnel for processing
confined to a small passenger your car
while an unsettling robotic voice talks
you get a behind thes scenes look at the
environments you'll soon get to explore
with
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guns number four a rock and a hard place
Uncharted to among
Thieves oh God now it's time for a
completely different kind of train ride
the game throws the player into the
middle of a gripping action set piece
bleeding and Delirious Venter Nathan
Drake is awoken to a horrific sight
against a snowy backdrop just as the
player hangs at the edge of their seat
so too does Nate's train hang on the
edge of a cliff oh
crap jumping swinging and holding on for
dear life as Drake climbs to the top
it's hard to think of a more
exhilarating way to start a
game number three the courtesy call
Portal 2 good morning you have been in
suspension for
9 N
N9 in the spirit of halflife Portal 2
quickly engages the player into a living
breathing World from a first-person
perspective after spending countless
days in a seemingly ordinary room chel
is greeted by the bumbling Cockney AI
Corp
wheatle oh God you look um good looking
good actually let's just say that his
methods for getting you out of your
little chamber aren't very well thought
out but they do get results I I think
this is a docking station get ready then
it's time to explore the crumbling
Aperture Science enrichment center and
retrieve the portal gun but sadly
there's still no cake please avoid
unsheltered testing areas wherever our
lack of shelter from space debris does
not appear to be a deliberate part of
the test number two crew Expendable Call
of Duty 4 Modern Warfare Rules of
Engagement sir crew Expendable with a
flare for the Cinematic Call of Duty
games were once the very best way to
feel like you were a participant in an
action movie this is perfectly
exemplified in the first Modern Warfare
game as you play as a member of the SAS
assaulting a freighter stealthily taking
out the crew is cool enough but the
Cinematic feel really takes off when you
have to get back to the chopper as the
ship begins to sink on your fre Soldier
we are leaving Call of Duty may be stale
these days but man was this ever fresh
when it first dropped r that we're out
of here face PL is a big bird package
secure returning to base out before we
reveal our top pick here are a few
honorable mentions
I chose the
impossible I
chose
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[Applause]
Rapture do a barrel
roll number one The Village Resident
Evil 4
a in arguably the best Resident Evil
game to date Leon S Kennedy Ventures to
a rural European Village of the Damned
to rescue the president's daughter
what's best about this sequence is that
you just have to survive there's no
killing
everyone I am why are these people when
Leon makes his presence known in the
main Village Square all hell breaks
loose as the infected towns folk pursue
you with knives pitchforks and at least
one
chainsaw just when it seems like there
are too many to take on and there really
are a church bell draws them all away
leaving you perplexed shocked and pretty
relieved rooll title where's everyone
going
bingo do you agree with our list which
video game opening had you hooked
immediately give it up I got
him for more entertaining top 10s
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