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Three-minute thrills Visting that special place you'd never been to before. The sights, the sounds, the electrically charged atmosphere. Those initial tentative steps into unchartered virgin territory. Remember wanting to explore every single centimetre but, most of all, never, ever wanting to leave. Remember how you felt knowing that something magical was happening and there was nothing you could do about it other than let your body and brain succumb to it. Your palms became more and more sweaty as you rushed, pushed and thrust your way into it. You pressed all the right buttons and it left you exhausted, wanting and begging for more...do you remember? Do you?I am, of course, talking about the opening section of that exceptional game or, more specifically, YOUR favourite opening sections to those titles which occupy a special place in your heart. And those that give you a bit of an unsightly bulge in the underpant department (possibly). I use the term 'opening section' loosely because this could cover a multitude of scenarios - the first level, the introductory ten minutes, a snazzy pre-rendered movie, a particularly rousing piece of music or a combination of them all. One of the first to the party clutching a bulging sackful of the Original Spirit is Ely, professing his love for the Daddy - "The 1st wave of Space Invaders is my favorite one." TiltedKitty isn't too fussed with foreplay and wants to get straight into the main course - "I preferred the second wave...it means you've survived so far, you CAN do it, so get on in there and finish the job". Equally as valid but I get the impression both of them have been living underneath one of four protective shelters for the last 28 years. Surely something since then has stirred those gaming loins? Either way, one thing's for sure, you never forget your first.
Thankfully, Koworld brings things kicking, screaming and, by all accounts, exploding into the present with his love of the opener to Black - "two minutes of complete destabilised carnage". An excellent choice - sometimes two minutes is all it takes. Shame then he had to go and spoil the uncompromisingly masculine persona by getting all emotional about Homeworld on the PC. "The opening...is the most extraordinary of any game I have ever played. It had me in fucking tears - it is huge, sad and deeper than most films ever achieve." Credit to the developers for invoking those feelings but did it end up as a one night stand or blossom into a long-term relationship?
Junosix is a little more forthcoming in his advances and openly admits to using and abusing poor old Sonic the Hedgehog over a number of years - "quite often I fire (it) up to play Green Hill Zone then turn it off after that". Love 'em and leave 'em - nothing wrong with that. Throngor however is a little more reciprocal towards the blue-spiked speedmeister revealing it "always sends a wide grin across my face every time I play". Nice, if a little worrying, all this being nice to animals palaver but, hey, whatever floats your boat. Ahchay is no exception, keeping it old skool and choosing everyone's favourite incorrectly-named monkey, Donkey Kong - "great first level, so-so second level and a third screen expressely designed to chew up all your available lives". Yup, treat 'em mean and keep 'em keen, that's the cookie. Some people don't like to get down and dirty but merely sit back and watch. TiltedKitty now reveals his voyeuristic tendencies and spills the beans on his beloved game introductions - "Halo is probably the best" but "if we're including intro movies, then Edge of Chaos has to rank right up there". He continues onto admit that Fable's intro is also a bit of stunner "simply because it's a nice way of introducing most of the game's mechanics, and also draws you into the storyline". I don't know - it's always the quiet ones! Having three on the go at once, you know it's going to end in disaster! Alexmcchesney was also impressed by Halo's good looks but concedes that "the first playable level put me right off. It wasn't until I reached the surface of the Halo that it started to click for me." Proof, if proof was needed, that you can have brains and beauty but I find a couple of beers usually sorts things out in the meantime. Speaking of alcohol, I think MadHippo may have downed a few before playing Darwinia - "while you're still figuring out what is going on (you) still have time to look around at the landscape." Don't worry fella, she's got curves in all the right places, that's all you need to know.
Staying power. Maybe that could be the key? One person who knows all about that is TT and when a world champ speaks up, you better listen up and take notes. He reckons the first level of Duke Nukem 3D could be the perfect opener to a game - "It was so way beyond anything else of its time that it meant the environments of the other levels simply didn't immerse you as much as the first. I must have played it through 100 times." 100 times! And that was probably all before breakfast as well! fOzz agrees on the game but was more turned on - "The great thing about Duke Nukem was that it started off brilliantly, and got better. Pure gaming distillate." Recommendation enough - for these guys anything featuring a muscle-bound, gun-toting hero is enough to get the juices flowing. Other fellow Rodents are easier to satisfy. Cheesehead likes it wet and wild and chooses Waverace on the N64 - "superb control and handling system, blended with what were (and still are to some extent) the most amazing visuals", Namor7 prefers to take it nice and slow with Zelda - "So much fun, and it really eases the player in" and Dacman has a keen (Golden)eye and knows what he likes - "taking out the first couple of guards before they know what is going on. Still one of the only FPS's I've really been engaged by". Taking out guards AND getting engaged - things are getting serious...well until Rockwaldo shows up preferring to play as the domineering Dungeon Master - "Choose your characters and then straight in". No messing about, lad. I like your style. Speaking of which, it seems quite a few shoot-'em-ups have that forceful effect on people. Alexmcchesney chips in again admitting he has "much affection for the first level of Xenon on the ST". It seems this particular title shares the same affection back towards Alex - "level two spanked my arse again and again!" Wowzers! I can see the attraction though, all that handling of large weapons. One of my own personal favourites has to be Metroid Prime on the Gamecube for taking that sense of wonder and exploration from Mario 64 and refining it even further. My ultimate best opener, however, has to go to Rez on the Dreamcast but Moobaa offers a much more eloquent explanation for this choice than I ever could - "The first level is the perfect meld of music and action. I adore the start-of-level aural "breathing" punches entering levels 4 and 8... absolutely *adore* them, the type of thing that make me gleeful to have been able to experience them". Beautiful man, just beautiful.
And so we reach the climax. With so many varying opinions, the question of best opening section to a game will never be definitively answered but it was fun trying all the same. One thing's for sure, it undeniably takes two to tango and I think we all agree new beginnings are better than lacklustre endings (I'm looking at you here, Half-Life!). Who better then than Bog to wrap things up, bursting into the debate and sploshing his load all over the place. The first level of Aliens vs Predator on the PC sends him head over heels and...well, if you want to slip out from under the covers now while he's not looking, best do it now... "Holy fucking shit" August 2006
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