Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Getting on the wrong train. Games with best beginnings and openin sequences
- The Best Video Game Beginnings and Openin Sequences
- Medal of Honor: Frontline – like Saving Private Ryan
- BioShock – Underwater world with a touch of decadence
- Mass Effect 2 – Biggest earthquake? Death
- Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Getting on the wrong train
- The Last of Us – Idyll to apocalypse in 15 mins
- Nier: Automata – a masterpiece that surprises everyone
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain – whale and unicorn burn in the sky
- Final Fantasy VII – a bombastic start
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – yellow subtitles always promise an "epic" introduction
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Getting on the wrong train
- Developer: Naughty Dog
- Year: 2009
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4
A wake-up call like "where the heck am I and what is going on" is usually not a pleasant one. Things got even worse for Nathan Drake when, after regaining consciousness, he realized that not only was he injured, but the train he was riding on was not entirely functional. In fact, it soon became apparent that the wagon was hanging by a proverbial thread, on the edge of a bottomless abyss. The authors used a great gimmick with gradual zooming out of the camera. First, we see a close-up of Nathan's face, and then the angle gradually widens until a precipice with a hanging train is shown.
Things start flying through the interior of the train car, including the protagonist, who at the last moment catches hold of some kind of lever. The entire structure becomes an unstable climbing platform, serving as quite an ingenious controls tutorial. There are boulders flying from the top, the car is swinging, things keep on falling off – climbing up something like that is no small feat. Although carefully directed scripts are responsible for everything that happens, the tension is boiling. And we don't just want to get to safety. The most interesting part of this is the background story – how Nathan got into this situation in the first place. The sudden change of scenery and the idyllic views on the beach promise that we will find out about this, but the first scene on the train stays with us for a long time anyway.
