10 Best Opening Levels In Video Game History

4. Doom (1993)

As soon as the heavy metal-inspired classic soundtrack kicked in during E1M1 in Doom, it was unlike anything anybody had seen before.

The graphics were a huge leap forward from the static corridors of predecessor Wolfenstein 3D, the monsters and environments were hugely more varied, and nobody could possibly play without feeling like a complete badass the first time they blew away a fireball-throwing imp with a single blast of the shotgun.

The level has since been analysed, picked apart, remade in pretty much every FPS with a map editor and speedran to death, with skilled players able to complete the level legitimately in 8 seconds or less.

It is no exaggeration to say that the entire genre of first-person shooters owes their existence to Doom, and this stage was the one that got the world hooked.