The Metal Gear Solid games have all had fantastic openings, but there's two that really stand out, the first of which in this list is Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Hideo Kojima's action thriller masterpiece opens with a chilling monologue from Solid Snake - now codenamed Old Snake - about how the nature of war has changed, while the visuals show a hooded figure traversing a war-torn battlefield. A gunfight is taking place, and this figure is immersed right in the middle of it. Suddenly, a HUD pops up, complete with a life bar for "Old Snake", making it clear that it's time to fight, even though we were convinced we were still watching a cut-scene. Like no other game, Kojima manages to blur the line between cinematic cut-scene and equally cinematic gameplay; there aren't many fade-outs to black, and where possible, the seam between the two is simply a pan outwards to the relevant playing camera angle. The first time the HUD popped up at the start of MGS4, it was a surprising, awe-inspiring moment; I remember distinctly thinking, "This is next gen", and boy, was it.