10 Gaming Opening Levels Which Surprised Us All
7. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
The original Uncharted was a solid if not-particularly-inventive riff on the Indiana Jones-inspired action-adventure formula, so naturally most fans expected a modest, incremental improvement at-best for the sequel.
But Uncharted 2: Among Thieves saw developers Naughty Dog eager to prove this wasn't a garden variety sequel from its very first scene.
The game opens in the middle of the story, with a gravely wounded Nathan Drake trapped in a train hanging perilously over a snowy Tibetan cliff.
At this point, players are handed the controls for a sweaty-palmed five-minute escape sequence, which expertly melds player interaction with cinematic cutscenes to create an experience truly worthy of Indiana Jones.
This level alone was a tectonic leap from the fairly generic shooter-puzzle-platformer gameplay of its predecessor, and set the tone for a franchise that would continually push the boundaries of cinematic action.