10 Gaming Opening Levels Which Surprised Us All
2. Fahrenheit
By first appearances, Quantic Dream's interactive drama Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy) was going to ease players into its supernatural murder-mystery story.
The opening scene takes place in a New York City diner on a snowy night, and despite the cosy appeal of the setting and that soothing Angelo Badalamenti score, all hell breaks loose inside of three minutes.
In the diner bathroom, a poor guy is murdered by one of our protagonists, Lucas Kane, who has evidently been possessed as part of a malevolent ritual.
Only then does the player gain control of Lucas, forced to clean up his bloody mess in the bathroom before high-tailing it into the night.
Most Quantic Dream games tend to ramp up the insanity a little more steadily, but Fahrenheit escalated from moody atmospherics to grisly murder within moments.
As much as it briefed the player to anticipate some major tonal shifts throughout the story, ultimately the game's rushed development resulted in a head-scratching laughing stock of a third act.
What an opening, though.