10 Most Brutally Difficult Opening Levels In Video Games
2. The Gauntlet - Resistance: Fall Of Man
You can see where Insomniac Games were coming from with the opening level of Resistance. It was one of the very first shooters on the PS3, and they wanted to make it a spectacular showcase of the console's capabilities.
That means huge numbers of enemies on-screen at once, devastating AI and precision, and more consecutive explosions than a bag of Pop Rocks melting in your mouth. It was spectacular to behold, but utterly frustrating to play as you ran through the sepia-tinted provincial English town, not really capable of distinguishing friend from foe from browny background scenery.
It feels a bit like that D-Day landing scene in Saving Private Ryan where your chances of survival are a case of pot luck as all hell breaks loose around you. Credit where it's due though, this level is a hell of a lot more realistic than the regular shooter that posits you as a bullet-absorbing Superman.