10 Powerful Video Game Intros That Gave You Chills

It would be fair to say that for many, when Metal Gear Solid rolled round in 1998, we hadn't really heard about it. The stealth franchise was still in its infancy on consoles.

So when the game starts with an in-game briefing about Snake's infiltration, we were intrigued. Then it becomes clear that you are doing all the sneaking, not your usual "cutscene dropoff". It was new, it was scary... and it was bloody brilliant.

You had no weapons, but the guards did. Getting from the insertion point to elevator was tense enough, but that wasn't all.

After that title drop, you'd be wrong in thinking that the game would ease up on you. Instead, you had to sneak, in the open, across a helipad and infiltrate a friggin' military base. A well-lit, heavily patrolled helipad, I might add.

It was Metal Gear Solid's way of emphasising that stealth was key, and what better way to do it than throw you in the deep end.

Stealth may be a broad genre now, but for PlayStation owners who'd never experienced it, it was a brilliantly tense introduction.