10 Video Games That Never Bettered Their Opening Levels
Start as you mean to go on... or give up and end on a high.
As video games become more and more expensive, resource-heavy concoctions of budgetary limitations and artistic vision, it's evermore essential to nail that first impression - that very first taste of controlling everything yourself.
It's why the likes of Call of Duty always insist on firework-filled openers, why many story-driven games will give you a big ol' plot dump and hope you stick around for the duration, and why - on the other side of the coin - a game's budget gets spent making a solid first impression, only for that momentum to not sustain in the long run.
Now, there's nothing wrong with a genuinely phenomenal first level, and oftentimes a game can build a reputation on such a thing, but can wowing upfront ever impact a game in the long run?
Let's find out...
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10. Medal Of Honor: Frontline
Go on, try to remember any other part of MOH: Frontline after the D-Day landings...
You can't, can you? Perhaps that bit with the mortars in the village?
Regardless, EA's premiere shooter was on top of the world back in 2002, and marked one of the first times we saw the 'power of the PS2' used to render genuinely cinematic moments.
Frontline's mix of impactful sound design, sweeping opening camera shots and playable set-pieces made you feel like you were right there, tucked up amongst the mud and the muck, awkwardly firing your M1 Garand at distant foes and hoping you'd make it out alive.
By contrast, the rest of Frontline wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but this opener hit home so effectively, the rest just didn't stand a chance.