15 Best Opening Levels In Gaming History

5. First Colossus (Valus) - Shadow Of The Colossus

Shadow of the Colossus begins with a gorgeous introductory sequence in which we see protagonist Wander riding his horse Agro into the Shrine of Worship and delivering the body of maiden Mono. The adventure begins as mysterious entity Dormin presents him with the challenge to save his love: to kill sixteen gigantic colossi in exchange for her life. After the cut-scene ends, you're free to mount Agro and explore the beautifully-rendered, expansive lands, using your glowing sword to guide the way to each colossus. After a few minutes of riding, you have to climb to the top of a cliff, where you're greeted by Valus, the first colossus, a towering beast with a giant club. The tactic to defeating him requires stabbing a sigil in his leg, then climbing up his body hair, up to his head and repeatedly stabbing the sigil on top of his head. After he dies, a tentacle then stabs Wander and he ends up back at the temple, ready to take down the next colossus (repeat this another fifteen times and you've got the whole game). Though the fight itself isn't particularly difficult, it gets players to grips with the game's finer mechanics, and thanks to the splendid visuals and incredible soundtrack, makes for one of the best opening fights in any game ever.