9 Terrible Openings That Almost Killed Great Video Games

3. Fallout 3

The opening of Fallout 3 has been famously derided for being a poor introduction to Bethesda's otherwise excellent RPG. Chronicling your created character's life in the safety of Vault 101 from their literal birth, the opening hour has you going to birthday parties and sitting exams before you eventually break out and start the game proper.

But it's more than just the introductory sections in the vault that leave players with a horrible taste in their mouths, as the beginning of the main quest after your grand escape is similarly disappointing.

The quests starting in Megaton have you venturing out into the heart of the DC Wasteland, and only serve to show off all the game's worst aspects. As the first few hours funnel you into endless subway stations and firefights without substantially furthering the narrative, this post-apocalyptic tale doesn't make you feel like anything more than a glorified errand boy.

Obviously in a game like Fallout you could ignore these early missions entirely and try to jump into the good stuff immediately, but when you're thrown into a sandbox as big as this without any other directives, most players tend to gravitate towards these main quests.