#6: Where’d Everyone Go? Bingo? (Resident Evil 4) – Released: 2005
The introduction to Resident Evil 4 might even top the iconic zombie turn in RE1 — and it’s all thanks to a chainsaw. Leon Kennedy is immediately thrown into a terrifying situation at the start of RE4. After your first confrontation with a villager that goes insane and tries to kill you with an axe, you find yourself surrounded. A few tense minutes later, you’ll enter a small cluster of buildings. That’s when the real action starts.
An army of killer villagers descends on Leon, as if in a trance. They chant and scream, and when Leon attempts to barricade himself in one of the houses, you’ll hear the roar of a chainsaw outside. The beginning of RE4 is terrifying, exhilarating, and unlike anything else in the series. Before you’ll get that title splash, you’ll know this is a very different Resident Evil game.
#7: The Outbreak (The Last of Us) – Released: 2013
We jump from one zombie game to another. The surprisingly intimate and heart-breaking opening minutes of The Last of Us state the game’s intentions clearly — nobody is safe, and the world is a cruel place. Waking up in the middle of the night, you play as Joel’s daughter, exploring the house, and knowing something is very wrong.
You’ll spend time with Joel in cutscenes, get a chance to walk around the house, and finally rush to a car as panic spreads. It’s all in-game, and all playable. Dread slowly builds as you get tiny glimpses of the situation through TV and radio reports. Finally, when Joel and his family flee, they’re caught up in an evacuation gone wrong, ditching the car to run to a military barricade that isn’t nearly as safe as it seems.
The opening to The Last of Us is devastating, cinematic, and incredibly memorable. It’s one of those introductions we can’t stop thinking about.
Watch more awesome intros on the next page.
