"Wow" moments in games?


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My all time favorite ones are:

HL2 - Going in the teleporter right after Alyx, and the Problem that you encountered with it.

Halo1 - Seeing the Flood for the first time. - And the Final Warthog Driving scene

Return to Castle Wolfenstein - Seeing the Ubersoldats for the first time

Command and Conquer Generals - First time I used a nuke

Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube): I went to a local Wal-Mart with my brothers to buy a GameCube and two games (SSBM and Spider-Man). My younger brother immediately ran to a makeshift GameCube kiosk and it had SSBM running. I remember seeing Samus and her charge shot for the first time in SSBM. One emoticon sums up my reaction and that of my brothers: "... :omg: ... wow"

Back then, the graphics for SSBM were very good. It was a shock because I was used to playing the original Super Smash Bros. on the N64.

I've been gaming for a while but I have a terrible memory so only the most recent things come to mind..

Despite it not having any longetivity, the first time I played the Mirrors Edge demo I was completely and utterly blown away! The music is beautiful, the back story gets you hooked in a V for Vendetta kind of way, the game was new and fun to play and the graphics are stunning - it was the complete package.

Also thought it about the first time I played Battlefield 2 - and I still think the games sense of scale is amazing, not to mention that the graphics have held up pretty well over the years!

- Meeting the Flood in Halo: CE

- Many moments in Dead Space

- fighting Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts (and the opening sequences)

- Normandy in CoD2 as well as Stalingrad (and the one level where you drive the tank).

- any FF cutscene past VII pretty much

- Halo 3's first level at the waterfall the marines climb up and on the level The Ark when the Scarab comes crawling down the side of the forerunner structure (and the ending cutscene)

- the first time I shotgunned a guy in Gears of War 1

- the first person perspective of Strogg Tansformation in Quake 4

- first level of Mass Effect

- exiting the vault in Fallout 3 (and the first time a mini-nuke is fired at you)

- When I realized Left 4 Dead's opening cutscene wasn't lying...

- Opening cutscenes to Red Alert 2 and Red Alert

- Opening cutscenes to Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries and Mechwarrior 4

- Mirror's Edge demo

- SSB: Brawl cutscenes.

- Battlefield: Bad Company when I made a building my tank's parking garage.

- HL2 introductory level

- Far Cry 2's healing system in Multiplayer, and its map editor.

- Portals when the plot was revealed.

- Supreme Commander... nuff said.

- Devil May Cry 3 Dante vs. Virgil

- MechAssault 2 final boss and MechAssault final level.

There are others I can't remember but I had a lot of awe striking or "OH SHIIIITT!!!" rendering moments in games.

Wow, where to begin?

BioShock - The intro and the Andrew Ryan scene "A man chooses, a Slave obeys", also the moment you realized Atlas has said "Would you kindly..." all game long.

Oblivion - When I stepped out of the sewers and saw the beautiful scenery while thinking, wow, this game is HUGE

Doom 3 - When you flip the switch and the satanic baddies start spawning, seeing the glyphs light up on the walls and ceiling.

HL2 - When you go into the citadel and go up to dr Breen's office, and the finale.

Freespace 2 - The sheer intensity of the battles there, having to re-route power between weapons, shields and thrusters to shake off baddies.

Starcraft - When Tassadar sacrifices himself to kill the Overmind.

Homeworld - The intro was fantastic, the graphics and the ambiance was awesome.

GTA4 - The ending when I realized just how huge and awesome the game had been.

- gears of war 2, the gigantic sea monster was amazing, when he came out of the water I almost crapped my pants, it looked so cool.

- GTA 4, first time seeing the euphoria physics engine at work, so amazing to see them hanging on to your car or reacting differently every time depending on where you hit or shoot them.

- Mirror's Edge, when the free running soldiers get after you in the training room, i could feel my heart beating as i heard those footsteps behind me while i was figuring out where to go :laugh:

- the final boss in Condemned was awesome, where you see in first person how you break his spine, tear out some bones, snap his jaw. really disgusting but oh so satisfying.

- first time "healing" an area in Prince Of Persia, the visuals are really amazing and this before dark and nasty place becomes beautiful and filled with life and color.

- entire silent cartographer level in Halo CE, still one of my favorite levels for any game ever.

- the final mission on Mass Effect, so epic, after finishing it i loaded up my last savegame and did it over again immediately.

there are tons more, but these are in recent memory and that really stuck to me.

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