TOP FIVE: OPENING SEQUENCES: No 5

Mass Effect 2

Boiware teased us on all the lead up to Mass Effect 2's release that the series' leading character, Commander Shepard, had been Killed in Action. It was certainly a clever way of building a sense on intrigue around the game, because one of the major USPs that Bioware promoted with the original Mass Effect was that this was the first part of a trilogy, with story choices made in previous games having a bearing on the story of sequels. Killing off a major character between games kinda made it seem like they were going back on the idea, but all became clear during the first fifteen minutes of Mass Effect  2.

I love this opening because it's a fine example of Bioware at their best. It's paced very well; a mysterious conversation, a quick catch up with the characters from the original, and then disaster, and a perfectly pitched selfless hero moment. It's also wonderfully directed Sci-Fi.

My favourite bit of the sequence comes at 6:19 in the video, when Shepard opens one of the airlocks and steps out on to the ships main deck, completely devastated through cannon fire and providing an eerie and almost serene window into the vast nothingless of space. The feeling that you are a long way from safety is palpable, and the way the music cuts out to make Shepard's breathing the only audio creates a perfect lost in space feeling. Ultimately, it was just facinating to see the ship that you spent so much time in the first game in, the iconic Normandy, torn apart so early on. It sets the tone for part two pefectly.