Just reading this thread on Reddit, and thought I'd start a BT equivalent. It can be single or multiplayer, and could even be a particular mission from a game that you enjoyed. For me, its a very hard decision. DM - Morpheous from the first UT was the level that made the most impact on me when it was first released, but its by no means the best. That honour would likely have to go to Arica Harbour in TDM on Bad Company 2. (I reserve the right to change this when I inevitably think of a better one!)
Don't think MW4 is out yet /troll Always loved Deck 16 from uT, can definitely see replaying most of Dishonored multiple times too.
The level where you have to hurry to finally storm a ship and disable nuclear weapons in Hitman: Agent 47. I just enjoy the pressure of trying to be as stealthy as possible while rushing to save the day within the time limit.
Hmm, the first level on Crysis was always epic, but the underwater palace of Hyrule in Wind Waker always had a wow effect on me.
The 'over crude water' multiplayer map for Total Annihilation. I did so many skirmishes against CPU opponents on that map. I used to build my little fortress (and two little side fortresses with a 500 unit patch) and perform tactical strikes on the enemy until I got bored and used my stockpile of 800+ nukes to annihilate them.
Hmm, that's a hard one… The start of Half-Life 2 I think, for the absolutely brilliant atmosphere, and the first mission in Crysis (1) as a close second. Ah yes! Absolutely. I always kept one save-slot with the moment you first go there. The Wind Waker was a magnificent game.
Touché good sir. Touché Want to add the first level of Unreal in there too. Still remember being blown away by the vista (as powered by my Voodoo 2) as you step off the ship
Nice one Parge - this is really tough... I think the first half hour of both Fallout 3 and BioShock really stick in my mind as they both sucked me in to the story and they were both so original. They remain two of my favourite story lines ever. The other that totally blew my mind was when I fist walked through Rivendell in LOTRO - it was so beautiful and exactly as I had imagined it from reading Tolkien since I was a boy. Not really 'missions' I know. Some of the missions in the I44 mod in Arma 2 are really mindblowing too - really help to give you a tiny tiny sense of what it must have been like...
There's a mission in RA2: Yuri's Revenge where you control celebrity knock-off commando units that are supposed to be parodys of Arnold and Stallone. Not saying that's my favorite ever...but it's pretty darn amazing. There are also dinosaurs in that game. RA2 was friken awesome.
The Unscripted bits of Far Cry, Crysis and STALKER. Also, almost every level in Hitman: Blood Money. I have far too many favorite moments though. And I can't top them. Although I'll say that the first time I discovered I could fly and become a God in Morrowind. That and perhaps the moment when I finished the first Starcraft Campaign. Or the WC3 ending.
That was a very fun level. I think almost all of the levels from Jeanette & Therese were pretty awesome, partly due to the insane conversations that followed. I quite liked Grout's Mansion in Bloodlines as well, probably because he was equally insane.
Playing through the Omaha Beach Level on COD2 for the first time. That was like no other gaming experience I'd ever had. It just seemed so real and brutal with machine-gun fire, explosions going off and people shouting all around. The stalker level at the end of hl2 ep2 had me shaking after they were all taken care of. That was intense! Although there's been games since that have left me open-mouthed at the graphics, there have been no experiences like the above two examples since. There's been some good storylines but no real standout moments/set pieces that have completely floored me and become unforgettable. I think any and all games since hl2 ep2 have just been a stop-gap/filler until the next Valve masterpiece comes along.
The whole Tanker sequence from MGS2. I loved being stealthy taking out GRU and then sneaking around RAY. That or the opening to MGS3. I enjoyed that game so much I own it twice. Normal and Subsistance version.
Fortunately I've played a lot of games that could make it onto this list, so many that I really can't choose just one to be a favourite. A few spring to mind, but they're probably not the finest or my favourite moments. Half Life, especially the first half-hour or so through the accident. Half Life 2, again the first half hour or so, simply because of the sheer, unadulterated joy of playing *more* HL. MGS where you're fighting Mantis or Sniper Wolf, both are brilliant. That tanker sequence in MGS2, for its replay value alone (and the fact that it's near-enough a whole game by itself, just as a prologue). Finishing off a whole enemy team in World of Tanks in a fair match (not like in the beta when I got my VK4502 when there were only about a dozen of us in the game with something that could compete, talk about a massacre!). That moment in Mass Effect 1 where you talk to Sovereign the Reaper, suddenly realising that all along Saren's just a puppet and this massive, hulking beast is the real villain. Playing Left 4 Dead for the first time, co-op with my uni house-mates, revelling at how simple, yet brilliant it was. Absolutely owning a perfect match in CS:S. I was big into it at the time, playing only cs_office, with very competitive guys, and managed to kill (from full health) 8 enemies to win a round that was 8v1. It was one of those perfect moments when everything seemed to be in slow motion, and everyone just ran at me in just the right sequence to kill them all in about 30s. The first level of Chronicles of Riddick - that feeling of absolute power that the game manages to instill is very intoxicating. The last levels of Max Payne 3, where the soundtrack (Health - Tears) comes in the background while you're blasting through. The sniper section of MoHAA in the ruined French town - mastering that so you could 1-shot every single enemy without getting hit. The Pripyat sniper section in CoD4:MW, the whole story had me hooked, but this was a real revelation. It's just a shame the series was/has been done to death. The first Australia stage in CMiRT, being totally intoxicated with the luscious graphics and the feel closest to a rally car from any game in a fair few years (since Richard Burns Rally I reckon). Sorry, I've got a little carried away, haven't I?