The best and most iconic opening scenes, which may or may not precede a relatively mediocre full game.
Keep your pre-release marketing hype; for me, nothing else establishes such a towering feeling of excitement to be followed by rapid disappointment as a well done opening scene. While not all of the games on this list are inarguably disappointing, they do contain some of the most instantly immersive and memorable moments I've yet experienced, and set a very tall standard for the subsequent hours. These are, in descending order, my favorite openings of all time (not listed: your mother's).