Games That Made You Go... Woah

[Data4]

OFP for me, too. It was the scale of the game that got me. No more artificial boundaries. Getting on a helicopter and getting flown out to fuck-knows-where and knowing that it was within the gamespace and not some artificial cutscene that I couldn't back track was pretty cool. I still get a kick out of it when playing Arma and my squad is Blackhawked into the AO over terrain that is 100% traversible.

 

[RolePlayer]

Sonic The Hedgehog, Sega Genesis (early 90s)
I remember being 5 or so at the time, and seing Sonic The Hedgehog 1, on Sega Genesis (I believe it was a launch title for that system). Prior to seeing that, my only experience with video games was Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, etc. on SNES. The speed, sound, animations, colors, on Sonic were truly amazing relative to everything that had been released up to that point.

Starcraft & Starcraft Brood War, PC (late 90s/early 00s)
Prior to this point, I had no experience playing pc games. I owned a PS1, and LOVED Command & Conquer. When I was introduced to Starcraft Brood War on a modern PC, with BattleNet features, I was blown away. The depth, the endless strategies, the super-cool music, animations, high-res, etc. This game owned my life through junior high & high school.

World of Warcraft (2004)
Riding a gryphon to Stormwind & Iron Forge on a relatively modern PC, was one of the greatest video game moments of my life. Prior to WoW I had never played a game like it.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Playing the first Myth game and realizing these aren't your stereotypical LET'S AXE THEM TO DEATH dwarves. Fact that I was afraid whenever the game gave me more than a pair speaks volumes. And then you kill half your guys because Molotovs fizzle, get reignited by OTHER Molotov and bounce back to your location because explosion physics hate your guts actually exist. Myth dwarves are still the most satisfying dwarven unit I ever played in any game.

Casualities. Q_Q

-Doom 2. I was not able to play first one because of not having 4MB (lol). After buying 2 extra rams I got my hands on this motherfucker and my life was ruined ...
-Warhammer Dark Omen. Another milestone for me, the game that made me spent all my money on Warhammer books...
-X-Com 1. My first brutal rape, first one is always the best. Still remember how I lost half of my squad in first turn...
-Alone in the Dark 1.
-Another World. Dat start.
-Shadow of Colossus.
-Rainbow Six. My planing stages took more time than playing it mostly
-Blade of Darkness. Probably the best game ever for me. Made me realize that how I love bloodshed.
-Outcast. Second best game game ever. They are not making this kind of games anymore....
-Sanitarium. Starting from Aztec part it goes a bit downhill but still had moments made me go woah.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

The Unreal demo is the first one I remember. I spent so much time just watching that castle flyby. And then looking at the water after getting out of the Vortex Rikers. And that experience actually holds up to this day, because Unreal had great art design and atmosphere to go with its technically impressive graphics.

Also Thief, but in a different way. I remember thinking "Wow, who would have thought you could actually make a game like this!". The notion of a first-person game which actively discouraged killing was so mindblowing to me at the time. I was so looking forward to all the cool and innovative shit game designers would come up with in the coming years.

Fast forward to now. God fucking damn it.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Morrowind.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Can't believe I forgot Betrayal at Kron Hawk's Hollow.

 

[Bahamut]

Final Fantasy 7



But seriously, it was most complex story wise game i played back then

 

[DemonKing]

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord - It was wireframe corridors and primatve graphics on a green screen, but from the moment I first saw this my lifelong love of computer games began.

Half Life - The game that birthed a million scripted clones, but boy was it amazing to play for the first time when previous FPS titles consisted of mainly enemies charging at you.

Baldur's Gate - The Graphics, Music and Sound Effects were amazing - it was the first time a computer game really felt close to simulating tabletop D&D to me (and I'd played everything since Pool of Radiance)

Far Cry - Gone were the limited corridors (well there were still a few) - you were free to approach objectives from multiple angles across vast open landscapes. Plus the graphics were extraordinary for the time.

Rome: Total War - The closest I've ever felt to being able to rule the Empire.

F.E.A.R. - Ahhh the sweet, sweet gibs and bullet-time goodliness. Also had a robust and fun multiplayer component.

Company of Heroes - Incredible graphical fidelity, sound effects and gameplay. I had so many close games with this one.

Tomb Raider (reboot) - The last game I literally "couldn't put down". Very engrossing and you really become invested in the main character who somehow survives an incredible amount of punishment to triumph.

 

[A user named cat]

This is really the only example I can think of that ever blew my mind. Only knew one person who actually owned a Vectrex but this was crazy when all you had played was Atari.

 

[AngryEddy]

Remembered another one:

Playstation 1's "Einhander"

Really good side scrolling shooter, with a Blade Runner feel, and a very good soundtrack.

 

[Ivan]

Also, Dak'kon's speech about knowing himself so deep it made me whoa.
Did mca right him?

 

[Corporate_Jew_Master]

Medieval Total War. (1)

Everything I wanted in a game. And I got if off impulse a week after my name day.

Didn't show up for practise in a month afterwards and even skipped school the next 3 days to finish my aragonese campaign.

 

[RedScum]

Jagged Alliance 2: Im pretty sure it's hands down the best game i've played.. and them guns and mercs. Plus another "Woah" when i tried the 1.13 mod for the first time and saw that they got almost 20 different kinds of just AK's.

 

[Mangoose]

Infinity, sadly not a video game.

 

[praetor]

Carmageddon demo: the "woah how can something be so violent and so fun", the quite realistic but still simple driving physics, the damage, the carnage, the freedom. most played demo, by far (probably more than the full game, definitely more than the sequels)
early 3d shooters: first it was Quake 1 with the first real, 3dfx graphics... it was mindblowing seeing at a friends so i bought one myself just in time for Quake 2.. then Unreal came and yet another "woah how does this even run on my pc" (yeah, the castle flyby was awesome ), then Q3 with the curved surfaces and volumetric fog, and then a couple of years later Far Cry 1, when you exit that first tutorial corridor and bask in that sunlight on that sunny beach... maan, i think i was playing around on that first beach for a couple of hours
Soul Reaver (1&2&3): the story, man. that story. one "woah" moment after the other (especially in 2 and 3, even though 1 is the best game)
Tomb Raider: "woah, tits! big boobies!", yeah seeing them in a game at such a young age made an impression :D
Dark Reign: at first it seemed like a normal RTS with slightly asymmetrical races back when Red&Blue were the norm, but then i started reading the mission (de)briefings, unit descriptions.... "woah, what a story"
Total Annihilation: compared to other RTSes at the time, it was just one big "woah" moment
Blade of Darkness: oh man, dat lighting, dem levels, dem brutal secrets, dat combat, dat dismemberment/locational damage
Operation Flashpoint (demo): what the others said
Freesapce: "woah Orion destoryer" "WOAH LUCIFER"; Freespace 2: "WOAH COLOSSUS!" "WOAH SATHANAS!!" "WOAH WTF COLOSSUS VS SATHANAS" "HOLY SHIT"
Demons/Dark Souls: "woah finally a worthy successor of BoD"
Chakan: semi obscure platformer a friend found somewhere back when we were kids and played on crappy consoles... the first "woah this is face-meltingly difficult" moment (never finished the game )
Mortal Kombat: the "woah" of the first fatalities (wears off quick)
Morrowind: the world so alien and full of wonders... (similar thing with Outcast)

 

[MicoSelva]

Too many to recount, which is why I am still a gamer after all these years, but one relatively recent example (by which I mean it happened during the current millennium) was vaulting over an enemy for the first time in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. Bioware needs to look at that game if they are looking for the Awesome Button for their new titles, because jump button in PoP:SoT is just that.

Others that come to mind, without specific examples: Freespace (both), PST, BG2, KoTOR, Psychonauts & Beyond Good and Evil.

 

[J_C]

"WOAH WTF COLOSSUS VS SATHANAS" "

And when a 2nd one showed up, the feeling: "yep, we are doomed". :D

 

[praetor]

haha, yeah... and then it's "what the flying fuck?! Sathanases (sp? :D). Sathanases EVERYWHERE ". that stellar encirclement. that supernova. such memorable "holy shit" moments. i miss those kinds of games

 

[Crooked Bee]

If I had to choose one game, that'd be Dark Heart of Uukrul.

As I played it, I was thinking to myself "Whoa, this is how a dungeon crawler should be done!" It was somewhat of an RPG revelation, really, and it is since then that I firmly consider dungeon crawlers to be the best RPG subgenre. Too bad none of them have been able to topple Uukrul so far - though I do keep looking.

The close contestants would be Wizardry 4 and Labyrinth of Touhou. The first is the only RPG whose dungeon design can rival Uukrul's; its concept is one of a kind, too. However, it can sometimes be too hardcore for its own good. The second made me go "whoa" because prior to playing it I just couldn't imagine that a Touhou fangame could be so good as to rival the Wizardry series. Looking forward to Labyrinth of Touhou 2 being fan-translated now, which is probably my most anticipated RPG at the moment.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Just going to repeat games other have mentioned before, but whatever:

Unreal - god damn that was good. The enemy ai, the way they didn't just stand there soaking damage but dodged your fire so effortlessly while getting closer and closer to fuck you up, brilliant. And the giant titan bosses that could take half you arsenal and still killed you with one hit. And the sunspire level, a kilometer high tower in the middle of a lava lake for you to climb to the top.
Half-life - the first game really was something special. Maybe that's just my rose coloured glasses, but the sequel is completely soulless in comparison.
Deus Ex - like the first two examples, this game had stuff I've never seen before in an fps. Multiple paths, little pieces of setting and lore scattered around, npcs to talk to.
JA2 1.13 - I can have mortar? With mustard gas shells? I enjoy micromanaging equipment and this game is a gun nut wet dream. Recently finished a solo run and it was a blast (explosives are fun!). I keep imagining an rpg with combat system just copied from 1.13. A man can dream, a man can dream.
Diablo 1 - man that game had atmosphere. Finding that damn butcher for the first time... shame what they did with the setting latter.
Baldur's gate - my first real rpg, figuring how this ad&d stuff works. Good times, good times.
Morrowind - the setting just blew me away. The way it felt foreign and interesting and the sheer size of the game. Fantastic.
Torment - the ending, just.. the ending. It is so definite and satisfying.
Fallout 2 - cruising along in your car through the apocalyptic wasteland, kicking ass and taking names. And exploring the rich setting and story.
Freespace 2 - Dive dive dive! The excellent mission briefings really made you feel like a pilot in a war. Oh, and there is also some pretty and intense space combat.
Homeworld - again, the game had a story and setting that just drew you in. And brightly coloured exhausts and beam weapons.

Probably lots more.

 

[Cyberarmy]

How on earth did I forget Diablo 1. I probably peed a little when first encountered The Butcher. Was trying its demo at some gamestore in Paris, finished the demo 3 times before they kicked me out

 

[Dwemer Puzzle Box]

Nobody mentioned System Shock 2? What is this travesty?

 

[stabby]

Nostalgia-wise, I'll say Dark Sun: Shattered Lands. Sure it was the first 'proper' RPG I'd played (as til that point my PC was for point & clicks, were RPGs were a console affair) as well as the game that taught me the AD&D system, but damn if I will ever forget my reaction when trying to be a hero ends up wiping a village off the map and the game lets you keep going without even batting an eyelash. For someone in the mid-nineties who'd only played games that were heavily scripted enough to would flash a 'Game Over' right then and there, that was something amazing.

(On a quick sidenote, I was plainly ecstatic when I discovered this was one of the three games I own that escaped the flood that destroyed my box collection a few years back.)

Oh sure, there are other games that have done so more recently, but I've seen some mentioned already and I doubt y'all are intersted in 'stabby's Adventures in Monster Hunter' that much.

 

[Gozma]

Pirates!

The Book of Genesis opening/world generation/loading screen hiding intro in Civilization that then dumped you into the 4X genre archetype that has never gone away

The original X-Com free demo (no geoscape at that point). Simultaneously the most oppressive horror game and best squad tactics game I'd ever seen and it's dumped on you with no manual and no explanations of any kind (then I got the actual game and there's ALSO the geoscape stuff)

The Fallout intro. Just such an incredible way to set up an alternate history US in what, 20 seconds of implicit suggestion? Then the punchline.

The MJ-12 capture sequence in Deus Ex. That was ultimately just a game designer trick to make it seem like an open C&C-laden story but it worked perfectly on me.

 

[Ninjerk]

Pirates!

The Book of Genesis opening/world generation/loading screen hiding intro in Civilization that then dumped you into the 4X genre archetype that has never gone away

The original X-Com free demo (no geoscape at that point). Simultaneously the most oppressive horror game and best squad tactics game I'd ever seen and it's dumped on you with no manual and no explanations of any kind (then I got the actual game and there's ALSO the geoscape stuff)

The Fallout intro. Just such an incredible way to set up an alternate history US in what, 20 seconds of implicit suggestion? Then the punchline.

The MJ-12 capture sequence in Deus Ex. That was ultimately just a game designer trick to make it seem like an open C&C-laden story but it worked perfectly on me.

How about emerging from MJ-12 lab and getting closure with some people. Even the music was perfect for that moment: