{"id":77046,"date":"2015-06-10T23:55:29","date_gmt":"2015-06-10T21:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=77046"},"modified":"2020-03-18T15:03:19","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T13:03:19","slug":"cinematics-for-the-ages-the-best-contemporary-video-game-cinematics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/features\/77046-cinematics-for-the-ages-the-best-contemporary-video-game-cinematics","title":{"rendered":"The best modern video game cinematics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What\u2019s in a cinematic?<\/p>\n<p>A cinematic packages the persona of a game, its idea, into a visual presentation. It establishes its world and characters, and hopefully gives us a glimpse of what is to come, or what might be.<\/p>\n<p>Video game cinematics are often used to build hype surrounding a release or an announcement, they sell it.<\/p>\n<p>But best of all, a great cinematic is a source of entertainment unto itself, and they very rarely age.<\/p>\n<p>These are a collection of our favourites, or some of the best cinematics to date.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\"><strong>The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited \u2013 Three Fates <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Prior to the release of the original <em>Elder Scrolls Online<\/em>, before it went free-to-play, Bethesda released a series of spectacular CG clips.<\/p>\n<p>Altogether, these clips span around 23 minutes, showcase the game\u2019s rich lore and demonstrate the strife currently taking place, and all for a shot at the Imperial Throne.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SrKicizGdDM\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Granted, this is not what we experienced while playing the game, but it gives us an insight into the magnitude of the war and something pretty to watch.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\"><strong>The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings \u2013 Opening Cinematic<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Even if you&#8217;ve never played <em>The Witcher 2<\/em>, although you really should, I&#8217;m pretty sure you&#8217;ve watched the opening cinematic.<\/p>\n<p>In my opinion, it&#8217;s a heck of a lot better than <em>The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt&#8217;s<\/em>; it&#8217;s that good.<\/p>\n<p>During the cinematic we see Letho, a fellow Witcher from the School of Viper, climb on board a king&#8217;s ship. He&#8217;s got something mischievous in mind.<\/p>\n<p>He casts a protection sign on himself and tosses a very cool looking Northern Wind bomb which freezes the entire ship, and queue scene:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1KCDkma8QKo\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As the ship crumbles and those frozen fall apart, he makes his dash to the king, avoiding arrows and slashing up a few people along the way.<\/p>\n<p>The cinematic would not be the same without the great cinematography during the clip. It&#8217;s epic.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\"><strong>World of Warcraft \u2013 Collection<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>To list one <em>World of Warcraft<\/em> cinematic would be a terrible mistake as they all have their own unique Blizzard flair going on.<\/p>\n<p>Every time a large update rolls out or an expansion is revealed, Blizzard celebrates with a 3-4 minutes video that just knocks our socks off.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wvYXoyxLv64\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>These cinematics often depict scenes that never take place in the game, nor do they correctly represent the visuals of the game, but they are still pretty epic to watch.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\"><strong>Dead Island \u2013 Announcement Trailer<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Every now and then a trailer comes along that basically rips out your heart, throws it to the ground and stamps on it.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Dead Island<\/em> announcement trailer was that trailer for me. Even while typing this, I get chills just thinking about it.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lZqrG1bdGtg\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The trailer showcases a family tragedy while on holiday in Banoi.<\/p>\n<p>Playing in reverse, it shows the daughter falling to the ground as she tears her father&#8217;s neck asunder. Yes, we used asunder.<\/p>\n<p>And to be serenaded by a beautiful piano melody as it all takes place, priceless.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Walking Dead<\/em> has nothing on this.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\"><strong>DC Universe Online \u2013 Cinematic Trailer<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>What do you get when you take a bunch of DC characters, throw in as much cinematic flair as possible and toss in a couple epic explosions for good measure?<\/p>\n<p>You get a <em>DC Universe Online<\/em> trailer.<\/p>\n<p>Joker fights Batman; Lex Luther throws down with Superman; it had it all.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/H7Nf-m6WGl4\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I think you&#8217;ll agree, it&#8217;s six minutes of superhero bashing bliss.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\"><strong>Gears of War \u2013 Mad World<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em>Gears of War<\/em> could not have been introduced in a more beautiful, surreal way.<\/p>\n<p>Backed by Gary Jules\u2019 <em>Mad World<\/em>, the trailer showcased the end of the world and a single soldier&#8217;s desperate fight, even in the face of immeasurable odds.<\/p>\n<p>There were no sound effects, just a single melody and a decidedly grim future.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ccWrbGEFgI8\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The trailer ends just as a Corpser is about to slam down, another example of perfect cinematography.<\/p>\n<p>It has us wanting to play <em>Gears of War <\/em>all over again, and all because it did its job and sold the game.<\/p>\n<p>What are your favourite video game cinematics? Let us know in the comments and forum!<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">There&#8217;s more where that came from<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/features\/76986-uwe-bolls-worst-movies-based-on-video-games.html\">Uwe Boll\u2019s worst movies based on video games<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/features\/76918-the-biggest-e3-fails-face-palming-to-ensue.html\">The biggest E3 fails: face palming to ensue<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/features\/76648-2015-wii-u-exclusives-that-will-save-the-console.html\">2015 Wii U exclusives that will save the console<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A good trailer never ages; a great trailer gets better with age.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":60313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[14346,2710,1607,3180,431,14344,1709,6849,183,7035,635],"class_list":["post-77046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-cinematics","tag-dc-universe-online","tag-dead-island","tag-feature","tag-gears-of-war","tag-the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited","tag-the-witcher-2-assassins-of-kings","tag-trailers","tag-video","tag-videos-2","tag-world-of-warcraft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}