Most early video games made their homes in coin-op arcades, so they really couldn't get away with long introductions or lingering atmosphere. They were designed to eat quarters and deliver the product to players as quickly and frequently as possible. Pop in the token, press the Start button, play the game. This same process was echoed in PC and console games for years. Only role playing games ever took the time to set the tone or unload some exposition. When 32-bit gaming came around, hardware finally had enough power to devote to atmosphere. Cinematic video games were born.

D

Designer Kenji Eno of WARP was an early adopter of Full-Motion Video, pre-rendered scenes that some thought would replace traditional sprite and model gameplay in modern video games. As of 1995 when the horror/puzzle title D first hit shelves, the idea of "interactive movies" was still pretty hip, though the concept would more or less go extinct as game design proved versatile enough to be both pretty and highly interactive. D hasn't aged very well and most players would hardly recognize it as a game, but Eno's dark mystery was a pretty chilling experience in its time. It had all the jump cuts, scary images and creepy corners of the most visceral horror movie. Its mechanics leave it in the dustbin, though for those who came of age in the 32-bit era D is still an unforgettable experience.

Metal Gear Solid

Konami had a real hit on its hands with the then-unique action game Metal Gear Solid. It had great graphics, good voice acting and a lot of little visual tricks that made it so much more than a run-and-gun title. It was one of the first games to open like a movie, complete with credits and ambitious sweeps of the camera. A cinematic experience was the whole point of MGS, from the moody level design to the unusually deep characterization of the villains. It even messed with player's heads by psychologically profiling them based on their in-game behaviors.

Half-Life

The same year MGS came to the Playstation, Valve released its first game, the much-loved Half-Life. Whereas most First-Person Shooters were content to drop players right into the action with little more than a brief block of text explaining the plot, Half-Life spends the first five or so minutes giving players a tour through what will soon become a memorable sci-fi battleground. As silent protagonist Gordon Freeman, the player begins the day running late for work on the company tram, listening to increasingly unsettling safety announcements while descending into the depths of the Black Mesa Facility where giant robots, vats of radioactive waste and deep pitfalls are as common as coffee cups. It's an excellent way to build tension and introduce the player to the game's environment.

Shadow of the Colossus

Team Ico only makes breathtaking, strange games. Their offerings are often the first things mentioned in the "games are art" discussions that pervade the industry these days. Their greatest success so far is the odd, eerie and often terrifying adventure game Shadow of the Colossus. Play consists entirely of roaming a vast, mostly empty wilderness and hunting down gargantuan monsters the hero, Wander, has been tasked with slaying. The sense of scale and the melancholy atmosphere make SotC an unforgettable experience.