The Best Video Game Cutscenes Edited Into Movies

Visually Halo 4 may look more polished, but Halo 3 makes for a better story when edited into a single narrative. The action in all of the Halo titles is executed with a cinematographer's eye to begin with, and Bungie's last helmed title in the series is a perfect example of this approach.

Easily the most successful use of the DC Comics franchise in video games, Injustice had a remarkably robust plot for a fighting game. The fighting genre is notorious for investing more in game mechanics than plot, but Injustice kept even the casual DC comics fan at atttention with Alan Moore's lifted Twilight of the Superheroes plot.

The Last of Us was out for less than a day when full supercuts of the game's cinematics started appearing online. For non-PS3 owners, sitting down to the two hour plus edited movie version of the game was as close they were going to get to playing the Sony exclusive. The Last of Us was a massive success for Naughty Dog and it should come as a surprise to no one when it starts nabbing game of the year in the months to come.

Spoiling one of the better endings to be produced in video games in the last 10 years seems akin to replacing your toothpaste with kitty litter, but some people did it anyway. Enjoying the fully edited movie after you've beaten the game makes a fuck ton more sense. We've beaten the game a few times now and while Infinite isn't without its shortcomings, sitting down and enjoying the cutscenes is still massively enjoyable.

All three of the Uncharted games are easily some the greatest to come out of the PS3 generation. Choose any of the three randomly and the sense of cinematic scope is established within moments of the opening credits. Uncharted 2 stands out among a series of stand outs because of the opening. We've rarely seen a title so seamlessly blend tutorial, environment, narrative, and atmosphere in a sparse three minutes. The rest of the game is equally as tremendous.

I hadn't played Starcraft in god knows how long when Starcraft 2 was finally released. We always knew it was coming, but when the first trailer dropped for the long awaited second installment of the series, Blizzard fans knew the wait had been worth it. The supercut of the game's cinematics are strong enough to stand by themselves and make us feel like goony kids all over again.

One of Rockstar's finest games could have easily been turned into a feature film on the strength of its script and the performance of the voice actors. Lord knows we haven't had a great Western in what seems like forever. While a direct sequel for Red Dead is impossible, watch the whole movie if you've never beatend the game, another narrative set in the same world would be universally welcomed by fans. The supercut almost does as effective a job as playing the game in terms of emotional heft. Almost.

For a game whose chief criticism being it was far too short, fans were obviously upset by not being allowed to spend more time in Dunwall. When Bethesda announced a new IP during a season bereft of new franchises, fans were obviously paying attention. Granted, it wasn't the new Fallout we all want so bad (it is happening, mark our words), Dishonored proved to a welcome new title. Corvo's tale of magic, revenge, and royal backstabbing did seem too brief, but the edited cutscenes into a single film extend the experience, however fleeting.

Like all things existing in Kojima's seminal franchise, there is nothing short about this supercut. This one 30 minute clip is part of a 14 part part installment and illustrates how much scripting goes into a MGS title. MGS 4 was a particularly cutscene heavy entry in the series and has ben criticized for sacrificing actual game play for cinematic asides. Either way, it is clear that no expense was spared in bringing Old Snake into fully realized existence. If you've got the time this is one of the better tales of international espionage and global terrorism out there.

Amazing that all of these years later that this opening still gives us butterflies. While the Internet has co-opted and subsequently defiled the corpse of the term 'epic', the first 15 minutes of God of War III is certainly deserving the accolade in the most traditional sense of the word. Seeking revenge on the Pantheon of Greek Gods seems nothing short of Homeric and the fact we are no longer able to use the term detracts from one of the best openings in modern gaming. Taken together as a whole the title's cutscenes are a blessing for non-PS3 owners looking to experience the strongest chapter of Kratos' story.