10 Best Video Game Trailers of All Time
I wish they still made these today.
In the video game industry, many games grab our attention through critical acclaim, successful beta launches, and other means, but we rarely find games that instantly hook everyone with a successful teaser or game trailer release.
While it might not be as prevalent now, there were really some amazing game trailers before that that deserve some revisiting. Let’s stroll down memory lane and look at some of the greatest video game trailers ever.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
NFS: Hot Pursuit 2 was one of my favorite Need for Speed games of all time, but it’s the intro/trailer that really pulled me in first. The iconic Ferrari and Lamborghini race, and cops try their best to stop them, while Hot Action Cop’s Goin’ Down on It plays in the background – truly iconic. To this day, the Lamborghini Murciélago is still my dream car, growing up just because of this.
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2’s signature class announcement trailers were masterpieces back in the day. Each class has its own “Meet the X” trailer, and each one of them could be on this list. However, the Spy’s trailer caught the most attention – I mean, who wouldn’t remember those plot twists, and by plot twist, I mean the mom joke with photographic evidence.
Wrath of the Lich King
While almost everyone already knew the story of the upcoming World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion, the trailer still brought chills to every ’90s kid in that era. The journey into Northrend is still widely regarded as the best World of Warcraft expansion ever.
Starcraft 2
In the early 2000s, Blizzard Entertainment had a foothold on giving the best cinematics in the video gaming industry. They were releasing sequels or expansions to their iconic franchises every year. When they decided to announce StarCraft 2, more than a decade after their first entry, fans went mad, and one of the reasons was their opening cinematics: Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm, or Legacy of the Void, you name it.
Mirror’s Edge
While it is definitely a struggle to release a game from scratch nowadays, it was fairly common back then because people could rely on great trailers to capture the hearts of millions. Mirror’s Edge’s trailer caught everyone’s attention with its beautiful cinematics and unique gameplay at the same time. Nobody even knew what it was about, but everyone just wanted to play it.
Final Fantasy XIII
If Blizzard Entertainment was the peak of cinematics in video games for the Western world, it was Square Enix for the Eastern world. While many other Final Fantasy trailers could’ve made the list, FFXIII’s US trailer hooked me in the most.
The trailer was almost revealing the whole story already through multiple snippets of each of the main characters, but it was visually striking cutscenes paired with Leona Lewis’ My Hands really molded everything together.
Even with all the controversy surrounding the game because of the paradigm shift and whatnot, the game still brought one of Final Fantasy’s most iconic leads in the franchise.
Watch Dogs
While Watch Dogs never lived up to its hype, the fact that it had so much hype to begin with was mainly because of its trailer. People really had to look twice if the trailer was about real people or a clip or cutscene in the video game. The graphics were that good. Combine that with the hook of spy and espionage in the growing digital world, and you have the perfect game… trailer.
Dead Island
Dead Island’s trailer takes you on an emotional rollercoaster of a zombie apocalypse. The trailer plays on reverse, starting with a dead and infected child slowly painting the picture of one happy family just minutes before the apocalypse. Truly one of the most heartbreaking trailers in video game history.
Resident Evil 7
Resident Evil 7’s trailer is one of the most horrifying trailers of all time, but the timing and shock it caused fans were something else. During this time, Resident Evil was slowly becoming a shell of its former self with its drastic change to a more action-paced coop game with Resident Evil 5 and 6. Fans were losing hope as it didn’t feel like Resident Evil anymore until RE7’s announcement trailer came out.
There were no iconic characters featured, not a single dialogue spoken, just snippets of a journalist investigating an old, creepy, abandoned house—pure and genuine horror.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is one of Nintendo’s most iconic games because it brings all of its iconic franchises into one arena. Fans always want to know who will be in the game, as every franchise grows and introduces more characters.
The World of Light trailer features each of the most anticipated characters individually. The hype was already extremely high for the game because of the “Everyone is here” announcement trailer before this, but seeing everyone like Mario, Zelda, Megaman, Kirby, Lucario, and every single character in one cinematic shot was a sight to behold.
