It’s difficult to surprise gamers in this day and age, what with the Internet becoming increasingly adept at spoiling major reveals ahead of time.
However, Hideo Kojima achieved just that after a demo for the survival-horror game P.T. was released on the PlayStation Store, only for players to discover after completing it that it was actually a “playable teaser” for a new entry in the Silent Hill series, developed by the Metal Gear Solid creator in conjunction with director Guillermo del Toro and starring The Walking Dead‘s Norman Reedus. Needless to say everyone immediately launched into a frenzy of excitement, and Kojima probably poured himself a glass of champagne and a bath filled with money in order to celebrate duping us all.
Watch the grand reveal in the video below:
Also See: What the Name “P.T.” in Silent Hills’ Teaser Really Means
Silent Hills may very well go down in history as the most unexpected and clever video game reveal of all time, but there are plenty more games that have got our pulses racing following their initial announcement. Here are some of the best.
Shigeru Miyamoto and his Master Sword reveal The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The announcement of a new The Legend of Zelda game is always a spectacle (aside from Skyward Sword, because the image of Miyamoto struggling to control a Wiimote will be ingrained in our minds forever), but the unveiling of Twilight Princess stands as one of the best E3 moments ever.
After a raucous crowd practically screams the roof off of the place when the image of Link riding across the plains of Hyrule graces the screen, series creator Shigeru Miyamoto steps out on stage brandishing the hero’s legendary sword and shield. You just don’t get that kind of magic during E3 presentations anymore, as it’s largely been replaced by industry buzzwords and lengthy discussions regarding framerates.
Halo 2‘s in-game reveal leaves fans hyperventilating
In an age when every FPS has borrowed and built upon the foundations that were laid by the Halo series, the features that have this E3 2002 audience hooting and hollering seem somewhat tame, but at the time players being given the ability to dual-wield weapons and kick enemies from off of their vehicles was HUGE.
We haven’t witnessed this level of excitement at an E3 reveal in quite some time, making the debut of the Halo 2 demo one of the expo’s most cherished moments.
BioShock Infinite takes it to the skies
Beginning with a camera floating above a watery landscape that turns out to be little more than the inside of a goldfish bowl, the BioShock Infinite teaser trailer duped everyone into believing that we were returning to Rapture… before we witness protagonist Booker DeWitt being thrown out of a window and into the beautiful floating city of Colombia.
The best teaser trailers raise more questions than they do answer them, and this was certainly the case with the BioShock Infinite reveal. Crashing through a stain-glassed window, his eyes adjusting to the intense brightness of the world outside, we were introduced to the air balloon propelled, colorful city that would later be home to one of 2013’s very best games. The reveal trailer gave us glimpses at everything we’d see in the final game, from the religious zealotry and jingoism hinted at by the huge posters adorning the city’s walls, to the game’s deuteragonist Elizabeth. Simply put, it’s one of the best trailers ever, across any medium.
Valve’s Portal 2 ARG puzzle
Never one to follow the trend, rather than simply hand over a teaser trailer for Portal 2 Valve instead decided to create an elaborate puzzle and called upon the Internet hivemind to solve it.
Essentially a giant scavenger hunt, Valve had fans picking apart cryptic clues in its “ARG” puzzle, beginning with the radios in the original Portal game giving players’ clues in Morse Code, with these codes then being transformed into images that were then deciphered into a code. This code was then hacked by fans, which then gave them a phone number. This phone number directed them to an old modem in Valve employee Adam Foster’s kitchen, which slowly began to feed them information regarding Portal 2.
This was an intelligent and exciting way to announce a new game, but c’mon, it’s Valve: should we have really expected anything less?
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