I thought the opening cutscene of Half-Life 2 was pretty cool. (I think it’s the only one in the game, though there might be one at the end.)
Another Sierra one: The dance scene in Leisure Suit Larry 1.
I’ll disagree with you slightly here. I rather liked the Allied ending to RA2, but the Soviet Ending to Yuris revenge was far cooler then the Allied one. In the Allied one…Carville is back and then that bit about going on a date with EVA…ho hum. Oh, and instead of Killing perhaps the greatest threat to Humanity EVER, they put him in a box so he can be let loose just in time for RA3.
I like the Soviet Ending much better. Yuri tries to get away but dies in a rather cool way, and then the nice “Soviets take over the world” montage(and the Space Station was cool too).
Word to everyone who mentioned the Blizzard games. They’ve always rocked on the cutscenes. I especially liked the “cold fusion” one from Starcraft. Please, Blizzard - give us a sequel!
The intro scene to World of Warcraft is just awesome. The game rocks too, btw. 
Several of the scenes from Kingdom Hearts were really well done too.
And about all of them in Final Fantasy X and X-2. Especially the sending scene mentioned above, the scene where the team rides the anchor cables down to disrupt the wedding, and the one with Tidus and Yunas in the lake. X-2 had some great ones too, especially involving the flashbacks/dreams Yuna had. And the concert. Not to mention the ending movies (in both games)
And while I’m on the subject, the intro movie for Final Fantasy XI was quite good too. And Final Fantasy XII promises to continue the tradition. And Kingdom Hearts 2. Can you tell I’m a Squeenix fanboy? 
That’s exactly the scene, and the line, I was going to mention. The end-of-campaign cutscenes from that game were good, too.
And from Warcraft III, I’ll add the ending of the Orc campaign. “gasp… I have freed myself…” “No, brother. You have freed all of us.”
And what’s this about a date with Tanya? I just may have to go get Red Alert 2.
Pretty much the entirely of Gaberial Knight.
The Opera Scene in Gaberial Knight 2.
Grim Fandago…Dominos End, The discovery of the ship hanging off the edge of the world, The beginning cutscene of pretty much every year…too many to name, really.
The Ending and Sucess cutscenes for Allied Mission 10 in Red Alert. In the mission, you are to take out the Soviet production and launching center for their entire Nuclear Effort, but as you begin to attack the base proper, 4 nuclear missles are launched and will hit their Targets in 30 minutes. You have to use a commando team to go inside and deactivate all 4 of the missles from their control stations.
If you Succeed, you see the missle sticking out out of the ground, on the Lawn of the Houses of Parilement in London. If you fail, you see the Effiel tower melted by a nuclear blast.
C&C: Tiberuium Sun. The Cutscene where the Mammoth Mk.2 is deployed.
Not a PC game, but there’s something about FFT’s dinky sprites that warm my old school geeky heart.
Especially the cutscene where Ramza activates Worker 8. It goes something like this…
Mwahaha.
The cutscenes from Return to Castle Wolfenstein. [spoiler]
[/spoiler] :eek:
They could have made a movie like that, using the game engine, and hit it big at the boxoffice.
The final cutscene, with the historical cameo, was pretty good, too.
And…the anime cinematics from Myth II: Soulblighter.
Hell of a lot of good that spoiler coding did. :smack:
The cutscene in Thief where Garrett delivers The Eye to Constantine, was one of the most genuinely shocking things I’ve ever seen. By the time that scene was over, I looked just like this: :eek:
That and the opening cutscene.
I didn’t even notice that it was “unboxed” until you posted this. I must’ve mentally blocked it out because a friend just mailed me that game :).
That was a very nice cutscene, but I disagree with the final one. I was expecting more, from the boss battle and the cutscene in general…instead we get
An Easily winnable Boss Battle and Himmler watching from a distance
Planescape: Torment cutscenes featuring the Transcendent One.
YOU ARE NOTHING. I CAN FORGE PLANES WITH MY POWER. I CAN UNMAKE YOU.
ARE THEY DEAD? YES. UNLIKE YOU, THEY HAVE BUT ONE LIFE. THEY WASTED IT FOR YOUR SAKE.
SO YOU HAVE COME. THEN YOU SHALL DIE AGAIN!
Of course, even these don’t come close to my reaction the first time I cast meteor swarm in that game. :eek:
Both Homeworlds by Sierra. The first time you play it you are thinking cool movie I wonder how is the games?.. just to realize that the cutscene is over and you are alreay playing.
Never seen a better one.
All the cutscenes in Both Fallout games.
Paticulary “Mutants dip you/overrun your vault” and “You leave your vault for the first time”.
Fallout 2’s intro. I love the whole cheery fatalism of it, with the ever grinning pip-boy doing a very happy guide to leaving the vault. Then, after the video’s all over the people in the vault leave only to be immediatly gunned down by mysterious army troops in power-armor.
“Give me a kiss to build a dream on
and my imagination will make that dream come true… (doo de doo de dooo)”
The opening and ending cinematics in Descent 2 were fucking awesome.
Everything from Final Fantasy VII. Bugenhagen’s explanation of planet life is one of the most thought-provoking things I’ve ever seen. The Aeris scene (people who’ve played the game know which one I’m talking about) will bring tears to the eyes of anyone with a heart. And the two final movies – one before, and one after the credits – are, visually, two of the most amazing scenes I’ve ever seen in any electronic medium.
This is why I bring up Final Fantasy VII whenever I’m making the case that video games can be art – even so-called “high” art.
The other final fantasies are pretty good, too. I also liked the Marius cut-scenes in Diablo II.
An oldie but goodie - the opening cutscene for Dungeon Keeper 2.