The 6 best video game trailers of the 21st century – Reader’s Feature

From Metal Gear Solid to Dead Island, a reader reveals the six trailers that have impressed him the most, from the PS1 era to the present day.

I love a good game trailer, like anybody else, but I don’t think many gamers truly delve into their absolute favourites, and if they do, they likely focus on all the newest and biggest games. As a man in my 30s, who has a stellar infatuation with game trailers from the past, I feel as though I will impart some of my absolute favourites right here.

Let’s start with one of the most badass trailers I’ve ever seen in my life, the E3 2002 trailer for Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance. When I think of this one I think of how I’ve absolutely mowed down my personal challenges as a person with a condition called hydrocephalus, and who has fought against low expectations all his life.

Seeing Snake march forwards whilst terrorists fall in unison to his assault rifle fire is extreme, and when he blows them up with the grenade launcher towards the end of the trailer. The music and the dialogue does a phenomenal job of selling the high stakes themes, and I find it to be a simply amazing trailer.

Another trailer from 2002 that hit me hard as a curious 10-year-old, was the debut trailer for GTA: Vice City. Whether it’s the paradise-soaked shots of palm trees and Tommy Vercetti yawn-stretching on a boat or watching the 80s inspired whips tear through Vice City streets at night, this trailer was soaked in a calming glamour and nostalgia.

Kool and the Gang’s Summer Madness was the perfect song to create this stunning ambience, and to this day I feel as though Vice City set my standard for paradise in video games.

The next one I’d like to mention is the E3 2017 trailer for Super Mario Odyssey. At first you see a dino stomping through a verdant green field. We think it could be Monster Hunter, Turok, or Xenoblade, but then the dino roars and we see Mario’s iconic red cap and then he explodes out of the dinosaur, and the fun of the trailer truly takes off like a rocket, backed up by Pauline’s Jump Up Superstar. I don’t think I’ve seen a trailer more exciting before and that is why I love it so much.

2023’s Astro Bot announcement trailer was incredible, in a similar vein to Super Mario Odyssey, and it helped restore my faith in PlayStation because they brought joy back to us. Astro Bot was an oasis in a desert full of dreary over-serious storytelling and po-faced characters.

One of the most relatable and sombre trailers ever conceived, the cinematic trailer for the original Dead Island pierces the soul in a way no game trailer even comes close to. The music and direction is absolutely haunting.

The camera draws back revealing the cold dead eyes of a zombie child, then reversing and showing us the dramatic moments beforehand. I don’t think any trailer can feel so gut-wrenchingly tragic as this one.

The final trailer I want to mention is the E3 2018 reveal trailer for Resident Evil 2. The methodically layered tension and reveal of this trailer was superb and aligned very nicely with the seismic anticipation of this gloriously gory remake.

By reader James Davie

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