The art of the video game trailer is a delicate one. A trailer needs to get people excited to play an upcoming video game, while ideally being representative of what that game will actually be. However, it has become clear that plenty of trailers — at least the ones without gameplay — are more interested in generating hype than being especially faithful. These are our first glimpses at the world, characters, and maybe even bosses of a game, but presented like a short film. Because trailers can be so different from what the final game becomes, we wanted to find the best video game trailers judged only on their effectiveness as trailers and not take into consideration how accurate or good the game they are advertising was. It is just as likely that a terrible game and one of the best games of all time will have an amazing trailer.
After digging through the archives of hundreds of video game trailers from every console generation, we’ve come up with a list of the best video game trailers ever made.
Dead Island
Where else could we start than one of the most infamous trailers ever released? There had been plenty of “artsy” trailers before Dead Island, and we will talk about them later in this list, but something about this one felt different. The structure of the trailer mostly being shot in reverse of a family fighting — and losing — to survive against an oncoming zombie horde was gripping and emotional despite seeing how it would all end up from the start. It felt distinct from any other zombie game at the time, which were all about action or horror. Dead Island chose to feel more personal and melancholic. The soundtrack here alone still gives us chills. As a short film, it is a masterfully crafted and effective piece of media. If you were hoping the game would be anything like this trailer, though, then you could make a strong case for it being false advertising.
Halo 3
The marketing cycle for Halo 3 was unreal. If you weren’t there to experience it, it is hard to describe just how ever-present this game was, even in the mainstream. The tagline for the game was simply “Believe,” and of all the trailers we got for the game, the one that we still think about shares that simple title. Instead of making a CGI, gameplay, or live-action trailer (which Bungie still did, of course), this trailer was made using a diorama. A sullen piano track guides the camera across various scenes, from exhausted, wounded, and terrified marines to Brutes getting blasted by explosives and Hunters tearing through human resistance. Despite there being no movement, it is incredibly dynamic and shows a deeper layer to this desperate war than you get behind the visor of a super soldier. We close on a shot of our hero, Master Chief, apparently defeated in the hands of a Brute. The only motion in the trailer is Chief lifting his head before “Believe” comes on screen. Perfect.
Gears of War
Before Dead Island, Gears of War was the first game to craft a trailer that ended up being a radical departure from the game. Yes, the world of Gears was incredibly dire and hopeless, but that emotion typically took a backseat to the bombastic firefights and macho banter between the tank-like characters. This trailer, on the other hand, painted the world as it would feel if it weren’t a video game. The cover of Mad World was used to incredible effect as Marcus wanders through a delapitated city, stalked by monsters. It really sells the feeling of desperation and hopelessness of that world where monsters are, in fact, real. The series would attempt to recreate this tone with its two sequels to various effect, but this first attempt was the one that inspired the trend.
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
Say what you will about Ubisoft, but that company knows how to make a killer trailer. The Assassin’s Creed games, in particular, have had some of the most stunning and well-directed trailers of all time, with Assassin’s Creed: Revelations being the peak. Unlike the last few entries, which featured slow and mournful soundtracks, this one uses the upbeat tempo of a WoodKid track. It is another instance of showing the end first before cutting back to show an aged Ezio traveling across land and sea to where the series first began. After shrugging off an arrow, an action sequence that would make Zack Snyder blush kicks off to show the insane fight choreography and brutality of the combat. At the very end, we get the promise of the game tying everything back to the origins as Ezio sees a vision of Altair beside him while a noose is tied around his neck.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Before every new Smash game, we always ask, “Who’s going to be in it?” Things were a little different when we learned about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch because we all assumed that we would be losing characters. After all, there was no way we could get the entire roster from Smash for Wii U, especially the guest characters like Snake, Ryu, and Cloud in Ultimate, right? Well, Nintendo left no room for doubt when it released the Everyone is here! trailer. It starts out slow, going over the classic characters we all expected and numbering them, but around halfway through, after confirming Cloud and Snake, it drops the bomb that “Everyone is here!” The trailer doesn’t just show us everyone from this insanely huge roster, but gives each character a moment to shine and show off their personality or moveset for a moment. No matter who you are a fan of, you get at least one moment to feel seen by this trailer. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate proved it was worthy of that subtitle with this trailer alone, and someone only got better with each character it added after the fact.
Final Fantasy 7: Remake
One of our favorite types of trailers are the ones we can’t quite place at first. We love those opening few moments as we search for clues and make guesses as to what it could be, or if it is just something completely new. That’s how the reveal for Final Fantasy 7: Remake was in 2015. At this point, fans had been jerked around back and forth on whether or not such a thing could even be done, so even when we saw the giant pipes running through a metropolotin city, we didn’t want to get our hopes up. The narration was likewise ambiguous. And then we saw the train and playground with that ominous bass chord sting leading to that trilling piano. If you weren’t there for it, we highly suggest looking up reactions to this trailer and watching the realization hit people once they realize that, yes, Final Fantasy 7: Remake is happening. Or, as the narrator concludes, “But let us embrace whatever it brings, for they are coming back. At last, the promise has been made.” It is hard to imagine another trailer speaking to any group of fans as strongly as this one for a long, long time.
