glance

At first glance, connecting circular curves to straight sections of roadway looks like a perfectly smooth ride.

'A glance at something' means a quick look.

At first glance, Mars seems familiar -- polar ice caps, large valleys, liquid water under its surface, and a day barely longer than Earth's.

But even this video here is crazy at first glance.

Many of those challenges are overcome at facility which, at first glance, often looks like a chaotic and dangerous mess of wires and equipment, but which actually serves a number of essential roles in our electrical grid, the substation.