Underated Games

BudzMcGee

BudzMcGee

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We all know one. A game that is surprisingly a lot of fun but usually not mentioned or noticed. Always filling up those discount bins for no real good reason, and as a cheap ass gamer I've got to love that. Whats your favorite underrated game?

Mine has got to be The Darkness. Been playing it recently after having it in my backlog for a real long time and I really regret not getting to it sooner.
 
That's a good one, I played it last year and really enjoyed it as well.

Eternal Darkness is one that comes to mind, though it was pretty well regarded on forums, just didn't sell that well and reviews were lower than it deserved IMO.
 
So it did--90% on Gamerankings.

Did one of the EGM reviewers give it a very low score? I see it at 8.17 out of 10 from them. That could be what I was thinking of, as EGM was the only reviews I looked at back then.
 
I don't know if the game is underrated, or just a niche game, but Europa Universalis 3: Complete is one of the best if not the best grand strategy game ever made. It has good ratings but it can be found in bargain bins all the time. I got mine for $10, but I've seen it for cheaper.

Also I thought the darkness sucked, it was a mediocre shooter at best.
 
Well while the game wasn't the best I've ever played I really enjoyed Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, I mean the voice acting was extremely cheesy but it kind of added to the experience, and I thought combat was fairly cool.

Actually thinking about it Web of Shadows reminds me a lot of inFamous, which I also enjoyed.

I guess for a game that wasn't very highly reviewed I thought it was a blast to play.

Edit:
Oh ya I forgot, though I haven't beaten it I've really enjoyed what I've played of Wild ARMs 2 so far, I mean sure it isn't a really hard game but I think it is still a fun RPG, a good addition to the series, and much better than reviews would lead one to believe.
 
[quote name='reformed stoner']i would say ico was underrated.[/QUOTE]

At release I'd agree.

As of now though I'd say it's the opposite.

Yes, I am saying that Ico is overrated
 
[quote name='whoknows']At release I'd agree.

As of now though I'd say it's the opposite.

Yes, I am saying that Ico is overrated
[/QUOTE]

Woo!
 
[quote name='whoknows']Advent Rising is the game I always think of when underrated games are brought up.[/QUOTE]

Yup. Too bad we will never get that sequel. :cry:
 
I want to add The Simpsons Game to my list of underrated games. I actually had a lot of fun playing that, which considering the history of Simpsons games, is a pretty big deal.
 
bionic commando : it was a good game with lots of potential could have done without the blatant god of war end scene but all in all for 20 it was a fun game.

Ico: i can see why it didnt get hyped up too much most people at that time still judged games by boxes ad even more its one of those things you have to play to get it and either you like it or hate it.

Tenchu: i say this game is underrated because when you mention stealth games everyone always gushes over mgs but to me tenchu was better especially the first 2 and the music in the first game was and still is amazing.

Mirrors edge: again its one of those games you either love or hate because of what it is i hope more genres borrow from what they accomplished and expand on it. would love to see those skills in a tenchu game.

samurai showdown: again they get kinda kicked to the curb next to the street fighters and the like but this series to me ( and alot of the neo geo 2d fighters) was the best. same thing for Last Blade 1 & 2.

castlevannia 64 ( the final version ) : it was the version that was meant to be made where you could play as a werewolf and some other characters. they promised alot and couldnt deliver but i liked the game overall.
 
PC Games that I loved that nobody recognizes.

Clive Barker's Undying: Before the crap that was Jericho, Clive worked on a PC game about a damned family and you the Irishman who had come to help the last surviving member. It was freaky and very atmospheric. One of my favorite parts was walking around the mansion and looking at the art, then casting the vision spell and see the art's true grotesque form.

Giants: Citizen Kabuto: British Aliens, Mostly naked sea people and a Giant, all playable. This game had some of the best writing, this side of Tim Schafer and combined different genres rather successfully. Check it out
 
Bionic Commando - I was just talking about this last night with a friend. We both agreed that the BC is a great game. If you look past the awful plot and a couple annoy aspects (radiation, losing iteam after death) then the core gameplay is fun as hell. It had some epic boss fights and amazing graphics with beautiful back drops.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows - They did a great job with the combat in this game. You control Spidey just like you'd want to.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - I know it's not saying much but this is the best Transformers game to date. Yeah it's based on the cheesy movie, but hey, it's fun.

Viking: Battle for Asgard - I'm like anything that has to do with Norse Mythology, unfortunatly this game has little to offer in that aspect. I gave it a try last year and enjoyed the epic/massive war battles. The combat is simple yet it doesn't old.

Tenchu Z - Let me just say it right away, this game is ugly. Now with that out of the way it's a great ninja/stealth game. Online is a blast when you get a couple buddies together and storm a village silently killing everyone. How could you not love that? I picked this up for $5 which was an awesome value for the fun I got out of this game.
 
Professor Layton

Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass (I underrated this game myself, but finally played it and it was a great game).

Tales of Symphonia (don't know if it was underrated, but I just played it last year on my Wii and it was great)

Tales of Symphonia 2 - I really enjoyed this game. They switched up the map view and stuff, but it had other stuff that was addictive

Chocobo's Dungeon for the Wii
 
[quote name='jh6269']Chocobo's Dungeon for the Wii[/QUOTE]
Seconded. There were some really asinine design decisions made for certain bonus dungeons, and the load times are a little annoying, but otherwise, it's a great mascot RPG.
 
[quote name='dwhelan']
Giants: Citizen Kabuto: British Aliens, Mostly naked sea people and a Giant, all playable. This game had some of the best writing, this side of Tim Schafer and combined different genres rather successfully. Check it out[/QUOTE]

YES! I picked this game up years ago and LOVED it!
 
[quote name='blueshinra']Seconded. There were some really asinine design decisions made for certain bonus dungeons, and the load times are a little annoying, but otherwise, it's a great mascot RPG.[/QUOTE]

Right. It was, by no means, a perfect game; but it did remind me of a game I played as a kid, it was called Rogue.

Rogue was a crude RPGish game made out of ASCII text. It amazed me the similarities to Chocobo's dungeon. Chocobo's Dungeon has random maps, mystery potions, random enemies; even the controls were almost identical.

Anyway if you care to experience Rogue, they have an iPhone version, and there is a Linux version. I'm sure there is a Windows version somewhere since it was a DOS game.
 
[quote name='jh6269']Right. It was, by no means, a perfect game; but it did remind me of a game I played as a kid, it was called Rogue.

Rogue was a crude RPGish game made out of ASCII text. It amazed me the similarities to Chocobo's dungeon. Chocobo's Dungeon has random maps, mystery potions, random enemies; even the controls were almost identical.

Anyway if you care to experience Rogue, they have an iPhone version, and there is a Linux version. I'm sure there is a Windows version somewhere since it was a DOS game.[/QUOTE]
Well, Chocobo's Dungeon is supposed to be a roguelike of sorts ;)

I have other dungeon crawlers in my backlog right now, but I'll keep that in mind (no Mac version?).
 
I loved all the Soul Reaver games, though by the end, it seemed that the series had gotten quite 'mainstream'. But I LOVED Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2, and the last game in the series quite a bit. Blood Omen was quite good too.
 
Getting away from 360 titles myself for a moment, I always had a blast playing C&C Renegade online, even up till about a year and a half ago when I finally bought a 360 I was still playing it heavily. Single player was so-so though.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']Bionic Commando - I was just talking about this last night with a friend. We both agreed that the BC is a great game. If you look past the awful plot and a couple annoy aspects (radiation, losing iteam after death) then the core gameplay is fun as hell. It had some epic boss fights and amazing graphics with beautiful back drops.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='lokizz']bionic commando : it was a good game with lots of potential could have done without the blatant god of war end scene but all in all for 20 it was a fun game.[/QUOTE]

This was actually the first game I thought of. I really enjoyed it, even tho' it had it's annoying parts.
 
FFX-2...sure the story is not epic, but i thought the battle system was pretty addicting since you could chain attacks between characters. I was able to max every job class snce it so enjoyable.
 
[quote name='blueshinra']Well, Chocobo's Dungeon is supposed to be a roguelike of sorts ;)

I have other dungeon crawlers in my backlog right now, but I'll keep that in mind (no Mac version?).[/QUOTE]

This game won't affect your backlog :) it's so simple you'll spend like 2 minutes and be done with it.. This game is a pre-NES computer DOS game (ported from UNIX). I'm sure there is a Mac port somewhere since Mac OSX is a BSD derivative...

I loved this game when I was a kid because it had funny aspects to it. You'd find a "potion" which was represented by some weird ASCII character and to use the potion, you'd hit the Q key to "quaff" the potion. The potions had different colors, black, red, blue--and my favorite--plaid. You never knew what the potion would do because each time you started a new game the different color potions would do different things.

The enemies were funny too, my favorites were the "kestrel" represented by a letter K, and the hobgoblin, which was an H character.

Here's a screenshot:

Rogue_Screen_Shot_CAR.PNG
 
Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse (SNES). I go back and replay this one at least once a year. Great Capcom platforming with a wonderful soundtrack to boot!
 
[quote name='jh6269']This game won't affect your backlog :) it's so simple you'll spend like 2 minutes and be done with it.. This game is a pre-NES computer DOS game (ported from UNIX). I'm sure there is a Mac port somewhere since Mac OSX is a BSD derivative...

I loved this game when I was a kid because it had funny aspects to it. You'd find a "potion" which was represented by some weird ASCII character and to use the potion, you'd hit the Q key to "quaff" the potion. The potions had different colors, black, red, blue--and my favorite--plaid. You never knew what the potion would do because each time you started a new game the different color potions would do different things.

The enemies were funny too, my favorites were the "kestrel" represented by a letter K, and the hobgoblin, which was an H character.

Here's a screenshot:[/QUOTE]

I remember Rogue! Great game.
 
I would say XIII. Using comic book conventions was a great idea that was skillfully implemented. The story was intriguing, the cell-shaded look worked, and the FPS gameplay was fun (nothing mind-blowing but fun).

Saw this for $2 at Gamestop recently, the only games that were cheaper were old Maddens...
 
I'll throw out Eternal Sonata (particularly the PS3 version). It never gets any love, but for JRPGs fans it was a very unique and fun game with a battle system that was a blast. Not without its flaws, but a very fun game.

Another category of underrated are games that are bad, you know they're bad, while you play them you think "this game is bad" and yet you have a great time with them despite yourself. I just gamefly'd Godfather II and this was exactly my experience as I blasted through it in a weekend. Deeply flawed game, but for some reason I couldn't put it down. The fact that it was a pretty easy 1000/1000 didn't hurt either.
 
[quote name='flameofdoom666']Okami.

PEOPLE NEED TO SHOW THIS GAME SOME LOVE![/QUOTE]

Definitely. That was my favorite game from last generation.
 
[quote name='Frankski']I loved all the Soul Reaver games, though by the end, it seemed that the series had gotten quite 'mainstream'. But I LOVED Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2, and the last game in the series quite a bit. Blood Omen was quite good too.[/QUOTE]

Id have to second the Soul Reaver games for the story and voice acting. And Im not sure if its underrated or just been forgotten, but Ive recently got xcom from steam and remembered how great the games were (old school, as in HARD as balls). Although the GBA sigma star game is very underrated and Im pretty sure I heard somewhere its made by the same people that did xcom because it plays like a pared down version of xcom.
 
A game I havent heard to much talk about is Henry Hatsworth on the ds. Gameplay is very solid, fun, and quite addicting. Being someone that enjoys platformers and puzzle games, this one is tight.

Some other notables in my opinion include Ninja Blade , Untold Legends Dark Kingdom , and Dungeon Runners. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
One game that seems really underrated, particuarily in it's genre-defining significance, would be Alone in the Dark. That game WAS Resident Evil before Resident Evil came out and took credit for establishing the survival horror genre... I would even say it did a few things better than RE(all items had different damage properities, thrown heavy statuette FTW!)

I would also argue that the newer AITD game was pretty damn intruiging and underrated... especially when the inferno version came out and fixed a bunch of the major issues.
 
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