Underrated Games

[una]

I know there are a lot of us, including me, who are gamers.

I was wondering if anyone of you have played a game that was so good yet it got buried under obscuity.

I have one!

The game was called Breakdown. It was an Xbox game that came out along the same timeframe as Halo but everyone forgot about this game. :/

My brother bought it when we first got the Xbox console and it was a fun and difficult game.

I can't find the full trailer on youtube. The good one which sucks. :/ There are playthroughs though!

[Alak]

Hmm I'll probably stick to mentioning games from previous generations since I've only tried out the higher rated/mainstream games for the current generation (aside from War for Cybertron).

1) Star Wars: Republic Commando - This Microsoft XBox game is a must play for any Star Wars fan. It's also enjoyable if you appreciate shooters in general. The mechanics feel like a hybrid of Metroid and Halo, but those are fantastic games so I'm not going to complain. The story is good and the missions are fantastic, although short. It certainly helps bridge the gap between Episodes 2 and 3 so that fans won't question as to why clones were already on the planet Kashyyyk. Special operations is the theme and you must be able to learn how to command an AI squad in order to succeed in each level. You must also keep your team alive and vice versa.

2) Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - The first Final Fantasy title to hit the Nintendo Gamecube, many people laughed at the idea of a Final Fantasy game that did not have a title hero or playable characters that did not speak. These are the idiots that have not played the original Final Fantasy games. Crystal Chronicles is great and the ability to embark on a non-linear quest while choosing your race, gender, and name is cool. Forging weapons is a neat feature and each weapon takes time to accumulate ingredients and scrolls (and money).

3) Kiloblaster - This game was made way back for the DOS computers which most of our forum members probably never even touched. I was blessed to play this game because my parents were too cheap to buy a real computer until 1998. It's a typical arcade game with the generic "kill aliens and save Earth" plot. The difficulty is really hard and there's not way to adjust it. This game also has good music which I still remember today.

4) Star Fox Adventures - Another good game for the Nintendo Gamecube that did not receive stellar ratings from both critics and fans simply because it was not your typical Star Fox game. The flying missions were only gimmicks and the fighting system was identical to that of Legend of Zelda. I understand the complaints, but I also loved this game to death. The story was enjoyable. The levels were unforgettable. The music was certainly wonderful to my ears, especially during the flight missions.

5) Descent Trilogy - This is another PC game that was one of the first video games I have ever owned. The story is a bit lackluster but the gameplay was fantastic. Accumulating weapons while flying through dungeons in this sci-fi adventure is definitely quite the experience for any fan of flight-simulators. The amount of detail put into the gameplay still blows me away. You have to learn to maintain your ship's energy levels even though you need to use your weapons, spot light, and afterburners to survive. Conservation and tactical measures are of the utmost importance if you want to survive in these dark levels. A bonus feature is that the game's CD also acts as a music CD in your music player. This is the game that made me love the electronic genre.

6) Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance - Now this is a more accurate space flight simulator for the PC as it actually requires as joystick. Boasting a powerful story mode that goes on for hours, this game is without a doubt my most favorite Star Wars game to date. Unfortunately, it's also one of the least heard of Star Wars games to date since most people refer to Battlefront in terms of space combat. X-Wing Alliance also offers a simulator mode where you can create customized battles to participate in. Every single starfighter and capital ship that was introduced in the original trilogy as well as the expanded universe was available in this game. The library mode gave Star Wars fans the shield, hull, and speed ratings of each craft available as well as the armament loadouts. It was bliss.

[WorpeX]

Starsiege. This is one of my favorite games of all times. One of my characters in another RP took heavy inspiration from this game and at the moment i'm attempting to write one of the songs from it on Guitar... its not going too well though. haha. (this song)

[SilverfromOZ]

My top 5 "undergorund" ish games are:

1) American McGee's Alice

2) KISS Psycho Circus

3) Disciples II

4) The Space Quest series

5) Have to agree with Star Wars: Republic Commando. So annoyed at the lack of multiplayer though! Gaah!

[una]

I never heard of those games except for Star Wars: Republic Commando. Sounds awesome.

The underrated game I said in my last post is a mystery/Sci-fi (I love those type of genres. ). It's a hard game, really and a long game It's rare to get a long game nowadays. XD

[Razor One]

Star Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters.

It's currently Freely Available as well!

Quite possibly one of the best space adventure games ever made. It walks the line between camp, deadly seriousness and hilarity. Its got the quirky bits of Star Wars, has smatterings of parodies of Star Trek, takes a massive bucketload of Space Quest all wrapped up with a unique and compelling plot.

The aliens are also actually alien. From the pterodactyl like Yehat to the... otherworldly Orz who **like** to **squeeze the juice** and **dance** with the **slow time walkers** in **heavy space**, right up to the terrifying Ur-Quan, the crazy Pkunk, the psychotic Umgah...

I could go on really but each species brings in its own flavour and distinguish them from the traditional "Funny forehead" aliens.

With regards to actual gameplay, it's pretty damn good. The initial stages after the tutorial involve a lot of mining which starts to lose its charm. Still, if you stick with it and build up a good resource base to work from, you can build a fleet of vessels, upgrade your flagship into a dreadnought killer, mince with the most powerful ships in the galaxy, explore space, discover rare alien artifacts, free enslaved alien worlds and go toe to toe with a rising darkness that threatens to wipe out all life in the galaxy.

Research is key. You'll need to forge contacts with other species, form alliances, occasionally thunk the more thick headed races in the head or tussle with hostile species intent on drinking your internal organs through a straw... or ones that fire on you because god damn you are just that butt ugly.

This game is a beloved, but obscure, classic. Every space RPG that has ever been made has probably lifted a few pages from this games original handbook. Mass Effect? Please. That game is it's illegitimate grandson that never visits. Babylon 5? Ripped the plot straight out of Star Control (I jest! I jest!).

If you play only one ancient game from almost 20 years ago, The Ur-Quan Masters is it.

What are you doing still reading this post?

Download and install that sucker!

Then start playing!

No, you're still reading. I said do it.

Spoiler: show

And just because I can...

[SilverfromOZ]

#looks at Babylon 5 comment# by G'Quan the man speaks madness!

[Blackrosefencer]

I'm not really sure if any of these are underrated....and some of them I haven't played in a really long time so I won't do them justice to try and explain them.

1. The Oregon Trail

2. Star Wars Battlefront

3. Unreal Tournament

4. Super Smash Brothers!!

5. Donkey Kong (the one for N64! It was great! I have it on an N64 emulator on my laptop!)

6. There was this one game for PS2 that was pretty cool called Summoner. It was an RPG kind of like Morrowind and Mass Effect (though not quite as cool as Mass Effect because the story didn't change depending on your choices in the game).

7. Need For Speed Hot Pursuit (The ORIGINAL one for PS2. I got the X-Box 360 version, but EA ruined the game by not having a multi-player option. That was the BEST part of NFS: Hot Pursuit!)

8. Split Second (This is a fairly new one for X-box...it came out about a year ago about the same time as Red Dead Redemption. It's great! I love racing games and I love the fact that you can blow up the other drivers in the game!)

9. Mass Effect (although it's probably not "underrated" since their working on a third one!)

I've only had my x-box about a year or so, so I don't have many games for it! Thanks for the suggestions though!!

[Alak]

So I'm replaying Final Fantasy XIII before the sequel comes out. The first time I thought it was garbage since it was everything Final Fantasy was not suppose to be. However, this time around, I'm just playing it with the expectations that it's just a Japanese RPG game that bears no relationship with the rest of the Final Fantasy franchise. You know what? I'm enjoying it now. It's still ridiculously easy. It's still ridiculously linear. Still, I like the story and the graphics are pretty.

[The Crab]

Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

If you have the guts to play that with the lights off and sound up, you're greater than I am. I don't have those kinda expletives.

Also, if you try to find a video of it on Youtube, you're gonna find like 99% of them are of people playing, and screaming. Not many actually reviewing it. Unless you go see Yahtzee's review.

It really is that scary. D:

[Alak]

While it did get above-average reviews, I feel like Borderland is still underrated in the gaming world despite being released in 2009. It's like the mutant child of an FPS and RPG game The game certainly has its own cult following, and I despite me not really liking it when it first came out, I bought the GOTY edition a month ago and now I'm addicted.

Strengths

- 4 different classes that you can grow in your own unique way as well as customize color schemes. However, all classes can use the same weapons.
- The game has 987,564 weapons available to you as you progress.
- Eccentric, memorable NPCs.
- 4 DLC content (included with the GOTY edition) that extends the longevity of the game.
- Online and local co-op and you can even duel with friends.
- Enemies are highly varied and there are some that you just love to hate.
- A huge world is available to free roam and it is shockingly easy to get yourself sucked into it.
- It's not your traditional FPS where all you do is simply point, shoot, move on, and repeat.

Weaknesses

- The main characters' backgrounds are not explored and don't expect any development with them.
- The main story itself is very underwhelming (it's an unfortunate detraction for most free roam games with customizable protagonists).
- Enemy A.I. is predictable.
- The only vehicles provided for the main game offers seats for 2 players. 4-seated vehicles don't come until the General Knoxx DLC.
- In the DLC "The Secret Armory of General Knoxx", the developers try to emphasize the new vehicles so there is a whole lot of boring driving involved.

The Story (Spoiler-Free)

The setting takes place in the far future where mankind has expanded across the galaxies and many privatized corporations compete with one another. The world that this game takes place on is called Pandora. It's rather barren and gives you a wild west atmosphere for the most part. When humanity first settled there, it was the winter season. Once the snow melted, the majority of Pandora's fauna rose from its hibernation and quickly killed off most of the settlers, forcing the remainder to build well-guarded settlements. Yet, nearly all forms of regulation and law broke down and nearly every NPC you come across is a bandit, hermit, or just plain crazy. So, why exactly are we interested in Pandora? Let the character Marcus Kincaid explain it to you:



Essentially, you play the role of the Vault Hunter. Your character has his/her own personal reasons for being on Pandora in the first place, but your ultimate goal is to search out this legendary Vault that only opens every 200 years. In order to complete this task, you'll have to travel across the planet, speak to various people, do favors for various people, and kill anything that's stupid enough to get in your way. None of these characters are goody-two-shoes and I'd say they're all anti-heroes in their own right. They are quick to nab any treasure they stumble upon, and merrily laugh when they score a good kill (whether it be man or beast).


Of course, once you get addicted to this game as I have, you'll be unbelievably psyched for the sequel which is coming out this September! The developers promised a significantly stronger story, more guns, more colorful environments, and better enemy A.I. for that will keep us on our toes. You'll only be able to play with 4 new characters, but the old Vault Hunters are making cameo appearances as NPCs in this game! Here's the trailer:



Available for the XBox 360, Playstation 3, and the PC.

[Phoenix]

Not sure Borderlands is what I'd consider underrated or not, but I did think about getting this game back in the days. I think the main reason I didn't is because it reminded me so much of the Fallout series, which I enjoyed quite a lot mind you, but the ending of Fallout 3 was a rather disappointing affair for me. I know they released some alternative endings after that, but I'm one of those people who never pick up a game again once I've already played it so I didn't invest more money or time into it.

[Alak]

I can see how you'd find they're similar. Both have that post-apocalyptic feel to the environments and the level of class customization is high up there. Borderlands isn't a serious game, though, and it even calls itself out on that during multiple occasions. I suppose the cartoony look to the attests to that, as well. I'd still recommend giving this game a shot. While there isn't as much story depth as Fallout and its ending is considered to be pretty bad by most players, it's still undoubtedly fun to play. If you have people to play with, then it's obviously more enjoyable since co-op seems to be just as important to this game's selling point as is the unique characterization. Going solo is alright if you're ok with feeling like a lone wolf in a huge world, but most people recommend going online.

[Phoenix]

I'd have to get a new xbox 360 first, and I don't have the paid for service so not sure if that's needed to play online. Truthfully I just never played console games online so I have no clue on that. I avoid pc gaming like the plague unless it's something ridiculously easy to control, like Guild Wars, and even that I haven't played for many months.

[Alak]

Doesn't your hubby have a PS3? This is a multi-platform game so you wouldn't have to shelve out another $300 just to play it. In fact, if you ever decide to buy Borderlands, ask him to be your co-op buddy