Games that were better than you thought they'd be.

[JemothSkarii]

Atelier Iris, all of them. I thought 'Item Synthesizing, means boring fetch quests don't- HOLY HELL! THIS IS AWESOME!'
and
Damnation; everyone gave it bad reviews, and despite it's bad voice acting and clunky action, I'm having barrels of fun.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

GTA 3 i really never thought the franchise would work in a 3D game

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

I bought Just Cause 2 recently when it was $7.50 on Steam, against my better judgment, not expecting much from it. I gave it a shot anyway, because I needed a change of pace after too many RPGs and strategy games that take themselves seriously and have a lot more thinking than explosions. Surprisingly, it turned out to be exactly what I didn't know I'd been looking for. It's not the most amazing game ever, but it's good at what it does, and there's just something really satisfying about indiscriminately blowing up everything that moves (and most things that don't) after spending the entire day fixing someone's computer for them. I feel like Latino Batman, swooping out of the sky and ganking guys who never see it coming, then zipping away before anyone can do anything to stop me.

 

[BrEnNo1023]

I have to say Fallout 3 and Mirror's Edge
Fallout 3 was a total shock to me, because i usually stay away from RPGs. I just got LOST in the story, spent hundreds of hours on it, and i don't think i'll ever stop playing.
And mirror's edge - steam had a 75% off sale just yesterday and I couldn't resist picking it up for $5 and giving it a go. The learning curve was tricky at first, but I LOVE the originality. It seems game designers try to play it so safe and so vanilla these days, or they try to copy each other's 'wow' elements like Treyarch and IW in the COD series... I'm thrilled by the originality, and its idiosyncrasies are actually not hard to get used to.
Both fantastic games; and for me they're game changers. Awesome.

 

[lukeyboy270]

Minecraft: seriosly fun and immersive
Red dead redemption: quite a suprise, realy i expected it to be a gta knock off

 

[Master Kuja]

Chaos Legion.

It was one of those games that my mum picked up in a shop for me and thought "Ooh, he might like this." And naturally, with her being as closely related to gaming as I am to the fucking pope, I had my reservations.

Turned out to be a kickass game filled to the brim with decent story, summoning badass monsters, a coat that would make Sephiroth envious, hair that would make Cloud's jaw drop and a demon arm that rubs in the face of Nero going "Nyeeh nyeeh! I did it first *****! And better!"

Strangely enough, I the mother's been on a hot streak for buying me random games ever since, I actually consult her on what looks like it'll be fun when I'm torn between games now. o_o

 

[fates_puppet13]

minecraft:was better than i thought and is highly addictive
halo reach: saved by firefight which was a nice improvement from the odst version which was pretty good tbh
assassins creed 2: lived up to its predecesor well enough for me
need for speed hot pusuit: being to the point and having a good feel to them

 

[Taddy]

Knights of the Old Republic, mate gifted it over steam. Installed it and loved it. Didn't even know it existed till then.

 

[Fooz]

Mirrors Edge, i thought it would be fun but have poor gameplay due to it being one of the first first person freerunning games, but when i got it i was absolutely outstanded, the bright vivid colours were awesome and the feeling of jumping and sliding under things then kicking some unsuspecting bad guy of a building was just so much fun

 

[teh_Canape]

well, it would have to be

GunMetal for PC:

I had my doubts on this one, since I heard it was a lazy 3rd person Gundam Wing ripoff about defending bases and shit

turns out it was an awesome game, sure the 3rd person shooting mechanics aren't exactly Gears of War or even Operation: Winback, but it worked

and fuck, there's even a mission in which you have to infiltrate a base, as the fucking mech

and you can't go into jet form because they'll immediately detect you

Bioshock 2 PC:

I will defend this one to death, a lot of people hated this game saying "it's more of a shame than a game", but I had a blast with it

sure it didn't feel the same as the first one, but I still enjoy the shit out of it

TimeSplitters 3 PS2:

I didn't have no expectations at all for this one, but it took me by surprise and fucking blew my balls away

Prince of Persia 3D:

okay, yes, a lot of people hate this one, and you know what? I don't care, I LOVE it

sure there's some control issues, like, say, delayed reactions, but you get used to them

also a lot of people say it's Tomb Raider in medieval Persia, but what do you want, it's an exploration/puzzle based platforming game, there's not much you can do with that

I'll expand on this one with a review I'll do as soon as I finish the Dreamcast version of it

Metal Storm on NES:

again, no expectations at all, it just blew my balls away

especially because of how advanced it was for back then in 1991

 

[T-Bone24]

I accidentally bought Alan Wake on Games on Demand, and I didn't really expect much of it. Sort of like Bioshock in the Woods. I got something that was really entertaining with a surprisingly interesting story, perfect pacing and awesome music. I really enjoyed it.

Likewise, I saw Mass Effect (1) in the bargain bin for ten squid and thought that I might as well try it for a tenner. All I really knew was that it was IN SPACE. I got one of the besstest gaems evar.

 

[Lieju]

Resident Evil:Umbrella Chronicles.

I had so much more fun with this game I thought I would. I'm still re-playing it to get the best rankings.
Too bad I can't say the same for Darkside Chronicles...


Also Tales of Symphonia. The visual style threw me off, but once I got into the story and characters, and making combos, it got me.

 

[Ranorak]

Darksiders.

I bought it on a whim, regretting it when I walked out the store.
Decided to play it anyway, and experienced more fun then I expected!

 

[Still Life]

Mass Effect

I knew the game was a hit when it was released. I looked at screen-shots and the visual style smacked of Halo. Just did not tickle my fancy.

When I finally got it: I was very pleasantly surprised.

 

[Distorted Stu]

Batman Arkham Asylum, i didnt expect it to be THAT good!

 

[oniemiru]

Saints Row 2,
I expected a boring GTA clone (not a fan of GTA) but found out that SR2 seriosly is the best sandbox gaming experience ever...

 

[Distorted Stu]

TimeSplitters 3 PS2:

I didn't have no expectations at all for this one, but it took me by surprise and fucking blew my balls away

Yours ball hit me in the face. Its an epic game. My fav game of ANY platform of ANY year. <3

 

[gigastar]

Havent we seen this thread already this week?

Anyhow my answer remains the same.

Given the shitsreak it came out of, Resident Evil 4.

 

[Salem_Wolf]

Tron: Legacy.

Okay, I heard very mediocre things about the game but I really enjoyed it. It was short but it was fun, the parkour was exciting, the light-cycle stages were pretty good but not enough like the movies, and the battles, while limited in techniques, still held enough variation in the disks that it kept me very entertained.

Another one was Dark Void. Another game but I really liked, the glitches and problems were a little much sometimes, but being someone who really is dying for a console flying game that doesn't involve aircraft (think DBZ but open world), Dark Void hit the spot, if only a bit off-center but still hit it. There were a few other games but there these were the ones that surprised me the most.

 

[teh_Canape]

Yours ball hit me in the face. Its an epic game. My fav game of ANY platform of ANY year. <3

mind handing them back to me?

pretty sure I may need them