Games that you enjoy, but the critics did not.

[DishonoredElderSouls]

Far Cry 2

I thought that game got at least decent reception from most critics. I know that the game has a pretty mixed reputation amongst gaming communities, but I also think Far Cry 2 is at the very least a very decent game. The enemies in that game have great AI and come across as real people. I especially love the way that they talk to one another during combat.

"Who the heck is this guy?"
"I think he's from America, some merc. Now shut up and get down!"

That kind of immersive feature is something that I really wish other games would feature.

 

[Bonk4licious]

I loved the new Bionic Commando game. Granted, I bought it waaaay late for like 8 bucks but it was a super fun coop campaign with reasonably bad multiplayer, so you can only give it half the score (since a shooter with ~8hr campaign is practically required to have it now) but I still had an absolute blast. I do seem to have a weak spot for generic third person shooters with a gimmick though. And I've hated CoD multiplayer since CoD4 but I'll be damned if I don't Redbox those games a few months late and blast through the campaign, Modern Warfare 3 had the most hilarious explosive campaign with every war movie stereotype imaginable (especially ANYTHING involving the American soldiers).

 

[theaudioprophet]

Resident Evil 5/6, I hadn't played any resident evils since the first one (IMO sucked ass) so it seemed 5 done all the shaking up and made it halfway playable

 

[Tom Neilson]

Tenchu Z

 

[ninjaRiv]

I really enjoyed I am Alive. Full of interesting ideas!

But Deadpool, man... I know critics weren't impressed but that game was fucking cool. Short but I know I'm gonna play that several times. It's funny, the gameplay is solid enough and there's a lot of interesting gimmicks to keep it fresh.

 

[Mordekaien]

Two Worlds 2. It wasn't half bad as I dreaded it would be, and the game was pretty engaging, good looking and had a kick-ass magic system.

And I really liked Prince of Persia: Warrior Within too, even though it had that angsty dark brooding prince there.

 

[kongajinken]

I absolutely adored Fortune Summoners. I felt it was old school in all the right ways as it had a lack of hand holding, high difficulty of its enemies, and lots of encouragement for exploration. It never felt repetitive and the companion AI was astonishingly good. I also really liked the fact that combat wasn't just slash/slash/slash but more put more emphasis on block/counter/follow-up.

Metacritic score - 60
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/fortune-summoners-secret-of-the-elemental-stone

I also enjoyed X-Blades. I admit the game had flaws of which probably the biggest were that the main character was really unlikable and there were lots of cannon fodder enemies. Still a lot of the fights were suitably over the top and the game and the action packed without combat felt pretty good without needing any QTEs. Paying very little for it on Gamer's Gate and the fact that I played it in short bursts till beaten probably helped its impressions on me.

Metacritic score - 54
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/x-blades

I really like fortune summoners, it was simple, but I seriously don't think it was trying to be anymore than what it was trying to be. Critics in general don't seem to really like the JRPG formula admit-ably.

 

[Kargathia]

Oh, and how could I forget Alpha Protocol

Despite the universal negative reviews, I, along with many others, find this to a fantastic game. That great dialog system, the stealth, the twists and turns. The gameplay itself is actually very good if you understand how the game is meant to be played. It's not a run and gun, like reviewers seem to think it is. It's a slow, tactical game. You need to actually line up your shot, wait for the right moment. It takes time and patience.

Though the boss fights were poor, the rest of this game is great.

Somehow I knew this one would show up on the first page. Alpha Protocol easily is one of the more divisive games I've played the last few years.

I thought it was awesome btw. Great dialogue and story system, around a campy spy thriller done right.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Splatterhouse (the reboot). Yes, it did need some playtesting (can't deny those bugs) but I liked the whole Lovecraftian-atmosphere (it sort of reminded me of the horror classic "Re-animator"), it had a surprisingly good plot, the mask was pretty entertaining, and the combat was fun (though the QTEs got old quick). And damn was it ever brutal.

Also (and this one didn't get particularly terrible reviews) "Titan Quest" for PC. One of the only Diablo-esque ARPGs I've played that successfully broke away from the "skill tree" and character class formula that Diablo 2 created and had a completely unique way of building characters that worked extremely well. The fact that it ran the whole gamut of 4 different mythologies (Babylonian, Greek, Chinese, and Egyptian) was also fantastic.

 

[Reaper195]

I enjoyed the hell out of Kane & Lynch, both of them. I liked the characters, I liked their interaction, wasn't so keen on the locations in the second game (Especially since the first was so varied), but they were decent games that I enjoyed and no one else does. Which is annoying, since the multiplayer is very unique, but no one plays it...

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Oh, and how could I forget Alpha Protocol

Despite the universal negative reviews, I, along with many others, find this to a fantastic game. That great dialog system, the stealth, the twists and turns. The gameplay itself is actually very good if you understand how the game is meant to be played. It's not a run and gun, like reviewers seem to think it is. It's a slow, tactical game. You need to actually line up your shot, wait for the right moment. It takes time and patience.

Though the boss fights were poor, the rest of this game is great.

hey now, the russian coked up retro knife boss battle was probably one of my favorites in recent memory!

(but yes the boss battles were a bit...odd.)


Came in here to say this exact game, and was ninja'd quite early, thankfully.

 

[KingWein22]

Metroid: Other M
Dynasty Warriors 4-7
Warriors Orochi 1-3
Guilty Gear (X, X2, AC, 2: Overture)
Mega Man 7-10
Mega Man X-X8
Duke Nukem Forever
Resident Evil 5 and 6
Castlevania: Judgement
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

 

[Zombie Izzard]

I'm going to have to go with Resident Evil 5. I never really had a problem with the AI and the story wasn't terrible. It had its cheesy bits just like the others in the series and mercenaries is still addictive.

 

[RadioactiveMicrobe]

Halo 3: ODST.

Fantastic game with well-done gameplay, excellent pacing and atmosphere, and a soundtrack to die for. Still, critics largely hated it, calling it a "Four-hour expansion." Even discounting Firefight Mode, I'd like to point out to these math-class rejects that the campaign is seven hours long, and does not feel like a Halo 3 expansion at all.

I still love ODST. It was a cool setting with some nice plot elements.

Hey, I didn't think Brink was so bad. I enjoyed it. I think there definitely could have been some changes to help it. (Like getting rid of stairs) but overall, not too bad.

 

[GoaThief]

Glad to see someone mentioned Remember Me, I've been extremely tempted to buy but keep making excuses. Think I might just bite the bullet.

Hydrophobia (pre-Scoot facelift for the worse!) would be my pick, especially with nav points turned off. One of my favourite accidental discoveries for many a year.

 

[rerout343]

I know I'll probably catch some flak for some of these but I don't care

Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2(Excited for Lightning Returns)
Chromehounds(RIP multiplayer severs)
Dynasty Warriors(Empires and Gundam series)
Halo Wars
Dragon Age 2(Still need to finish it)
Lost Planet 2(I never realized how many people disliked this one)

And a lot of the oddball shooters that always end up in the bargain bin:

Every Army of Two
Red Faction Armageddon(While it's unfortunate that this game ended up being a shell of what Red Faction used to be, I still found it enjoyable purely as a 3rd person shooter)
Fuse
Timeshift
Wolfenstein
Singularity
Syndicate
Vanquish(This game is vastly underrated in my opinion)
Fracture(I'm not going to pretend this game was good, it wasn't. But the gameplay was entertaining enough that I still enjoyed it)

 

[darron13]

Do FF XIII and XIII-2 count? From what I hear, they're generally panned by western critics/audiences, yet I'm having oodles of fun with them.

Well not really, quite the opposite actually, both games got good reviews, it's more the fans that hated it (XIII at least)

 

[Pink Gregory]

I'm going to have to go with Resident Evil 5. I never really had a problem with the AI and the story wasn't terrible. It had its cheesy bits just like the others in the series and mercenaries is still addictive.

I had none of the AI problems that people seemed to have. Admittedly I couldn't get very far in Professional Mode; but I played RE4 before it and wasn't disappointed. I guess I wasn't expecting it to be frightening or coherent, I quite liked the formula; and the Mercenaries is easily one of the most fun arcade-like experiences I've had.

Far Cry 2

I thought that game got at least decent reception from most critics. I know that the game has a pretty mixed reputation amongst gaming communities, but I also think Far Cry 2 is at the very least a very decent game. The enemies in that game have great AI and come across as real people. I especially love the way that they talk to one another during combat.

"Who the heck is this guy?"
"I think he's from America, some merc. Now shut up and get down!"

That kind of immersive feature is something that I really wish other games would feature.

It had it's flaws, but the gunfights were thrilling, the health system was one of the more interesting systems I've seen in modern shooters; I dug it.