The "ummph" factor

[Durxom]

No one probably knows what I mean, so I'm going to explain before I ask the question.

Some games are fun, they are immersive and the like, but there are very few games that fuse all these things together perfectly. What I see as the "ummph" factor, is the one big feeling that sort of resides in you, while you play or have played something that just caught everything into perfection. Story, gameplay, fun, immersion, etc. Some of the few games that had this "ummph" factor for me are Tales of Symphonia, Resident Evil 5, Metroid Prime, and Super Mario World.

So, what games have you played have this little factor to them? You're free to explain why they are as well if you want.

 

[pyrosaw]

Sly 2: Band of thievies, Fallout 3, Jak and Daxter series.

 

[Shackels]

Saints Row 2, I don't really HAVE to explain why, just has and epic no nonsense story with almost endless amounts of fun

Mgs4, I played the story 40+ times and I'm still not sure I fully understand it.


RDR, John marston, all I have to say.

SotC, cuz it was fucking awesome.

Oh, and this is probably because of Nostalgia, but the ps2 WinBack,I don't really know why.

 

[Geekosaurus]

I'm still blown away by the cargo ship level at the start of COD4, but the rest of the game has gone a little stale. :/ The only game I can think of is Tony Hawk American Skateland for the DS. I just find it endlessly entertaining.

Edit: Never mind I thought of a better, more entertaining and far more respectable game; Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.

 

[Judgement101]

I'm sort of that way with......nearly every game

 

[Gigaguy64]

Tatsunoko VS Capcom had a huge Ummph.

To me, it was its style.
It was fast paced and very VERY Flashy.
It really fit.
The characters on both sides had flashy moves and fighting styles.
It added to the overall experience of the game and reminded me of Marvel VS Capcom.
Fast, Flashy and Pure fun.

 

[zehydra]

I'm sort of that way with......nearly every game

how about.... cooking mama?

 

[DeadlyYellow]

... that just caught everything into perfection. Story,...Resident Evil 5

Setting the bar pretty low there.

But I will offer more support for Saint's Row 2, even if it did lack some of the technical whoopie of GTA 4.

 

[Judgement101]

I'm sort of that way with......nearly every game

how about.... cooking mama?

What?

 

[Vek]

The entire Battlefield series on PC. IF you get a good team on both sides, and you've got guys willing to use the team-chat to call out tactics, give heads up, and you can get a good run living and defending or attacking and you're on the move constantly... Pretty big adrenaline dump for me.

Red Dead Redemption, because I can just let myself sink into the world, running around and exploring, hunting, and all kinds of stuff. I've just run around hunting as a "short diversion" between missions for Bonnie in the beginning, and ended up hunting for 5 hours of real time. GTA IV is this way for me, too.

Then there's Quake 1. I've played that game close to a thousand times. Trying to speed run through on nightmare, dodging Shamblers and Hell Knights left and right. Freaking awesome.

 

[tombman888]

the first and third Sly games (second one is impossible to find here) and the ratchet and clank games come to mind instantly.

 

[Doctor What]

I'll use a current example, Persona 4 has had a huge factor in how I judge games lately. I really feel like it's breathed some life into the stagnant genre that is the jRPG. I beat it, and then I go and start a new game. The ummph has yet to go away in 300+ hours.

EDIT
Must support Saint's Row 2.

 

[blankedboy]

Jak and Daxter series.

QFT.

Morrowind is so close to gettting the uumph factor, it just needs to have a render distance more than 20 metres...

I know MGE does that, but then it won't run through steam.

 

[SelectivelyEvil13]

Jak and Daxter series.

QFT.

Morrowind is so close to gettting the uumph factor, it just needs to have a render distance more than 20 metres...

I know MGE does that, but then it won't run through steam.

I will never forget the first time I played morrowind, it was simply amazing. Even for being on the slow-chugging xbox version, it was the best experience ever. The PC one is even better, pretty much perfecting anything wrong with the vanilla version.

Bioshock also had this for me, with the intro alone being something I could play over and over again.

 

[TPiddy]

Actually I just experienced this factor playing Super Mario Galaxy 2... If there's ONE thing you can say about Nintendo and Mario games.... is they have mastered level and boss design to a tee.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

Metal Gear Solid 3, Kingdom Hearts 2, Sly 2, FFX, Uncharted 2

 

[blankedboy]

Jak and Daxter series.

QFT.

Morrowind is so close to gettting the uumph factor, it just needs to have a render distance more than 20 metres...

I know MGE does that, but then it won't run through steam.

I will never forget the first time I played morrowind, it was simply amazing. Even for being on the slow-chugging xbox version, it was the best experience ever. The PC one is even better, pretty much perfecting anything wrong with the vanilla version.

Speaking of which... [http://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org]

 

[MellowFellow]

I agree with you OP on Tales of Symphonia, that game was great. I also have found both Mass Effect games to have that "umph" factor too, at least to me. I think the reason I like the Mass Effect games so much is because I try to make my character similar to myself and I feel like a part of the story when I play it.

 

[Thaius]

Final Fantasy VI, VII, and X, Mass Effect 2, Bioshock, Okami, and Beyond Good and Evil. Brilliant games, all of them.

 

[migo]

Half Life had it when I first played it, of course that was compared to what was available at the time, as it's much less impressive now.

More recently, Dead Rising. It's actually immersive in that stuff happens whether you do anything or not. If you just sit around twiddling your thumbs things happen. It also really does get that umph from taking pictures. There's just something awesome about being in a situation of absolute horror and snapping pictures.