Underrated Games !

[The Raw Shark]

I'm one of the few people in the minority that thinks this way, but....
I thought [PROTOTYPE] was a bloody Masterpiece and Alex Mercer gets too much s*** for what he does.
[PROTOTYPE2], though James was actually the uselessly angry character that everyone said that Mercer was, I still thought his anger was taken to HILARIOUS measures.

"The Doctor's out, MOTHER F*****!"

"You better tell me RIGHT NOW, or I'll SKULL F*** you, and drain the memories right out the hole!"

Bloody hilarious.

But the problem was for me that Alex had already gone over the Moral Event Horizon and in fact, wasn't having as much amnesia as he did have an identity crisis since he wasn't even the Original Alex. And after the first [PROTOTYPE] he'd shown himself to have taken to a more heroic stance (Disregarding how the player has the option to go around flinging people in turtlenecks for the sake of lulz). Overall, I liked Alex's change from a confused moron who had a SEVERE case of munchies to a character who recognized his own faults by the end and is actually horror struck by how monstrous the Original Alex Mercer was, including moving forward and trying to stop the madness. So I'm cool with it.

"And the only thing standing between me and earth's TRUE DESTINY, -Dramatically looks back to James for unnecessarily funny death stare- is YOU!" <------ That right there was bulls***, Rad(i)cal Entertainment. Not even the reasons in the comics made any sense, in fact they mad everything involving [PROTOTYPE2] twice as silly.

"Just because you can kill something doesn't mean you should", thank you dead wife that has served no other purpose besides give that one line and be part of the reason your husband will destroy half a city in vengeance while not even ONCE mentioning you. No wonder Barry Pepper just went on to do a villain in the True Grit remake instead.

The former kind of sold the first [PROTOTYPE] game for me though, since I thought I had already nailed every plot point down to the T. As it turned out I didn't and I still ended up getting my favorite game out of 2009. The Web of Intrigue, the different spins on all the plot points and last but definitely not least the game just being that damn good. inFAMOUS coming in second, a few sins made by the second game along with Second Son not leaving a good taste in my mouth.

Further apologies for the unnecessarily long paragraph but not much else that I play is that bashed, but in [PROTOTYPE]'s case it was probably just my expectations that made me see it in that light. Besides Dragon Age II's hate, but I feel that it's alright enough that I'm going to give it a playthrough before starting Inquisition.

Opinions for all to reply and share, good day everyone.

 

[Rayce Archer]

Supreme Commander 2. It catches ungodly amounts of flak from Supcom 1 fans, because its largest maps are only as big as supcom 1's smallest (a concession to its ill-planned console release) and because the synergy mechanic of building production structures next to resource structures was removed, but on its own merits it's a really good game. The maps are still quite big as RTS maps go, the tech trees do a good job improving and tailoring your army, and unlike the first game where your units become largely meaningless cannon fodder as soon as the next tier is unlocked, units in 2 stay relevant all game. The presence of huge expensive "experimentals" is still in effect, ranging from towering assault vehicles like the Galactic Colossus (a robot ten times the size of a battleship that can walk right through enemy lines) to unique base defenses like the Magnetron (a huge garbage disposal that can suck in tanks and render them to scrap). The three theaters of combat- CQC, Tactical, and Strategic- are still in place too, although the smaller maps make tactical weapons and strategic weapons somewhat interchangeable. It also got a free DLC some time after release, adding many new units.

For me moving from 1 to 2, the second game makes definitive strategic improvements. There are more ways to move units around, units have more types of attacks, and the factions feel more different, although there are one fewer than in the Forged Alliance expansion for supcom 1. So while 2 is missing the whole "send a thousand-tank pincer across both sides of a mountain range just to take one refinery base" aspect of the first game, you do have to think a good deal more about what you're doing.

Sadly, the architecture of the game and lack of good tools for map-making means there are few fan-made maps (which would have addressed most player's complaints about the game) and those that do exist are kind of glitchy.

I maintain that if you could combine the infrastructure and map sizes of Supcom 1 with the gameplay and unit design of 2 you would have an RTS that could beat the pants off just about any other, but since the outfit that made them is dead and most of its members are now on the even more dumbed down Planetary Annihilation, that seems REALLY unlikely. Nonetheless, there's a great game there in 2, one most fans disregarded because "no maps the size of continents!"

 

[Ihateregistering1]

SNIP

As you can probably tell by my Avatar, I'm a big Prototype fan.

I would kill for them have the original Prototype, but let Alex have the added abilities and skills of Prototype 2.

Prototype 2's plot was garbage, Heller was an awful character, and Blackwatch got turned into "they're bad, but you understand that they're only doing bad things to try and save millions more lives" to mustache-twirling comic book villains.

Anyway, Prototype 2 was underrated in the sense that the combat and special abilities got a huge boost from Prototype, but the plot and story took a serious nosedive.

 

[The Raw Shark]

SNIP

As you can probably tell by my Avatar, I'm a big Prototype fan.

I would kill for them have the original Prototype, but let Alex have the added abilities and skills of Prototype 2.

Prototype 2's plot was garbage, Heller was an awful character, and Blackwatch got turned into "they're bad, but you understand that they're only doing bad things to try and save millions more lives" to mustache-twirling comic book villains.

Anyway, Prototype 2 was underrated in the sense that the combat and special abilities got a huge boost from Prototype, but the plot and story took a serious nosedive.

Heh, don't know how I missed Alex's big ass claws.

I hear what you mean. Honestly I think they just missed some opportunities with [PROTOTYPE2].

Why not make it a smaller game, not a full-priced one, but at the very least keep all the story and what not minus Alex being involved. It felt different from the original [PROTOTYPE] in a way that I think they kept trying to drag it back. Especially since I genuinely believe there is a time and place for Heller, just not in a story THAT serious.

Come on, don't tell me you didn't giggle at him acting like Kratos.

Or his one liners, oddly memorable.

But if they had made it based in a different place WITHOUT Alex being the cause or Blackwatch just dicking around again, then I'd be happy. No Resident Evil-Levels of Unnecessary plot for the sequel. Just a straight up action spin-off for everyone to enjoy.

But oh well, just what I think.

CAPTCHA: mushy peas............oh CAPTCHA

 

[Feraswondervahnn]

Definitely going to agree with Sacrifice! Got it at release, still have it, also bought on GoG just in case my disc ever dies. Fantastic game with a great story, and the banter between the Gods is just brilliant!

Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes would be my next choice. It's on the original Xbox and is an action strategy game. Hard as hell when you first play it as there's a lot to learn quickly, but when you hit the harder campaigns and have more of a mastery over the game it makes you feel pretty awesome! Taking an entire enemy army apart with 4 units without feeling stupidly overpowered is pretty fun!

I thought Disciples 2 was a damn fun strategy game as well. It crossed a Heroes of Might and Magic town building and travel system with JRPG style turned based battles and EXP level ups for units that promoted them if the right building had been built. It has some other weird quirks in capital guardians (Can't leave the capital, but can pretty much take an army out by itself) and your armies unique terrain spreading to claim resources. Pretty difficult in the learning stages as well.

 

[Dan Steele]

The Resistance series by Insomniac Games, it has great amount of lore, and an interesting backstory to the antagonists of the series that is both mysterious and terrifying.

 

[Ventor]

I don't remember Mafia being that difficult, apart from that one bastard section on the racetrack.

Still brilliant, though.

Never got past that.... so i just read the whole plot from the internet and saw every cutscene

That race was designed for steering wheel... And was almost impossible to pass using a keyboard. Later they released a patch making the race much easier.

 

[TheArcaneThinker]

Stuff

Well the prototype games were made for action genre with focus on destroying everything so expecting anything else especially from a AAA game would be too much but that doesnt mean that you shouldnt . I have only played prototype 2 and it was a fun experience .

 

[Strelok]

Maniac Mansion - An old point and click adventure game with the goal of rescuing a girl from a crazy scientist. The game has quite a bit of dark humour and can be solved in various manners depending on which characters you bring along. It's quite a bit of fun to explore the mansion and see all the weird things that the eccentric family that lives there does.

Any game that spawns three seasons of a TV show is not underrated:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098851/

That and when it came out for Commodore 64 in 1987 it was the one all the gamers were talking about, that was how I picked it up.

Ghost Master - Scare the crap out of fleshy mortals with an army of spooks, each with unique personalities, stories and abilities.

This is the one I think of when I think of underrated games, was so good, but I heard the company went out of business while they were developing part 2. Picked it up in a bargain bin years ago, and again on a Steam sale, it often shows up on sale during Halloween.

 

[bluepotatosack]

Skitchin'- Basically Road Rash except you're on rollerblades. That small difference actually added some fun mechanics, though. You still picked up weapons and upgraded your gear and all that, and on top of that you could hitch a ride on the back of cars (skating, hitching, get it?) and then slingshot off of them to pick up speed. Or just hang on for a while and beat on anybody else who grabbed on.

There were police cars, too. Hitch a ride on one of those and you picked up bonus cash for every second. But stay on too long, and you risk getting busted. That takes you out of the race and you have to pay a fine. Speaking of cash, each race costs money to enter. If you get injured you have to pay a hospital fee. Break your equipment and you have to buy replacements. If you couldn't pay for any of these things, that meant game over.

Great soundtrack, too.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Luftrausers, Astebreed, and Revolver 360 RE:ACTOR. All 3 amazing games of the shmup style (Though I dunno bout Luftrausers on that one). Very fun, exciting games all with their own design quirks. Luftrausers has visual style and the stalling mechanic, Astebreed has exciting 3D perspective changing gameplay, and Revolver has a revolving view system. All very unique and fun~

 

[RedDeadFred]

One finger death punch : A game where your ability to influence the characters movement is restricted to your mouse buttons as you fight hordes of ninjas in style.

I love this game so much. Mindless entertainment in the best kind of way. I bought it during the summer sale for a buck and I've spent 10 hours on it. One of the best games for blowing off steam after a stressful day.

My pick would be Mount and Blade Warband. It's my favourite game of all time (narrowly beating Skyrim). It's basically a medieval simulation game. You start off as a lowly peasant and then build your story from there.
Want to be a mercenary who commands a small group of companions? You can do that.
Want to be a peaceful trader? You can do that.
Want to climb the social hierarchy through cunning instead of steal? You can do that.
Want to be a subpar fighter but a brilliant tactician who commands hundreds of men? You can do that.
Want to rise through the ranks of your king's court only to betray him, start your own kingdom, and then conquer the world? You can do that.

That last one is usually the ultimate goal (and it'll take at least 100 hours) but you can really do whatever you want. The game is pretty ugly but that's so it can handle the huge amount of npc's on screen at a time. Having massive battles with 100 soldiers on screen at once is pretty common at the end of the game. With mods, you can increase this amount if your pc can handle it. Speaking of mods, this game has the best I've ever seen. Once you're done with the main game, mods will offer hundreds more hours of play. Many are total conversion mods which essentially make it a new game. Some of them add a ton of new content and concepts which ends up making the main game feel more like a tutorial (and the main game is still fantastic).

Then there's the combat. I have yet to find a game with as satisfying and realistic feeling combat as this game. It's honestly some of the best I've ever had the pleasure to enjoy. It's tough and takes some getting used to, but once you've got it, it's superb.

I think the main reason why a lot of people don't play it is that the difficulty curve is massive and, as I already mentioned, it's a bit of an eye sore.

I should also mention, everything I talked about above is just relating to my single player experience. A lot of people play this game for the multiplayer mainly. I haven't even played multiplayer yet since I find single player and the mods so engrossing, but just be aware that there's an entire extra part of this game that many people love which I haven't even touched yet!

 

[Trippy Turtle]

A lot of what my ideas were stolen already, they truly are great games.
So I guess I'll go with these ones.

Brute Force:
Its an old xbox game, way before its time. I had a blast playing it. Its up their with Republic Commando for my favorite xbox shooter.
Also Co-op!

Tribes: Ascend is also a good one. I can't play it to save myself but god damn do I have fun trying.

And for a less serious game, Virtual Villagers was an old favorite of mine. If you like those sorts of games its one of the best.

And actually that's about all I can think of. Most other games I love are either wildly popular or just old so people forgot about them rather than never liked.

 

[cleric of the order]

Link's Awakening - This is probably one of the most underrated Legend of Zelda games that exists and I think the best of the handheld Zeldas. It plays in the classic top down style and has some nice characters as well as polished game play and dungeons.

you are god damn right.

Mech assault and the battletech games
Kingdom under fire series.
Dawn of eldar 1 eldar crusade (not)eldarstorm but because of force captain Eldarale
Conquest of Elyism.
Deponia all three
Gunpoint
dust; And elysuin tall
Nidhogg.
Rouge trooper (the xbox on with the blue guy, it wasn't that good but it was still great)
FARCRY ONE FUCK YOUR MALARIA. I'M a MUTANT
ROBOTTECH, the invasion and the flying one
Age of wonders i guess not so much anymore.
[edit]Nuclear throne[edit]

Free games
vicirde, the company of myself (any 2darry on kongregate, wait for the ending)
Starwish.
don't touch my gems or whatever

 

[The Raw Shark]

Well the prototype games were made for action genre with focus on destroying everything so expecting anything else especially from a AAA game would be too much but that doesnt mean that you shouldnt . I have only played prototype 2 and it was a fun experience .

True that.
I'm glad I went in the way I did though, it was a fun ride and still is.
Story, gameplay and overtime fun.

 

[Starbird]

One Must Fall 2097. Still the best fighting game ever made, decades ahead of it's time and insanely playable even now. Why nobody has remade this decently is beyond me.

I mean...just listen to the opening theme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdVnKYcYi3g.

Goosebumps every time I hear it.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

I'm one of the few people in the minority that thinks this way, but....
I thought [PROTOTYPE] was a bloody Masterpiece and Alex Mercer gets too much s*** for what he does.
[PROTOTYPE2], though James was actually the uselessly angry character that everyone said that Mercer was, I still thought his anger was taken to HILARIOUS measures.

"The Doctor's out, MOTHER F*****!"

"You better tell me RIGHT NOW, or I'll SKULL F*** you, and drain the memories right out the hole!"

Bloody hilarious.

But the problem was for me that Alex had already gone over the Moral Event Horizon and in fact, wasn't having as much amnesia as he did have an identity crisis since he wasn't even the Original Alex. And after the first [PROTOTYPE] he'd shown himself to have taken to a more heroic stance (Disregarding how the player has the option to go around flinging people in turtlenecks for the sake of lulz). Overall, I liked Alex's change from a confused moron who had a SEVERE case of munchies to a character who recognized his own faults by the end and is actually horror struck by how monstrous the Original Alex Mercer was, including moving forward and trying to stop the madness. So I'm cool with it.

"And the only thing standing between me and earth's TRUE DESTINY, -Dramatically looks back to James for unnecessarily funny death stare- is YOU!" <------ That right there was bulls***, Rad(i)cal Entertainment. Not even the reasons in the comics made any sense, in fact they mad everything involving [PROTOTYPE2] twice as silly.

"Just because you can kill something doesn't mean you should", thank you dead wife that has served no other purpose besides give that one line and be part of the reason your husband will destroy half a city in vengeance while not even ONCE mentioning you. No wonder Barry Pepper just went on to do a villain in the True Grit remake instead.

The former kind of sold the first [PROTOTYPE] game for me though, since I thought I had already nailed every plot point down to the T. As it turned out I didn't and I still ended up getting my favorite game out of 2009. The Web of Intrigue, the different spins on all the plot points and last but definitely not least the game just being that damn good. inFAMOUS coming in second, a few sins made by the second game along with Second Son not leaving a good taste in my mouth.

Further apologies for the unnecessarily long paragraph but not much else that I play is that bashed, but in [PROTOTYPE]'s case it was probably just my expectations that made me see it in that light. Besides Dragon Age II's hate, but I feel that it's alright enough that I'm going to give it a playthrough before starting Inquisition.

Opinions for all to reply and share, good day everyone.

Well the prototype games were made for action genre with focus on destroying everything so expecting anything else especially from a AAA game would be too much but that doesnt mean that you shouldnt . I have only played prototype 2 and it was a fun experience .

That is true, but Prototype 1 actually had a shockingly good and interesting story, with a HUGE plot twist about 3/4 of the way through the game. It was further made interesting because, as I mentioned earlier, Blackwatch were much more interesting villains. They essentially established them as not necessarily being evil, just guys who are willing to make the hard decisions that others don't want to make for the greater good. They're the type of guys who will execute 10,000 people if it means saving 100,000. In 2, they got turned into unrepentant psychopathic villains for basically no reason other than "well we need Military dudes for Heller to fight".

 

[TheArcaneThinker]

Stuff

More stuff

That is true, but Prototype 1 actually had a shockingly good and interesting story, with a HUGE plot twist about 3/4 of the way through the game. It was further made interesting because, as I mentioned earlier, Blackwatch were much more interesting villains. They essentially established them as not necessarily being evil, just guys who are willing to make the hard decisions that others don't want to make for the greater good. They're the type of guys who will execute 10,000 people if it means saving 100,000. In 2, they got turned into unrepentant psychopathic villains for basically no reason other than "well we need Military dudes for Heller to fight".

Yes that is true but it does not disapprove my point , that one cannot expect a good story from companies that make games for the masses as their main objective is entertainment for the casual masses so anything more complex then 'this is the good guy and this is the bad guy' is extremely risky as it would probably go over the heads of such audiences so inevitably complex stories are not bothered with . I remember a IGN reviewer who reviewed Spec ops : The line and gave it a bad review since he couldn't comprehend its story...

 

[StoleitfromKilgore]

And once again I'm using this opportunity to tell people about "The Cat Lady" and "Cryostasis-Sleep of Reason".

I only stumled on this recently, but apparently "sleep of reason" refers to an etching by Goya, called "The Sleep Of Reason Produces Monsters". Personally I thought the developers did a good job of telling a story about the "human condition" if you will. On the one hand there is the story itself, which is accompanied by "The Flaming Heart of Danko", a fairy tale by Maxim Gorky. In addition there is the environment and the constant battle of heat and cold and the corresponding battle of the protagonist for survival. There is also the design of the opponents which gets weirder as the game progresses. Keys, locks, cages... and the lifesucking chill of their attacks of course. The protagonist's health meter does not get replenished by health packs or something like that, but rather by heat sources. Considering the storyline, I would say they are just as much about human warmth as they are about actual heat. So, some of the reviewers and other people who wondered about the believability of a light bulb giving off so much heat should have maybe considered what it represented. I guess it is fair to say, that people who enjoyed the stories of the "thechinesroom"-games, might also enjoy the story of "Cryostasis". And on top of that it's not actually a "Walking Simulator" ;-) There is also the shooting, great graphics and the fact that the frozen environment is very well done. Give it a try!

"The Cat Lady" is also for people who enjoy a good story. Sure, it has some of the familiar Adventure-gameplay-mechanics, but I felt it was much more about a bleak, hopeless atmosphere and great dialogue delivered by believable characters. It is certainly not for the faint of heart, since the writer did his best to make the game a very dark experience.
Let's just give you an example: When I played the game, after the first stage, which involved suicide, murder and a lot of distrust, Susan (the protagonist) finally gets back to her apartment, but it does not feel like home, it is a dark place full of unbearable but inescapable memories. When I was at this stage in the game I didn't know some of the things I know now, but after all the things I had experienced in the first part... In addition the graphics and ambience made it very clear that this was not just an appartment, but also a state of mind. A very bad state of mind. I felt tense and threatened while exploring. The rising depression meter didn't help at all.
All in all, it's a low-budget production with great writing and characters.

Hopefully this will prompt some people to give one or both of the games a try. Mostly for the story and atmosphere, I would say.

 

[Evonisia]

Time to see whether I can name another game that I don't like but I think isn't really appreciated enough. Hmm, hnrgh.

I think I'll go with Resistance 1 (I own but have yet to play 2). While it wasn't really for me, it is quite a solid game that kinda combines the Half-Life run-about business with the alternate World War II thing that we loved at the time. Personally I think I was just somewhat spoiled by Gears of War 1 so I think R1 just comes off as a bit limp by comparison, but it is solid and has some different enemy types so I imagine somebody can have a hell of a time with it.

I think Resistance 3 is a much better game than it, for the record. The best part about the series on the whole (I'll assume 2 does this as well), is that they let you use the actual trigger button to fire your gun. That's worth it's weight in gold when compared to Uncharted as far as I'm concerned (even from a more logical standpoint, more options is a good thing).