Underrated games this gen

[Emuaust]

Since Kupo has a thread detailing his dislike for some of this generations gems, or regarded gems, I thought I'd start a thread on games that have not received the attention they rightly deserve. Please feel free to post your list and thoughts on each title.

Bionic Commando and Quantum of Solace I would pick for similar reasons, I think gaming culture s pretty focused on only the A+++ titles (that's due to the amount of releases there are) and we tend to overlook those games that play second fiddle to major releases, both of these games I had immense fun playing through and while both are not without there faults I think both get a bit of an unfair bashing

Sonic Colors for the Wii I would also pick, IMO it was the first Sonic console game to get things right since the 16bit era and while there are some niggling issues, like a. its a wii game and b. wtf is the go with this color crap, its a really fun platformer.

[Zama]

My vote goes for Xenoblade for the wii :)

[Ludwig]

Also awesome triple a titles can die without anyone noticing. Not exactly the current generation (i guess you refer to console generations which is a foreign concept to me), well:
Tron 2.0, The weapons been great the look was amazing and still looks cool due to that, it never got boring or bland, the story was cool even though it was over way to soon. Well it had great ratings and was a all-around awesome game, but nobody bought it. I loved it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS_CGIlbZFA
As i said, it even still looks nice because it's in it's own style.

I have to STRONGLY disagree about the statement that the market is to focused on AAA titles, it's the golden age of Indie Games.

[Oobgarm]

I thought Tron 2.0 sold modestly well back when it came out 8 years ago.

It did review well, if I remember correctly. Being PC-centric at first didn't help sales.

[Johnny_Rock]

I'm sure I'll think of more but the first one that popped into my head was Folklore for the PS3.

The story itself was kind of convoluted but it was still really interesting due to how it's told. The art design is beautiful, especially the environments and character design. The combat is near perfect and has some of the most memorable bosses of the last 2 gens.

I think I'll go replay it now actually.

[The 1 2 P]

I'll throw in another vote for Quantum of Solace. I was a huge fan of Casino Royale so getting to play flashback missions of that movie in QoS was a nice bonus. But I thought the game overall was pretty solid, as were the various multiplayer modes. My only issue with it was that no where in the instruction book or in-game manual did it tell you there was a melee button. So you pretty much find it out the hard way in online multiplayer.

I also enjoyed Wanted. It definitely wasn't worth $60(I only paid $14) because of it's less than 8 hours single player campaign and no multiplayer but the gameplay complimented the movie very well. And curving bullets never got old to me. Also, since the sequel was put on indefinite hold this game may be as close as we will ever get to a true sequel.

[Ludwig]

I thought Tron 2.0 sold modestly well back when it came out 8 years ago.

It was abandoned just a view years after release, and it stayed that way. :(

[Emuaust]

Yeah, I had forgotten about Folklore, very underrated game and I have to agree with the love for the artstyle!

[Tupin]

Just a few I enjoyed:

Nier: I loved the art style and gameplay on this one, but didn't play it enough to appreciate it. I should pick it up, I rented it several times.

Darkest of Days: An FPS that was made fun of for its cheesiness, but the fun of mowing down Confederate troops with a futuristic laser rifle makes up for it.

Opoona: A Wii RPG, one of the last games an independent Koei made. It can be completely controlled by the Nunchuck, and the battles are interesting to fight.

Brutal Legend: A strange one, for sure. I didn't expect it to be an RTS, but I enjoyed the music and voice acting as well as the over the top villains.

Speaking of which, anything by Double Fine can pretty much fall into this category.

I also agree with liking the new Bionic Commando, I thought it was fun.

[kupomogli]

Yakuza 3 and 4.

Quite awhile after Yakuza 2 came out, we finally got the announcement of Yakuza 3. For fans of the series it was quite a wait. I personally never thought we'd get it. It also sold slightly well for the most part. Unfortunately, even being a better game, Yakuza 4 sold a lot worse than Yakuza 3. Barely sold actually. Meaning that over half the people who bought Yakuza 3 didn't buy the next, so possibly didn't like it.

Speaking of Yakuza 4, I understand that the game takes place in Kamurocho once again, but there was a lot of changes to the game, especially for western gamers(as in, not as much cut content as there was in Yakuza 3.) The Yakuza games are story heavy, so that right there is the first major change, but then there's now more than just Kazuma this time around, and that's the second biggest change, especially when each character plays very different from one another.

Now maybe people didn't like the stiff gameplay, but it's like the difference of Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden, or a Jet Li/Jackie Chan movie over one from Chuck Norris/Steven Seagal. Doesn't make the games or movies bad, just different.

There's tons of stuff to do if you complete the main storyline or even if you don't want to go through the main storyline. Pachinko, western gambling games such as Black Jack and Texas Hold em, eastern gambling games including Mahjong and Shogi, Batting Cages, Table Tennis, Bowling, Golf, various arena matches, etc. There's even Boxcellios and Boxcellios 2, which are entirely time and score based and extremely fun shooters. For the longest time I was ranked first on both of those, now I'm ranked second and third on both with a ridiculously high score to beat to become first on both.

I've put in 100+ hours in both these games, probably more on Yakuza 3 being that I continuously go back to the final Ultimate Skill being a complete boss rush and is fun to play through repeatedly.

[shopkins]

Dark Void. It's glitchy and it perhaps unwisely invites comparisons to Uncharted, but it's actually quite fun and does something you don't see in other games.

I agree with Bionic Commando is underrated in terms of gameplay, but the story is just awful, it felt like it was something I was suffering through in between gameplay sections.

[heybtbm]

I'm sure I'll think of more but the first one that popped into my head was Folklore for the PS3.

The story itself was kind of convoluted but it was still really interesting due to how it's told. The art design is beautiful, especially the environments and character design. The combat is near perfect and has some of the most memorable bosses of the last 2 gens.

I think I'll go replay it now actually.

Don't forget the fantastic soundtrack.

Anyway, my vote goes to Just Cause 2 (http://youtu.be/HzZEAvvSzt0). IIRC it was generally well received by critics and the public but no one seemed to talk about it after it released. To me it's the best open-world/sandbox game of all time...and I've played just about every one to completion. An absolutely fantastic, AAA title that no one seems to have played. At least no one that I know.

[retroman]

As a huge Golden Axe fan i enjoyed Golden Axe BR for 360

[Aussie2B]

Unfortunately, even being a better game, Yakuza 4 sold a lot worse than Yakuza 3. Barely sold actually. Meaning that over half the people who bought Yakuza 3 didn't buy the next, so possibly didn't like it.

I bought Yakuza 3 at launch, but I still haven't bought Yakuza 4. I bought Yakuza 3 because I wanted to support Sega and offer my thanks for bringing out a title that was almost left behind in Japan, but they basically spit on my thanks by slashing out content left and right. And then gave us insulting, bullshit reasoning as to why ("it wouldn't resonate with the players", which is even more stupid when you consider that much of what was removed was basically the same kind of content as what was already in the US versions of the previous two games). I will buy Yakuza 4 eventually, but I'm in no rush to support Sega when they dick over Yakuza fans time and time again. First with the awful dubbing and even worse marketing for the first title, then for nearly skipping on Yakuza 2 and whining that not many people bought it when they released it late in the PS2 lifespan without so much as a whisper, skipping Kenzan, nearly skipping Yakuza 3, using the low sales of 2 as an excuse, and then dicing it when it did get released. Now I bet they're whining about the sales of 4 and probably still blaming the consumers. The people of Sega of America have their heads up their asses with this series, and they have the arrogance to blame everything on the players. The games deserve more attention and sales, but I have no pity for Sega if they're not happy with how the series is selling.

[Skullkid]

Splatterhouse and Heavenly Sword are 2 really good action games that were mostly panned by critics.

[G-Boobie]

I'll second Heavenly Sword. Fun story, great acting, interesting combat. Enslaved, by the same studio, is also pretty good.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Another vote for Bionic Commando

My heart goes out to the team at Grin that gave Bionic Commando fans a brilliant 3D representation of the mechanics of the 2D games and wound up with nothing but a shuttered studio for it.

That game was dragged over the coals by pro critics, I believe largely out of complete and total misinterpretation of what the game was trying to be (and succeeding at). In review after review I saw it either subtly or blatantly criticized for not being enough like or as good as other games that it looked like it might be trying to emulate.

Sure, I could fault any game for it not being what I WANT it to be, that doesn't make it a bad game or a poorly made one.

As far as the story is concerned, the Bionic Commando games were never known for having engrossing or well told stories and in the modern entry it seemed like they were trying to ape some of Kojima's wackier moments from the MGS series which simply didn't play well for some.

Personally I thought the gameplay was satisfying to the point where I wasn't about to dock any major points for storytelling issues.

[Nirvana]

The entire Phoenix Wright series. It does have its niche of fans that praise the series to death, but to be honest, the game is really damn fun. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth is the latest one, and it's a pretty solid mystery game.

[Graham Mitchell]

Even though it's got it's own thread, Deadly Premonition is fantastic if you're into David Lynch style surrealism. The gameplay is deep and the story, though bizarre, is rich.

People knocked the Alice game pretty badly but I like it. It's a fun platformer with some intense combat and a nice goth-psychedelic setting.

Metro 2033, while quite difficult, is a great FPS that seems to have been ignored due to poor marketing.

[SteveSpeeze]

Since Kupo has a thread detailing his dislike for some of this generations gems, or regarded gems, I thought I'd start a thread on games that have not received the attention they rightly deserve. Please feel free to post your list and thoughts on each title.

Bionic Commando and Quantum of Solace I would pick for similar reasons, I think gaming culture s pretty focused on only the A+++ titles (that's due to the amount of releases there are) and we tend to overlook those games that play second fiddle to major releases, both of these games I had immense fun playing through and while both are not without there faults I think both get a bit of an unfair bashing

Sonic Colors for the Wii I would also pick, IMO it was the first Sonic console game to get things right since the 16bit era and while there are some niggling issues, like a. its a wii game and b. wtf is the go with this color crap, its a really fun platformer.

Splatterhouse xbox 360
"Walk with me in hell" lol awesome choice of music

[Johnny_Rock]

I'll have to second Nier.

I actually didn't think that much of it initially. The graphics and art style aren't that interesting, the story is kind of weird and bleak, the combat is also strange especially with the bullet hell style boss fights. But honestly the more I think about the game the more I appreciate it. All the weirdness and events that didn't make sense at first are actually really heavy and beautiful. Despite how bleak the game is overall there's just an incredible sense of life. I don't think I'll ever forget characters like Emil or Kaine or places like Facade.

It also has one of the greatest soundtracks of all time.

-

I'm kind of surprised to hear Heavenly Sword is considered underrated or a hidden gem. I honestly though that game got a lot of praise on it's release and was moderately popular. I'll throw a +1 to that game too seeing as I was previously wrong about it. Only real complaints about it would be the SIXAXIS controls and that the main character is kind of bland and poorly acted (sorry Anna Torv/Fringe fans) despite her appearance, especially when put next to Kai or the villains Flying Fox and King Bohan with Steven Berkoff and Andy Serkis at their batshit craziest.

[kupomogli]

but they basically spit on my thanks by slashing out content left and right. And then gave us insulting, bullshit reasoning as to why ("it wouldn't resonate with the players",

I believe they should have gave us a more accurate reason, yes. It would have cost more to localize and it's a game that they didn't think would sell in the first place.

However, they announced what content was going to be cut long before the release of the game. The hostess clubs, although editing it to still be able to do the missions for them. One fairly long substory, a couple of other substories, Mahjong, Shogi, and Answer x Answer. It's not a lot of content that was cut, but it was all very text heavy.

If it helps, Yakuza 4 has no cut content other than Answer x Answer. Supposedly the same with Yakuza Dead Souls as well.


First with the awful dubbing and even worse marketing for the first title

I partially agree with the dubbing. It was good, but what I didn't like was all the San, Chan, Aniki bs. It's like listening to one of those people who speak English but throw Japanese context along with it which is annoying.


then for nearly skipping on Yakuza 2 and whining that not many people bought it when they released it late in the PS2 lifespan without so much as a whisper

Even in Japan the PS3 was already released before Yakuza 2. Yakuza 2 came out a year and a half later in the US. Like every other title released after 2006, unless it was a big name title, it was brushed to the side by brick and mortar stores because of the next big thing. That being the Wii, PS3, and 360.

Sega went all out with the first Yakuza because they wanted it to do well in the US, as I've heard they were planning it as a series from the very start. For all the advertising they did, you could say they didn't make anything off of it, and then when the bad sales of Yakuza 2, I can see why they skipped Kenzan and only brought Yakuza 3 after much requesting from the fanbase, something that you never see happening except with smaller publishers..


Now I bet they're whining about the sales of 4 and probably still blaming the consumers.

While they're more than likely upset about the poor sales of Yakuza 4, they haven't said anything and they're actually localizing Yakuza Of the End for a March release. They've made mention that cut content will be comparable to Yakuza 4, so I'd expect Answer x Answer to be cut out and everything else to remain intact.


The people of Sega of America have their heads up their asses with this series, and they have the arrogance to blame everything on the players.

They didn't blame anything on the fanbase themselves, just that Yakuza 2 didn't sell good, which is pretty much fact.

It's not like Sega is Namco, even when a Tales games sells 200,000 or more we still miss the next 50 released titles in the series because 200,000 in a single region in the west just isn't a good enough reason to localize the next title, despite the Japanese version selling less(Vesperia 360) or almost the same(every other Tales of game that's had a release this gen.)

[Aussie2B]

No, I wouldn't say we agree on the dubbing. Apparently we're taking opposite issues with it. Leaving in the honorifics was the right choice, especially given the nature of the game. There's no exact equivalent in English, and it's not remotely like weeaboos that randomly pepper their speech with "kawaii" and the like. But that's not the big issue here. My main concern is that the acting is atrocious, and even with leaving in honorifics, they still Americanized the game too much. Like some cursing is appropriate (even though in Japanese they don't so much have curse words like we do but rather they have really harsh ways of talking), but they dropped so many f-bombs that it's comical. They should've subtitled the game as they did with the following games, or at least included dual languages (which, really, they should be doing for all of the games in order to please the whiners that need everything they watch/play to be dubbed in their native language). Instead, Westerners are left with a disjointed, jarring experience, with one game dub-only and others sub-only.

They didn't go all out on the first Yakuza. Their marketing was absolutely terrible. No one even understood what the game was like. Sega was making it out like it was GTA or something, so the GTA fans that got suckered in hated it and the people that would've liked it never gave it a shot because they didn't think it would suit their tastes. Sega also wasted WAY too much money getting big-name actors for the dubbing, yet they still did a shitty job at their acting. The low return on the first Yakuza was 100% Sega's fault, as it has been with every other game in the series, but they have consistently blamed it on the consumers. They blamed the consumers for the sales of the first when the marketing sucked, they blamed the consumers for the sales of the second when the marketing was nonexistent and many fans of the first didn't even know it was out, they blamed the fans for why they "had" to cut the content out of Yakuza 3, suggesting that we're idiots that can't handle anything remotely Japanese (even though the entire experience is steeped in Japanese culture and atmosphere), and I'm sure they'll whine about the sales of Yakuza 4 eventually too.

There's just no excusing anything that Sega of America has done with the Yakuza franchise. It's just sad that such high quality games are caught up in all this muck. They truly deserve better.

[Griking]

Brutal Legend: A strange one, for sure. I didn't expect it to be an RTS, but I enjoyed the music and voice acting as well as the over the top villains.




I purchased Brutal Legend and my wife ended up playing it before I did. I remember days sitting at my desk listening to her play in the background and thinking that I remembered all of the music in it. I hope there's a sequel.

[Chadt74]

I have to throw a vote in for Nier as well. The graphics get knocked, but to me they seem to fit the story and I liked the combat in the game. The music is great, I cared about what happened to the characters (unusual for me), and the ending was pretty crazy, but then if you look the ending was out in the open all along. Also the dialog was pretty good and comical at times. Also had some really good ideas in the game like the restart at the 1/2 way point and the final final ending. Just my 2c.

[dystopian]

I'm going to have to go with Lost Odyssey. This is the game that people should have bought instead of Final Fantasy XIII. It's literally a much more faithful and intelligent Final Fantasy game than anything since at least X, and for me, VIII.

[Cornelius]

I'm with Johnny Rock on Heavenly Sword. It is pretty well forgotten now, but wasn't it was a PS3 launch title? And pretty much considered one of the must-buy games along with Resistance and CoD? I didn't actually have a PS3 until much later, but that's how I remember it, so I was pretty happy when the used PS3 I bought came with that and a couple other great games. I loved the sections of the game with Kai and her crossbow once I figured out you could turn the sixaxis controls off. I redid those missions until I got them perfect.

Folklore was on my list at the time, too, but still haven't picked it up.

[Trebuken]

XBOX 360
Viking Battle for Asgard.
Kingdom Under Fire.
Deadly Premonition. Haven't played, but rumor suggests it should be here.
Condemned Criminal Origins.
Conan.

PLAYSTATION 3
Enslaved.
3D Dot Game Heroes.
Untold Legends Dark Kingdom (I may be alone in this one).

Others I can think of have been covered. The Wii's and DS's best games seem to shine out above all the shovelware.

[kupomogli]

PLAYSTATION 3
3D Dot Game Heroes.

Amazing game. Even though I'm a From Software fan, I didn't think I was going to like this game due to the graphics style, but turned out to be one of my favorite games this gen.


Untold Legends Dark Kingdom (I may be alone in this one).

Very alone. Didn't like this game at all. The PSP ones are really good though.

[substantial_snake]

I'ed add Vanquish to this list.

It was a pretty wicked third person shooter that felt like it had a lot of SHUMP influences oddly enough. The lack of multiplayer probably turned a lot of people off but from a pure gameplay perspective it was ridiculously fast and really fun.

[exit]

DJ Hero is one that immediately comes to mind, I played with it at Best Buy not expecting much and I ended up walking out of the store with a bundle in the end. It's a shame really, DJ Hero actually did something a little different and is generally fun to play, but it's fate was already sealed due to an already flooded market of Guitar Hero and Rockband type rhythm games.

I also feel that Saw is rather unappreciated, while the game was no where near flawless, it did a lot of things right and turned out rather well considering the source material. I haven't played the sequel yet, it's in the mail via Goozex tho, so I'll see how it turned out within a few days.

[Colorado Rockies]

Mercenaries 2 - Such a fun sandbox game, especially with a friend.
Shadows of the Damned - Akira Yamoaka is a genius...
Mirror's Edge
Godfather II
Little King's Story
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

[Gentlegamer]

Red Faction Guerilla
Darksiders

[Ryudo]

All the Ys games on PSP
Trails in The Sky
Okamiden
Hotel Dusk
SolatoRobo
Earth Seeker
Zangeki no Reginleiv
Xenoblade
Captain Rainbow
Little Kings Story
Sin & Punishment 2
Pandoras Tower
Klonoa (2009 remake)
valkyria chronicles 1-2
Sonic Colors
Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing
A Boy & His Blob
Zak & Wiki
Fragile Dreams
Tokyo Beat Down
Kenka Banchi Badass Rumble
El Shaddia

Everyone of those is just fantastic and should be selling like hotcakes.

[LiquidPolicenaut]

I gotta agree with Hotel Dusk, Yakuza 3 and Yakuza 4. I love those games and, for all the backlash Sega gets for being kinda crappy in recent years, at least they DID bring them over. There just aren't enough of these types of games out there. Now, it doesn't excuse them for all they cut from part 3 but even with the low sales they brought over part 4 which had very little cut in comparison. I DO agree that they should really try to market it much better than what they have done in the past. I am also very happy they decided to bring over Of The End (now Dead Souls). Bringing over the Yakuza series is the one nice spotlight on Sega for me now...

[kupomogli]

All the Ys games on PSP
Trails in The Sky
SolatoRobo
valkyria chronicles 1-2


Haven't played Solatorobo, still haven't purchased it yet, but I'm going to. Everything else I agree with.

One thing though is that how Valkyria Chronicles was originally an underrated game on the PS3 until people started finding out about how good it was, me included. Then some people didn't want to get VC2 because of the PSP version, or, the more than likely real reason it didn't sell well is because everyone pirated the hell out of it like every other PSP game. Except those that are actually honest. Ys and Trails in the Sky also sold terrible more than likely for the same reason.

[mEgAsHoT]

One game that fits this criteria for me is The Saboteur. It came out on the Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2009 and was ignored by critics/blasted for being "too glitchy". Don't listen to the critics. The game is one of the best that I have played this generation, seriously. Unlike GTA, the Saboteur actually has three difficulty settings, so you can either have a Casual, easy experience or a challenge. Sabotaging the Nazi's in this game is fun and addicting. The shooting is solid, the gameplay mechanics are good, and there aren't as many serious glitches as you think. A great swan-song for Pandemic studios (remember, they also made the Mercenaries games). Plus, the story is a cool twist on a typical World War II game, and is loosely based on a true story. I had a fun time playing this game even on Easy. I would easily replay it on Normal/Hard. The freeplay targets can take months to complete if you want to get them all.

Other underrated games:

-Full Auto: while not the best, it is far from being terrible like the reviewers say it is.

-Mercenaries 2

-Sega Rally Revo: Basically ignored by "everyone". Other than the Dirt series, this is the only other Rally racing game on the 360. I actually loved the Rallisport Challenge games on the original Xbox. I have no idea why Microsoft never capitalized on the success of the Dirt franchise and created a Rallisport Challenge 3.

-Sonic Colors: also agree with this one. Very fun Sonic game. The 3D Sonic's, contrary to what the game media wants you to think, are not all train wrecks. The only real train wrecks were Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 and Shadow the Hedgehog. The previous Sonic Wii games were not that bad, either. Colors captures the spirit of 2D and 3D Sonic perfectly.

[exit]

One game that fits this criteria for me is The Saboteur. It came out on the Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2009 and was ignored by critics/blasted for being "too glitchy". Don't listen to the critics.

I agree with this statement, even tho the game was considered incomplete, it still played better and was more entertaining than a lot of the finished AAA games out there. I enjoyed the game a lot more than I originally expected and it's a shame that EA disbanded Pandemic right around the time it was released, since they obviously had a lot of talent. Not sure what you mean by being blasted by critics tho, it was generally well received and is only criticized because of the obvious polish it was lacking, mainly due to EA rushing the game out the door.

[Chadt74]

Untold Legends Dark Kingdom - You got to max your char. out about 1/2 way through and the get got VERY repetitive with limited real challenges other than more monsters. This one I have to disagree with.

As for Heavenly Sword, that was a blast to play and overall an enjoyable experience. Since i didn't have a PS3 at launch I didn't realize it would be considered under the radar, I know Sony kept the price way too high ($30) for way too long, but this is a fun game in my book.

[Emuaust]

As much as I might get panned for this I would also put Lair into this category, while its pretty crappy until you get the controller update I think its a better game then what the universal panning it gets would indicate.

Also I would actually put the Yakuza games into the most overrated games this gen list, I just can't get into 3 or 4, even though I liked the first two they just seem stale to me.

[Aussie2B]

Also I would actually put the Yakuza games into the most overrated games this gen list, I just can't get into 3 or 4, even though I liked the first two they just seem stale to me.

I could understand if you're talking about Japan, where they're huge hits, but who would be overrating them in US? o_O They barely get any attention in the Western world.

[Emuaust]

Maybe its just the hardercore communties/sites I visit but they seem to have wet dreams over the series, something I just don't "get" but as always YMMV

[The 1 2 P]

Just thought of another good one: Split Second. Despite GT5 and Blur, it was still the best racing game released last year. It was new, fresh and addictive. I loved the single player racing campaign just as much as the online multiplayer. Plus it had car battles with trucks and helicopters.

Sadly the studio behind the game(Black Rock) was closed down by Disney earlier this year so we will never see a true sequel. And that sucks because there was so much potential for this game to become a much more successful franchise in the future.

[j_factor]

I really dug Ivy the Kiwi. Nice and challenging, and simple. It feels like a mid-90s PC game, in a good way.

[M.Buster2184]

Good choices everyone, but I personally have to pick Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Darksiders for 360. I love these games. I enjoyed the gameplay and the story lines. Moments of Darksiders even reminded me of Legend of Zelda games where you're down in a dungeon trying to figure out a puzzle to get out of the room. I highly recommend either title to anyone.

[Daltone]

I liked Alpha Protocol. It may not be the best game in the world but it was a nice mix of genres and I'd like to see something like it again. On a similar note, the bourne conspiracy was, for all its flaws, pretty enjoyable.

[Robocop2]

Count another vote for Splatterhouse and Heavenly Sword. Neither one was critically acclaimed and I really enjoyed them quite a Bit. Also Alan Wake another fairly underappreciated game that was awfully cool especially the farm concert part. Also DNF and Shadows of the Damned

[swlovinist]

Love this topic. So many to choose from. When this generation of gaming was upon us, I feared that niche gaming was doomed. I am very happy to be wrong about that. Many of my favorite games this generation have been mentioned. Absolutely loved Brutal Legend. Also Sin and Punishment 2, Klonoa (2009 remake), and Tokyo Beat Down were also fun. I would add to the list Section 8 and its sequel, as well as Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes.

[josemp81]

I'ed add Vanquish to this list.

It was a pretty wicked third person shooter that felt like it had a lot of SHUMP influences oddly enough. The lack of multiplayer probably turned a lot of people off but from a pure gameplay perspective it was ridiculously fast and really fun.

Vanquish was awsome. May I add Earth Defense Force ....if you have one achievement on this game youre the man.

[Hawksmoor]

Dante's Inferno.

[The 1 2 P]

Another good one is Alan Wake. From what I understand it sold less than 300,000 copies worldwide so not alot of people have played it. And thats a real shame because it was one of the best games of this gen and awarded GOTY by Time magazine. I can't wait for them to detail the sequel at this years VGA's.

[Hawksmoor]

Another good one is Alan Wake. From what I understand it sold less than 300,000 copies worldwide so not alot of people have played it. And thats a real shame because it was one of the best games of this gen and awarded GOTY by Time magazine. I can't wait for them to detail the sequel at this years VGA's.

Excellent choice. My favorite game of 2010 and probably in my top 5 360 games.

[j_factor]

I was really looking forward to Alan Wake, then it came out, and the PC version was MIA.

[mikeshinobi]

I'ed add Vanquish to this list.

It was a pretty wicked third person shooter that felt like it had a lot of SHUMP influences oddly enough. The lack of multiplayer probably turned a lot of people off but from a pure gameplay perspective it was ridiculously fast and really fun.


I wondered if anyone would mention Vanquish, and I'm glad you did. What a great game.

I'd like to add a second vote for Red Faction Guerrilla... I heard people didn't like it very much, but I enjoyed it quite thoroughly myself (though admittedly I did manage to complete it once and almost twice within the duration of a single Redbox rental). I'm glad I didn't read reviews ahead of time or I probably would have let them bias me and wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did.

[moggles]

Good call on Vanquish, that is a top-quality game on every level.

Lost Planet 2 gets my vote - it got slated in reviews, mostly on the strength of the co-op AI, but the campaign mode was designed to be played online with 4 other players. For me, it was one of the greatest gaming experiences ever, working together with others trying to blow the shit out of gigantic alien bosses with massive guns and mech-suits was awesome. It was like being in Starship Troopers. It's a shame reviewers reviewed the campaign mode without playing it online.

[chilimac]

I definitely agree with Vanquish and Ivy the Kiwi; they are two of the best games this generation, and hardly anyone has played them.

I'd also add Yoshi Touch & Go for the DS. It's just a simple and addictive 2d game, that I wish Nintendo would make more of.

[Jaruff]

I can agree with Alpha Protocol and The Saboteur.

I think I paid $10 for AP and it was well worth it. Kept me entertained for a long time. I paid $20 for The Saboteur and would have paid $60 at launch had I known it was going to be such a blast.

I enjoyed Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood but the first one is definitely overlooked and underrated.

[hbkprm]

i also agree with alpha protocol and lost planet 2
lost planet 2 had vast improvments from the first
alpha protocol was thinking outside the box

[Dobie]

I'll throw another vote on the pile for The Saboteur and Alan Wake. I'll add Amped 3 to the list. There's not a lot of snowboarding games anymore, but I was hopelessly addicted to this one when it came out. I really loved the characters and crazy cut scenes. Too bad this game killed Indie Built.

[Graham Mitchell]

Grey Matter, while mostly a PC game, was released on the 360 in Europe, and is a very solid point-and-click adventure game like the Sierra classics. It's written by Jane Jensen, who wrote the Gabriel Knight series.

While it's not perfect (the magic tricks feel like an old copy protection gimmick rather than a feature), the story is great and the game is structured in a way to reduce the frustration associated with the earlier games in the genre. Puzzles require thought and exploration, but are not so esoteric and obscure that you have to look online to solve them. Plus, theres a hotspot indicator to keep you from having to pixel hunt.

I like these new features. As much as I love the old adventure games, I like that Grey Matter extends its playtime through actual content, not frustrating the hell out of you. Recommend for adventure game fans.

[TheGam3r]

Afro Samurai for the XBOX 360. An extremley underrated hack n' slash game that's based off the anime of the same name. The cel-shaded graphics are a beauty and the controls are smooth.