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[Vanillalite]

Pfft, you and your reading of threads. In that case...

This game was PSO2 dammit, although with a worse artstyle. I'm not sure how active it is online now, but when it came out, you could quickly make a four player team and go at it. I hope Sega makes another online PS game for the 3DS.

I'd actually say the PS games that are on handhelds in general lack love. Sure PS0 and PSP1 both have their short comings, but you'd think at least PSP2 would get some nice love especially since it was fully online.

 

[LJ11]

I must be missing something with Goldeneye.

Played it for about an hour or so before I put it down, I couldn't really get a grasp of the controls. Felt like the cursor was way too jumpy, otherwise I probably would've kept on going,

Edit: Also, some of the games in the OP are not underrated, not on this board anyway.

 

[overcast]

Hitman is a game that I don't see too much praise for. I loved it, too bad it seems a sequel won't ever come out.
The darkness was an awesome fps, incredibly gritty. Well written narrative, also the voice acting was notable.
Alan Wake while repetitve was an interesting and very enjoyable game. Plenty of flaws, but I had fun with the overall package. Really hoping for a sequel on this too.
I'm not sure how underrated it actually is, but Darksiders was a great zelda type game. Had solid mechanics, only downside was the story. Pretty lame on that front.

 

[linkboy]

I must be missing something with Goldeneye.

Played it for about an hour or so before I put it down, I couldn't really get a grasp of the controls. Felt like the cursor was way too jumpy, otherwise I probably would've kept on going,

Edit: Also, some of the games in the OP are not underrated, not on this board anyway.

The game supports the Classic Controller and the GC controller. It plays great with the Gamecube controller.

 

[Rated-Rsuperstar]

It's like Bioshock but with better shooting mechanics, weapons, and useful powers. Greatly underrated and definitely a must for shooter fans.

I like this MoH quite a bit. You can start the mission from multiple locations; the cover/lean system is pretty good; you earn weapon experience which unlocks attachments for the gun and other enhancements; no invisible walls for the most part. The game is somewhat difficult and there aren't that many checkpoints which doesn't help that the missions aren't short. It's not a run and gun game and you will have to utilize the lean/cover system extensively.

I really like this game and go back to it while listening to some philosophical podcasts. I like to describe it as a mix of Commandos and Assassins Creed. I just love planting TNTs and slowly walking away with the camera facing in the opposite direction of the character walking. The missions may not be exciting or memorable, but it's really fun infiltrating Nazi compounds while dressed as a Nazi and planting TNT everywhere. It's an open world game and you will drive quite a lot so there's the GTA aspect to it.

Yes, yes, and yes. You sir have excellent taste. Proof positive that the WW2 genre has a lot left to give.


And I'd like to add my vote for Dark Athena. In a world dominated by military shooters, Riddick stands out by offering first person stealth, melee, shooting, and platforming done right.

 

[LJ11]

The game supports the Classic Controller and the GC controller. It plays great with the Gamecube controller.

So I'm not the only one with Wiimote issues, maybe I'll give a run with dual analog setup then.

 

[fadetoblack]

[IMG..]http://ve3dmedia.ign.com/images/03/80/38059_normal.jpg[/IMG]

Quantum Theory is seriously underrated. It's everything that video games should be. Did you like the Oblivion gates? Well they made a whole game that looks just like that part and then they added an anime chick! Do you ever wonder what it would look like to be in a cake? Well this games got environments that look like the innards of a cake! I mean it's just such an awesome game. The environment changes, but it doesn't matter as you can just shoot stuff up regardless. Gotta kill it right! So many guns that look like meat slabs, but who knows what the fuck half of them do, but hey there's more then 10 so who cares! The characters are awesome. Syd, he's just a badass, he has to kill everything. You know because of course American's love their blood thirsty leads, look at motherfucking Kratos! Everyone in this DARK world is about fighting. Even your friends you see in the flashback are all about fighting and getting headshots, but don't worry about them. You will never see or learn about what happened to them after that scene! Your female partner is cool and her AI is awesome, if you need a wall to be shot at. She's also got a red haired sister or something, but she never appears again after her fight, but you see her panties at least. There black, so you know the sister is edgy. But your strong female partner also has her sex appeal. Her boobs bounce and boy do they ever in those emotional bonding cutscenes they have in the game. But back to Syd. Hes got awesome lines like "Your not Chaos I am!". He's awesome. As for the plot, it's like Nier in that mankind got fucked so they did some shit. All you cool kids should be instantly hooked by the intrigue this title brings. As for the gameplay. It's like if Marcus Fenix was drunk, but at least you fight gigantic enemies.

It's just a cool game.

The avatar quote is so tempting, but please tell me this was a sarcastic post. Quantum Theory has to be one of the single most broken and uninspired games of this generation.

If you want to play a third person cover based shooter that is exponentially better than Quantum Theory, Wanted: Weapons of Fate is a surprisingly playable game that takes the idea of bullet curving and implements it to make a satisfy albeit short and sometimes flawed experience. I think most people will genuinely enjoy the game. Go ahead, download the demo and tell me I'm wrong.

Also, other movie license games that were better than expected: The Godfather 2. Yes, the game is ugly, but its also insanely fun.

Edit: Also need to give love to Medal of Honor: Airborne. The Saboteur had great atmosphere, but man some of the mission design was trite and unnecessarily frustrating.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

I agree on Wolfenstein, is such a neat game, put a map of the 2 central levels and you could easily have a Doom map. Also, while missions follow the same lineal structure as your average FPS game this gen, is incredible fun: the use of the powers make for a more varied situations and interesting enemies and the gunplay is surprisingly solid.

Also the games spends 5 minutes telling you the plot which is barely an excuse to kickass nazis, so no need to suffer stupid cutscenes with numbers stupid slow-mo action.

 

[Rahxephon91]

The avatar quote is so tempting, but please tell me this was a sarcastic post. Quantum Theory has to be one of the single most broken and uninspired games of this generation.

But it's not uninspired. It's clearly inspired by Gears of War and Oblivion. If throwing a chick as a weapon isn't innovative, then I don't know what is!

 

[StuBurns]

Has anyone played the Avatar game? I played it at an event in 3D, and it seemed a decent Lost Planet sort of game with some lite MMOish design elements. No idea if it was actually any good or not.

 

[SykoTech]

I can't really think of anything. I'm tempted to say Sonic Colors as it was actually good but is ignored and people continue to hate on 3D Sonic games (though it seemed mostly 2D to be fair). The Ratchet & Clank franchise is often brushed aside despite being excellent. It could use some more love.

But there's a big difference between underappreciated and underrated, so I don't think those choices are entirely appropriate.

The closest thing I can think of is this:

Game gets hate like crazy both from fans and general gamers both here and elsewhere on the web. Yet it seemed quite good based on what I played of it. Of course, I just played it for about an hour or so at friend's place. Guess I'll have to pick it up before officially giving my verdict on that one.

 

[snorggy]

Gonna throw my hat in for the Darkness... It tried and for the most part succeeded in mixing up the FPS genre a little bit with the darkness powers, which never failed to make you feel like a pretty powerful badass... I was also quite impressed at one scene in particular where someone gets killed (those who've played it should know what I'm talking about)...

Far from a perfect game, but it's definitely worthy of a bit more love.

 

[Rahxephon91]

Another insanely underrated game this gen is Bullet Witch. Forget that overly serious garbage fest that is Nier, this is Cavia's real gem this gen. It's quite honestly the strangest game ever. Now I don't remember much about the game, but the fact that you go from suburbia America to the top of an airplane is pretty intense. All the while fighting skeleton enemies that looked like they took anorexia to the extreme. It's like the enemies are all from some twisted version of heavy metal album covers. It's an amazing game where you shoot brains to open not invisible walls, but colored invisible walls. The scale of the game is actually quite impressive, buildings fall and they fall so hard that they make the game shutter, realistic! But be careful as they do in fact fall on you and it is an instant ko. I don't remember the story, but you play as the hot witch Alicia and it's kind of like Nier as making did some shit and fucked the world over or something. I think your dad did it to bring you back. So it's even more like Nier as it's got that emotional feelings screw up things thing, only it did it first and better! She can twirl in the air like a ballerina and her broom turns into several guns, also you can melee, but it feels like you are mostly hitting air. Still it does a lot of damage.

 

[Rahxephon91]

And if this dosen't sell you on Ninja Blade you are no friend of mine.

Seriously, the game has more awesome set pieces then most games this gen. Demon Souls has nothing on this. This is From Software's magnum opus this gen. Well until Armored Core 5 that is.

 

[-PXG-]

Quantum Theory, Bullet Witch and Ninja Blade...living up to your tag lol

 

[fadetoblack]

Ninja Blade

Alright, you are forgiven for your love of Quantum Theory and Bulletwitch

I'd also say that I am a recent convert to the greatness that is NIER. The Zero Punctuation review does hit home on a lot of the more silly aspects of the game.

 

[tiff]

I'm pretty sure I post this in every "Post the most underrated game" thread, but whatever.

Story is almost totally character-focused, but unlike certain other early-2010 games that isn't a bad thing here. Every character gets their own time in the spotlight and each one is pretty likable. Unlike most dialogue systems your responses are timed here, which adds some tension to the choices you make (and interestingly makes silence sometimes the best response). The combat system is decent in its own right (basically a proto-Valkyria Chronicles) and is a welcome change of pace from all the talking, but it's obviously not the main attraction.

It's a fun game. You should play it.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

OMG how did I forgot about:

 

[Rahxephon91]

Quantum Theory, Bullet Witch and Ninja Blade...living up to your tag lol

The sad thing is Ninja Blade is an actual quality game.

But another fun game is

Onechanbara. It's got chicks in bikinis, slutty police uniforms, and school girl outfits fighting zombies and getting blood all over their bodies. Does that sound like a good time? How about hilariously long backsctory text crawl and fmvs that slowdown? And it's also on the Wii!

OMG how did I forgot about:

I don't know, I would say GAF is right on the money with them. Damn bastards are going to screw up Devil May Cry.

 

[Air Zombie Meat]

Ninja Blade is decent. For the price it goes for nowadays you can't really go wrong. Unless you're one of those people who explodes in rage whenever a qte pops up, in which case avoid.

 

[JaseMath]

 

[MechDX]

I like this MoH quite a bit. You can start the mission from multiple locations; the cover/lean system is pretty good; you earn weapon experience which unlocks attachments for the gun and other enhancements; no invisible walls for the most part. The game is somewhat difficult and there aren't that many checkpoints which doesn't help that the missions aren't short. It's not a run and gun game and you will have to utilize the lean/cover system extensively.
.

Downloading this now on XBLA. Played it about a year ago on PS3 but never finished because I hate the DS2.

 

[Rated-Rsuperstar]

OMG how did I forgot about:

Agreed. Heavenly Sword and Enslaved have problems but they're still some of the most beautiful cinematic games I've ever played.

 

[Fallout-NL]

I agree with Gears in the OP. As a game, it was the very first to take this gen's gameplay to another level (or 'next-gen'). It also looked crazy good.


Too bad you ruled out last gen, or I would have said Manhunt. That was a work of art.

 

[Danne-Danger]

Since I'm new to GAF, how is Alpha Protocol received? I thought it was a bit corny but somehow I loved it. I would recommend it to anyone without a moments notice

The vibe I got was that the OT was a good place to be if you played and enjoyed the game, lots of positive comments (and admins!). Of course there was also the usual crowd of people who were certain it sucked because they "played KotOR2 and THAT sucked" (as there always is when something Obsidian-related comes up) as well as people who can’t handle a bit of jank here and there. I'd say that all in all it was fairly well received by GAF, PC-GAF loved it!

 

[tearsofash]

Another insanely underrated game this gen is Bullet Witch.[/QUOTE]

Came in to say this. Campy as fuck, but so damn addicting.

Also agree with Onechanbara. Avoid the Wii version like the plague unless you want to contract Carpal Tunnel.

Why is it that people seem to take budget games so seriously? There are certain things you're going to have to look past, but there is usually a certain charm there.

 

[mujun]

I had a lot of fun with the following games [standouts marked with and asterisk]:

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements
Kung Fu Panda
Wolfenstein
*Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Call of Juarez 1
*Call of Juarez 2
G-Force
Nail'd
Two Worlds 2
*Divinity 2
Darkstar One
Arcania: Gothic 4
Xmen Origins Wolverine
Flatout Ultimate Carnage
Wheelman
Timeshift
*Spiderman: Web of Shadows
Dead to Rights: Retribution
*Supreme Commander 2
*Farcry Instincts: Predator
Wet
*Mini Ninjas
Viking
The Outfit
*Sacred 2
*Battle for Middle Earth 2
Frontlines: Fuel of War
MX vs ATV: Reflex

 

[T.M. MacReady]

Every time we have this thread, I remind you all that Far Cry 2 is the best game of this gen.

 

[Warm Machine]

Every time we have this thread, I remind you all that Far Cry 2 is the best game of this gen.

I can almost second that. Best perhaps not, but it is incredible.

 

[Jive Turkey]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8c/FFVIInomuracastdesigns.JPG
This deserve nothing but love <3

God damned FFVII fanboys are gonna make me rehost the laughing smiley.

yeah how is Zack & Wiki a platformer!?

I liked Zack & Wiki a lot though. I mean, let me revise that, it had some frequent motion control problems, as Wii games tend to have, but it was a step in the right direction in terms of games designed for the ground up with the wii remote in mind. It's the right type of game, not shallow at all.

And when I played it, I kept thinking "my god, this is how Zelda puzzles need to be for the first ground up Wii Zelda title. I really see the potential in this."

Zack & Wiki is primarily why I'm so excited for Skyward Sword. Surely, with wiimote + Motion+ the amount of puzzle opportunities has to be massively increased and enhanced, and I can't wait to get my mind around some of it. I hope Nintendo doesn't pull any punches.

My biggest issue with Zack & Wiki (other than how the hell is it underrated here on GAF?) is that it was so close to being awesome but it missed the mark on nearly every aspect:

-- Make a bunch of puzzles that require trial and error and then strike the player's score when they use trial and error.
-- Constantly bombard the player with unskippable instructions every time Zack picks up a tool despite using the same tool in every single level since the beginning of the game.
-- The janky control issues you mentioned.
--Make motion-based puzzles that dock a player's score when they don't get it right the first time...Especially when the player is fighting the aforementioned janky controls.
-- Bonelich.

I'm sure there are other things I disliked about Zack & Wiki but I've since purged them from my memory. I do agree with you though in the fact that the game was a step in the right direction for motion controlled games and how they should be designed. Too bad the game sold as poorly as it did because I would have loved to have seen what might have been created.

 

[Rahxephon91]

Every time we have this thread, I remind you all that Far Cry 2 is the best game of this gen.

Far Cry 3 will be the best game this gen as it will hopefully sort out all the jank of it's prototype.

 

[Y2Kev]

I must be missing something with Goldeneye.

Played it for about an hour or so before I put it down, I couldn't really get a grasp of the controls. Felt like the cursor was way too jumpy, otherwise I probably would've kept on going,

Edit: Also, some of the games in the OP are not underrated, not on this board anyway.

Mirror's Edge is worshipped on this board.

 

[Silphonica]

I'd actually say the PS games that are on handhelds in general lack love. Sure PS0 and PSP1 both have their short comings, but you'd think at least PSP2 would get some nice love especially since it was fully online.

I never understood why Phantasy star fans never got into Monster Hunter. They're basically the same game set in different time periods. Although Monster Hunter has a better battle system. Monster Hunter fans always supported Phantasy star though, which meant more western releases. It didn't seem to be the same back, which is why frontier isn't in the west.

 

[CozMick]

Massive Action Game.

Most peoples experience with this game was either during the beta or the opening days of it's release.

Oh how times have changed, it's basically an entirely different game and in my opinion the most polished, expansive and downright exciting first person shooter this generation.

It gets muttered alot but nothing can prepare you for the experience of 128 players coming at you when defending an objective, the team work involved puts it into the same category as TF2, it's that good!

Release month rating - 7.9 out of 10

Present day rating - 9.6 out of 10

More people need to play this and it can be yours for no more than £9.99

 

[Eric Hall]

PSP Games that should get more love even though they are all parts of a bigger series.

The best shooter on any portable system. I like it on the same level as the main games in the series. (9.99 at Ebgames, 15.99 digital download)

Since I cannot recommend Amplitude, I will just have to recommend it's spiritual successor. (9.99)

Also worth checking out:

Singularity
Any Tomb Raider game released this generation
WET
Lego Batman
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts

 

[Grayman]

Since I'm new to GAF, how is Alpha Protocol received? I thought it was a bit corny but somehow I loved it. I would recommend it to anyone without a moments notice

A small group realizes that it is the best thing ever. Overall though it did not make top 5 RPGs in Game of the year Voting here though( http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=418389 ).

 

[Grayman]

It won GOTY.

Yes, it also receives a lot of hate, but the only way it could get more love is if the people who don't like it were forced to simply not share their opinions. GOTY is pretty much the pinnacle of GAF love.

fake edit: beaten by Amir0x, not really sure why I bothered typing this out.

I think God Hand is the pinnacle of GAF love. Any reference to God Hand is followed by buy it now.

 

[jufonuk]

Deadly creatures, wii

TvC here in the uk, should hardly any thing

 

[Kabouter]

Full Auto
I think the main problem with this game was being one of the first new gen games, when everybody's expectations were insanely high. I loved it at the time, and played it again recently and loved it even more. It's a nice looking and nice playing game, insanely fun and impressive especially when everything explodes around you.
It's even a bit sad to see more recent games like Split Second or Motorstorm being praised for doing what Full auto already did a few years ago.

I'm sorry, but this game is terrible. I got it for free when it came out and hated it then, a few months ago I popped it back in to see if it was really that bad. And man, the framerate alone makes me wonder how anyone could like, let alone love, this game.

 

[semiconscious]

I'm pretty sure I post this in every "Post the most underrated game" thread, but whatever.

Story is almost totally character-focused, but unlike certain other early-2010 games that isn't a bad thing here. Every character gets their own time in the spotlight and each one is pretty likable. Unlike most dialogue systems your responses are timed here, which adds some tension to the choices you make (and interestingly makes silence sometimes the best response). The combat system is decent in its own right (basically a proto-Valkyria Chronicles) and is a welcome change of pace from all the talking, but it's obviously not the main attraction.

It's a fun game. You should play it.

finally got around to playing this a couple months ago. & it was a blast (with some very cool boss battles)...

 

[SmokedMeat]

Patchwork Heroes which could always use more lovin'.

 

[george_us]

Making a serious run as my favorite open-world game of this generation, just a hair behind Red Dead Redemption. Great graphics, zany story, fun grappling hook and parachute mechanics, and gorgeous locales. I sunk 10 hours into the game yesterday alone and I just bought it Friday.

Greatest co-op game ever made and my runner-up for Game of the Generation behind Mass Effect 2. Put over 100 hours into it and I still play semi-regularly.

 

[Danne-Danger]

Patchwork Heroes which could always use more lovin'.

How was that? I only remember seeing the trailer (which looked good) way back when, I still have no idea what kind of game it is.

 

[fadetoblack]

Massive Action Game.

Most peoples experience with this game was either during the beta or the opening days of it's release.

Oh how times have changed, it's basically an entirely different game and in my opinion the most polished, expansive and downright exciting first person shooter this generation.

It gets muttered alot but nothing can prepare you for the experience of 128 players coming at you when defending an objective, the team work involved puts it into the same category as TF2, it's that good!

Release month rating - 7.9 out of 10

Present day rating - 9.6 out of 10

More people need to play this and it can be yours for no more than £9.99

My problem with MAG is that in order to elevate the game you have to ignore the fact that the game is an absolutely wretched experience--and paradoxically unless you team up with GAF players, you need to play the game for a while to become useful in a game that is not very beginner friendly (XP boost all you like, the game doesn't become fun for several hours and even then...). So, in my experience, I was caught in an impossibly vicious cycle that more or less throttled my experience. I figure I'll be trading the game soon. 9.6 is a huge exaggeration.

But at least I bought it for £2.99 from gamestation...

 

[Mileena]

 

[Dead]

Has anyone played the Avatar game? I played it at an event in 3D, and it seemed a decent Lost Planet sort of game with some lite MMOish design elements. No idea if it was actually any good or not.

Its decent, but mainly its just overly repetitive, both in gameplay and mission structure, and some of the animal controls are iffy. Its surprisingly long too. Probably 18-20 hours to finish both campaigns, plus the "take control of pandora" meta-game was a nice diversion. If you like the movie, Id say you could do a lot worse, expecially since its like $15-20 now, but it aint great by any means.

 

[smik]

Sadly Underated

Army of Two: The 40th Day

Played through this game again today and what an underrated gem.

played through the entire campaign and had an absolute blast, it was action packed and
over the top and the morality choices were really fun playing through again. (i killed a fucking Tiger for a Gun, felt so guilty)

Weapon customization in Ao2 is nuts, i was placing all different types of gun parts onto my G36c into one super modified weapon.

Some of the Ao2 set pieces were really entertaining and generated some really great gameplay moments,
(loved the building crumbling roof top scene) just wow, broken down city street fights was another highlight
i loved how i had to manipulated the Big Gunner Boss to target his weapon packs just perfect playing in co-op.

shame it hasn't gotten any attention as its got a great Co-op campaign experience and it out does alot of other AAA titles, actually enjoyed
the Campaign more than Gears 2 more people should go out and give this one a go.

(old post)

 

[Grisby]

Silent Hill Homecoming

A very good Silent Hill game as well as a very fine horror game. Double Helix made the controls feel better than any previous iteration and the combat is actually worth a damn here. The story is entertaining and the music is some of series Akira Yamaoka's best. While the graphics and texture may not have a lot of detail the level design and settings are still very interesting and tense.

The game plays it safe when it comes to new ideas which is both good and bad. You can feel the Silent Hill vibe but DH didn't really add anything of their own. I found this to be a better SH than 4 and the psp incarnation, Origins.

Viking: Battle for Asgard

A fun action adventure game that definitely feels larger than the sum of its parts. The game can get repetitive in its mission structure but its is not that long to begin with. Combat is simple but offers some nice visceral feedback. Building up your army before unleashing them in a huge battle is very satisfying and you definitely get a sense of a large engagement.

All of this comes with some pretty nice locales and graphics. However, the large battles do take a toll on the frame rate but its not too horrible. Also, there are some weird stealth sections but again there are not that many of them. The story is nothing to write home about either. A very fun game for the cheap price you could probably get it for now.

 

[To Far Away Times]

Afterburner Climax is a fantastic and underrated game.

 

[Booshka]

Definitely. It's still hands down the best multiplayer FPS on consoles since Halo CE.

Agreed, Shadowrun, in my opinion, eclipses Halo CE for multiplayer, but Halo CE has the overall package with the campaign along with MP.

John Howard was the Lead Designer on both games, he knows what he is doing. If there is a CEmake and he isn't the Lead on it, that is a huge problem. Halo CE and Shadowrun stand above all other console shooters with an unmatched feel and smoothness of play, along with excellent balance and a nearly infinite skill ceiling. Which is high praise for a console shooter.

I still play Shadowrun daily and XBC Halo CE occasionally (always want to LAN it though).

I will also give a nod to Lara Croft:GoL, that was my GOTY for 2010 and I had a blast with it. It is the most comprehensive and polished Arcade game I have played and well worth the price. They really botched the online co-op though, which could have made that game less unappreciated had it released better.