Underrated Video Games

[SolidSnakeUS]

Battle Hunter is generally panned but holy hell I loved it.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

I spent a significant amount of time playing Desert Strike for Sega Genesis (I think). I've also played the other titles and they were a lot of fun, despite the fact that I wasn't very good at them (at least the earlier ones).

Yes, it's a pretty good series man.



Also, to add to this thread:

Disruptor PS1 (1996) -

Such a fun FPS for PS1, it was my first exposure to FPS games. The interesting thing about Disruptor is that it was developed originally for the 3DO console (which was an incredibly interesting console, in my opinion). Insomniac developed the game (it was Insomniac's first game ever!!) and showed it to nearly every major publisher during production until Universal Interactive saw the prototype of the game running on a 3DO and decided to publish the game.

It was a success in terms of ratings, but sold VERY poorly, and actually almost led to Insomniac it seems to have been forgotten about as one of the earliest FPS games on the PS1. The game mechanics including the use of "Psionic" abilities (super power-esque abilities). The game featured mostly limited ammunition which required players to utilize their ammo and Psionics wisely.

Also, watching the cutscenes these days is pretty funny. It has the classic mid-90s video game acting, the generic military aspects, and cheap special effects/set (for live action cut-scenes).

All in all, it has aged very well and, for my money, is one of the best Doom clones from that time period.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

Bioshock 2. People always say it's the worst of the 3 but it was my favourite.

Conflict: Desert Storm on PS2 was awesome too. Me and my brother played the crap out of it. I remember you each controlled 2 characters who wash had their own unique weapons and equipment.

 

[RandV]

I actually prefer Advanced Wars over Fire Emblem, almost entirely because I find the aesthetic, art style, and general Anime feel of Fire Emblem kind of gross. Call me superficial, but that kind of thing seems to make a big difference to me.

While they both fall under the 'strategy game' genre I'd still say they're fundamentally quite different, beyond just the aesthetics.

Speaking of underrated video games though it reminds me of a series on the Genesis called Warsong that actually is a mix of both and from a strategy perspective when I played it on emulator felt like the best of the bunch. It's a JRPG with 'hero' characters like Fire Emblem, permadeath included if I recall correctly, but uses the 10/10 health system like Advance Wars with combat playing out the same way. Then the unique twist is before every level for each hero unit you hire 0-8 generic soldier units of different classes (spearman, archers, horsemen, etc) that are similar to Advance Wars units and can move independently but will heal a few points if they end their turn next to their hero unit.

So adding some screenshots below it's a damn good mash up of Fire Emblem and Advance Wars (before AW even existed):

Looks like Fire Emblem but with a whole lot more going on and mechanics closer to Advance Wars. A game I really wish I knew about back in the 90's.

Also while I'm on this topic for anyone into these Fire Emblem/Advance Wars type games there's a really good free open source PC game called Battle for Wesnoth

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Speaking of turn-based strategies, here's a really obscure one...

Cyber Wars (PC)
It was developed by Jagex, the developer behind RuneScape. They made a virtual castle for Games Domain that you could explore to play a variety of different games. Cyber Wars was one of these games. It was a turn based strategy game, based on Julian Gollop's Chaos: The Battle of Wizards. The game is too complicated to explain in a lot of detail here, but ultimately every player had a commander and you needed to kill the other commanders to win. The game kind of played like a board game like Dungeons and Dragons, with combat being based on probability. The game looks terrible but the gameplay was deep and it required a lot of strategy.

 

[PK Cronin]

I don't know how it was received at the time because I was too young to care or remember, but Lords of the Realm II was a lot of fun on PC. The higher difficulties were always incredibly challenging, at least at the time, and I liked that it had both the military strategy RTS-ish aspect along with the economic side.




Just in case anyone didn't know, gog.com is a great spot to grab old PC games that are compatible with newer operating systems. I was one of those who suffered for a long time by having the actual disc for some of the older games, but I still couldn't get them to run. I ended up just re-buying them. Mummy: Tomb of the Pharaoh was a terrible point and click game back in the day that I'd be interested in finding again if anyone has any idea where to get it.

 

[Memento]

When I think of underrated games, I can't help but think of Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath. I thought that the outlaws were memorable, it was a sort-of-western game that had all of the Oddworld charm, and an excellent midgame twist.

Another game was The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. It was a turn-based game that had a charm of its own. Before the Shadow of Mordor/War games, it ranked as my favorite LotR game.

 

[RandV]

I don't know how it was received at the time because I was too young to care or remember, but Lords of the Realm II was a lot of fun on PC. The higher difficulties were always incredibly challenging, at least at the time, and I liked that it had both the military strategy RTS-ish aspect along with the economic side.




Just in case anyone didn't know, gog.com is a great spot to grab old PC games that are compatible with newer operating systems. I was one of those who suffered for a long time by having the actual disc for some of the older games, but I still couldn't get them to run. I ended up just re-buying them. Mummy: Tomb of the Pharaoh was a terrible point and click game back in the day that I'd be interested in finding again if anyone has any idea where to get it.

I don't think the Mummy game is on there, but the place to go if GoG doesn't have it is abandonia.com, a repository for 'abandon-ware' games. There's no convenience of GoG though, it will provide some guides but you'll have to fuss around with DOSbox and the like yourself.

 

[offkilter]

One game I'd definitely say is under rated is Alpha Protocol. Think Mass Effect set in a modern day 24/Bond/Mission Impossible spy setting made by the guys who did Fallout New Vegas. The only real drawbacks are the customization with no female character choices and the timed dialogue choices that were designed to make you think fast.

There's also Jade Empire. Bioware's love letter to kung fu movies that I was only one of apparently a couple hundred that bought the game when it was new. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the game, but I guess its setting didn't appeal to the masses the way a Kotor/Mass Effect scifi or medival swords & sorcery setting would.

 

[Commander Clueless]

One game I'd definitely say is under rated is Alpha Protocol. Think Mass Effect set in a modern day 24/Bond/Mission Impossible spy setting made by the guys who did Fallout New Vegas. The only real drawbacks are the customization with no female character choices and the timed dialogue choices that were designed to make you think fast.

There's also Jade Empire. Bioware's love letter to kung fu movies that I was only one of apparently a couple hundred that bought the game when it was new. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the game, but I guess its setting didn't appeal to the masses the way a Kotor/Mass Effect scifi or medival swords & sorcery setting would.

Great picks.

I played both for the first time in the last couple years. Great games, although they come with more than their fair share of jank.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Bioshock 2. People always say it's the worst of the 3 but it was my favourite.

Conflict: Desert Storm on PS2 was awesome too. Me and my brother played the crap out of it. I remember you each controlled 2 characters who wash had their own unique weapons and equipment.

My best friend and I used to play this game ALLLL the time, man. We loved it. Old co-op PS2 games are underrated in general, man.

 

[NyQuil]

Released as Final Fantasy Gaiden in Japan and Mystic Quest in Europe, this was a terrific Legend of Zelda clone with some surprisingly poignant moments, and a great blend of action and exploration.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Another fantastic and often forgotten game is Silent Storm for the PC. Holy hell this game is great. It's hard but the destruction is so damn fun.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix (2002, PC)
An all-around solid FPS with a crazy amount of gore. Developed by Raven Software, this game had some pretty great multiplayer with a lot of fun different modes.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix (2002, PC)
An all-around solid FPS with a crazy amount of gore. Developed by Raven Software, this game had some pretty great multiplayer with a lot of fun different modes.

I bought both of these games physically a couple years ago and W10 didn't like the first game. I saw that both games are on GOG now and I'm waiting patiently for a sale. I want to play these so badly again.

 

[The Macho King]

Another fantastic and often forgotten game is Silent Storm for the PC. Holy hell this game is great. It's hard but the destruction is so damn fun.

Oh good answer. The first half of this game is amazing (kind of falls apart after that).

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Oh good answer. The first half of this game is amazing (kind of falls apart after that).

I still own my physical copy of this game. Same with Gothic 3.

 

[The Macho King]

I still own my physical copy of this game. Same with Gothic 3.

Ugh... Gothic 3 sucked. Don't try to be Morrowind.

It's just so disappointing after how awesome Gothic 1 and 2 (especially the NotR expansion) were.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

I did not get to play them. I know one of the earliest copies of a game we have at home (complete) is Star Trek 25th Anniversary Edition on 3.5" floppies.

 

[PK Cronin]

Anyone remember Chex Quest? A promotional game used in Chex cereal boxes.



Or how about Battle Bugs?





Probably not underrated, but two games I remember fondly. The Chex Quest isn't something you'd ever see today. So awesome they did that.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

I played the shit out of Chex Quest.

 

[MayDay]

Metroid: Other M

Yes, the writing was trash and the voice acting wasn’t great, but ignore that for a minute.

The actual gameplay was pretty good. I enjoyed playing it. Probably the most I enjoyed playing a game that had gotten trashed by critics.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Downhill Domination (2003, PS2)
I loved this game. It was a great, adrenaline rush blast. It's downhill mountain biking where you can pick up power ups, including weapons, and you race to the bottom. A bit reminiscent of Road Rash in that you could punch your opponents off their bikes. The levels were pretty crazy, almost like Mario Kart, but the game provided you with a lot of freedom in how many lateral routes you could choose going down the races. Doing tricks gave you a bonus to your stamina. Playing two-player splitscreen was a lot of fun as well. I believe there was some customization for your bikes and upgrades for different things.

Reminds me of extreme games on PS, which was a lot of fun

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Super Battleship (1993, SNES)
Anyone ever play this game? I got it when I was kid and it was on sale for like $10 and it was surprisingly fun and very difficult. It's pretty much a turn-based strategy game, with some real-time combat mixed in as well.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Released as Final Fantasy Gaiden in Japan and Mystic Quest in Europe, this was a terrific Legend of Zelda clone with some surprisingly poignant moments, and a great blend of action and exploration.

Not to be confused with final Fantasy legend, one of the worst games I've ever played.