Your top underrated games

[JDR13]

And I'm currently playing Doom 3 BFG edition. Amazing game, I'm starting to think its also an underrated masterpiece - the more I play it, the more impressed I get.

Yeah, I enjoyed Doom 3 quite a bit. Replayed it not long ago with an HD mod and it was still fun. It gets a lot of flak, but I don't think it's nearly as bad as some people would have you believe. I'm a sucker for anything that mixes sci-fi with horror elements though.

I think the original Prey, which happens to use the same engine as Doom 3, is another underrated game.

While we're talking about shooters, I also think Duke Nukem Forever is underrated, although I'm quite sure some will think I'm crazy for saying that . It's vastly inferior to Duke 3D of course, but I think it's a decent game when judged on its own. Some of the levels were actually quite fun.

 

[Jaz]

Is this underrated, though?
I seem to recall it getting good reviews back in the day.
Anyway, I certainly loved it to bits.

It got decent reviews back then, but nobody but us two bought it (I played a demo that was on a magazine CD and bougth the game the next day).
Then, a few years later, it suddenly had a cult following.

Another game I'd say was way underrated was CyberMage.

 

[Korplem]

I enjoyed playing Kane and Lynch. It was buggy as hell but it was a lot of fun playing coop. Never tried the sequel for some reason.

 

[NewDArt]

It got decent reviews back then, but nobody but us two bought it (I played a demo that was on a magazine CD and bougth the game the next day).
Then, a few years later, it suddenly had a cult following.

Another game I'd say was way underrated was CyberMage.

I wasn't a big fan of Cybermage, because it was an Origin release (IIRC) - and Origin was my favorite company back in the day. So, I expected too much from that game, probably.

I believe it came out right around the same time as Shadowcaster - which I ADORED. Black Crypt and Shadowcaster (both by RavenSoft) are two of my all time favorite games - and so I expected something similar from Cybermage. But it was much more of a straightforward action game, so I felt let down.

Still, an interesting mention!

 

[Stingray]

I think Silent Storm (and its expansion) are highly underrated. People always bring up JA2, and with good reason, but SS rarely gets mentions. Freedom Force games never got the attention they deserved either (good reviews, just not much publicity?)

A few games come to mind that I think I liked a lot more than the rest of the RPG world seemed to: NWN2 original campaign, M&M 9, Beyond Divinity…

 

[NewDArt]

I think Silent Storm (and its expansion) are highly underrated. People always bring up JA2, and with good reason, but SS rarely gets mentions. Freedom Force games never got the attention they deserved either (good reviews, just not much publicity?)

A few games come to mind that I think I liked a lot more than the rest of the RPG world seemed to: NWN2 original campaign, M&M 9, Beyond Divinity…

Silent Storm had superb tactical combat, but it was missing the amazing strategic/RPG layer of Jagged Alliance 2, to my mind.

But it was a bit underrated.

MM9 underrated? I will not comment

Completely agree with NWN2 campaign, though.

 

[Stingray]

MM9 underrated? I will not comment

It's not a masterpiece by any means, but it has a 55 on Metacritic. I don't think it deserves anywhere near that low.

 

[NewDArt]

It's not a masterpiece by any means, but it has a 55 on Metacritic. I don't think it deserves anywhere near that low.

Honestly, I never gave it much of a chance. However, my initial impression was that the game deserves even lower than that

But I could easily be wrong.

 

[Dez]

-Spec ops on the line. the game is so unusual: A military shooter which happens to have an intresting story with multiple endings. I bought it because someone recommanded it here @ watch. I'm not the biggest fan of military shooters and I was really surprised how much I was enjoying this game. The Apocalypse now of the military shooter genre.

-Lotr: war in the north is indeed a great action-rpg. The writing is not half bad actually and the gameplay is so well designed. I've finished the main campaign 4 times. Once with each character and twice with the elf since she is so awesome. And yeah there is the new game plus option, so you're free to become stupidly overpowered, but then again enemies gain levels too in each new playthrough.

-Call of juarez series. I don't get how these wild west shooters aren't more popular. First two wild west games in this series are more serious and traditional story driven fps games. The gunslinger however is quite different compared to earlier games as it totally abandons realism, but it is what makes it so brilliant and addictive.

-Might and magic: Dark Messiah. I'm not sure if this game is really underrated, but in my opinion it never gained the recognition which it deserves. To this date, I've not seen many games that have executed first person melee combat as well as Dark messiah.

-The Bard's Tale (2004) is not a popular game here and I can totally understand how this game would offend orginal bard's tale fans. I myself have never played the orginals, so I didn't mind playing this casual action rpg. It had some of the funniest dialogs i've ever heard in a videogame. The game really pokes fun of all the traditional fantasy and rpg tropes/cliches. And the narrator in that game deserves an emmy or something as he keeps mocking the main character constantly.

-Ever heard of the game called Requiem Avenging Angel? I'm not surprised if you haven't. This game was released in 1999 and didn't make much noise back then. I found the religious story really fascinating. Devs usually shy away from such themes as they are afraid of offending gamers.

In this game, you play Malachi, one of god's angels who has been sent from heaven to set things right in earth. Mankind is building a leviathan, a massive spaceship which is said to be able to reach the heaven itself. Naturally God can't allow this, so he has sent you to find out what the hell is going on down there (pun intended . It was a really fun fps game. Aside guns, you also had all these cool angelic powers such as possession, blood boil, locust swarms, and the ability to turn your enemies to pillars of salt which you unlocked during the main campaign.

 

[NewDArt]

-Spec ops on the line. the game is so unusual: A military shooter which happens to have an intresting story with multiple endings. I bought it because someone recommanded it here @ watch. I'm not the biggest fan of military shooters and I was really surprised how much I was enjoying this game. The Apocalypse now of the military shooter genre.

-Lotr: war in the north is indeed a great action-rpg. The writing is not half bad actually and the gameplay is so well designed. I've finished the main campaign 4 times. Once with each character and twice with the elf since she is so awesome. And yeah there is the new game plus option, so you're free to become stupidly overpowered, but then again enemies gain levels too in each new playthrough.

-Call of juarez series. I don't get how these wild west shooters aren't more popular. First two wild west games in this series are more serious and traditional story driven fps games. The gunslinger however is quite different compared to earlier games as it totally abandons realism, but it is what makes it so brilliant and addictive.

-Might and magic: Dark Messiah. I'm not sure if this game is really underrated, but in my opinion it never gained the recognition which it deserves. To this date, I've not seen many games that have executed first person melee combat as well as Dark messiah.

-The Bard's Tale (2004) is not a popular game here and I can totally understand how this game would offend orginal bard's tale fans. I myself have never played the orginals, so I didn't mind playing this casual action rpg. It had some of the funniest dialogs i've ever heard in a videogame. The game really pokes fun of all the traditional fantasy and rpg tropes/cliches. And the narrator in that game deserves an emmy or something as he keeps mocking the main character constantly.

-Ever heard of the game called Requiem Avenging Angel? I'm not surprised if you haven't. This game was released in 1999 and didn't make much noise back then. I found the religious story really fascinating. Devs usually shy away from such themes as they are afraid of offending gamers.

In this game, you play Malachi, one of god's angels who has been sent from heaven to set things right in earth. Mankind is building a leviathan, a massive spaceship which is said to be able to reach the heaven itself. Naturally God can't allow this, so he has sent you to find out what the hell is going on down there (pun intended . It was a really fun fps game. Aside guns, you also had all these cool angelic powers such as possession, blood boil, locust swarms, and the ability to turn your enemies to pillars of salt which you unlocked during the main campaign.

Never played Spec Ops - guess I need to try it

Yes, I do remember Requiem. As I recall, I found it middling - but somewhat interesting. My cousin loved it, though - for some reason

DMoMM was somewhat underrated, but I think it's one of those underdogs that have become quite the cult classic over the years. I liked it a lot, too - but it clearly had serious flaws.

Hated the new Bard's Tale, though.

 

[luj1]

Oblivion is often underrated, also.

 

[luj1]

I think Silent Storm (and its expansion) are highly underrated. People always bring up JA2, and with good reason, but SS rarely gets mentions. Freedom Force games never got the attention they deserved either (good reviews, just not much publicity?)

Silent Storm, Freedom Force... Agreed.

Can we add Temple of Elemental Evil to that list? Superb combat.

 

[Stingray]

Silent Storm, Freedom Force… Agreed.

Can we add Temple of Elemental Evil to that list? Superb combat.

Sure, but I don't know that it's underrated, people on sites like this generally recognize its greatness and its name comes up plenty. I guess the mainstream PC gaming world never talked too much about it though, so perhaps it belongs for that reason.

Edit: also, apparently it only has a 71 on Metacritic, which is practically criminal.

Can't agree on Oblivion though, I think it was god-awful. I'm surprised you like it, just going off what I know on your tastes from reading your other posts over time.

 

[NewDArt]

Sure, but I don't know that it's underrated, people on sites like this generally recognize its greatness and its name comes up plenty. I guess the mainstream PC gaming world never talked too much about it though, so perhaps it belongs for that reason.

When I say underrated, I'm primarily talking about "overall" - as in: in terms of Metascore or a similar aggregate. For old games, that can be hard to substantiate - because we have to rely on our memories of how games were received

IIRC, ToEE wasn't received very warmly in the above way.

But, it's true that core RPG fans seem to mostly give it a pass due to its excellent implementation of 3rd Edition D&D rules.

That said, it really isn't very good in other ways.

So, I think it deserves the criticism - but it has a warm fuzzy place in my heart all the same.

 

[Stingray]

I edited my post while you were replying probably, but I noticed it only has a 71 on Metacritic, which I think is ludicrous. Didn't remember it being reviewed so poorly. So, yeah, ToEE is underrated.

 

[pibbur who]

…

MM9 underrated? I will not comment
…

I can't say MM9 is underrated. It's the most buggy game I've ever played, and deserved all the pepper it got. However, I played it to the end, and actually enjoyed it.

pibbur who probably is quite good at overlooking things, even things that not necessarily should be overlooked.

 

[NewDArt]

I can't say MM9 is underrated. It's the most buggy game I've ever played, and deserved all the pepper it got. However, I played it to the end, and actually enjoyed it.

pibbur who probably is quite good at overlooking things, even things that not necessarily should be overlooked.

Not a lot of games can make me play them all the way through, so I will consider that a true recommendation - even considering your tolerant nature

 

[luj1]

I'm surprised you like it, just going off what I know on your tastes from reading your other posts over time.

It was fairly good, much better than Skyrim. But yeah, its when all the console tendencies started, Morrowind was the last game of theirs made for the PC first.

 

[NewDArt]

It was fairly good, much better than Skyrim. But yeah, its when all the console tendencies started, Morrowind was the last game of theirs made for the PC first.

I assumed your Oblivion comment was a Codexian joke.

Guess the joke's on me

 

[forgottenlor]

I can't say MM9 is underrated. It's the most buggy game I've ever played, and deserved all the pepper it got. However, I played it to the end, and actually enjoyed it.

pibbur who probably is quite good at overlooking things, even things that not necessarily should be overlooked.

I also played it through to the end. I played the patched version, though. Many of the initial bugs were fixed. Its still a Might and Magic game, and has a lot of the virtues of the series. I enjoyed it, but went in knowing its reputation. Its still inferior to part 8, has really poor writing, and those initial 3d graphics that looks very outdated today. I first played in 2010 or 2011, and was really happy then to get my hands on a old school rpg I hadn't played. I'm not sure I'd enjoy it so much now.