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Industry Folks Talk Underrated Games
A topic we've touched on several times in the past here is discussed in the answers to another of Gamasutra's Questions of the week. Underrated games are the order of the day. From the article: "Natural Selection by Unknown Worlds is an outstanding work combining FPS action and RTS strategy elements. NS has gained a great following, but it has been overshadowed by success of Counter-Strike. The game play of NS naturally draws players to work together. I have always found the teamwork in NS better than most other FPS network games. The variety of classes in Aliens and Marines provides a lot of depth of play to experience. The RTS elements in the game were beautifully put together." I've always been partial to Shiny's Sacrifice , a weird little First Person RTS title where you play a mage that summons all of your units. Any titles that you think didn't get the attention they deserved?
...Marathon 2: Durandal, and Marathon Infinity. You know, back from before Bungie became Microsoft.
If you want to find underground or indie games, I'd recommend sites like
http://www.gametunnel.com/
http://www.madmonkey.net/
http://www.indiegamer.com/
Black Sky
2D Elite Inspired Game
Barney's Hide and Seek was kickass, but underrated. I used to spend hours playing the damn thing when the game was released!
Ico for the PS2. This was a great game and had a very moving ending.
Another game that may have gotten press back when it was going strong but kinda fell off the face of the Earth was Descent. I remember playing Descent 2 online a lot. It's a shame that it kinda died.
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
Clive Barker's Undying - great reviews everywhere, terrible sales.
Circumcision is child abuse.
I admit that the lack of frequent save points kinda sucks, but it's a great RPG + RTS + Action. Good story lines, too.
Some games that never quite received the love they deserved:
The Guardian Legend (NES)- the first game to combine an overhead shooter (shmup) with a 3/4 RPG. Interesting puzzles, excellent controlls, and one of the deepest adventure games of it's time.
Rygar (NES) - combining 3/4 adventure with a sidescrolling action, this was one of the few NES translations that was *better* than the arcade version (don't remind me of Double Dragon *sob*). The PS2 Followup was an excellent sequel, God of War before GoW existed, but suffered from a horrible storyline and the worst voice acting ever.
Crystalis (NES) - a 3/4 overhead Action/RPG that was the first true Zelda-Killer, it was one of the greatest achievements of the 8-bit era to go unnoticed.
River City Ransom (NES) - the original Brawler for the NES, the depth of which was quite impressive considering the weak storyline.
Phantasy Star 2 (Genesis) - The greatest RPG of it's time, Final Fantasy be damned. A rich storyline in a futuristic setting, several worlds to explore, and a cataclysmic epic with a truly satisfying conclusion.
Actraiser (SNES) - The unique hybrid of Sidescrolling action and RPG/RTS was constantly changing to keep from getting stale. One moment you're marching through a forest on your way to slay a boss, the next you're building roads and accepting gifts from worshippers, then you're back in a forgotten pyramid. Also one of the most underrated soundtracks, with one theme in particular that sounds very similar to Brian Adams' "Hazard"
and finally
Tetrisphere (N64) - One of the greatest puzzlers ever created, this underappreciated gem was the first to bring Tetris to 3D in a form that I actually enjoyed. An awesome techo soundtrack; smooth, slick two player action, and simple rules that reveal a complex and engaging system made this one of the best Tetris games of all time.
Yeah, Natural Selection is one of my top 10 games. And it's free. That's just crazy. Very few games have the same mix of teamwork and action.
Against stupidity the Gods themselves contend in vain.
...has absolutely abysmal graphics but really brilliant puzzles and engaging gameplay. It deserved better than its bargain bin fate!
Also, http://www.the-underdogs.org/ is a GREAT place to find reviews of modern games that slipped under the radar despite their brilliant gameplay and creative presentation, like critic-fave Beyond Good & Evil.
Two online games that stick out for me are Legacy Online and A Tale In the Desert.
Legacy Online is no longer in existence, but basically imagine the flipside to SimCity. You are a company that builds the housing in the residential zoned areas, builds the stores in the commercial areas, and builds the factories to supply your stores in industrial areas. It was very interesting, and if I were teaching an economics class, playing this game would have been required material. It made you understand a lot of market concepts, such as your company actually wanting the minimum wage to be higher because it gave your customers more cash to spend at your stores. You couldn't just raise wages on your own, because the effect of just one company was next to nothing, so it just raised your costs. Very interesting stuff.
ATITD is a non-combat MMORPG. If you play games to "pwnxxorz n00bz," it may or may not be for you. But if you prefer PvE, it has a free trial and it's worth a try. You only need to play it for a few hours to realize that the crafting systems you herald from WoW or other MMORPGs are pure crap with no thought put into them.
Stars!: must have! Incredible turn based space strategy and will run on your windows 3.11 box too :P
Age of Wonders 1: Must have! turn based fantasy strategy game. multiplayer randomly de-sync's, but it autosaves. bargain games at target for 10 bucks.... also comes with 2...
I heard so much about Beyong Good & Evil but haven't got around to play it yet. All the critics seem to a agree is it (amazingly?) good but it's in the bargain bin even though it's still pretty young.
For many years, I've been a fan of roleplaying Multi-User Dungeons, AKA "MUDs". There are a lot of bad ones, but the best ones combine deep gameplay mechanics, vast, ever-changing worlds, great fantasy settings and an opportunity to roleplay interesting characters of your own design.
WARNING: If accidentally read, induce vomiting.
the problem there are may underrated game.
I just need a online database so I can find people with similar likes/dislikes, chances are if they share my optinion of X, Y and Z, maybe I will look at their fav.
Shiny (Sacrifice), Planet Moon (Giants), Lionhead/Bullfrog(Magic Carpet/B&W) do some good stuff, but like any developer they can often lay an egg.
Not being underrated is a matter of timing, just like a movie release.
Moonbase Commander was a fun little turn-based strategy game that nobody ever played. It was highly addictive, and had a lot of replay value against humans. The balance of units was perfect.
Unfortunately, it was limited to 4 players via IPX. Gamespy allowed you to play it over the net, though. If you have it loaded and open Gamespy, there will always be that ONE other person who has it installed and will beg you to play it with them.
VGA Planets. Quite the obscure title, but if you've got several friends up for an extended play by email campaign combining Diplomacy with Star Fleet Battles, you can have an amazingly good time.
- jon
Ganymede, a GPL'ed metadirectory for UNIX
I'll agree that the NES version of Rygar as one of the greatest games ever, but I don't remember it being underrated. In fact, I believe it was widely acclaimed.
Instead of listing games that didn't get their due, it seems like you just listed a bunch of good games that nobody has thought about in a while (save Guardian Legend and Tetrishpere, perhaps).
It had some beautiful environments, fun gameplay elements, and the humor was well done. It was a little "kidish" in a few respects, but I'd recommend it.
I have Plok, and it was fun (if semi-strange). It was also pretty damn hard. I could never get past Rockafeller, even on Easy. Or maybe it was the Spider Queen. I can't really remember which came first, but it was hard. I think Septerra Core was a pretty underated game. It had an interesting story and a cool card magic system, but the battles took forever.
Starsiege: Tribes and its sequel Tribes 2 in my opinon, are two of the best online FPS titles ever.
Tribes 1 would have recieved several GoTY awards, but it was overshadowed by Half-Life. Tribes 2's release was plagued by lots of bugs and patches, and many of the T1 vets didn't like the "new stuff".
Both games were also very easily modded, (there was amazing freedom and ease, but secure so there was almost no hacking) and I actually started learning how to program by modding and tweaking a server I ran off my home connection. It was also made for 56k connections, so bandwidth usage was low. (I ran a server for three years without my ISP caring) I played Tribes 2 for a long time, but then high school came along - last time I checked, there were only about 60 servers left, and only a few actually had people playing.
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PS - This is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated.
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Why is it that when you believe something it's an opinion, but when I believe something it's a manifesto?
The ZX Spectrum hosts a tresure trove of games that are mostly unknown outside of Speccy strongholds. Ultimate (which later became RARE) released a whole slew of games during the eighties which were innovative, fun and often offered types of play which have never been recreated on modern platforms. Attic Attack, Knight Lore, Jetpack, all classics and worth looking up. Plus games like School Daze ( set in a school, Take Two's Bully sounds suspiciously like a remake of this), Fat Worm Blows a Sparky, Knight Tyme, Lords of Midnight, Target Renegade, How To Be a Complete Bastard, too many to name.
The Snes had tons of really great RPG's many of which have only become playable to no japanese speakers thanks to fan Translaton patches. Titles like Bhamut Lagoon, Seiken Densetsu 3 ( the real sequal to secret of manna), some weird ones like Wedding Peach (bloody nuts but oddly fun) and Sailor Mood, plus some stuff that had wester releases but never took off like the Adventures of Spike McFang and Terranigma.
Atari classic I,Robot has got to be worth mentioning, the first true 3d game, released in 1983 in the arcades, sank without trace, but was at least a decade ahead of it's time, Starfox seemed to borrow a lot from this game.
To me however, the most underrated game of all time has got to be Gunpey. Appearing on the Bandai Wonderswan, both game and console were developed by the legendary Gunpei Yakoi, the man responisble for the Game and Watch and The Gameboy. A stupidly simple puzzler, its really worth looking for. You can get both console and game for next to nothing on Ebay, why this never got a western release I'll never know but it's a lot of fun.
I refuse to believe Battlezone ever existed. I mean, the thing came out in the dark ages of 1998 and that thing had everything. RTSing and FPSing and ninjaing and hovertank racing and Cold War cliches. Nope, such a great concept obviously never existed.
Or maybe it did exist, it was just that it was too far ahead of its time and most people just forgot about it.
Oh, wait, it did exist, I have the game box and manual and CD and all other stuff right here. ::blows dust off the box:: Hmm, now if only I had Windows around to try this one out, maybe I could install it on QEMU... ::browses through the computer part drawers and can only find a Windows 95 OEM CD:: No wait, I cannot touch this artifact of evil, looks like the verification has to be done later!
Quarantine, like the review says, "the Great Grandaddy of Grand Theft Auto"
Home of the Underdogs, for all those under-rated games of yesteryear.
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
Rez- hypnotic shooter that's amazing. welcome to synaesthesia
Kids! Bringing about Armageddon can be dangerous. Do not attempt it in your home!
Kickass action/strategy game for the Genesis, hands down my favorite Genesis game.
Battlezone was really great: it was like an RTS/FPS with very good control. Star Trek: Bridge Commander was also a fine game: definitely one of the best Star Trek games.
Vincent J. Murphy
Spandex Justice
- had
to play it. The only problem I could find with the game was that there was never enough people on to have a good game. Oh well. ~jackFrom TFA:
"[My pick for most underrated is] The Wheel of Time, by Legend Entertainment Company/GT Interactive."
-Glen Dahlgren, Perpetual Entertainment
I remember eagerly anticipating this game, and it truly is one of the most underrated games out there. But reading it in the article made me remember who the head designer on that game was.
Glen Dahlgren.
I've been keeping it a dirty little secret.
This game is amazing but it doesn't have any of the elements that you'd expect from an FPS.
Basically you build and build and fly and fly and just kind of wander around occasionaly shooting marines or aliens.
In recent betas the Aliens have become nerfed, it's sad but true.
I advise people to download it and try it out against bots on one of the excellent Marine Trainer servers low pressure good people to learn with and it's a ton of fun.
I keep waiting for it to come out for source but so far I've been disapointed.
There is a second mode called co_ which is essentially an RPG like team deathmatch game... get experience level up choose new stats and guns etc. But I don't like it much.
Not Ready, Aim, Tomatoes, not Panic on Funkotron, and not the recent X-box update (which wasn't bad, mind you, but not up to the original).
The original is possibly the coolest game on the Genesis. 25-level, whacked-out, randomly-generated two-player gameplay with very meaningful co-op. (The developers considered it a two-player game with a one-player option.) More importantly, it took all the important lessons from Roguelike games. It fits the Roguelike description, in fact, much better than Diablo and Diablo II.
TJ&E III: Mission to Earth (the X-box update) messed up by making everything pre-identified from the start, by discarding the "stacked" level structure (meaning falling off was considerably less meaningful and never useful as it was sometime in the original game), by putting in mini-games where none were needed, and by riding its "funk" theme a little too hard, turning an extremely silly game more like Hitchhiker's Guide mixed with George Clinton into something that seemed like it actually wanted to be from Da Hood.
Somewhere I have an issue of Play magazine where they interview the guy who was the voice of Earl, and it's almost scary how badly he got the character wrong; he is NOT some kind of urban warrior-type, he is a big friendly alien without much going on upstairs and whose pants periodically fall down!
More importantly, a game with innovative and subtle gameplay is better suited to something weird and whimiscal than something that markets itself to a subculture that is sometimes seen as unduly confrontational. For all people complain about Nintendo's "kiddy" games, this is one lesson no one's ever had to teach them.
But um, yeah. The original game was aces.
Great RTS that gives the added bonus of "taking over" any of the units and playing as a FPS. I've never spent more time on a game (in a more enjoyable way). Grab it if you can, I found it in a bargin bin at Menards for 3 bux. :)
AND IT IS possible to get it to run under XP, just not easy. :)
who wants Descent back !
May be start a club???
Descenters Fight Club
The first rule of the Descenters Fight Club is...
Ohh well that's the reason we don't notice it !!!
We are Turing O-Machines. The Oracle is out there.
Day of the Tentacle! Otherwise known as Maniac Mansion 2. There aren't too many games out there that are quite like this one, and how many have you seen that use the word "bitchin"?
You can't name a game more deserving of success that failed harder. It has the best writing of any game I've ever played and plenty of actual gameplay (as opposed to the X button mashing square's had on tap since FFX).
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
One of my all-time favorite games is The Longest Journey. It's a wonderful story/adventure game. I used a walkthrough to get past some of the nastier puzzles (there are some pretty obscure ones), and I still felt like I got 10x my money's worth out of it. Long, intricate plot, good graphics, super characters, top-notch conversations, great voicing. There are long conversations you can have with some of your neighbors that have no real bearing on the game whatsoever... they're just background. But even the background 'throwaway' stuff has incredible texture to it.
Not even Grim Fandango was quite as good as TLJ.
They're working on a sequel, Dreamfall. It'll be a preorder for sure.
I don't know if it's really underrated, but I hardly ever see anyone mention it. I'm not sure it sold all that well. It's really a shame... what a wonderful experience it was. A great, great ride from a master storyteller.
A Tale in the Desert is a great example of a game made by people who know nothing about games. It seems like five guys in a dorm basement had this cool idea, to make a non-combat MMOG where you could write the laws of the land...and then everyone walked away from the table. They never bothered making the game fun - in some ways, they never bothered designing the game at all - the whole thing has a cobbled-together feel. Playing the game is like reading an acclaimed novel and realizing you wrote like this in the sixth grade.
Don't get me wrong. ATITD can be great fun if you like walking through a desert for hours on end. Or tediously gathering sand. Or sitting at your computer counting to ten over and over. Or playing "social games" with people no more intelligent than your average MMO crowd. Or if you get off on the idea of being part of a social experiment, which, I can tell you, gets old fast. Or if you like lots and lots of arbitrary rules. (Not to mention the wonderful, wonderful sexism.)
ATITD is a great idea. If you can get into that idea enough to pay by the month for a flat game, that's your business. To me, playing the actual game simply wore the concept down. I love the idea of a non-combat MMO; if anyone made a Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing Online, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. I want to play the game described on the ATITD web site. I'm just waiting for someone to make it.
(Hint: It would work much better as a pen and paper RPG. Implementing GNOMIC in code is a bitch.)
I loved the variety of play in Giants: CK, and the multiplayer base building was a total blast.
The beginnings of CS were, also, "underground". From Wikipedia:
Nowadays, no, it's not underrated, but I think the lesson to learn from this is any game, even just a hacked mod, can become world-famous, and that all those "underrated" games might need is a little street team action, and showing your friends.
Having played a good deal of Half-life mods, when I ran a few servers/lan parties/scripted for clans, I can tell you that I personally think MANY are underrated. The problem comes when too many people latch onto one (CS) and thus ignore servers for other mods. Then, those mods lose support when volunteer coders see their work isn't popular. For some other really good mods, check out:
Basically, the point of this post is to say that, CS at one point was also an underrated game, and if you want something to be recognized as a good product, you need to take initative and get its name out there. Support the project financially, or bugtest, so the creators know it's wanted.
Want to find other gamers to play board and role playing game
As you point out, BGE has many good points and rough points.
I'd point out that you can beat the game with about 4-5 hours of work, tops. It has 3 large dungeon-style areas, and a dozen or so sub-levels that are interesting. Now, if it had double the number of large areas, and a proper second-half to its story, I'd say it'd be right up there. Add in skipable cutscenes (I really, really hate being forced to sit through repeated screenings), and remove some of the other minor nits, and you have a solid game.
It feels to me like the developers were forced to drop this one out the door for the holiday season. It didn't work; I bought it some months later new for CAD $9. I felt it wasn't worth that because the game was unfinished deep inside. 3 major levels. That's it. The ending is a huge tease for the sequel that won't get made, too! It's obvious they wanted to generate interest, but then they rushed what they had out the door, and tried to say it ruled when it was merely Ok.
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Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
Actually, there are only five classes of aliens and really only one "class" of marine. Even the alien classes don't break from the basic archetype of scout, builder, flyer, skirmisher, and tank. The "classes" per se aren't really what makes NS stand out from your run-of-the-mill team FPS.
The actual gameplay depth is provided by the vastly different systems on the two sides, rather than just a different set of classes and weapons. The style of gameplay and teamwork required to win is drastically different. It's much more than just a purely tactical "aliens move fast and have powerful melee attacks while marines move slowly and rely on their high-tech guns and gadgets" situation.
Strategically, the marine commander coordinates an entire team with a top-down view, issuing orders to each individual marine, and deciding what kind of equipment and structures to build. Generally, the marines' entire game will hinge on the commander. On the other hand, the aliens have no centralized commander. Insteads each alien has a kind of limited omniscience which allows them to sense friendly units and tell when structures are being attacked.
Aliens can change classes on the fly, by spending their private stash of resources and precious time gestating. The marine's role is only decided by the equipment he's carrying. This equipment can only be made by the commander, by spending the marine's centralized stash of resource points. Isn't the commander a class? Not really, any marine can become the commander by entering the command station.
The tech tree development is also vastly different. Each map has three hive locations, and for each hive controlled, the alien side can develop one path - Defense, Sensory, or Movement. If the aliens don't control more than one hive spot, they cannot tech up. The marines, on the other hand, only need resource nodes to tech up. They're free to completely relocate their starting base, or even decentralize their resources. This means that completely different styles of strategy are necessary for each side, even though the mission is the same. CS seems quite hollow in comparison, even though each side has a different mission.
NS also requires a lot more communication than CS, TF or the like, even to play casually. As a result, it's a lot more social of a game, and with matches often lasting 20 - 40 minutes, it tends to be a lot more intense.
zenmoo
you could only win by doing nothing but by doing nothing you almost certainly lost.
I still treasure the telnet log that shows my entry in the top 10
ERR 411[Max number of witty sigs reached]
Nice space sim, elite type of game. turn based at times with some RTS games and some text based games
http://www.excalibur-publishing.com/space.htm
I really enjoyed playing through XIII and never understand why the critics were so harsh with it.
Okay, it was definetely not the best FPS of its generation, but it has a very unique art-style (cel-shaded), some original and well-blended gameplay elements (stealth with on screen "tap-tap" showing people walking, possibility to take someone hostage) and a good story well-delivered (first-person view, playable dreamy flashback, multi-angle thumbnails ala 24). And it has some fast-paced shooting moments too!
Uniracers (SNES) - weird ass unicycling racing game
Tetris Attack! (SNES) - awesome puzzler
Future Boy! (http://www.generalcoffee.com/futureboy) came out last year and was one of the best games I played in a long time. It's a throwback to classic adventure games plus it has animation and great spoken dialogue and is playable on just about everything...Windows, Linux, Mac, Palm. I was surprised that it didn't as much attention as I would have thought.
Agree entirely, very, very special games. Perhaps not under-rated at the time they were certainly forgotten rather too soon. A game running on the same "engine" so to speak was "Contact Sam Cruise" which was about a gumshoe dectective rather than school life. As the detective you could venture in and out buildings in the city, answer the phone, wear disguises etc. An early stab at making a "living city", if you didn't do anything everyone else in the game went about their business running errands and so on. Great fun.
Plays violent online games as: Nerfherder76
Another severely underrated game that I am surprised has yet to receive mention is Allegiance. Allegiance is probably the only really good game to ever come out of Microsoft (Starlancer and Freelancer werent bad either). It is also one of the most complex games ever conceived. PLayers take the role of a space pilot and wage interstellar wars against teams of other players. However, there is a strong RTS element to the game, as each team has a commander, who is in charge of researching new technologies, and directing the AI controlled constructor and miner ships on where to build new bases and where to mine for resources. There is a wide variety of bases, some unlock certain technologies, others serve as a teleportation hub that ships can immediately jump to. There is also an extensive array of ships available to the players. Fighters and Interceptors are used for ship-to-ship combat. Bombers and Troop Transports can destroy or capture enemy bases. Capital ships such as corvettes or destroyers are present, also, and tend to dominate whatever battlefield they are on.
Allegiance requires any player who hopes to stay alive in any of the non-newbie servers to know all the inner workings of the game, as most players have the exact numercal range in meters of how far certain ships scanners can detect ships, how many bombs it will take to destroy a certain type of base, etc. Its not that the players of this game are all obsessive compulsive, but Allegiance is actually that deep of a game, where knowing every little detail that you can will give you a definite advantage over the enemy.
Fallout can be purchased, usually in a 2-pack with Fallout 2 for $10 at some Wal-Marts, but with Interplay out of business, its kinda hard to snag a copy in retail.
Allegiance is free, and can be downloaded at www.freeallegiance.org.
When I think about "underrated", my criteria isn't so much critical acclaim as it is about hearing people wax nostalgic about their favorite games. Everyone lists games like Metroid, Zelda, and Mario. Sure, those were great games, and received high praise from critics.
What I did was list a bunch of games that I've always held in my favorite games list, but never see mentioned when people talk about the classic RPGs or Adventure games. Zelda was a great game, sure, but Crystalis took it to the next level. Metroid was a really fun action/adventure game, but Rygar opened the world up and gave it life, with a soundtrack I still listen to. Double Dragon was a great arcade hit, but River City Ransom was the game to play for the NES for fighting action -- beating up punks and taking their lunch money to buy books and sushi was the best!
Phantasy Star 2 was probably the most controversial of the games I listed, but I felt it had to be mentioned. Compared to other 16-bit RPGs of the time, it was something new and interesting and yet never gets mentioned with the same kind of nostalgia as FF2(IV). I've played them both, and I loved them both, and for my money PS2 was severely underrated when compared to the competition.
Earth and Beyond, it was a fun MMORPG until EA killed it off, pulled the rug out from under it, etc, etc. It had a good crafting system, and a great social environment.
From TFA:
The Wheel of Time, by Legend Entertainment Company/GT Interactive. It was one of the first shooters to introduce a compelling story (which happened to be based in one of the richest fantasy worlds around), realistic fantasy fine-art environments (when other shooters were still making unbelievable floating platforms), and strategic combat that combined offense and defense into an incredibly addictive multiplayer experience. Add on the citadel multiplayer game that allowed players to customize their home base before being invaded by their enemies, and you have a game that was light years ahead of its time. Wheel of Time was lauded in the press (Gamespy's Action Game of the Year), but unfortunately, Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 came out at exactly the same time, UT being the only game GTI had the money to promote. You couldn't even find it on shelves.
-Glen Dahlgren, Perpetual Entertainment
Now, I knew I remembered that name from somewhere.
http://www.mobygames.com/game/wheel-of-time/
So, it turns out, Glen Dahlgren was the Designer, Producer and Art director for the same project. What a coincidence! He does sound a bit bitter.
While most people were clamoring over Doom, Rise of the Triad was quietly released. ROTT was an extremely fun game with all sorts of humor built-in but it still managed to be a pretty intense game. It was also the BEST multiplayer of its day. Where else can you get Shroom power-ups, people begging not to be shot, God AND Dog Modes, the creepiest hidden level I've ever seen (You Do Not Belong Here), a character named Ian Paul Freely, and all the Ludicrous Gibs you can handle?
By far, it is the #1 game on my list. FPS with RPG elements, and it added emotion with a great voice cast and a fantastic story. I still play it from time to time at night with the speakers up high. Freaky as hell.
And sacrifice is a great game. If you ever wanna multiplay, email me!
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
One of the first and best online multiplayer game. It came out in 95/96 and still exists today under a new name.
I also remember having fun playing NetWar. But that died and went away forever.
I don't think anyone's mentioned http://www.idsoftware.com/games/vintage/catacomb/ Catacomb 3D, which was one of ID Software's first games. It was their first FPS, pre-dating Wolfenstein, which of course led to Doom, Quake, and Hexen. The other stuff that ID was making at the time provided no hint of what was to come (I also had Commander Keen), but Catacomb gave a little glimpse of the future. I had no idea at the time though, I thought it was easier and more fun than Wing Commander.
Per ardua ad astra.
Many years ago, I was kinda poor. I was only 18 I lived with my parents, my job was minimum wage, and my bills were sky high (due to having a better job shortly before... & a few speeding tickets (o.k. more than a few)) I didn't have enough money to get my family the gifts they wanted. I tried hard to come up with something small and nice for everyone. The computer my parents had way back when was a wee little k6 2-500 and w/a permedia 2 gfx card.....
Everyone opened all there presents around the tree, and well, I hadn't recieved much more than I gave. I wasn't disapointed, but sad that I couldn't do more for everyone that christmas. Much to my surprise, my dad says "Hey there's one more box for you." I see this small square box, ripped it open and (exuse me, I am getting emotional here...) a light shone down from the heavens into this box I held in my hands (or so it seemed). The game Descent II. It was the first time I had really been surprised on christmas since I was 2, but thats a whole other story... It was one of the most meaningful gifts I had gotten in a long time. My dad actually paid attention to what I was into. It felt awesome.
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It's an SNES platformer action RPG about evolution. And it's a lot of fun.
I loved the story of that game. Every element of that game made me feel "included" I can't believe I forgot all about it! I loved multiplayer, it was so fun, and playing as the Monster was sweet!
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were two of my favorite MUDs..
RIP Masterpiece, & Peg Leg Greg
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Metal Arms: Glitch in the System simply didn't get the press that it deserved. I think it fell into the same category as Conker's bad fur day. Kiddy appearance with adult content.
I would sosososososo love to find a version that had been ported for the PC, or even better, the Gameboy or DS. That would be about the ultimate travel game.
These two innovative strategy series had me hooked for ages and gave me lots of fun times. The Fallout games were great too, but to the guy who mentioned them I don't think they count as underrated games dude, they both sold very well and are highly regarded in RPG circles. Another unsung classic has to be Joint Strike Fighter, the funnest flight sim ever, Terra Nova showed what Mech games could be without the limiting shackles and baggage of the dreadfully overused Battle Tech Universe. Battle Tech ruined the Mech genre by making ppl think that's all it was. More recently Vietcong (and now sadly Vietcong 2) was overlooked even though it was even more immersive and atmospheric than call of duty.
1) Planescape Torment - probably the best game to use a story ever created, if there is any art in gaming this game would definitely be a candidate as what kind of 'art' gaming can be.
2) Freespace series, no other space sim has put the fun elements together like this series, it's too bad it's sales numbers were so low, I would love a freespace like MMO, it would blow the doors of games like EVE: Online which bore you to death because there is no realtime action and it's all computer controlled.
3) Descent 2, probably one of the most under-rated games of all time, since this game was released before games had full IP support and was done over IPX emulation via kali. Then when Quake came out, it pretty much killed interest in this game over kali. This game had the best 3D multiplayer I have ever experienced, some of the most amazing full motion video renders and which set the 'tone' and feel for the plot, even though it wasn't original or even that deep, it was certainly iteresting for a game of this type. It was difficult to play but even with a keyboard, mouse and joystick, the challenge of mastering true 3D combat made you feel more godly then any in any other modern FPS, true 3D combat, not that panzy soldier stuck to the ground shit. I could never get tired of fighting multiplayer opponents in this game, even with the crappy graphics and fugly cube-ified corridors. It's too bad descent 3 could not recapture the magic and feel of multiplayer descent 2.
4) Fantasy General - A game that slipped entirely under the radar because hex-style strategy games were on the way out and the units/design and graphics were a bit weird (graphically). It was like panzer general but with fantasy units, this game was deep and very cool despite the awkward art and fantasy units, the still sketches and drawings for many of the units were very classy and well done, and the music was well done as well, very epic, I still have some of the songs in MP3 format on my hard drive.
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