Most unusual or underappreciated games of all time?

[kcollins719]

I want to know some of your opinions on games that maybe didn't get the recognition they deserved. Either by being different or flying under the radar. Below are some of my suggestions...

1) Cursed Mountain - Wii - 2009

Plot: A mountain climber looking for his lost brother in the 1980's Himalayas battles ghosts using Tibetian rituals

That statement alone is enough to make you go "What?" But the game is filled with atmosphere, some unique experiences, and movie-like camera angles. In a world where games like God of War and Call of Duty use fast, violent action to cause tension and excitement, it's nice to appreciate the slow-moving, occassionaly dread-inducing, unique game experiences like Cursed Mountain. And it's cheap now, so like it or hate it, it won't set you back $60 like most games.

2) Disaster Report - PS2

Plot: Survive an island destroying earthquake...and maybe uncover a sinister plot behind the creation of the man-made island that might have caused the deadly earthquake to begin with.

Again, "WTF?" I could have done without the tacked on sinister plot. Surviving the earthquake would have been an interesting enough game offering a unique experience. Zombie apocolypses? Probably won't happen. Alien invasion? Not likely. Natural disasters? Happen all the time. Maybe focusing some games on how to deal with REAL LIFE events might actually save a life or two. Disaster Report? A decent and underappreciated game, but in it's current form, not likely to save any lives.

3) Rags to Riches - C64

Plot: Start as a penniless bum and work your way to becoming a millionaire.

Yep, you start by picking coins up off the street, dodging police officers, and recycling bottles to earn a few dollars just to survive. Eventually you can buy a haircut, apply for a job, and rent a seedy hotel room. Avoiding muggers and keep showing up for work, you continue moving up the social ladder. The first few days are EXTREMELY difficult, but like they say 'the first million is the hardest.' I would have liked to have seen this game get more acclaim and maybe get ported or remade on newer systems. The one HUGE downfall on this game? No save feature....so you had to play for MANY hours straight, unless of course you got mugged or arrested in the first 10 seconds, which happened alot...

I'm interested in hearing some of your suggestions for this list. I'm sure there are many I've never heard of.

 

[posidyn]

Act Of War: Direct Action + expansion High Treason - PC - 2005

Plot: Lead special forces against an unknown foe attacking energy companies world wide... or something along those lines.

The story was actually written by author Dale Brown (who also released the book Act Of War) and is very good with a complex plot.

The game itself is an RTS based on modern day warfare with a touch of futuristic stuff. To drive the story along the game has FMV sequences which in my opinion are MUCH BETTER than anything seen in Command & Conquer 1 to 3.

The 3 factions are very different and the units based on real life units (eg AH-64 Apache, Bradley Fighting Vehicle, Humvees, Detachment Delta, T-80 MBT) behave as I would expect them to. Example, Humvees are very fast and can carry troops, but a direct hit from RPG and it's gone.

There are quite a few neat features as well, like hiding in the bushes which gives bonus damage to the unit. Snipers can shoot people in garrisoned buildings. You can get money by capturing enemy soldiers and holding them prisoner. This is also the first RTS game I have seen where to attack a garrisoned building, you can drop a bunch of Delta Force troops on the roof and they enter the building to take care of the enemies.

It is unfortunate that it didn't sell well and when Atari released the expansion, they didn't make any FMV sequences for it. The plot in High Treason is still top notch though. There were same 3 factions but more units were added to each and how some units work was made different. They also added ships for naval combat but it was a bit of a half-@^$3) effort.

 

[carson79]

Maybe..............

 

[wongers]

no, your all wrong, the most underappreciated game ever was the Twisted Metal series

just any of them, or carmageddon altho that was just weird lol

 

[kcollins719]

no, your all wrong, the most underappreciated game ever was the Twisted Metal series

just any of them, or carmageddon altho that was just weird lol

Well nobody is wrong because it is an opinion...and I don't believe Twisted Metal qualifies as underappreciated or unusual since there was multiple sequels and the series has done quite well. I know I appreciate Twisted Metal and would like to see future games on the new systems! Imagine a Twisted Metal done right on the PS3 or Xbox 360 with online multi-player, customizable cars, and perks like COD...wow, I hope a game maker reads this...

 

[Livewire]

Carnage Heart, PSOne

Plot: I lost the instruction manual, so I'm not 100% sure on what the plot was. Here's the gist of it though: Bad guys blew up a space craft, and you get to go command a force of Over Kill Engines (OKE's for short) to go kill them.

The catch? You can't directly control them. Instead you pick a cpu and use ingame chips such as "If Enemy is: [slider to select distance] [slider to select direction] [slider to select range]" and "Fire Primary Weapon [1-5] Times" to program it before going into battle. Probably one of the most unusual games just because you can't actually directly control an OKE without cheating, and even with cheats they're a pain to control directly

It ends up doing pretty well with the 4 types of OKE bodies as well - 2 legged, multi legged (although they're all 4 legged for some reason), tank, and flying. 2 legged is agile and, when coded right, can usually jump clean out of the way of any projectile. Tank is no where near as agile but because it's not meant to be, it can carry tons of armor and a hefty amount of ammo. Even the starter tank fires a total of 4 shots when you do Fire Primary Weapon 1 Time, whereas the starter 2 legged only fires 1 shot. Can deal out a heck of a lot of damage in a short time, and can soak quite a bit too. Multi's a cross between the two, but you have a catch - the Prowler 2 legged you start with, and the Tank is ready to buy right off the bat. The starter for multilegged is in research at another company, so you have to throw some $ their way to speed up production. The awesome part? If memory serves, the first Multilegged available is "Livewire."

Last one is flying, which is just a hunk of metal. Takes forever to actually get one capable of flight, becuase it has to have armor and weapons, but you tend not to have a strong and light engine at the time you get the chance to buy a flying body - makes it tricky to get airborne when it's overweight.


It's had a sequel on the PSP in Japan, not sure that made it stateside ever though, with good reason - it got 9.2's on IGN which was pretty awesome, but this game has probably the most...Insane learning curve I've seen. Everything -except- the programming is easy to learn, even down to how to assign OKE's to production, cash management, etc. But for perspective, I spent 3 hours in the programming chip and battle-test system. My creation was destroyed in about 45 seconds in it's first real combat. I renamed that model to MeatShield.


Edit: Forgot a strategy if you can manage to get a flying OKE...well, flying. It was at the back of the manual - code it to fly as high as possible, and then maneuver over to pretty much being right on top of the enemy. The guns can't shoot straight up, so you're pretty much immune. Then use a mine-dropper as a cluster-bomb. Problem should solve itself - in the event of a tie, the team with the most % health left is declared the winner...Unless you run out of fuel first, which sucks.

 

[fractalfeline]

I've heard of Carnage Heart, never tried it though.

As for my list of underappreciated games:
1. The Sanitarium -- PC -- 1998 --> http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/sanitarium/index.html
A short but sweet game for the PC.
The plot: you wake up in a Sanitarium, with amnesia, and something is not quite right here...
It's a fun game, even if it is High Octane Nightmare Fuel, truly bizarre and unique. If you liked Silent Hill, then you'd like this one It's basically one huge multi-staged puzzle to sort out what is and isn't real, and to figure out what happened and what's going on. Lots of mini games, fun imagery, and strange dialogue. Highly recommended for the strong of stomach

2. Planescape: Torment -- PC -- 1999 ---> http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/planescapetorment/index.html
Plot: You are an immortal amnesiac who awakens in a Mortuary in the middle of Sigil, the interplaner City of Gates, covered in scars and tattooes. You must navigate the city and ultimately the Planes to discover who you are and face an enemy whom you have (literally) spent countless lives combatting.
But really, the game is about exploring various lifestyles and philosophies, encountering unusual people, engaging in lots of really fun dialogues, and deciding what kind of person you want to be (or at least, who you want your character to be). You choose your class and your Faction (based on philosophy), and the decisions you make determine your alignment and the kinds of elements you can unlock. Great character development (hard to choose a favorite but I like Fall-From-Grace and Ravel). This game sucks you in...
This one is considered a cult classic.

3. Katamari Damancy -- PS2 -- 2004 --> http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/katamaridamashii/index.html
Maybe not underappreciated, but definitely unusual. Plot: You are a Prince of the Universe, and all the stars have disappeared! So you are tasked with gathering junk on Planet Earth to make new stars. You have a sticky ball to roll up junk with, and you... run around collecting junk. It's fun, it's cute, and has such great music and atmosphere. And it's so... well.. Japanese.

 

[stuartyoung]

Fahrenheit PC/Playstation 2

Also called Indigo Prophecy in the US, this game was like a cross between a point and click adventure and a movie. It let you play four characters and had an unusual plot involving cult murders, which got just a bit too crazy right at the end. Some of the lessons learnt went towards making the excellent Heavy Rain for ps3

 

[richmix]

Ace Combat 1-5 on the PS 1 and 2, 6 was sorta mainstream on the 360, but the first 5 didn't get much attention, amazing storylines none-the-less

 

[initial_dd]

IMO
Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
Best graphics for the PS2, interestesting fighting concept, and there's only 9 or 12 monsters/boss you have to kill. And awesome replay value.

 

[blacktotem]

I agree with initial_dd. Shadow of the Colossus was a game that made a big diference in its gameplay and graphics.
really a great game and I'm waiting for Last Guardian on PS3

 

[the_site]

Ace Combat I played couple of times. Twisted Metal brings back the old days, characters such as: minion, sweet tooth, calypso. I must stop before I get too far. Disaster report, I played once. I like the idea surviving from a natural disaster. Shame that I didn't get to finish the game.