Most underrated and most overrated developers

[desura]

Underrated: Neocore games. They deserve so much more recognition for their complex and deeply emotional games.

Overrated: Bioware. Bioware big time. Most all bioware games I've played are on the surface deep, but ultimately are *very* shallow. Case in point is the conversation system in Mass Effect games, which gives the illusion of choice but in reality doesn't allow any real choice, and so ends up just being busywork.

 

[KaOTiK]

Underrated: 4A Games and Larian Studios

Overrated: Bethesda and Gearbox

 

[Craig234]

Sorry, but overrated: Sid Meiers IMO.

Underrated - have to think about that, but there are a cuple I've seen do great music and art I can't recall now I'd consider for it.

The developer of Legend of Grimrock.

 

[WiseUp216]

I think Tripwire Interactive is underrated. Their games aren't the best looking but they're damn fun (Killing Floor, Rising Storm).

 

[Maximilian]

Overrated: Blizzard, they're not what they used to be people!

Underrated: EA, nah j/k i dont know of any underrated tbh.

 

[Craig234]

Overrated: Blizzard, they're not what they used to be people!

Hard to really agree with that.

They still seem very successful with WoW, Diablo and Starcraft, which is saying something.

I'm not a fan of the real money auction house direction of Diablo III, but have you tried to play Diablo II lately before you criticize Diablo III too much?

 

[desura]

Underrated: 4A Games and Larian Studios

Overrated: Bethesda and Gearbox

Don't have much experience with Bethesda games, but Gearbox is pretty impressive with Borderlands. It really gets the feel of guns pretty good and just inaccurate enough to be interesting.

What games do you like from those underrated studios? Haven't heard of them.

 

[chalmers]

Here I can sum this thread's responses up in a neat little package on what people are going to say:

Underrated: Some indie/small time developer
Overrated: AAA developer of their choice

/thread

 

[Grooveriding]

Underated: 4a and CDP Red

Overrated: blizzard and rockstar

 

[KaOTiK]

Don't have much experience with Bethesda games, but Gearbox is pretty impressive with Borderlands. It really gets the feel of guns pretty good and just inaccurate enough to be interesting.

What games do you like from those underrated studios? Haven't heard of them.

I love the Borderlands games and think they are great, but everything else Gearbox has done I have not liked and people only judge them on how awesome BL is.

4A Games has made Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light. They are a small studio in the Ukraine that works in some pretty horrible conditions to boot.

Larian Studios has made all the Divine Divinity games. Great RPG's that seem to slide under most peoples radars.

 

[chalmers]

See, there we go. Next? I'll guess the answer will be Pocketwatch Games...and oh ... Ubisoft..anyone said those yet?

 

[WiseUp216]

Here I can sum this thread's responses up in a neat little package on what people are going to say:

Underrated: Some indie/small time developer
Overrated: AAA developer of their choice

/thread

I'm sure your post history is a model of quality & diversity, right?

 

[Tattoedsailor]

Overrated: Blizzard, they're not what they used to be people!

Underrated: EA, nah j/k i dont know of any underrated tbh.

Ditto !

 

[Cerb]

Sorry, but overrated: Sid Meiers IMO.

What's there to add? That's really it, IMO. Alpha Centauri was pretty much perfect, save for needing a UI facelift for modern displays, and same with Civ II and III. The newer games have gotten more streamlined, and aren't bad, but they peaked awhile back. Having played the older ones a bit (and quitting because of the eye strain--somewhat ironic, I know, but it's either uber-blocky or uber-fuzzy, which I find hard when needing to read a lot), they really were as good as I remembered them, and not overrated, but there's inertia, today.

Larian: Divinity II was good on sale, but they're really not underrated. The prior iso/turn-based RPGs were much better, but even they were quirky, awkward, and buggy. Top-notch creative content implemented in a slightly above-average way, IMO.

4A and Croteam count for underrated, to me, though.

I love CDPR, including their pet DD store, GoG; TW1 was great, and TW2 was the best action RPG I've ever played...I just don't know how to call them underrated, when they're few games so far have gotten such great critical and user responses, and rightly so.

 

[OptimumSlinky]

Over-Rated: Pretty much all of them, but Crytek, DICE, and whatever Ubi studios do Assassin's Creed

Under-Rated: Criterion, CD Projekt Red

Deserve their acclaim: Naughty Dog, 4A

Developers I Miss: Westwood Studios, LucasArts circa TIE Fighter

 

[Tattoedsailor]

^^The old Tie fighter and X-wings games were awesome. Thats back Lucas Arts made awesome games.

 

[Udgnim]

don't think Blizzard is overrated anymore except by Blizzard fanatics

think most people have been seeing Blizzard's decrease in game quality

I think Blizzard is just cursed by its past release of superior games

if Diablo 3 or SC2 were released by a previously unknown developer, the games would be much more well received and the flaws of the games would be more tolerated / accepted

 

[CPA]

Sorry, but overrated: Sid Meiers IMO.

Blasphemy.

 

[desura]

don't think Blizzard is overrated anymore except by Blizzard fanatics

think most people have been seeing Blizzard's decrease in game quality

I think Blizzard is just cursed by its past release of superior games

if Diablo 3 or SC2 were released by a previously unknown developer, the games would be much more well received and the flaws of the games would be more tolerated / accepted

Eh, I personally feel like World of Warcraft really has gotten worse with the later expansions. A lot worse.

Mainly because it doesn't feel like an RPG as much anymore, but more like a beat-em-up game with incomprehensible numbers that are in the hundreds of thousands.

 

[Maximilian]

Hard to really agree with that.

They still seem very successful with WoW, Diablo and Starcraft, which is saying something.

I'm not a fan of the real money auction house direction of Diablo III, but have you tried to play Diablo II lately before you criticize Diablo III too much?

From a gamers perspective Blizzard are pretty meh now.

Starcraft 2 didnt live up to the original, case in point korea plays LoL instead of SC2, wont go into that because theres a massive post on reddit going into detail about why. They basically ignored casual players.

Diablo 3 sucked as well, core problem with that was copying diablo 2 far too much and adding a pay 2 win mechanic. Who the hell wants to play the same game 3+ times??? I was expecting it to look like the D3 we have now, but play a bit like WoW in that it would be a large consistent world with thousands of people. Not the same shitty normal/nightmare/hell in separate games with 8 people max that we had more than 10 years ago.

Nah Blizzard is definitely on the decline right now, still rated highly by many hence why i say they are overrated.

 

[TheSlamma]

Over-Rated: Pretty much all of them, but Crytek, DICE, and whatever Ubi studios do Assassin's Creed

Under-Rated: Criterion, CD Projekt Red

Deserve their acclaim: Naughty Dog, 4A

Developers I Miss: Westwood Studios, LucasArts circa TIE Fighter

Assassins creed is just an Anvil engine milk fest and Naughty dog games are as linear as Dragons Lair

4A does some good stuff though and I miss Westwood and the old school Lucas Arts too

 

[blackened23]

I used to put blizzard and ID software on a pedestal, and 9-10 years ago it was well deserved. By far my favorite developers from that time frame. I clocked so so many hours in the combined games from these companies, including Warcraft III, WC3: TFT, Quake1/QW/Q2/Q3. I absolutely loved them. To this day quakeworld remains my favorite multiplayer FPS of all time, it was revolutionary upon release - no prior game had internet MP back then. But that was ID software in the old days, always pushing the envelope - always had the best graphics, always had the best multiplayer.

But now? They've disappointed me quite a few times; I can't describe how much I disliked Rage. Heck, ID isn't even *doing* proper multiplayer now, that was their BREAD AND BUTTER from the old days! I don't understand it. I guess they've gone from the best in the past to being overrated in current times IMHO. How things have changed, unfortunately.

 

[TheSlamma]

Nah Blizzard is definitely on the decline right now, still rated highly by many hence why i say they are overrated.

I can hand em one thing though, their games don't have 1/2 the bugs most of these other devs have, hell with some of the crap I have played lately they don't have 1/64th the bugs some of these rags have. I wonder at times if there are game testers or QC anymore with some of them.

 

[Malak]

From a gamers perspective Blizzard are pretty meh now.

From a real gamer's perspective they've always been bleh. In the 15 years they've been around they haven't really done much compared to many other much better studios.

A truly underrated studio that has done plenty of big name projects that you've probably played: Raven Software

 

[blackened23]

From a real gamer's perspective they've always been bleh. In the 15 years they've been around they haven't really done much compared to many other much better studios.

A truly underrated studio that has done plenty of big name projects that you've probably played: Raven Software

I disagree completely. Say what you will about Blizzard now, but IMHO they were the best at what they were doing 9-10 years ago and prior to that. WC III and TFT were such great games, I wasted many nights playing them - and I still find WC3 more enjoyable than SC2 because of the dynamics that heroes added. The lore was also amazing. I remember reading through the entire WC III manual just to catch up on the story, and what a great story it was.

I don't think they can even do a RTS follow-up to WC3 anymore, all of the most interesting villains from the warcraft universe are dead now thanks to world of warcraft.