- Jul 15, 2003
- 80,287
- 17,080
- 136
When I say under-appreciated I mean good but not popular. Not controversial stuff like Starcraft 2.
Doesn't have to be completely unknown either, could be stuff thats famous for not selling well, even though it was good.
-RPG-
Anachronox.
Fun, funny, good combat system (once you get used to it) and a genuinely interesting, deep world to explore. It was the 2nd game Ion Storm made, after Deus Ex (or maybe it was before Deus Ex). Did not get much attention at the time cuz it used the Quake 2 engine which was already considered old compared to better stuff like Half Life and Unreal.
Septerra Core.
As per others suggestions, this really needs to be on the list.
-RTS-
Z.
Fast fun action and genuine strategy, but it was overshadowed by Warcraft 2 and all the C&C titles. A good challenge too, difficulty ramped up slightly. Reasonably funny, but you would never see most of the cinematics unless you were an excellent player.
-TBS-
While I am of the opinion the whole genre is under-appreciated, even within this group some titles get pushed aside. Heroes of Might and Magic gets loads of attention, as does Kings Bounty, but little indie stuff from Strategy First gets ignored.
Disciples 2.
An excellent TBS action and surprisingly deep, but most people never get passed the 2D appearance to appreciate it.
4X games almost deserve their own category but I think those of us who appreciate such things do a good job keeping up to date.
-FPS-
Many folks dont remember or never played Marathon, and I think thats a darn shame.
-Sports-
Thanks to EA's monopoly I dont think under-appreciated is the problem here. More like overhyped. If anyone has suggestions I'd love to hear them. I think Tiger Woods 2004 was unloved on Windows, but thats just me.
-Racing-
Now separate from sports as they have earned the right to call themselves a distinct genre.
TDU came and went pretty fast on the Xbox and was virtually ignored on Windows, but it was actually a crapload of fun. True to its namesake you could walk into any dealership at any point in the game and test drive ANY car on display, even stuff that was not actually available for sale. You could also rent a variety of vehicles to compete in events when you could not yet afford to pay for them fully, or didnt feel like adding them to your permanent collection just to use in one or two races.
A ton of vehicles to select from, including more in a little known expansion, and they didnt waste too much time with anything besides racing and making money. Also, you could run around a very beautiful rendering of Hawaii if you were bored but didnt want to compete. There were houses, but mostly those were just places to park your cars. The clothes buying was mostly optional, but you did have to get some things for completion points. TDU 2 milked this concept of not racing in a racing game to death and probably killed the franchise, which is a darn shame.
-Platform-
Since the reawakening of platformers (thanks mostly to Steam) I dont believe any one game has gone under-appreciated, but you guys are welcome to suggest something.
Theres was a game way back in the DOS days called Vengeance on Talos IV that was basically a Super metroid clone. I cant find it now. In fact I wouldnt be surprised if it got the company sued.
-Puzzle-
Same thing, they seem to get the recognition they deserved, but I am open to suggestions.
For you guys:
-RPG-
-RTS-
-TBS-
-FPS-
-Sports-
-Racing-
-Platform-
-Puzzle-
Doesn't have to be completely unknown either, could be stuff thats famous for not selling well, even though it was good.
-RPG-
Anachronox.
Fun, funny, good combat system (once you get used to it) and a genuinely interesting, deep world to explore. It was the 2nd game Ion Storm made, after Deus Ex (or maybe it was before Deus Ex). Did not get much attention at the time cuz it used the Quake 2 engine which was already considered old compared to better stuff like Half Life and Unreal.
Septerra Core.
As per others suggestions, this really needs to be on the list.
-RTS-
Z.
Fast fun action and genuine strategy, but it was overshadowed by Warcraft 2 and all the C&C titles. A good challenge too, difficulty ramped up slightly. Reasonably funny, but you would never see most of the cinematics unless you were an excellent player.
-TBS-
While I am of the opinion the whole genre is under-appreciated, even within this group some titles get pushed aside. Heroes of Might and Magic gets loads of attention, as does Kings Bounty, but little indie stuff from Strategy First gets ignored.
Disciples 2.
An excellent TBS action and surprisingly deep, but most people never get passed the 2D appearance to appreciate it.
4X games almost deserve their own category but I think those of us who appreciate such things do a good job keeping up to date.
-FPS-
Many folks dont remember or never played Marathon, and I think thats a darn shame.
-Sports-
Thanks to EA's monopoly I dont think under-appreciated is the problem here. More like overhyped. If anyone has suggestions I'd love to hear them. I think Tiger Woods 2004 was unloved on Windows, but thats just me.
-Racing-
Now separate from sports as they have earned the right to call themselves a distinct genre.
TDU came and went pretty fast on the Xbox and was virtually ignored on Windows, but it was actually a crapload of fun. True to its namesake you could walk into any dealership at any point in the game and test drive ANY car on display, even stuff that was not actually available for sale. You could also rent a variety of vehicles to compete in events when you could not yet afford to pay for them fully, or didnt feel like adding them to your permanent collection just to use in one or two races.
A ton of vehicles to select from, including more in a little known expansion, and they didnt waste too much time with anything besides racing and making money. Also, you could run around a very beautiful rendering of Hawaii if you were bored but didnt want to compete. There were houses, but mostly those were just places to park your cars. The clothes buying was mostly optional, but you did have to get some things for completion points. TDU 2 milked this concept of not racing in a racing game to death and probably killed the franchise, which is a darn shame.
-Platform-
Since the reawakening of platformers (thanks mostly to Steam) I dont believe any one game has gone under-appreciated, but you guys are welcome to suggest something.
Theres was a game way back in the DOS days called Vengeance on Talos IV that was basically a Super metroid clone. I cant find it now. In fact I wouldnt be surprised if it got the company sued.
-Puzzle-
Same thing, they seem to get the recognition they deserved, but I am open to suggestions.
For you guys:
-RPG-
-RTS-
-TBS-
-FPS-
-Sports-
-Racing-
-Platform-
-Puzzle-
Last edited:
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