Must-have-tried games

[InCreator]

So-
I was thinking about my gaming habits and found that I often play games that little of people know, but somehow shine over the genre. Yet-to-be-found gems or simply good case of underdogs...

For example:

Real-time strategy:
Act of War: Direct action and Act of War: High Treason


It's kind of weird how I simply picked this one up from discount game bin at local supermarket. I usually don't shop like this and I didn't even take a good look at the game disc. I though it would simply entertain me for an evening or so... boy was I wrong!

It became one of my very favourite games in genre - a RTS with modern, realistic touch, which always appeals to me. This game has units of modern day and even very realistic future, such as US Future Warrior combat gear or Stryker multifunctional troop carrier. Plus, it's all built onto a quite solid techno-thrillerish storyline.

And it's a RTS that stays true to original formula, having almost everything that made original Command & Conquer such cool game, unlike new games that try to change formula even if it makes game suck, just for the sake of having some "new approach to RTS genre".

Turn-based strategy:
Castles II: Siege & Conquest

It's quite simple game, best replacement for solitaire or other hour-to-waste filler I've ever seen.
Plus, there's not much games that have such wonderful music or option "behead him!" when enemy sends a messenger with peace offerings...

Adventure games:
KGB (a.k.a Conspiracy)

I would pay $100 to play a worthy sequel to this one. Or $300 to be able to make one myself.
When numerous death endings in Sierra's adventures often simply sucked, this game shows "game over" in style. It's realistic, gruesome, extremely thrilling & interesting and insanely difficult. Not something you hear in the review of adventure game too often.

I could continue this list, but it gets too long, I'm afraid.

Political strategy
Another titles of my reality-taste -
Conflict: Middle East Political Simulator, Shadow President, Hidden Agenda

Quite simply games that were once made, are unique, and there will be probably no more. Which is sad. Only company that makes games like this - is Paradox Interactive - and sadly, their games - while going into deepest detail - are not interesting enough for me to play. There's a deep strategy game and there's a damn Excel spreadsheet. PI makes latter, only with graphics. I wonder if there will ever be beginner-friendly versions of Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, Crusader Kings, etc--- much like three I mentioned..?

Do you have something similar to contribute? Games that are good, but less-known?

[Calin Leafshade]

Severance: Blade of Darkness.. Great combat system.. honestly... try it.

Space Rangers 2: Very fun.. except the shit RTS bits tacked on the end.

Oni: Fantastic fight system.. there are not enough games like this in the world.

[Gord10]

Psychonauts was a great mixture of action, adventure, platform elements. Definitely one of must-have-tried games.

[Domino]

Just a few that I could think of right now. (Have a Major Headache)

ICO for the PS2

Shenmue for Dreamcast

Shenmue 2 for Dreamcast and XBox

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Blade of Darkness definitely was a fun game, and way ahead of its time in terms of detail and model decals.  Die By the Sword had a very fun but very broken control interface for swinging the sword, but because your character's arm responded to mouse movements you'd often get it (and your weapon) stuck against walls rather than in enemy stomachs.  That one Jurassic Park game where you've got a pair of tits you can look down at for a health meter had a similarly broken system, except your JELLO-ARM would stretch and then suddenly the weapon you had would pop out of your hand.  This always happened at the worst possible time.


Oh, some great games in no particular genre or order:

1.  Elvira: Mistress of the Dark and Elvira: The Jaws of Cerberus.  Excellent adventure games if you like a challenge, some humor, and lots of gore.  And Elvira's pixel-boobies.
2.  Quest for Glory 1-4.  Aside from Gabriel Knight and Freddy Pharkus, the only Sierra product I've ever really enjoyed.
3.  Two Worlds.  Very fun and detailed Oblivion clone that outdoes its competitors in a number of areas, not the least of which is a highly detailed armor set system.
4.  Batman:  Arkham Asylum.  Most 'fun' I've had with a game in awhile.
5.  Star Control II.  Quite simply the best sci-fi action rpg I've ever played.  I must have spent 200 or more hours on this when I first played it.
6.  Blaster Master.  NES gaming at its finest.
7.  Super Metroid.  SNES gaming at its finest.
8.  Rogue Galaxy (PS2).  Has a rather fun combat system and some nice sci-fi visuals for an anime style rpg.  I don't normally like these, but this is a noteworthy exception.
9.  Shenmue.  Sadly I only ever played the original Dreamcast version, but it was a fun and sometimes frustrating fighting/sim game.
10.  Fallout 1/2/3 (after modding).  My current favorite post-apocalyptic series of rpgs.  The Fallout series has always benefited greatly from fan community mods.
11.  Realms of the Haunting.  Very atmospheric doom-style action adventure.  It's a really involved game and takes a lot of time and patience to get through so it's not for everyone.
12.  Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers.  I hated the second one and the third was a train wreck of bad 3d and puzzles, but the first will always be an example of the superior storytelling adventure games can offer.

I have more favorites but so does everyone else.

[InCreator]

Progz:
I meant favorites that remained somewhat hidden and 8 out of 10 gamers wouldn't know about  
But great titles indeed.

[ThreeOhFour]

Oni: Fantastic fight system.. there are not enough games like this in the world.

I must have played through the demo a hundred times when I was younger and couldn't afford to buy real games.

Always meant to buy the real thing, and never quite got around to it 

As for me, I only ever play mainstream games that everyone's already heard of 

[IndieBoy]

If you own a DS you must play Henry Hatsworth

[ThreeOhFour]

If you own a DS you must play Henry Hatsworth

I'm stuck on the final battle of the third world. I almost beat it the other day, but the nurse got the better of me 

But yes, hilarious game. The boss characters are so damn preposterous (in a very good way) that it is a pleasure to be beaten by them

[Wonkyth]

I'd add:

Knights & Merchants: the Peasants Rebellion - (RTS)Frustratingly dodgy at times, but has a nice tactics system.

Spenlunky - (Platformer)It's a GM game, but the fact that rescued damsels come under the heading of "Loot" is funny, plus it has nicely randomised levels.

Vector Vendetta: Vengance Version - (Arcade)An AGS game made by Radiant that is still beta testing, but is AWESOME!
Plus I hold the high-score at the moment, and that alone makes it cool.

Blip&Blop: Balls of Steel - (platformer/shooter)Sorta dodgy, but blowing the heads of smurfs and (S)carebears is fun!

Frets on Fire - ...Wait...that isn't an unheard-of game. but hey, keyboards make better guitars...

[Dualnames]

Act Raisers..Imagine Castlevania and Metroid, if you ended up being a God, add a bit of a simstrategy game, and there you go..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJgct2AnTIw

[Akatosh]

Hidden Agenda

I love you forever. 

What I'd like to add are The Spirit Engine and The Spirit Engine 2. The combat systems are incredible.

[arj0n]

Blip&Blop: Balls of Steel - (platformer/shooter)Sorta dodgy, but blowing the heads of smurfs and (S)carebears is fun!

I remember this one. Man, that was fun, blasting smurfs, carebears and... lemmings!!!
And it's freeware too...

[Ryan Timothy B]

Return Fire: I used to play this computer game for months and months on end.  It was excellent.  I didn't remember it being 3d, but I just watched the old YouTube video and it all came back.  Video.  I don't know how popular it was though.

Giants: I've heard a few people on here mention this game, but I don't believe it was very popular.  It reminds me of Halo but it's filled with lots of comedy.

Black Dahlia: For the pc (there is also a movie called The Black Dahlia--haven't watched it though).  It's an adventure game I played when I was younger.  I don't know anyone personally who has played this game.  But since this is an adventure community, half of you probably have.

[ThreeOhFour]

I add my votes to The Spirit Engine and Return Fire.

Man, Return Fire. Nostalgia hits like a 17" CRT dropped from the 9th floor of an office block, and I'm left yearning for a time when games were so honest in their appeal...

[tzachs]

I second K.G.B, brilliant game...

I also like to add the "Fedora Spade" game series into the mixture. Pure detective adventure games, old style, but incredibly fun to solve and also have good stories.

[Oliwerko]

"Thief" 1&2
, 1 being total cult and underground. While not really unknown (because of Thief 3), very few gamers got past the first mission. It's a mix between action and RPG (classic crypt puzzles), but the main point is to AVOID engagement. So sticking to shadows is the rule number one. Add an exciting mission design and nifty tool selection - a great game(s) neglected by most gamers. (Which resulted in a funny fact - every company that has ever released a Thief had bankrupted. Both Looking Glass and Ion Storm)

Jagged Alliance 2
Maybe it's known among people around here, but it's rare anyone knows about it among general gaming society. The best (and the only) "small scale" turn-based strategy, that really needs tactics to succeed.

Red Faction
Again, popular somewhere and not known somewhere else. While I don't fancy 1st person shooters in general, this one really hooked me on. It has a great story and even greater sci-fi atmosphere. Apart from that, it's just a stupid shooter, but you'll forget about it after first few minutes.

Heh, wasted some big time on Return Fire and Star Control II (later Ur-Quan masters), which is truly magnificent.

[Crimson Wizard]

Sky Roads
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/skyroads/

A sweet arcade DOS game with literally breathtaking gameplay
And music is very nice too, btw.

[InCreator]

Ryan:
Return Fire reminds me Urban Strike, Desert Strike and Jungle Strike somehow. I like it!

Oliwerko:
Jagged Alliance 2 might be less-known cult classic in western world, but in Russia, it's something like a national game along with Starcraft & HOMM series. Every year, some russian developer tries to release a game based on JA2 or with similar genre/gameplay. They made Silent Storm, Hired Guns: Jagged Edge, 7,62mm... list goes on. Sadly, most of those attempts won't get even near the original.
They even attempted JA3! I personally love turn-based strategies too... Pity there's no worthy contender to JA2.

Crimson Wizard:
Haha, Estonian game. It's quite old.

Offtopic (sort of)
Even though near-future addition, I'd name Tropico 3 (which I am playing right now).
Basically, for developers, it took 3rd installment to get everything right. It's marvellous.
Only problem is that while it felt really challenging at first, actually - once you know what to build, it becomes quite simple.

Spoiler

1) Make character with least negative influence on US and USSR
2) Starting money 15000 - build 2 tobacco farms, high school, church and garage near farms (quick education and education is the key here)
3) Wait for the tobacco export generate some money
4) Build cigar factory or two and a diplomatic agency. (Takes few freighter waits)
5) Both economy and relations solved! Raise payment for everyone a bit, especially palace guards.
6) Rest is easy. Start with college, then clinic and apartments. Then entertainment and then tourism

[close]

[Igor Hardy]

Somehow lots of well known games are mentioned in this thread...  

Some Favorite Graphic Adventures:

Azrael's Tear (a great 3D FPP adventure game combining Knight Templar's and... dinosaurs. It is a bout a futuristic thief, it looks like Looking Glass' Thief, but it was actually released a year before Quake 1, the machines of that time didn't take the advanced engine very well - unique atmosphere and story, alternative quests, great innovative gameplay)

Dreamweb (the greatest cyberpunk adventure game of all time - great atmosphere and storytelling - a bit shortish though)

Some Favorite Interactive Fiction:

Lost in New York (through a strange series of events you find yourself visiting different periods of New York history, trying to find a way back to the future - detailed, atmospheric and with fun puzzles)

Lost Pig (delightful little adventure were you control a troll named Grunk who enters some kind of catacombs while searching for a pig - amazing parser, incredibly rich NPCs, great design and amount of interaction choices)