Games that deserves more credit

[TheJBurger]

Freelancer and Wing Commander. 3.

And simulation games in general.

[Oliwerko]

Well, I know another game similar to DNF.
It's called Rig'n'Roll and it is *probably going to* be a trucking simulator, released when (if) it's done. It's been under development since 2003 and they constantly keep on postponing the release date in terms of months ever since. Now they finally say that the game's almost finished and they're polishing the bugs.... I remain in faith that this game WILL come out and that the developers didn't release it yet, because they don't want to release a half-assed arcade bullshit like the 18 wheels of steel series.

Yeah, DNF is not alone in the hell of "never-to-be-released" games.

[Akatosh]

Definitly Hidden Agenda. It's one of the best, most contemplative games I've ever seen, and certainly the best "politicial simulator" to date. For some perspective, it was made two years before my birth.

Also, The Spirit Engine and it's sequel (which is largely unrelated, except for parts of the combat system) are pretty good and quite underrated, as are Yggdra Union and Rebel Star.

[Arboris]

Freelancer and Wing Commander. 3.

And simulation games in general.

Looking at your games, I think you'll like Evochron Legends. It's a indy space sim in vein of Frontier - First Encounters.

[Stee]

Duke Nukem Forever doesn't need more credit. Its been ...

Wow, and I thought it was obvious that I meant that as a joke. I shall use more smileys in future posts.

Sorry dude, I noticed it was a joke, I just wanted to express how much credit that game didn't deserve. That was a 3am rant anyways.

[blueskirt]

Startopia
Economic sim with attitude.

A better descriptive would be: Theme Hospital meets Dungeon Keeper, except it takes place in a doughnut shaped space station and you got to hire aliens, trade ressources, wage wars and keep all these aliens tourists alive, healthy and entertained while emptying their pockets. Also expect a healthy dose of winks to 2001 A Space Odyssey and scifi in general.

The main campaign feel more like a 10 missions long tutorial and the AI sucks, but man, did I kill hours with the fan missions and the sandbox mode.

Startropics for the NES.

I bought the game 3 or 4 years ago and I still couldn't finish the last level, which make me seriously doubt about my skills as a gamer since my cousins could do it anytime they wanted and I'm twice older than they were back when they did.

I also second Thief 1 & 2.

Other games?

Jagged Alliance: Think Xcom without the research aspect but all your mercs have their own personalities. On the tactical aspect, battles are 2 dimentional (no second floors) but you will experience the joys of locked doors, minefields, jammed guns, disarming bombs and boobytraps, healing wounded soldiers under heavy fire, and your best mercs deserting you in the middle of the night with your best stuff because you hired someone they can't stand or because you refused them a raise or because they think you just plain sucks as an employer.

System Shock: Forget about Wolfenstein and Doom. This is the game that made games like Half-Life and Deus Ex possible.

And let's add Deus Ex to the list too while we're here.

Dark Reign: A great RTS that was sadly overshadowed by Total Annihilation and StarCraft, except in Australia. For its time, the game had many features that are too numerous to list here. If you are a fan of RTS, I highly suggest that you read the wikipedia and everything2.com articles on it. The final mission is also epic where 75% of the map is nothing but enemy base and the super weapons were actually super weapons that could destroy half your base and not nuclear bombs that barely scratched a building.

Z: Frantic RTS where unit production depends on conquering and staying in controls of territories. The music is also dynamic to the current situation, calm music when nothing happen, action-ish during battles, heroic when you win, stressful when you're about to lose, not unlike the music of Woodtick in MI2. This game's sole problem is that randomness often take the front seat and you can sometimes lose a heavy tank to a light tank because of some seemingly completly random factor. Sidenote, did I waste days trying to illegally download that game because search engines couldn't accept search queries shorter than 3 letters? Best accidental anti-piracy scheme ever.

Superhero League Of Hoboken: One of the best adventure game I played in the recent years. A mix of superhero adventure/RPG game, with turn based battles and puzzle solving, by Steve Meretzky.

And Bionic Commando, but thanks to the sequel and the remake it's been in the spotlight a lot lately.

I try to think of more but I can't find any right now.

[Oliwerko]

battles are 2 dimentional (no second floors)

Actually, in Jagged Alliance 2 patched to the latest version, you (and even AIs) can walk on building roofs, as far as I remember.
But yeah, Jagged Alliance series is one of the most tactical strategy games I've played.

Maybe I should mention Steel Panthers: World at War, which is simply the best war strategy game I've played. No fancy graphics, you'll have to get used to a hex grid with some simple effects, but the tactics side of the game beats the hell out of you in tough situations. I believe the reason why people don't get to play it is "poor graphics" along with the learning curve.

[Lionmonkey]

Continuing my part on the righteous quest to give these games another bit of fame, they deserver, here's one more look at the cd boxes, lying all over the flat:

Ballistics
This is probably the fastest game in the world. It all about the evoking of speed by super-aerodynamic levitating machinery, dazing through colourful tubes. You've gotta see it for yourself: here
I still curse the day when I deleted it due to broken fonts and even more, when I found the CD with horrible scratches all over it.

Shogo: Mobile Armor Division
The game lets you interchangeably play as a foot soldier Sanjuro and him in a giant animesque robot. The game showcases some nice gameplay techinques, style, and probably the most nostalgic intro ever. Plus, many little things, like ability to squish people with your big robot feet, talkative NPCs (in a first/third person shooter!) that immerse you into the game, despite how ugly the people's faces are, compared to robots.

Giants:Citizen Kabuto
First you play a marine of some humanoid species, called Meccarins. And you've got a jetpack! Imagine this, you are alloved to fly around the beautiful tropical paradise, where the game's action happens, enjoying lustious colors of the trees, the sun, the sky, the sea.

That's a great game alone. But there's some story. And some cause, to fight with evil spider-like creatures
and sea reapers. And to save little egg-headed and light-minded smarties.
But wait! Later on the game you get to play as a half-naked (fixed to underwear-wearing in the final release, but easily undone) blue-skinned, magic wielding Delphi:
WARNING: NSFW, if you are working at a place where are such chauvinists, who think that there is something wrong with women being topless on public.
But that's  not it! You also get to play as Kabuto. Well this says it all:

As if that all wasn't enough, the game also has got some very nice graphics, some very nice humor and a lot of other stuff that will make you wanna play it.

Evil Islands
Now this game may seem like a generic fantasy RPG from the first looks. It's got some generic background story, some generic monsters and some generic epic story. But there's more to it. It isn't all high fantasy (Lord of the Rings), it's got some low fantasy (Conan). It doesn't just show us what would the lives of grand people be in such a setting, it shows us the lives of simple everyday people, their values and philosophy. Little to no pathos here. It continues, breaking even more fantasy RPG cliches. Where else would you have to make a deal with goblin tribe, instead of wiping it out? Also, it features an equipment and spell constructor, not too common nowadays.

The Battlecruiser Series
Now this is a highly controversial space sim. First, i'd like to tell you the best part. Here a piece of what you can do in there: here
You can be a commander of a gigantic spaceship, you can fly a tiny spacecraft, you can land on a planet, you can drive cars, you can walk on foot with your guns, or fly your jetpack, or fly around the space in spacesuit.
Still there are some problems. First of all, it's not that easy to learn all that. The game has got a VERY big amount of hotkeys, it's interface is pretty confusing etc. Now, if that doesn't put you off, there's not much to do. Sure, there's a campaign and some instant action missions, but they are nothing much, if something. Once you ar in the free roam mode, you are free to do anything: mine minerals on a moon, fight with evil Gammulans, explore the galaxy...But with the same result you could do nothing. There's no stimulus to do anything, you are just left alone with a static world, that doesn't care about you.
I still consider, that this game needs more credit, because it had got so much potential, the world was completely open for the first time in history. But it the the rest of the game didn't get enough attention.

Road to Eldorado
Now, this adventure game was based off the cartoon, you've all watched and liked. Strangely enough, the adaptation isn't too bad. The humor is there, some not too easy, but not too hard puzzles, are there, in the end it's a short but fun game to play, nothing much more to say about it.

Psi-ops
This was a revolutionary game because it invented (at least for me) telekinesis. Countless hours of fun, using your psychic abilities to throw objects at your enemies, throw enemies at objects,surf on all of the above, pop their heads, mind control them and watching the nice work of physics engine. I still don't get it, why were the sales so bad.

Creatures Series
Imagine, that you've sudenly gotten yourself an furry infant child. And you can teach him/her to eat. And to clean up your house. And to speak a language, you've just invented. The masters of A.I. at Creature Labs give you this amazing chance. Plus, many other fun things to do.

Gorky Zero
It's hard to get why I like this game. You see, it's a very rude ripoff from the two 3rd action stealth games, we know are the ultimatest thethest bestest...Just, let's say, these games are known. And then I see someone cut a slice from one of the games and put it on protagonists head. Then cut a solid chunk of the other one and wipe it all over in a thin layer. Repeat the procedure, slightly alternating the steps, until there are no blank spots left.
But, what's amazing, is that in the end, i came out as a quite playable game. I hate a lot of things about it, but I can still enjoy playing it. That's weird, but it works.

Space Rangers 2
Now to understand waht this game is all about, watch this Trust, me it's better to watch the native language version, you can understand everything by intonations and contect anyway.
Now let me think: does this trailer show us what the game is about? The answe is: absolutely yes, and absolutely no.
The game is not 3d, it features 2d sprites of spaceships flying over a space background. But the space is atoundingly beautiful. And the ships look so nice and mint, you want to buy every each of them. The battles are turn-based, each turn taking one in-game day, but all complete with special effects, battle tension and adrenaline-rushing music. By the way, about the music, this game has got one of the most atmospheric soundtrcks, I've ever heard. They're just so fitting with the space voyage them. The ending credits alone can make you in love with the game
The game is very detailed, there are many little things,like minigames and planetary quests that add to it, too much to count up them here.

Prisoner of War
You are a WW2 pilot Lewis Stone, a fresh prisoner of war. You plan on running away. How? By using your stealth to steal some cigarettes and wine for your inmates, so they can help you out...That's it about the story for now. One of the most prominent things about PoW, making it stand out from other stealth games is the order of the day.
Early in the morning all inmates are woken up and counted, to check if anyone has ran away. Then they are escorted to the mess hall, which they can't leave, before the breakfast ends. Then they are free to roam a small part of the prison camp to strech a bit. Another trip to the mess hall, then it's free time agin, then mess hall again, then evening recounting and good night.
Not only you have to avoid being seen on a territory, where you aren't supposed to be, but you also have to show up on recounting, or else an alarm will give you hard times.
A quite enjoyable game, albeit with a quite dissatisfying ending.

DroneZ
Save the humanity from computers, which have enslaved it in a virtual world. Sounds familiar? Well, although thereare some fights, they are nothing you were used to. I won't spoil the surprise, you've gotta try it yourself.
But figting is not what you are going to do most of the time. Solving puzzles it will be. The will require both quick reaction and throrough thinking, so better prepare.

MDK2
Now, this is a game where you shoot aliens. There are three protagonists who will help you with this: Kurt Hectic, a lab assistant, wearing a suit with a parachute. Prof. Fluke Hawkings - an eccentric genius with an atomic toster. And his robot dog - Max, who has got 2 legs and four arms, and a passionate love for guns.
A very fun game with entertaining humor and awesome music.

I-Ninja

You play as a little big-headed ninja. You do everything, a stereotypical ninja would do: run up walls, fight forces of evil with katana, throw surikens, wear headbands, use mysterious artifacts, man various technical wonders and be very angry.
A fun game to play.

Evolva
You control four strange aliens in an unknown world. The fun starts when you meet it's fauna. After you kill a fast long legged wtf, you can use it's genes to grow horns on one of your party member's legs and thus make him faster. Or kill the high jumping one to get guess what? A wide variety of genes make space for interesting combinations.

Tongue of the Fatman
Looks like a standart fighting game. What's so special about it? The characters! Which other game lets you play as a cololny of bacterias or an alien with rotating razor blades for hands (which let him fly)? This makes the game if not a gem, at least worth mentioning.

The Devil Inside
Ah..My first survival horror. You get to play as Dave Coper, a star of the superpopular reality show, which's protagonists fight evil with guns. Yes, the zombies are real, but it still is a show, the audience, the host  Jack T. Ripper and the guy with camera, following you - everyone will constantly remind you about that.

Flying Heroes
It started as a Quake clone. But the developers got a nice idea on how to make the game original - the players will be flying! Everything comes into use - birds, dragons, blips, magic carpets - everything.
A system of magic and skills, plus original weapons for each of the four clans, all this makes the game even more...original.

Project Nomads
Everyone dreams of their own home. Well how about a piece of land, floating in the air? And it's a travelling home, you can move it. But there are enemies. You must build turrets and use them to shoot the enemie away from your sweet home. What, more enemies. Let's build an airport! In a few minutes an empty piece of rock becomes a flying fortress. And it's your home!

[Trent R]

Hahaha, I remember MDK2. Excellent Dreamcast game (actually, Dreamcast is a system that deserves more credit)


~Trent

[Wonkyth]

Hmm, yeah I didn't think of Dark Reign immediately, because in my circle of friends we've been playing this game since it came out, and haven't stopped!
The only downfall in this game is the fact that it only has one resource, making multi-player less enjoyable than it would be otherwise...
But it DOES have have rift machines, and that clears all faults from mind.

[Dualnames]

ACT RAISERS 1,2 & 3(Playing God was never such fun)

[2ma2]

I'll second Beyond Good and Evil. I've praised the game before at this forum, and I'll prolly do it again. For lovers of european comics, this is a must. The storytelling is well executed and the game has a good diversity of difficulties. I tried it at a friends house, borrowed it home, and put it down about 14 hours later - finished. No game has ever had that effect on me.

Another great game is Shining Force. When I first bought it, I hoped for a Zelda for the Megadrive/Genesis, only to find a strategy RPG. But the disappointment was cured when I realised the games full potential. That happened amost a year afterwards. The storytelling is blunt, as usual in a japanese game, but there's alot of thought put down into the characters - something that influenced my gaming even though I suspect this "flavour" did not have an ingame effect. And the strategy is simple and unrealistic - much like DnD4e, and that's a good thing in my book! 

..the sequel wasn't as good. It seemed to much of everything.

[R4L]

System Shock 2 was my favorite game that no one else I knew had. I love that I can play it multiple times and still have fun like I did the first time I played it. It's a bit hard, but once you get into the groove of it, it's a lot of fun.

Breakdown for the Xbox. Should have gotten a sequel or something. Amazing game.

Also, Psychonauts.