Posted August 10, 2013
Post edited August 10, 2013 by groze
groze
custard tart
Registered: Jun 2013
From Portugal
AgentBirdnest
Ja'crispy
Registered: Jan 2011
From United States
Posted August 10, 2013
I remember it got a lot of shit for ripping off Bioshock. I never cared. It was a cool game with fun gunplay and a fun story. That's what mattered to me.
Yeah, there was little or no marketing for the game at all, causing poor sales and massive layoffs at Raven. Then Activision blamed Raven. Really sad, but is to be expected with Activision, I guess.
Post edited August 10, 2013 by AdamR
GaminggUy45
Galaxy Explorer
Registered: Feb 2012
From United States
Posted August 10, 2013
When asked for underrated games I usually say Alpha Protocol first, very fun spy RPG. Some random shooters I think are very solid but underrated because they're not innovative, such as Wolfenstein 2009, Singularity, Timeshift, and that time travel one... fuck, what was the name of it? Oh well.
infinite9
No Longer New!
Registered: Jun 2010
From United States
Posted August 10, 2013
It always seems like overrated and underrated depend on the forums and communities that are holding the discussions. I'll make mine based off of this particular community:
Overrated:
Half-life 2- It's a fun game and I enjoyed it. It deserved much of the respect it received especially for the time being but the gun battles were okay at best and the ladder mechanics needed work.
Final Fantasy VII- It was good for its time and had an interesting battle system especially the magic setup portion of it and the limit breaks but it was nothing too special compared to the rest of the franchise. Also, the fans keep claiming that it had such a great story or dialogue yet there were numerous writing issues and I'm not talking about translation. It had to do with contradictions in dialogue and unnecessary melodrama.
Underrated:
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning- This is a game that is underrated in both this forum and in general. I really had a lot of fun with this game and the gameplay was really cool. There were a few areas that could have been better like the side missions but it was really fun. It's really sad what happened to 38 Studios and Big Huge Games.
Assault Heroes- This was an XBLA title that was awesome when I played it. I was just glued to it and played it from beginning to end nonstop.
Overrated:
Half-life 2- It's a fun game and I enjoyed it. It deserved much of the respect it received especially for the time being but the gun battles were okay at best and the ladder mechanics needed work.
Final Fantasy VII- It was good for its time and had an interesting battle system especially the magic setup portion of it and the limit breaks but it was nothing too special compared to the rest of the franchise. Also, the fans keep claiming that it had such a great story or dialogue yet there were numerous writing issues and I'm not talking about translation. It had to do with contradictions in dialogue and unnecessary melodrama.
Underrated:
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning- This is a game that is underrated in both this forum and in general. I really had a lot of fun with this game and the gameplay was really cool. There were a few areas that could have been better like the side missions but it was really fun. It's really sad what happened to 38 Studios and Big Huge Games.
Assault Heroes- This was an XBLA title that was awesome when I played it. I was just glued to it and played it from beginning to end nonstop.
BoxOfSnoo
epic meh.
Registered: Sep 2008
From Canada
Posted August 10, 2013
StingingVelvet
Devil's Advocate
Registered: Nov 2008
From United States
Posted August 10, 2013
When asked for underrated games I usually say Alpha Protocol first, very fun spy RPG. Some random shooters I think are very solid but underrated because they're not innovative, such as Wolfenstein 2009, Singularity, Timeshift, and that time travel one... fuck, what was the name of it? Oh well.
I actually don't own it anymore as I sold all my discs and it was a rare one not tied to some service. It's never on sale on Steam either. I gave them $50 for the game way back though, honestly I could pirate the thing and not feel bad about it. In any case it was a solid shooter with neat ideas that got horrible reviews based on a broken Xbox port, from what I understood.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning- This is a game that is underrated in both this forum and in general. I really had a lot of fun with this game and the gameplay was really cool. There were a few areas that could have been better like the side missions but it was really fun. It's really sad what happened to 38 Studios and Big Huge Games.
Post edited August 10, 2013 by StingingVelvet
Neobr10
what's a paladin
Registered: Jun 2011
From Brazil
Posted August 10, 2013
Halo PC
Halo 2 PC
GTA3, GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas PC versions
Final Fantasy 7 PC
Final Fantasy 8 PC
GTA is another case of bad port, at least in my opinion. I have recently played (and finished) GTA 3 on my PC and i regret a lot choosing it over the superior PS2 version. First, the game was meant to be played on a controller and designed with autoaiming in mind. Second, i had some technical issues getting the game running. Third, the crosshair is completely out of place in widescreen resolutions, even though the game DOES have a widescreen option. So yeah, there is a widescreen option there, but it doesn't work. This makes the game nearly unplayable in widescreen resolution because the bullets do not hit the place you're aiming at due to the crosshair being out of place.
I also played San Andreas back in the day and i remember that it ran like shitty on my PC at that time, even though it was a pretty decent machine. I could run Half Life 2 and Doom 3 with pretty much everything set to high at decent resolutions, but San Andreas was a pain in the ass to run. GTA 4 has similar optimization issues. Oh, and there's that Rockstar Social Club crap.
For these reasons i'm never ever touching GTA on PCs again. The next GTA i plan on playing is Vice City, and even though i own the Steam version, i'll get myself a PS2 copy. It's pretty cheap and will save me a lot of hassle.
Post edited August 10, 2013 by Neobr10
GaminggUy45
Galaxy Explorer
Registered: Feb 2012
From United States
Posted August 11, 2013
I actually don't own it anymore as I sold all my discs and it was a rare one not tied to some service. It's never on sale on Steam either. I gave them $50 for the game way back though, honestly I could pirate the thing and not feel bad about it. In any case it was a solid shooter with neat ideas that got horrible reviews based on a broken Xbox port, from what I understood.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning- This is a game that is underrated in both this forum and in general. I really had a lot of fun with this game and the gameplay was really cool. There were a few areas that could have been better like the side missions but it was really fun. It's really sad what happened to 38 Studios and Big Huge Games.
SpooferJahk
*Insert Title*
Registered: Oct 2010
From United States
Posted August 11, 2013
You want massively underrated?
Eojjeonji Joheun Il-i Saenggil Geot Gateun Jeonyeok and the Intelligent Qube/I.Q./Kurushi series.
Eojjeonji Joheun Il-i Saenggil Geot Gateun Jeonyeok and the Intelligent Qube/I.Q./Kurushi series.
StingingVelvet
Devil's Advocate
Registered: Nov 2008
From United States
OneoftheLost
Wizard King
Registered: Aug 2009
From United States
Posted August 11, 2013
http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/singularity
Is that the one? Has anyone played it? Seems a bit forgotten...
(heh - Mobygames says its inspired by Bioshock but its set on a spaceship - whoever wrote that has obviously never heard of System Shock 2!)
To this day, that title has come the closest to getting me to swear off video games forever.
It also has NOTHING to do with spaceships or a rpg-lite system like System shock. Singularity is the story of American special agents investigating an explosion on a Russian island that served as an experiment for a new kind of resource. Its basically a first person shooter with time travel and a REALLY cool environment. Think Wolfenstein (The latest one.) mixed with Metro 2033 and you will have a good idea of what to expect. Good game.
Also, infuriating. I, to this day, refuse to believe that any human being has ever beaten it on hard. I don't care what youtube evidence you folks present, there is a certain section that I start getting angry just thinking about, so I won't even type it out. I couldn't even finish the game it made me so mad.
OT: Bioshock. After playing System shock, I just couldn't get into it. I just don't have any fun playing the bioshock games. They never stay installed on my computer long.
Most underrated? Sword of the Stars. BRILLIANT 4x. Really deserves to be played by all. Such an awesome interface and art style mixed with epic combat and less micromanagement then most other 4x games.
Post edited August 11, 2013 by OneoftheLost
Starmaker
go Clarice!
Registered: Sep 2010
From Russian Federation
Posted August 11, 2013
Overrated:
Baldur's Gate - yes, it is historically important, bfd
Planescape: Torment - great writing, huge impact on ttrpgs, but screw its disgusting morals with full force
To The Moon - the pixel art is pretty, but people are mostly praising it for the plot. And it's way easier to distinguish between graphix and plot than between the technical excellence of writing/setting design and plot, as in the case of PS:T
Braid - completely fucking average. One might say whatever is mildly praiseworthy about it was Blown out of proportion.
FF7 - might be a severe case of "not for me".
The Walking Dead and other " little girl" games
Spec Ops and other pretentious shooters (note that this and the line immediately above covers Bioshock twice)
Dear Esther
Age of Wonders - how do you manage to fuck up writing a plot for the campaign?
Syberia, TLJ, and other pretentious adventures
Avadon - so generic it hurts
Beneath a Steel Sky - another historical artifact
Underrated
(GOG games only, because the discourse is different and underrated != overrated x -1)
(also, I tried to be objective and make this list different from "games that you don't like because ur stoopid"; eg Spirits wouldn't 've made the list because it's a very personal preference, while Anodyne only makes it because of the Zelda bullshit, not because "baww some people dare to not like it, call the drama police")
SMAC - deserves even more praise than it gets
Arkania
all the Divinities before DC (haven't played it yet)
Botanicula - this is how to make a save-the-world story
Defender's Quest - near perfect, needs exponentially more praise
Perimeter
Dragonsphere - better than most popular "classic" adventures
Ittle Dew / Anodyne - top-down exploration games should be praised on their own terms; I don't even like Zelda.
Severely underrated as a class: most abstract awesomeness.
Probably okay: Half-Life. My perception of its rep is less "awesomest game" and more "really damn popular game and we would very much prefer to know how the story ends within our lifetimes".
Baldur's Gate - yes, it is historically important, bfd
Planescape: Torment - great writing, huge impact on ttrpgs, but screw its disgusting morals with full force
To The Moon - the pixel art is pretty, but people are mostly praising it for the plot. And it's way easier to distinguish between graphix and plot than between the technical excellence of writing/setting design and plot, as in the case of PS:T
Braid - completely fucking average. One might say whatever is mildly praiseworthy about it was Blown out of proportion.
FF7 - might be a severe case of "not for me".
The Walking Dead and other " little girl" games
Spec Ops and other pretentious shooters (note that this and the line immediately above covers Bioshock twice)
Dear Esther
Age of Wonders - how do you manage to fuck up writing a plot for the campaign?
Syberia, TLJ, and other pretentious adventures
Avadon - so generic it hurts
Beneath a Steel Sky - another historical artifact
Underrated
(GOG games only, because the discourse is different and underrated != overrated x -1)
(also, I tried to be objective and make this list different from "games that you don't like because ur stoopid"; eg Spirits wouldn't 've made the list because it's a very personal preference, while Anodyne only makes it because of the Zelda bullshit, not because "baww some people dare to not like it, call the drama police")
SMAC - deserves even more praise than it gets
Arkania
all the Divinities before DC (haven't played it yet)
Botanicula - this is how to make a save-the-world story
Defender's Quest - near perfect, needs exponentially more praise
Perimeter
Dragonsphere - better than most popular "classic" adventures
Ittle Dew / Anodyne - top-down exploration games should be praised on their own terms; I don't even like Zelda.
Severely underrated as a class: most abstract awesomeness.
Probably okay: Half-Life. My perception of its rep is less "awesomest game" and more "really damn popular game and we would very much prefer to know how the story ends within our lifetimes".
timppu
Favorite race: Formula__One
Registered: Jun 2011
From Finland
Posted August 11, 2013
Halo PC
Halo 2 PC
GTA3, GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas PC versions
Final Fantasy 7 PC
Final Fantasy 8 PC
Halo 2:
- Halo 2 PC at max graphics settings had somewhat better graphics than the XBox original, also due to slightly higher resolution. It is simply so much easier to discern the enemies from the background with the much crispier and clearer PC version (esp. due to PC monitor vs TV display), including what sort of enemy it is. This was very obvious in e.g. the hangar section in the beginning of the game.
- Mouse(aim) + keyboard makes the game much more playable than the original with the XBox gamepad. One simple example is how hard (= pretty much impossible) it is to jump and aim at the same time with the XBox gamepad. No such issue with the PC version.
Final Fantasy 7:
- Depending what sound card you had, the music in the PC version was even better than on the PSX original. The only exception would be the end-boss fight music (One Winged Angel), as with most PC sound cards you would miss the vocals.But I think you got those with SB AWE32, so again it depended on which sound card you had.
I know many people claim the PSX music still sounds better because it was the original version, but I've let e.g. my gf hear a few FF7 tunes both from the PSX version, and PC (SCC-1 or Yamaha XG) side by side, and in each case she picked the PC version of the music as the superior one. She doesn't even know what the game is so she is free of any preconceptions of what is supposed to be better.
- The only thing I see was clearly worse with the PC version were the FMV videos, where the colors seemed somehow washed out compared to he PSX original (even when running the PSX original through an emulator, so that the difference doesn't come from PC monitor vs. TV display). But other than that, I think it was an ok port that gave PC gamers a good taste of the series.
Final Fantasy 8:
- Unlike with FF7PC, IIRC the FMV videos were even better on PC than on PSX. No similar grainy color problems as with FF7PC either. And IIRC the PC version even included an extra minigame that for the Playstation version was available only in the Japanese version, if you had bought some extra LCD HW gadget for your Playstation.
GTA3:
- I don't recall having similar problems as you with the widescreen mode, but I still opted to play the PC versions in 4:3 because the widescreen mode was fake, ie. it apparently just stretched a 4:3 picture over 16:9. So in my opinion there was no real reason to even use the widescreen mode, it just makes everything look fatter.
Did the PS2 versions even support proper widescreen modes? At least when I've seen them, they've always been run in 4:3 aspect ratio.
- IIRC due to higher resolutions, in the PC versions it is e.g. much easier to discern the road signs and such from afar, than in the muddier PSX versions.
I guess we can never agree with these, but at least I feel the claims that the PC ports of the mentioned games are some unplayable mess are far from the truth. Like in this forum I think someone claimed before that in the PC version of Halo 2 the mouse aim is completely broken, making the game unplayable. I have no idea what he was complaining about as it worked, and works, fine for me. Maybe he was playing some unpatched version with problems, while I was playing it with some latest patches.
morciu
stay in school
Registered: Apr 2011
From Romania
Posted August 11, 2013
the auto aim in console gta games is really lame, feels like cheating.
SBLux
I like Acorns
Registered: Mar 2011
From United Kingdom
