Forgive me is this is a tired topic, I couldn't find a recent example of it. In a discussion about hype, someone mentioned that they were actually very happy with the state of pc gaming, primarily indie titles.
Well, here's the chance to hype your favorite, recently produced, unhyped games. What are you playing right now that you just stumbled on, or you don't think nearly enough people play? I ask that they be recently produced so that we don't get a whole bunch of cult-classics...given the theme of this site, I imagine most of us are aware of classic games.
I wish I had something to add, but I've been a bit uninspired by PC games of late. Tell me what's awesome so I can go buy it!

edit: i really need to read more than the title of the thread.
Kings Bounty is amazing, and a perfect example
Check out Ben there, Dan that--an actually funny modern adventure game--for free
And my personal submission would be Hinterland by tilted mill. I think there's a sale on it over on impulse right now, but it's also available on steam.

Since you're looking for recent releases, I don't think I've played anything lately that fits all those criteria, but maybe King's Bounty: The Legend is close enough. I'd call it a sleeper hit: it seems a lot of people have played it and liked it, at least enough to justify an expansion (I can't wait), but it was released quietly and doesn't seem to get much attention from the press. It kept me pretty well hooked for a good two weeks.

Caster is a game that released somewhat recently (at the beginning of this year). The graphics aren't that great and the game isn't too long, but the gameplay is solid and the second (free) episode is almost out and the developer said he plans to continue adding free content. It's also only $5.
Link to his site
There's a demo you can try out, but it doesn't give you the full feeling of the game, as it's the most fun when you have all of the abilities maxed out.
That sounded quite a bit like an ad. =P

Cortex Command would be my choice. It's still heavy WIP, the community is made up of angry pre-pubescence kids, the forum mods go on lock and banning sprees because they think being moderator of a small forum that hardly constitutes to 1% of the Internet community is cool, and the forums are a depressing place to hang out at. However, ignoring all that, Cortex Command is one of my most solid purchases, simply because of the huge amounts of mods and crazy things to do.
-edit-
I tried Hinterland, didn't like it much. The town building part felt like an afterthought. It's very linear, and you can't really do much about it besides hiring new villagers, and then deciding whether you want them along for the ride or not. I frankly couldn't really see a purpose to the game, since I'm not the huge fan of hack n slashes that I was back when Diablo 1 was released
I also tried Caster before, and while the shooter mechanics were fun, I just didn't like the terraforming part. Raising the land was what killed the terraforming feature for me. Other than that though, I thought it was good old school fun.

I've got one for you, but it's not a commercial release. It's a flash game, and it's also one of the most compelling games I've played in a long time.
Alluding to a very old story that some may recognize:
Don't Look Back

actually, calling hinterland a 'gem' is not really correct. the game is deeply flawed and not especially genius or anything. it does manage to be different, though, and i enjoyed it, but not for too long.
it was less hyped than many worse games, however.

I don't usually keep up with the hype machine (not as disappointing this way)
However recently I've been tearing into:
X2- The Threat
It's a little bit older, but not pre-2000. The only reason I heard of this game was through a shady demo download link a buddy from the UK sent me. I was in love with the realtime cockpit in a space sim game, and minor bugs aside it's pretty well developed.
Killing Floor
The only hype I saw on this was an ad on Steam. I figured "Oh great, charging me for another UT04 mod that I only kind of liked" but after buying it I actually enjoy it greatly.
Audiosurf
A gem for sure, but I don't know how the hype machine figured on this one... tons of people know about it, but I was under the impression it didn't sell well. It's kind of like Frequency and Amplitude becoming best friends with Tetris

Aquaria.

Tried it. The controls were so horrible that I never want to try it again. When a task as simple as walking across a flat surface becomes a complicated task, it's time for the developer to rethink his control scheme.

Mount & Blade. Hard to describe just why....
Think of a Sid Meier's Pirates in the darkest times of the middle age, with an open world like Oblivion. You're free to go and do as you wish. And the combat is fresh, rewarding and challenging.
Yes, the game is a bit... let's call it unpolished. Still, I keep getting back to it and every time I do, the time flies by.
It can get a bit frustrating before you found out about the "dos" and "don'ts". I'm still just a newb even after my third attempt and reaching lvl 16, still standing away from forming an army or getting involved in the actually ongoing wars. Just running around with 8 other NPC, beating up street robbers and the likes, selling them to ransom collectors or even slave dealers - as soon as the enemies show some kind of military training, I'm getting my ass handled to myself. :)
And for Steam-haters: if you buy it over steam, you'll get an activation code with it. With this code you can actually activate the demo into the full game, so you don't have to use steam again.
Download the demo, try it out and see if you're getting into it. I'm simply hooked.

When it comes to overlooked gems, Mount&Blade is anything but. The game is waaaay overrated, and people are giving it more credit than what it's worth. I think part of this is because people forgive the game when they are exposed to more mods.
I've been playing it since 0.751b, and I'm honestly not impressed with the final version after what seems to be 3 years of labor, but hey, I've already said this to death in other threads.
I agree. Unfortunately, the fanboy community is so anal about any criticisms, that they can come up with any excuse for the game's shortcomings. That's why I believe until now, the control scheme remains at a suckage level.

Is 2007 recent enough? Try Frenzic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frenzic

What story did this game get its inspiration from? I tried it, played through it twice. Despite the 1988 graphics, I found the music and gameplay very compelling, especially when the game starts to live up to its name q;-)
Thanks for recommending it, it's such an intriguing and creepy title.

I really liked this one, its artsy and relaxing. [url=]http://www.playauditorium.com/[/url]