What's the most UNDERrated game you've played?

I used to be an avid fan of a game called "New World Order", which was a great action shooter, trying to take on CounterStrike, at which it failed miserably. The technology used however was great, and it had great (but limited) physics support, as an FPS it showed your own body when you looked down, it had GREAT dynamic lighting (you could shoot out lights) and shadow handling (you saw your own shadows, and shadows of others gave away their position if they did not get rid of lights that gave them away). In short, it was an awesome game that never acquired anything even close to a critical mass to take off and conquer the masses.

Too bad they never got round to releasing another game with the engine or did an update on the engine. It was great stuf.

Trust me (I know that's a lot to ask for) but that review was really really really off the mark, except for the fact that when the game was first released is it was actually in (barely) alpha tested state. I had a great time testing it to completion btw

That.... and this is the most UNDERrated game thread so it kind of fits in nicely, don't you agree?

Caesar 3.

Most reviews gave it 7.0 to 8.0. Most people who played the game gave it a much higher score. I've never played a game that came close in the "whoah! where did 6 hours just go?" stakes.


Oh, and Hardwar was pretty excellent too. That one just dropped off everyone's radar for some reason. Shame, as it was immense fun and had hilarious in-game videos (including the lead designer playing a crooked cop).

Hmm, I think I'll have to go with Metal Fatigue
A great little RTS that had horrendous reviews and little to no fanfare.

I played that game for hours. It had some really interesting dynamics I would like to have seen in other RTSs. Shame really.

Around the same time Warlords Battlecry came out. That was also fairly underrated at the time but TONS of fun. Later it got the recognition it deserved, but at the time it was really underrated.

Rise of the Triad

Underplayed would be The Longest Journey, though actual ratings actually caught up with it, if just barely.

Hmm...

I'd have to say Red Orchestra in recent history, just because the mainstream reviewers like hyped up mediocrity & can't stand for anything that rises above the crap level in something they're not used to.

For a game that was average expansion length & completely perfected every aspect imaginable of the original formula Valve introduced with Half-Life 1, Half-Life 2: Aftermath sure got a whole lot of bad reviews for what it was. The only thing I have against it (unless you just hate expansions for what they are because you can't stand anything shorter than a full game no matter WHAT) that's legitimate is that they definitely slipped up with their minimalist story telling method.

Beyond that, I'd say most games made by Irrational don't see nearly the level of praise they should. I still want them to team up with Valve one day on John Carmack's next engine. It's like my fantasy dream... >_>

Along those lines, Beyond Good and Evil should be in that list.

I've heard Psychonauts is quite a game. I haven't played it yet but I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

I feel like I never stop slurping this game, but what the hell -- The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay.

I know it got some great reviews, and yes, it was a platinum hit on Xbox. But for some reason, I never hear about this game in discussions about the best Xbox titles or superior FPS/stealth titles. It's a beautifully designed game and is probably the best movie spinoff/adaptation I've ever played.

I tried to champion this game for the pc in here, ppl rarely listened Ranks as one of my favest ever fps games and it still looks and play excellently. One of my favorite game review sites www.eurogamer.net reviewed it twice to try and get ppl to buy it and it has a great commentary replay value.