Games you like (Or even love) that everyone else hates. - by Bucky Seifert
Bucky Seifert on 1/12/2016 at 00:41
Whether they be guilty pleasures, or games that you are unashamed to defend against their reputation, what are the games you enjoy that the internet says you aren't supposed to?
Here is my list, let's get controversial!
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified
It's very clear that 2K just wanted this game done and out while they new XCOM was relevant again, something that it hasn't been since like 1996, especially since it's been in development hell for so long. It doesn't have enough XCOM elements to be worthy of the name, but even so I still find it to be a fun Mass Effect clone in a setting that isn't explored too much in games, certainly not AAA ones.
No Man's Sky
The first truly controversial choice. Maybe because I didn't buy into the hype for it, but I expected a chill game about exploring planets and flying around space, and really that's exactly what I got. Plus the foundation update is a big step in the right direction imo, and while it still has a long way to go, this game still could achieve greatness I think. Although I'm still supremely disappointed by what happens when you reach the galactic core.
Star Wars: Rebellion
An obscure choice that wasn't very well received when it came out, people seeing it as a sort of half baked Master of Orion clone. They weren't wrong per se, but I still find being the leader of either the Empire or Rebellion to be really fun and engaging. The only thing really is you pretty much have to mod the game so hyperdrive is faster, otherwise the game just moves at a snail's pace.
Deus Ex 2: Invisible War
Probably the second controversial choice. Maybe it's because Human Revolution felt more like a proper successor to Deus Ex than this, so it's not the only other Deus Ex anymore, but taken on it's own it's really not a bad game. It's just not a good Deus Ex game. That being said I still do think those load times are unforgivable. Seriously I'm on an I7 and it still takes way too long to load. Mankind Divided loads it's levels faster! But still, it's lightyears better than Deus Ex: The Fall
Rage
Yeah, it wasn't anything super special, but I still thought the first 2/3rds of the game was a lot of fun. It was good, solid shooter that had a good amount of side activities to do, and looked really good for it's time. I think it's worth playing, but once you reach the 2/3rd point, you can feel free to stop honestly because the rest is horribly rushed.
Thief 4
Oh boy, I'm not gonna win any love for this one. Look, I agree the story sucks, and compared to the originals, especially the first 2, it doesn't hold a candle to it, and Dishonored 2 pretty much handed it's ass to it. But, even so, I still find myself going back to this game every once in a while, much like the rest of the Thief series. I still find there is an impish appeal to sneaking around and stealing everything I can get my hands on. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad the game got a lukewarm reception, because I hope it showed that they need to step up their game if they ever think of making Thief 5, which I doubt we will see for a long time. But still, even though it's the weakest in the series, I'd be lying if I said I still don't have fun with it.
Bound By Flame
The release of Witcher 3 and Dragon Age Inquisition pretty much made this game no longer relevant in terms of "Next gen" RPGs, but even so I still think it's a decent action RPG. It has problems, and I doubt I will ever finish it, but even so, it's a better action RPG I think than people say it is.
Pyrian on 1/12/2016 at 00:52
Deus Ex: The Fall
It's like DX:HR DLC, except not as good. Okay? So what? I still loved it. It may be the worst Deus Ex, but it is Deus Ex (unlike Deus Ex Go). (Disclaimer: Played PC release, not original tablet.)
Legend of Grimrock 2
I'm cheating here because I don't think people hate this game. But... It's a really good game that never comes up in discussions about really good games. It doesn't deserve to be forgotten. I feel like it didn't make the splash it deserved, it didn't even make as much of a splash as its IMO inferior predecessor.
Renzatic on 1/12/2016 at 01:17
What Pyrian said about Grimrock 2, a thousand times. It's a damn tragedy that something so good always manages to get lost in the shuffle and the noise.
When you get right down to it, it doesn't do anything too new. It's very much a spitshined modern update to an oldschool gameplay style that was tethered to the limitations of the time. But it doesn't matter that it's not new, or innovative, or paradigm shifting, or insert buzzwords and phrases here. It's so damn well done, so clever, that you can't help but love it. The game is just flat out fun, and deserves to be acknowledged as such.
Nameless Voice on 1/12/2016 at 01:25
Dawn of War: SoulstormI never even really got why people hated it so much. Yes, the campaigns were a bit boring (not that the Dark Crusade ones were much more interesting), but otherwise it was still good fun, and for the most part it had more of the awesome voice acting that the series is known for (even if some of it was... (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJMLfACod48) awesome in
other ways. (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfORh9cFDU8) *ahem*)
Evil Islands: Curse of the Lost SoulI'm still not sure if this really counts, since it isn't that hated. It's just that almost no one has even heard of it.
For those who don't know, it was a tactical-RPG, that played a bit like a mix between Diablo and Commandos. Difficult, involved lots of reloading, but it had very good character systems (especially item and magic crafting) and good balance (which a lot of games these days don't even seem to bother with.) Plot and characters were a bit flat and cheesy I guess, but I liked them.
The problem was mostly that the
developers thought it was bad; they made some kind of expansion pack that was so heavily panned it didn't even make it out of Russia, and then they went to make other types of games instead, so there hasn't really been anything like this since.
Starker on 1/12/2016 at 04:57
I actually like David Cage games. I thought Omikron: the Nomad Soul had a really interesting premise, the first third of Indigo Prophecy was really good and the finger scene in Heavy Rain still gives me chills. Oh, and I also liked Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death in a "it's so bad it's kind of good" sort of way. I like pulp in general, though.
Pyrian on 1/12/2016 at 05:18
Quote Posted by Nameless Voice
Dawn of War: SoulstormI never even really got why people hated it so much.
I played Soulstorm as Eldar and liked it a lot. Then I played it as Chaos and
hated it. Mobility just makes all the difference in a lot of its many "end" missions.
Starker on 1/12/2016 at 05:58
Oh, and there's The Witness, I guess. I thought it was a really well made and good looking puzzle game, but a lot of people went, "lol walking simulator with random line puzzles".
henke on 1/12/2016 at 06:23
In the
Games-that-were-actually-pretty-good-but-it's-cool-to-hate-on-them-but-I'm-being-even-cooler-than-the-haters-by-LIKING-them category:
Far Cry 3
Watch_Dogs
Syndicate (the FPS)
Thief (4)
In the
Actually-critically-maligned-games category (Metacritic score of under 65):
(I'll just quote myself from when we had this thread last year)
Quote Posted by henke
Ok, here are some properly maligned games I like(nothing with a metascore over 65, and no cult classics either, so no Deadly Premonition)
Betrayer - actually this one might have achieved some amount of cult following by now, dunno, haven't checked. The artstyle and ambiance is unique and great enough that I wouldn't be surprised if it has. Anyway, played through this last summer and greatly enjoyed it, even though I'll agree that the combat is simplistic and it's quite repetetive.
Crash Time 2&3 - rightly derided for it's terrrrrible writing and terrrrrible mission design(in CT3 roughly a third of the missions is racing the same track over and over), BUT the driving model is fun, and the open world is great. Very fun to see an open world driving game set in Europe for once as well.
The Getaway: Black Monday - Speaking of driving around European cities, I had so much fun just cruising the streets of London in this much-maligned PS2 game. The story and on-foot gameplay was fun too!
Driv3r - The story and on-foot gameplay was crap. As was the performance. BUT the slidey driving model was as much fun as in Driver 1, and the soundtrack was BANGIN! Coming out in 2004/2005, it couldn't help but compare unfavourably to GTA:SA (which was much better, no argument), but Driv3r
did have better vehicle physics. That's a fact. Don't argue with me on this because I'm right.
Hydrophobia: Prophecy - This one maybe didn't have much more than the fluid physics going for it. The shooting and the story are fairly middle of the road. I enjoyed it enough to finish it anyway.
Kung Fu Strike - I don't know how this only has 63 on metacritic. Really solid, challenging and fun beat em up.
Lost Planet 3 - I've banged on about this one enough, but I guess I'll bang on about it some more! Yes, the combat is weak, and the checkpointing is dreadful. But I love the characters, and I love the
working man ambiance I guess you might call it? The opening sections of the game is basically Ice Road Truckers on a hostile alien planet.
Stolen - yeah this was pretty awful, but I'm a sucker for stealth games. The laser-grid sections and some of the hacking bits were good tho.
Velvet Assassin - what I said about Stolen, and what Judith said.
Zombie Driver - just like Kung Fu Strike, I can't believe this one had such a low metascore(60!) Just like KFS it's a small game that only does one thing, but does it really well.
froghawk on 1/12/2016 at 06:31
The Fall is an excellent translation of HR to a mobile platform that shouldn't have been ported to PC verbatim.
Seconding Invisible War because it was my introduction to immersive simulators and I thought it was the greatest thing ever at the time. Would probably be hard to go back and play now, unlike the original, but I have a lot of nostalgia for it.
Deadly Shadows is a great Thief game, I don't care what anyone says.
Jason Moyer on 1/12/2016 at 06:43
Among my perma-installed games, I guess Deus Ex Invisible War, Deadly Shadows, and Thiaf. Fallout 4 and Mirror's Edge Catalyst haven't scored very well either, but I don't think they've received much outright hatred.
As far as games that I liked enough to finish and everyone panned, there's Duke Nukem Forever, The Bureau, Rage...probably something else I'm forgetting.
