So I reached 1000 posts and it bloody took me long enough! 
I guess you can put thatd own to the odd couple months of inactivity.
In my time here I've come to get used to a few of you and I've even had some interesting discussions and debates on here that haven't ended in flame wars and the throwing of excrement, a rarity on the internet I'm sure you'll agree, a good example being recent debate on the implementation of easy mode within a Soul's game and how the need is essentially negated by using a strategy guide and leaving easy mode out of it.
I've also found the community to be friendly and welcoming as well as a supportive community with a lot of very pleasant users.
So thanks for getting me to 1000 posts with only one warning thus far! (Damnable low content)
On with the topic, I recently started to wonder what games my fellow Escapists may have a love of that are considered mediocre/poor entries in their respective series, low points if you will, but not necessarily awful games. I'd like to ask you all if you have any games like this in your library, are they a guilty pleasure for you?
I'll personally lead the pack with a few choices:
1) Sonic Heroes is a game that I often here called a travesty and the worst game in the Sonic franchise, but apart from iffy rail mechanics and some weird clipping issues I never found anything fundamentally wrong with the game. It could have done with more varied levels for each story and it certainly could have been less shiny, but the game was very fun for me and I personally think it still holds up better than either of the original Adventure games. The soundtrack merits mentioning because I personally adore the soundtrack, it gets in your head and it always seems to fit the levels and the plot at the time, that final boss theme is just outstanding.
2) Call of Duty: World at War is another such game and I will admit it is a black sheep in the franchise and one that I didn't play until a few months before Black Ops was released, and even then I picked it up dirt cheap to play zombies split-screen. I found the game to be flawed and bit excessively violent a lot of the time, but overall it was an action packed and highly enjoyable world war 2 shooter. I understand that the world was a touch burned out with those at the time though, I've only played maybe 3 world war 2 shooters in my entire life. But the gameplay is solid and enjoyable, the story is acceptable, no masterpiece but acceptable and easily digested. Zombies at the time was a great addition and offered a lot of replay value and an enjoyable co-operative experience, thought he subsequent dlc releases are extortionately priced for what they are. Multiplayer is fairly fun too though a touch underpopulated (I only tried the multiplayer two days ago out of sheer boredom). It's a flawed game for sure but an enjoyable one no less.
That'll probably have to do for now beyond saying that AC: Revelations is better than Brotherhood by a long shot and that AC2 is still the best entry in the series.
So Escapists, do you have games you enjoy that are the black sheep of their respective franchises?
I guess you can put thatd own to the odd couple months of inactivity.In my time here I've come to get used to a few of you and I've even had some interesting discussions and debates on here that haven't ended in flame wars and the throwing of excrement, a rarity on the internet I'm sure you'll agree, a good example being recent debate on the implementation of easy mode within a Soul's game and how the need is essentially negated by using a strategy guide and leaving easy mode out of it.
I've also found the community to be friendly and welcoming as well as a supportive community with a lot of very pleasant users.
So thanks for getting me to 1000 posts with only one warning thus far! (Damnable low content)
On with the topic, I recently started to wonder what games my fellow Escapists may have a love of that are considered mediocre/poor entries in their respective series, low points if you will, but not necessarily awful games. I'd like to ask you all if you have any games like this in your library, are they a guilty pleasure for you?
I'll personally lead the pack with a few choices:
1) Sonic Heroes is a game that I often here called a travesty and the worst game in the Sonic franchise, but apart from iffy rail mechanics and some weird clipping issues I never found anything fundamentally wrong with the game. It could have done with more varied levels for each story and it certainly could have been less shiny, but the game was very fun for me and I personally think it still holds up better than either of the original Adventure games. The soundtrack merits mentioning because I personally adore the soundtrack, it gets in your head and it always seems to fit the levels and the plot at the time, that final boss theme is just outstanding.
2) Call of Duty: World at War is another such game and I will admit it is a black sheep in the franchise and one that I didn't play until a few months before Black Ops was released, and even then I picked it up dirt cheap to play zombies split-screen. I found the game to be flawed and bit excessively violent a lot of the time, but overall it was an action packed and highly enjoyable world war 2 shooter. I understand that the world was a touch burned out with those at the time though, I've only played maybe 3 world war 2 shooters in my entire life. But the gameplay is solid and enjoyable, the story is acceptable, no masterpiece but acceptable and easily digested. Zombies at the time was a great addition and offered a lot of replay value and an enjoyable co-operative experience, thought he subsequent dlc releases are extortionately priced for what they are. Multiplayer is fairly fun too though a touch underpopulated (I only tried the multiplayer two days ago out of sheer boredom). It's a flawed game for sure but an enjoyable one no less.
That'll probably have to do for now beyond saying that AC: Revelations is better than Brotherhood by a long shot and that AC2 is still the best entry in the series.
So Escapists, do you have games you enjoy that are the black sheep of their respective franchises?
