Barely known/obscure games you wish more people knew

[Tilted_Logic]

Prey. Came out in 2006 for PC/xbox, and it's utterly awesome. Think Ratchet & Clank meets Portal. Essentially you play a Native American man who gets abducted by aliens along with thousands upon thousands of other people. You end up fighting your way through this absolutely massive ship trying to save your girlfriend from becoming alien food.

It may sort of sound like a typical story, but the weapons are a blast to use, there are portals galore that not only teleport you around, sometimes onto the ceiling (fighting enemies upside down is super fun), they can also shrink you. The whole scheme of the game is so much more dimensional that most other things I've played, because at any moment you could be walking on the walls or being turned upside down. That and death doesn't just mean 'press A to respawn'; you have a certain amount of time to fend of a wave of spirit enemies, the more you kill, the more health you spawn with next time.

I honestly can't praise the game enough, Prey 2 looks to be a step in a different direction, but if any of it stays true to the original I'm sure it'll be fantastic.

 

[xdropkicknickx]

Einhander for the PS1. I have never enjoyed a game so much in my life, and yet I never owned because I could never find it (except on ebay where it's very expensive)

 

[MightyRabbit]

Here's a few: 1) Beneath A Steel Sky: classic point'n'click adventure game by the guys who did Broken Sword. It's now freeware. 2) Vandal Hearts: very solid PS1 Japanese Strategy RPG that's got a quite linear character progression system, but is still really fun. 3) The Stanley Parable: GO GET IT NOW! THIS I COMMAND!

Oh, and uh, Ghost Trick, Ace Attorney (not really obscure but can never be big enough) and Guardian's Crusade which I really had a lot of fun with back on the PS1.

 

[Misterian]

Metal Arms, 'nuff said.

Also, King Kong, the offcial game based on Peter Jackson's movie, you may have watched the movies, but you've never experianced what it's like surviving Skull Island 'till you've played this game.

 

[bugregela]

Dropship: United Peace Force
on the PS2.

It was released 10 years ago and is a flight sim game.
I think it was set in the near future so the aircraft are advanced (for our time).

This was the game that got my brother into flight sim games (I'm not a fan of the genre) but I actually loved this game.

Edit: having a look at the wikipedia page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dropship:_United_Peace_Force

It was critically acclaimed although it ended up being a commercial flop. I think it was because it was not marketed properly as I don?t actually remember any advertisement for this game.

 

[Gramzies]

People should remember the games for PS2 Rule of Rose and Haunting Ground

 

[Zulnam]

It's a pretty underground game. I'm sure you haven't heard of it. It's called MW3.
/hipster

And in seriousness: X-Com UFO Defense... I mean, what the hell?! People that brag about loving tactical games never even HEARD of it! It's like part of computer history and to this day probably one of the best games of all times.

X-Com makes Frozen Synapse look like a coloring book. And I liked FS!

 

[kyogen]

Okami (PS2/later Wii port): People know about it, but many haven't played it, and Capcom should really think about a PS3 re-release. Shinto mythology (yay, something new and non-Eurocentric for a change), innovative action-adventure gameplay, huge sense of humor behind it all, fantastic artwork and music.

Nier (PS3/360): Imperfect people trying to eke out a living in a dying world from the developer who brought you Drakengard, so expect dark humor and difficult endings. Happiness in this case has to be something other than "happily ever after." And bring your brain--there are style and genre changes all over the place for a reason.

Ico (PS2/PS3): It's always about SotC because of the puzzle bosses and better Western distribution, but if you picked up the HD collection, take five hours or so and play Ico as well. Brilliant little fairy tale, sweet little romance, great little game. Pan's Labyrinth shares something with Ico: creativity though simplicity and restraint. And Ico got there first.

 

[Blade1130]

Another I guess would be Gotcha Force for the Nintendo Gamecube, literally, the ONLY Gamecube that didn't suck.

I'll assume you mean the only GameCube game that didn't suck.

In which case...

*ahem*

You [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/ba/MetroidPrimebox.jpg/250px-MetroidPrimebox.jpg] missed [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/38/Pikmin_2_Case.jpg/250px-Pikmin_2_Case.jpg] some [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/72/ZeldaWindWakerGCNCoverArtUS.jpg/250px-ZeldaWindWakerGCNCoverArtUS.jpg].

I was being sarcastic, but nonetheless I did not like Metroid Prime, I think because the controls just didn't work for me and there's too much backtracking. Pikmin I never played so I can't really comment, and while Wind Waker was good, it was simply no where near as good as it's predecessor. Granted it's dammed difficult to make a game better than Ocarina of Time but Twilight Princess at least put up a good fight, and I hope Skyward Sword did too, haven't played it yet...

In retrospect, Twilight Princess was technically a GameCube game, since it did come out for GameCube and I did get it for that, even though most people think of it as a Wii game. I'll count that as half a point for the GameCube.

OT: I just remembered (by stealing someone's else's idea) about The Stanley Parable, a Half-Life 2 mod that is actually just about a guy at work, when all his coworkers disappear. He tries to figure out what's happened to them, while everything he does is narrated by a very sexy voice. I know that doesn't sound very interesting, but it also a kind of meta-commentary about player conditioning and designing player experiences. It's free so give it a shot, or if you don't have Half-Life 2, watch a walkthrough, game's only about 5 minutes long, but has I think 6 different endings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gblvOhnv2k0 (Mod download in description I think)

 

[Dark Prophet]

I Fluid, it's on steam and I'm fairly sure there is a demo for it, it's a physics puzzle game where you play as a drop of water.
Brainpipe, it's like dripping acid without actually dripping acid not that I would know anything about drugs because I don't do drugs my friend gave me that comparison.
The Thing, somewhat broken but otherwise pretty good survival-horror/action game.
Cryostasis, a bit silenthilly but with out the puzzles and more claustrophobic.

 

[Da Orky Man]

No-one said Homeworld yet? It had everything you ever wanted in an RTS, including space! To anyone who remembers tht fantastic game; Remember Kharak.

 

[Warpainter]

X-COM
Space Pirates and Zombies (Think Elite or Freelancer)

 

[Fat Hippo]

Pathologic,The Void, and Cryostasis.

you sir, are awesome!

its hard to find a game more obscure than pathologic or the void (maybe witchaven?) but anyway I own the first two of those and have been considering getting cryostasis. I must ask, is it any good? I hear that its highly symbolic and psycological.

I think it's fantastic. It's an immensely slow-burning experience which puts a lot of people off, but if you liked Pathologic then you'd probably love it. The story is extremely symbolic and low-key so you never really get a full understanding of it, which can be both a good and bad thing, and the atmosphere is brutally hostile. If it were a more normal FPS the combat would be pretty annoying but as a horror game it goes a long way to ratcheting up the tension. Plus it has the single coolest health system I've ever seen in a game, and is the only title I can think of that lets you save someone's life after they've died.

I'd say go for it.

Thanks for the tip. I loved both Pathologic and The Void (though I couldn't actually bring myself to finish the latter) so I think I'll go get this. It sounds like it's right up my street!

 

[MaximumTacos]

Like the pokemon hipster on page 1 said, Abuse from 1996 was crazy good.

There was also a game called Amok from the same era that used 3D and sprites fairly well, it was a mech shooter. Had a great soundtrack, was really hard.

My favorite was Terminator Future Shock. Made by Bethesda. It's like playing a very early version of Fallout 3, with angry robots. You have to see it to understand what I'm talking about.

 

[Mastemat]

Ok... That's odd......
I would have expected at least SOMEONE to have mentioned the Shin Megami Tensei line?
I suppose they are becoming a little more well known. But I have yet to meet someone who I didn't have to introduce them to them.
Also, before anyone "corrects" me... Persona isn't a SMT game. They are Megami Ibunroku, a spin off of the Shin Megami Tensei line, which is a spin off of the Megami Tensei main.

I wish more people knew about Shin Megami Tensei... It probably doesn't help that there is no official english port of them.... probably due to you "killing God" and that wouldn't sit right.... or some such nonsense.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

Einhander for the PS1. I have never enjoyed a game so much in my life, and yet I never owned because I could never find it (except on ebay where it's very expensive)

I was actually about to bring this game up, but wanted to see if anyone else had already.

Is it really that expensive? I luckily managed to find it on a shelf at EB Games yeeeaaars ago. Great fucking game. I knew when I got it that I would love this game forever, and I've wisely taken good care of it ever since.

Although it mostly boils down to memorizing patterns, and sure the difficulty curve hits a brick wall right around the 4th level, and making sure to retain the right weapons when you encounter a boss. (Fighting that giant space jellyfish before the end of the game was much easier with a grenade launcher. Unless you die in the middle of the fight have to start it all over with one Vulcan. Enjoy losing all your continues in this fight.)

And to think it was made my Squaresoft.

OT: Does The Bouncer count?

 

[kickyourass]

I think most people (or at least most gamers) have heard of this game so it's not really 'obscure' but I've only met like 2 people who've owned Shadow of the Colossus. That game kicked so much ass it's shameful that more people didn't buy it.

As for obscure, Faceball for the SNES. I've met literally no one who's heard about it before I've told them about it, but it's really terrible so if you get the chance to buy it, don't.

 

[Saulkar]

The Divide: Enemy Within http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/divide/divide.htm
Rebel Runner: Operation Digital Code.
Zephyr
Machines
Rocket Jockey
Heavy Gear 2
Incoming and Incoming Forces
Earth 2150-2160
Steel Soldiers 2
And Finally Shattered Steel

I hope I did not forget any!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[eevangoh]

Blackwell Legacy, the whole of it and Gemini Rue. Maybe Shivah. Or anything Wadjet Eye ever made, really.

This a thousand times, and add Resonance to the list now, too. It's a shame that the adventure game had to die now, when they're actually getting good.