Games that surprised you (in a good way)

[Michael Hirst]

Alpha Protocol.

Generally, I heard that it was a game with great ideas, but dragged down by some horrible bugs that made it nearly unplayable. So one week I was bored and rented the game on a whim. To my surprise it was pretty enjoyable. I loved the dialogue system, and the story, while not really being original,was competent and had a good cause and effect system. As for gameplay, the combat may not have been the game's strong point, but IMO it was not nearly as bad as some people claimed. As for bugs, I did not encounter many and the only noticeable one involved the AI which I will admit was very glitchy and exploitable. In the end, I enjoyed the game enough that I rented it a second time so I could do a second playthrough.

I've bought that on Steam recently but due to haivng a monthly download limit I can't finish the download for another week. The game sounded interesting and for the price I can't complain.

Also another recentish game I bought and love was Just Cause 2, huge bundle of fun in that game for anyone who just wants let loose and blow things up. Also really gorgeous environments.

 

[AlternatePFG]

Alpha Protocol. I really didn't know what to expect, but it was on sale awhile ago (Not the most recent Sega Steam sale) and I gave it a try. I ended up liking it quite a bit.

Also, Bastion. I have yet to play an APRG with a combat system as fun as Bastion's. The way the narrative is told is great, and the soundtrack really just tops it all of. A nice game, my only complaint is that it ended too soon.

 

[aragond]

'97's Goldeneye - What was I expecting? I didn't play FPS's, I was a major Civ-head. But, WOOOAAAH, what a hellovalotov fun!

GTA III - Less a surprise, 'cuz having played gta2 I would /probably/ enjoy this. The surprise is HOW MUCH I got into this: I reckon I clocked 1,200 hours over 18 months, and add more for its two sequels. IV didn't QUITE match the mindless fun, though it was impressive, but kinda like Dad took your favourite toy gun and put it in a glass case for admiration, not playing with.

Just Cause 2 - I am SO with Yahtzee on this. But, after SR2's endless bugs, I've not gotten more than 20% through. So, hearing nothing but trouble about JC2 (and, sure enough, *RAGE* getting it), this was never going to be win. But, having settled down it's crashiness on my GTX580, this is PURE AWESOME! GTA III-style FUN! (Yes, Yahtzee, I *DO* remember fun!)
It's easy ('kay, choppers notsomuch), finding the hunt missions is easy (tho' the city's a pain), dying is literally no big deal, GORGEOUS sandbox (something I also *loved* about GTA III), and it's just purely mindless fun blowin' sh!t up! (Maybe it helps that Rico seems to enjoy it, too?) I am 60 hours in and only 30% through, merrily ignoring the missions. I have my 2001/2-style relief valve back!

Alpha Protocol - my latest surprise. It looked poor, and I'm no RPG fan, but $3 on Steam last weekend... I could try it, at least. But, I'm actually impressed. It's nothing close to perfect, feels a little like they were beta-ing the idea, so if Beta Protocol (or is that Gamma?) comes out, I'm in.

 

[Aetera]

The first time that I played a Harvest Moon game, definitely. My friend finally convinced me to play a farming sim, which sounded beyond boring and stupid, but I was immediately hooked. I love Harvest Moon now.

 

[Yopaz]

Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. I bought it because I had a GameCube and only Super Smash Bros. I didn't have any expectations, but it blew my mind by being one of my favourite games on the GC.

Harvest Moon: A Friend of Mineral Town. The first Harvest Moon game I played and I lvoed it. I had seen the one for Nintendo 64 and didn't like the look of it, nor the ones for PS1.

Deus Ex Human Revolution, not a game I was planning on buying, but a friend told me to buy it and I loved it from the start.

Tales of Symphonia. Another one of my favourite games for the GC. It opened my world to a new kind of JRPG and to a series that is now my favourite game series. I want every Tales game that hits Europe (that's 3 so far in the whole history).

Saints Row 2. I had seen the ZP review of it, so I thought I would check it out. It's one of the diamonds of my collection.

Killing Floor. When it comes to games I don't like shooters are often among them. Games with an arcade style based around multiplayer containing no story is also among them. Why do I like Killing Floor? I don't know, but I got 219 hours on the record on Steam.

Need For speed hot pursuit. OK, so racing games is not my strength either. I do not have a license to drive, nor do I care about getting one. I do however laugh with joy as I speed down the highway in a sports car going 400km/h.

I guess I am easily surprised after buying so many games I didn't like...

 

[Ordinaryundone]

Vanquish and Driver: San Fransisco are my two most recent. Driver, in particular, because I actually picked it up on a whim on launch day (because they were out of Dead Islands; it was a good choice in retrospect) and wasn't really expecting much from it at all. I was a middlin' fan of the first 2 but sort of lost interest in the series in the wake of the GTA explosion.

 

[Pjotr84]

I was pleasantly surprised by Eternal Sonata. Having bought it about 2 years ago, because I heard it was good, I couldn't get into it. This week I finally picked it up again and I loved it. Normally I'm not a big fan of JRPG's, but this one was certainly the exception.

The story had nice pacing, was original for once and I learned a thing or two about Chopin.

 

[Sonicron]

I was very pleasantly surprised by Crysis 2. When the first trailers hit the web I went, "Urban warfare. Wheeeeee, how original." In the end, the city's state of disrepair, coupled with the game's excellent pacing, made every new battleground feel fresh and varied, and to top it off the gameplay was fun and it all looked insanely pretty. Absolute win.

 

[Furioso]

Make Shift Makers on the N64, my cousin told me its a game about shaking stuff
wasn't really sure but it sounded weird and new enough
started to play it and OMG THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

Your thinking of Mischief Makers

OT: I bought Darksiders on a whim and enjoyed it immensely, can't wait for the sequel

 

[Retardinator]

I was quite pleasantly surprised by both Singularity and Crysis 2. Cry2 even more so, as I was expecting a generic space marine shooter, which turned out to be a not-so-generic-but-still space marine shooter with a couple of tricks up its sleeve.
Singularity, however, was exactly what I expected, but the plot, the setting and the characters kind of brought it up from the likes of Wolfenstein.

Another one of the pleasant surprises was the new Deus Ex, but I still haven't finished it yet.
Also, an honorable mention goes to Freedom Fighters.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

I had only just recently got into the 40K universe and thought I would give it a go. However, because it was a RTS I thought it was just going to be a boring strategy game.

Oh how wrong I was, now it's my favourite PC game (along with the expansions).

 

[Violator[xL]]

Company of Heroes & expansions. I suck at RTS, and I don't like most of them. Only one I've been playing, because it's awesomesauce.

 

[Alduin Silas]

Spiral Knights. I seriously thought this was a game for 8 year olds, and yet I've been playing it for a month and only recently got down to the core (I didn't pay for the game, so my iniatiation was slower, sue me) It's a fun little time waster, and it remains challenging in tier 3 even if you're walking around in a 5 star set. The teamwork thing really can't be emphasised more.

 

[Brentpool]

Infamous 2.

I liked the first Infamous, and when I pre-ordered Infamous 2 I knew that it was going to be good, but I didn't think it was going to be fantastic in pretty much every way.

 

[Magicmad5511]

My problem here is I never buy games without considerable research first.

I think I'm gonna have to go for when I first played Minecraft. I'd heard of it but it didn't exactly seem my thing.
Then I played it and was pretty impressed. I took he time and built a castle(till my computer ate the file). I was definitely pleasantly surprised by Minecraft.

 

[go-10]

Make Shift Makers on the N64, my cousin told me its a game about shaking stuff
wasn't really sure but it sounded weird and new enough
started to play it and OMG THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

Your thinking of Mischief Makers

OT: I bought Darksiders on a whim and enjoyed it immensely, can't wait for the sequel

right sorry its been so long but dammit I wanna play that game again ;_;