Biggest Gaming Surprises

[toasty]

The opposite to the other thread.

What games have you played that didn't get a huge amount of hype but turned out to be hidden gems.

I'll start off with Viva Pinata. It looked like a kiddie's game but ended up being pretty complex and hugely addictive. One of those that really benefitted from reading the FAQS on gamefaqs.com to see what you'd missed (it was probably a hell of a lot).

[Slate99]

I randomly picked up a game called Sniper Elite from the pre-owned bin in Game - Was a really good game, graphics were a bit crap but a head shot from a few hundred yards out made up for it.

[Alex]

Battlefield 2142.

I would never have played it at all if it was not for the fact that I was working at EA at the time.

I still play regularly now.

[Royton Blue]

Sniper Elite on the PS2. I loved that game, I picked it up dirt cheap but it was immensly satisfying picking someone off from a mile away. I still play it on my PS3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urYY0vE2IBw

Oh & Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix, it came bundled with my PS3 but I really enjoyed it!

[Slate99]

WOW - that post wasnt there when i typed! Good Lord how spooky!

[Royton Blue]

Slate99 said:

WOW - that post wasnt there when i typed! Good Lord how spooky!

Ooops and I just deleted it to add a video link, crackin' game though!

[okgo]

Dengeon Keeper Gold/ 2/ Deeper Dungeons

Bought it as the cover looked cool, turned out to be a hell of a purchase. That my brother still plays to this day!

[Alex]

Royton Blue said:

Oh & Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix, it came bundled with my PS3 but I really enjoyed it!

Developed in the Guildford office during my time at EA. People knock EA and movie licence games, but the team were extremely passionate about making a great game.

[Slate99]

Royton Blue said:

Slate99 said:

WOW - that post wasnt there when i typed! Good Lord how spooky!

Ooops and I just deleted it to add a video link, crackin' game though!

Yes it's excellent! It is available through steam for £9 if anyone wants a cheap and reasonably fun PC game. As far as I can remember the missions take a while to do, especially if you get in the snipery feeling

[SeanyD]

Marble Blast Ultra on xbox live. Cost about 7 quid if I remember right, and I've spent hundreds of hours on it. Brilliant, so simple, just brilliant.

[Steve Evil]

Trials HD. So addictive and nails the 'one more go' mechanic perfectly.

[CommanderJameson]

Alex said:

Battlefield 2142.

I would never have played it at all if it was not for the fact that I was working at EA at the time.

I still play regularly now.

Since moving to Windows 7, I can't get Punkbuster to work and thus I get hoofed off servers after a few minutes.

>wail<

I love BF2142.

[RedBarron84]

"Driven to Destruction" on the PS2. I'm pretty sure it's a spin off from the "Test Drive" team. Brilliant game which never got the praise it deserved. I mean, figure of 8 School Bus racing? Trailer Destruction Derbys? Suicide racing where half the field raced one way round a track and the other half the opposite way? Such a fun game, especially on Multiplayer.

[JagLover]

Halo

I hadn't heard that much about it before I played it and it blew me away. A shame really that Halo 3, despite being a very good game, wasn't as ground breaking.

[Shinobi]

Crackdown, didn't get to much hype and i thought looks fun probably be good for a week but i was hooked and still play the co-op sometimes just because it's mad!

[Rob P]

Braid

[Hardgraf]

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

[Steve Evil]

Hardgraf said:

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

Good shout. One of the few movies that successfully made a good transition into a game. The new sequel is good too, playing through that now.

[GMX09]

NFS:Shift.

I honestly thought it'd just be another generic nobrainer NFS game but with the addition of driver view this game really did shine.

I love the physics and gameplay, but the customization isn't really as good as the past NFS games despite the general move forward in diversity.

[stephen300o]

I really enjoyed Total immersion racing, even though it went completely unnoticed by all.