Ben-DutkaSome games, you're convinced you're going to love. Others, you're skeptical about. Then, when the verdict comes down the pike, the results are sometimes exactly the opposite of what you expected…
So in looking back at this generation, what's the one game that really surprised you? It can be one that surprised you by being a lot better or a lot more entertaining than you thought it would be. Or, we could be talking about the opposite; the one game that you never thought would disappoint you, but did.
I think for me the game is Red Dead Redemption . It may be an odd choice, especially considering how much I love Grand Theft Auto and how much I trust Rockstar. But the thing is, I really don't like Westerns. I don't like the setting or theme. I don't even like the whole Southwest motif. I had absolutely no interest in playing as a freakin' cowboy; I didn't even like playing Cowboys and Indians as a kid. I never understood the legendary "cool" factor in the whole cowboy fantasy.
But man, after only a few hours with RDR, I so wanted to be a cowboy. I found this to be immensely surprising; not so much that I came to love the setting, but because it happened so fast . It's like I pulled a complete 180 in a ridiculously short span of time and that is saying something. I should also put Joe Danger in here as an honorable mention. I didn't know much about it, never really adored Excitebike back in the day, and wasn't all that enthusiastic about playing it. But it rapidly became my favorite downloadable game of the generation, so…
How's about you?
Yea, RDR is definitely a great surprise of a great game. Its one of my favorites this generation. I actually had no interest in it at all, then I started hearing about the mp and got interested, and it instantly became on of my faves.
Honestly though Uncharted: Drakes Fortune surprised me more than any other. It literally came out of nowhere. I held off on buying it for awhile, and picked it up and its my favorite game to date. I had no idea what to expect and it hit me harder than any other game, ever. Its just awesome!
Along those lines… the Uncharted series as whole is the best I have played.
I agree uncharted: drakes fortune for me too. The whole series is my favorite games of this generation.
Uncharted did surprise me greatly as well. Definitely on my list.
Yea, I mean the way I understood the game before I played it was, it was a treasure hunter with a gun. But boy, was it so much more. Now the series as a whole has become one of the biggest names in the industry.
Yeah definitely Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for me! At the time a complete unknown title came up to dominate the entire PS3 generation with 3 spectacular games!
And even though Drake's Fortune was technically the least impressive it's still my favorite in the series!
RDR is a great choice. I enjoyed it much more than I was expecting to. However, Borderlands is what surprised me the most. All I remember is hearing about the art design change and once I read a review and realized it was an actual RPG, I called my local Walmart and the day it was released it was selling for $49.99. Had to pick it up. Did not disappoint.
Speaking of disappoint 😛 I waited so long to play a new Final Fantasy. FFXIII was a decent enough game, but it made me realize how much content has been removed from each new FF when compared to the previous iteration. Ah well… hopefully FFXIV won't disappoint.
Last edited by Zemus101 on 3/24/2013 11:10:28 PM
Me too! BL & BL2 were completely unexpected – and they have sucked more hours of my life than I care to admit!
Also – The Arkham games – brilliant! And of course, Drake's Fortune blew me away. I could not put it down. For days. Literally.
Last edited by Norrin Radd on 3/25/2013 2:10:05 PM
I would say it's LA Noire and Heavy Rain. Even Arkham City was a surprise. The other games are too typical.
XIII was the biggest surprise disappointment.
Good surprises include DmC, and inFamous. The inFamous demo was like blahh, but I got the game it was like holy sh*t this is addicting. Heavy Rain I knew would be good but it was surprisingly deep in its layers of emotional subtext. And of course Bioshock, which I have chalked to up a stylized shooter, but learned by playing that it was so much more.
I liked Infamous but I smegging LOVED Infamous 2!
Red Dead Redemption. First announcements and details left no impression on me. But towards the release date my attention was hooked. Then on Day 1 and the days that followed, I realized I stumbled on one of my favorite games released to date.
Last edited by booze925 on 3/24/2013 11:40:27 PM
Valkyria Chronicles in both accounts! I have to thank Ben and this amazing community for putting the word out about this game, I still hold it as my top 10 gaming experience this generation. But then Sega decided to make the sequel exclusive to the PSP, right after I gave mine away to my nephew 🙁
I've been thinking about getting a HDMI Vita, attach it to my 47" TV just to play VC2 🙂 Can I attach a DS3 to Vita like we could in some cases with the PSP?
The game that surprised me and was a window into this generation was Heavenly Sword. Today it still have some if the greatest performances. A great and unfair underestimated game
The only people who underestimate Heavenly Sword are the developers.
Ace Combat Assault Horizon is my biggest shocker this generation.
Back in the PS2 days, I held Project Aces in such high regard. So much in fact, I purchased a 360 (again) in order to play AC06. I was slightly disappointed with that game, but I figured all would be fine once the PS3 was given its due.
Boy was I shocked.
When I saw the pre-release trailer that dubbed AC:AH the "Call of Duty of the skies" I cringed, but I gave it a chance. Yes, I played the game for 35 hours but it was done almost out of respect. Gone was the game that allowed my skill to shine and in its place was a invulnerable enemies and rail shooting. Don't get me started about the lack of a strange-world setting either.
AC:AH became the first Ace Combat that I failed to get "Ace" on. For those who know what I am talking about it, they also know what that means.
With the PS4 on the horizon, Project Aces has a chance once more to return to the AC04 glory days in which everything fell into place.
Demon's Souls. I was going through a very tough time, around the nearing release date of it. Lots of issues with some things that were beyond my control. I started to lose interest in everything, including video games. Then when i heard about this i still didn't care. A few friends convinced me to pick it up at the store about a day after it released. I managed to grab the very last copy that was at the store. I got home and played it.
As dumb as it sounds, DS pulled me through those tough times by showing me it could be so much worse. I can't explain how much stress and everything was vented due to the games structure of murdering you and making you feel hopeless. And then theres the day where it all becomes better and you realize after everything you went through, it made you stronger.
The trailer didn't do much for me but hearing my friends go on and on about their first 5 hours of it peeked my interest, slightly, and i decided i may as well get it. To play with them at least. I was blown away by how amazing the game proved to be. Just everything from ambience to setting to gameplay to music. It was just all so immersive and it sucks you in.
For me it was dark souls. I never knew of demon souls so I completely skipped that game. Dark souls is such an amazing game and surprised the hell out of me. It was so well made on every level. Soon, I shall play demon souls too but I don't think it will 'wow' me as much because I'll be expecting it this time.
Folklore and Batman Arkam Asylum took me by surprise. Folklore being such an amazing and highly underrated game. Batman:AA being the most addicting superhero game I have ever played.
When this current console generation started i seldom bought new games at launch unless if it was a sports game, i was more or less a bargain bin gamer. However, that all changed when i picked up a used copy of Bioshock. This game changed my whole outlook on video games and made me realize how much of a deeper, more meaningful experience you can have playing a game. It allowed me to go from casual gamer, too one that keeps up with the industry, buys new software at launch and makes a conscious effort to support those development studios that pump out amazing titles. I dont think Bioshock will ever be topped in my book, however, Infinite is right around the corner.
Recent surprises- Far Cry 3 and Sleeping Dogs
Honorable mention- Dishonored
Infamous for me, I didn't see any vids or reviews for it and had only seen some cover art and I thought it was some kind of hip hop dancing game. I was delightfully surprised. One of my favorite games this gen.
Uncharted: I got it a year late as a gift, afterwards the other 2 Uncharted's were D1P
50 Cent Blood In the Sand(1st 50 game was terrible) Only problem this one had was too short, and no split-screen co-op
Borderlands- I was skeptical about a massive 1st person shooter RPG, but borderlands made me a believer. Plus co-op helped nudge me to it, I never tried Fallout.
Batman: Arkham City, followed by God of War 3.
AC is damn near perfect in every aspect and it's the game I've always wanted to play without knowing it. The game just blew me away and I just have to keep playing it, so addictive.
GoW3 was the single most epic game I ever played. So many cool scenes, giant monsters, gorgeous graphics and it basically had everything a GoW fan would love. Started off epic, ended epic. Amazing game.
Last edited by Nas Is Like on 3/25/2013 1:41:14 AM
The *one* game? Ugh, that's tough.
LA Noire:
I was very surprised about how fluid and expressive thy were able to make the facial animations in LA Noire. That was hugely impressive. One of the titles I'll associate with this gen long after it is over.
Heavy Rain:
Or the "movie game" feeling of Heavy Rain. And this is coming from someone who didn't find the actual story that interesting, nor the acting. But technically it worked surprisingly well. Another game I'll associate with this generation.
Skyrim:
But how about Skyrim? To have a game with *that* good graphics, combined with this insane complexity and sheer size of the game world is nothing short of a miracle on this hardware.
Ok, so they struggled with the version on our favourite platform. But if we put all that pettyness aside we should aknowledge what they did do in that game. We've never seen anything like it before or after.
RAGE:
But the game that easily surprised me the most – it totally blew me off my socks actually – were RAGE. Good lord almighty, the graphical level seen here is not seen anywhere else, and I don't care what other title you throw at me here.
They put a painful strain on the hard drive in this game, essentially hammering the hard drive like it was RAM, but the result were *insane*.
And just as a footnote: Interestingly enough none of these games are amongst those who I had a greatest time this generation.
Last edited by Beamboom on 3/25/2013 2:35:18 AM
I do like westerns and even I was surprised by how much I liked Red Dead. Undead Nightmare was a blast as well because it really turned the game upside down while still remaining true to the core of it.
However, the game that surprised me more than any other was actually Skyrim. I hated the glitchiness of Oblivion and as I'd told a friend, it was a good thing that I played Fallout 3 before playing Oblivion because if I'd played Oblivion first then I would never have touched Fallout regardless of how much I loved the first two Fallout games.
I don't even know why I bought Skyrim but once I started playing it I was blown away. I loved the setting and the story. It was just a remarkable thing to behold.
For me it's a tie.
When I heard about Burnout Paradise I got excited. I played a few Burnout games on Ps2 and PSP and liked them a lot. I was expecting the same type of experience in Paradise, but it turned out being better than I could have imagined. The whole city to explore, all the billboards to find, and smashing all the fences just drove me to play for houndreds of hours. I also loved all the free DLC and updates that Criterion included.
The other game was Fallout 3. I was not familiar with the previous Fallout games, or even Bathesda, but the shooter/RPG elements sounded cool along with the story. Once I got the hang of it Fallout 3 blew my freaking mind. I know I've spent well over 1,000 hours playing, exploring, and re-playing that game time and time again. The bugs were really aggravating, but I'm so in love with that game I can deal with them.
Uncharted was also a great game that came out of nowhere.
Mass Effect series…. by far.
Demon's Souls is the top game this generation that surprised me. Every move you made had consequences. The brutal hopelessness of it. Flamelurker you are still in my nightmares.
Heavy Rain, Uncharted 2 and Fallout 3 close second. Brilliant emotional games…
The biggest disappointments this generation in my opinion. LA Noire, GTA IV and FFXII. Shiny but missing soul.
Infamous, I never saw that ending coming. I tried the demo but wasn't really impressed by it. Then on a whim I bought an old copy. To this day it is the best game that I got on a whim.
Last edited by Heartless Angel on 3/25/2013 4:51:59 AM
Oh 'Catherine' without a doubt. At first I thought it was just a cheap erotic PSN game. I had not really heard of Atlus (Some how..) So I didn't know of there tremendous JRPG backlog. But I noticed the game grew and grew from this cheap little puzzle games. It became very story focused and really analysed your decisions to bring a different outcome. Something I have not seen done so well since Shadow of Memories/Destiny. Once I saw you had to answer moral questions and it took Persona's social elements , I was utterly hooked.
It was meant to release back in October 2011 with the US release, but then it was delayed to Feb. I really could not wait and gave in to importing it – first time I had ever done that but I was anticipating it so – and it did not let me down. It seemed to be a game standing up against everything this gen stands for – instead of online multiplayer it has co-op bonus games. No guns here, can you think of a puzzle game as distinctive on a main console (Not portable), nothing comes close and it doesn't give into tons of DLC.
I loved Catherine and found it to be one of the most engaging experiences this gen, probably 2nd only to Xenoblade for me. Which is quite a feat for something which I thought was a joke at first.
Last edited by Vivi_Gamer on 3/25/2013 5:01:13 AM
i wouldent say RDR because its R*, of course its going to be awesome!
revolver and GUN were 2 of my favorite ps2 games, so redemption being one of my favorite ps3 games was just a no brainer.
id go for infamous, the fantasy reboot of PoP, RFG, skyward sword, crysis 2, RAGE, and last but not least uncharted 3.
infamous i was really not expecting much simply because i watched every video and it just looked really boring the gameplay, and i really did not love the sly games.
enjoyed them, but they were always in the shadow of R&C!
so i was not expecting much from infamous, which made it that much more awesome because it was, and still is one of THE best games this gen!
exactly why the sequel was so disappointing…….
the fantasy reboot of prince of persia simply because i normally HATE franchises going in such a different direction, and it had been such a long time since a PoP game had released i was craving one, and i was especially concerned the reboot would do poorly and the developers would say ok this did poorly no more PoP games.
but luckily it dident, it actually did quite well and its one of THE best games released this gen!
same goes for red faction guerilla, except 10 fold.
it had been SOOOOOOOOOO long since we had a red faction game!
and here comes THQ completely changing it, oh christ there going to kill it!
actually no it was again one of THE best games this gen!
skyward sword simply because of how much i enjoyed it!
i freaking LOVED it!
yes its zelda, everyone loves zelda, but i just was not expecting to enjoy it 100000th as much as i did!
crysis 2 simply because crytek did the impossible!
people are CONSTANTLY bagging them that there just a pretty house, they cant make good gameplay.
crysis 2 proved that wrong, and put other games to down right SHAME!
that was very surprising, just the fact that they turned the franchise totally around and proved everyone to be a moron!
good on them!
RAGE was a shock not in the sense that it was such a awesome game, come on its id!
the mother f*cking father of the shooter!
what shocked me so much was how far from their comfort zone they had come.
i mean compare RAGE to their last game which was what, quake 4?
or doom 3?
its TOTALLY different, like so different you would say its impossible its the same developer!
it was just such a big change for them, and it turned out brilliantly!
last but not least HAS to go to uncharted 3!
uncharted 2 was such a monuments game not only because it cemented ND into the books as the god of video game development, but also because it really was the first game to really bring in this big epic set piece moments.
for better or worse they created a michael bay film!
and thats kinda why i did not enjoy it as much as i would of, it was just *TOO* much of a michael bay film!
all shirt no trousers so to speak.
uncharted 3 totally turned that around though!
not only was it much more of a game than just a big explosion and fireballs, it addressed allot of the biggest complaints leveled at 2.
character development of 2 was pretty piss poor, gameplay was not the best, story was sketchy.
things 3 drastically improved so much it was such a shock to see simply because 2 did it so poorly you assumed the developer just did not see them as priorities.
obviously they did because they improved on it 10 fold!
sadly though uncharted 3 is the perfect example of whats wrong with this gen!
a sequel comes out and fixes the things its predecessor stuffed, but it also removes so many of the things its predecessor did so well!
2 had those SWEET boss battles, 3 removed them.
why?
2 introduced the big epic set pieces, 3 removed them.
why?
in fact i distinctly remember ND saying in a interview there was actually far more and more frequent big set pieces than 2.
BS!
so many sequels fix what their predecessors stuffed, but then remove what they did really well as well.
why?
why cant they fix what the predecessor did poorly, and say hey uncharted 2 had these awesome boss battles and set pieces so lets carry them through!?
O, another shock was assassins creed 2.
just shocked how different it was from the original, and how much improved it was!
it is still to this day one of the best games this gen!
The biggest surprise for me was Halo Reach.
I absolutely hated Halo 3. To me it was just an upscaled version of Halo 2. The story was unforgiving for newcomers (I didn't have an Xbox) and all my friends wanted to do was play deathmatch over and over again, which got boring after 10 minutes.
But then Halo Reach came out with better graphics, smoother gameplay, jetpacks, power-ups, perks, co-op modes along with VS modes, an easy to understand and well directed campaign and a whole bunch of other bells and whistles. It was by far the biggest surprise for me cos I never thought I would EVER like Halo!
GTA IV was another surprise, but the bad kind.
While I loved the new graphics and physics engines at work to really bring the city and people to life, it felt like a massive step backwards in terms of fun activities to do.
San Andreas was heaps more fun than GTA IV!! Sure, GTA IV looked prettier and played more smoothly, but San Andreas was truly FUN in the purest sense!
You might want to try Saint's Row 2 if you haven't already.
Tokyo Jungle! Its surprisingly good!
Demon Souls… Dark Souls was good, but Demon Souls paved the way for the style of RPG I desire. Something I have been waiting for since the NES days… Style and difficulty!!
RDR was not the game that surprised me this gen other than as a Western game goes, I would say its the best western developed this generation. Maybe the surprise was… I actually played a western game. It has influenced a lot of other games, although so has GTA. Ubisoft copied the game model, to a point, and incorporated in to AC3.
Mirrors Edge surprised me. As a game goes I really did not think its look or gameplay would be immersive as it was, but it was. Characters and story. Only real complaints I heard from anyone is it was not long enough. Yep, I wanted it to keep going and still waiting for the sequel.
And like others here have said, I was not sure Uncharted or inFamous would be that big of a deal. Trailer wise looked generic. BUT I picked them up and wow, a lot of thought, design and writing went in to these games.
Anyway, whatever your choice, there is really is no good or bad choice. Everyone is diff so long as this generation brought you entertainment and is still doing so. If so, great.
Keep Playing!
I'd say Uncharted series and Heavenly sword and Folklore these games really are amazing. I never thought I'd emerse myself into the UC games but i did and Heavenly sword just WOW just showed me in the beginning what this machine could do for future games and Folklore was so underrated but amazing in colour and story line very different from other games.
With all the fluffy, hold my hand, this is where to go, instant life regeneration, no consequence games that have been released this generation; there's only one that stands above the norm – Demon Souls. If you haven't played it then you are part of the problem, not the solution. Unless of course you don't think there is a problem and enjoy playing a game that plays itself. There's a reason why old school games still to this day have a lasting effect on your memory, you played them; they didn't play you!
Sure i love me some Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Heavy Rain, Ratchet & Clank; so on and so forth. But would have loved them more if they left the decisions to me and not guided me through the experience. Strip these games down to the core and the only freedom you had was how skilled you were in combat and pressing a button at the right time. Thats it!.
Sure there are other games where choice matters, Infamous and Mass Effect to name a few. The choices however lack the gravitas they should. It was clear what your decisions led to, which is another form of holding your hand.
In reference to a game that i did not think would disappoint that surely will, get ready…. The Last Of US. Yep! Remember when ND said this would be adult oriented no hold bar experience. Turns out, what they really meant to say, was that this is an extension of the uncharted series. With night vision eyes that can see through walls and strange shiny objects that say pick me up it sure looks like another hold my hand experience. Which is fine if your a fan of uncharted right….. Wrong. This was supposed to be a semi realistic experience set in a city we know with truly believable characters. It will be a total contradiction and will be hard to take it too serious. Trust me i wanted this game to be the best ever, but it appears to be going casual, rather then hardcore.
At the end of the day the choice is yours, and if this generation is an indicator the choice has been made. Luckily for myself and some others, we still have a few developers that will buck the trend, Hooray!
P.S. Fallout 3 should be number #1, but suffered from to many technical difficulties and therefore is disqualified – here's hoping that Fallout 4 will be the best game ever made!
Last edited by The Real Deal on 3/25/2013 9:19:47 AM
I have a tie for first, Binary Domain and Rayman: Origins. Rayman looked incredibly boring and meh when I saw it and E3 and PAX leading up to its launch. But for whatever reason I bought it, I don't even remember what provoked me because I had no interest in it. Anyway it turned out to be one of my favourite platform games of all time ever period. It was a blast to play Co op and me and my friends platinumed it. The speed runs were ridiculously challenging and fun to do and overall the design choices were flawless. It taught the played in such an organic way man such a great game.
And Binary Domain is my hidden gem and biggest surprise. I was looking forward to the idea but the gameplay story and combat really surprised me. Everything felt top notch to me and still to this day it is the best feeling TPS gameplay I have played.
Next big surprise would have to be Arkyum Asylum. I was skeptical and I played the demo and was kind of like meh about it. Then my dad believe it or not was at Blockbuster and asked if I wanted the new batman game because it was on sale for 40 bucks. Bless his soul, I'm 25 and he still knows what I like 😛
Anyway I said just rent it I didnt want to waste his money, and well lets just say for the next week I had the game rented I beat it 2 and a half times, and attempted to platinum it. Seriously the full game was such a different experience than the demo.
Third would have to be Mini Ninjas. Seriously…did anyone else play that game and love it? It was just so fun, the combat, the platforming, the graphics the music. While it was not super hard it was definitely more challenging than the cute exterior made it out to be.
Oh and the one that surprised me because of track record was Sonic Generations. Seriously I never though a good sonic game would come out ever again.
TLDR:
Rayman:Origins, Binary Domain, Batman Arkyum Asylum, Mini Ninjas and Sonic Generations.
hehe yah, good old Excitebike.
Most recently I'd say MG Revengeance. I was really pumped up for it and then having tried the demo that enthusiasm deflated pretty fast.
Games that sort of pop into mind are Joe Danger (not the second one), the first Assassin's Creed (it hooked me somehow despite it's rep), Ratchet CiT, Castlevania LoS, and Infamous.
oh, and i'd be remiss to not include Gravity Rush. I followed this game very little and was reluctant to download the PSN+ offer. Assuming I'd just quickly try it and then pass if off as something I wouldn't play I was pleasantly surprised that wasn't the case. I liked the art'ish vibe and the cool comic book story telling effects.
Though I don't think I'll have a chance to get to it before my membership expires.
Miraculously if I somehow win the reader review contest I'll probably vouch for that game.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 3/25/2013 1:05:39 PM
I agree with you on RDR, Ben. I actively loathed anything Wild West themed. While I'm still not a fan of the genre, RDR is indeed the exception.
I'd also say that personally, Killzone 2 was quite the shocker for me for the multiplayer component. I had been a take-it-or-leave-it online shooter fan, but something about KZ2's multiplayer made me an avid fan…at least in that one game. The clan system was clean and efficient, the levels don't lend themselves to campers so much and I actually prefer the "heft" of the weaponry as opposed to playing a twitchier shooter. It definitely has become my favorite shooter of any generation.
well up until last year i would have said RDR to but i gotta give the surprise of the generation to The Walking Dead. i had never seen the show. knew nothing of the game. then one day i played the demo and was blown away. so i bought it thinking it would be good but i had no idea it would become one of my favorites of all time.
so yea that one totally came out of left field on me.
Hmm..I would have to say it's a tie between inFamous, Uncharted 2, and Rage. I played the inFamous demo and I liked it but had no idea how much more was there until I bought the game. The option to choose whether I wanted to inFamous or not really peeked my interest as well.
I didn't play the first Uncharted. A friend told me about the MP beta for 2 and I liked it. But when I played the game and the story, I had not played anything as that good in a while. Everything you could want in a game was in Uncharted 2.
Rage was easily the diamond in the rough. For $10 I got a graphical masterpiece. Still have to finish it but keep getting side tracked.
Damn near every original Sony exclusive caught me by surprise this generation: Heavenly Sword, Uncharted, Heavy Rain, Infamous…
Last edited by OtisFeelgood on 3/25/2013 7:31:07 PM
To be honest, it was definitely Fallout 3. As ridiculous as it may be, I thought this game looked bland, and not very good. I thought that it was a generic shooter with very little RPG elements strung in. However, after seeing many people praise it, I picked it up to try it out.
I couldn't believe how wrong I was. It was absolutely amazing, with the story, gameplay, scenery, image, and graphics. I couldn't believe I was about to miss out on it. Now, this game is one of my all time favorites, and I look forward to the fourth installation.
Spec Ops: The Line. I am not an avid shooter fan and I downloaded this game as a PS+ user just because it was free for plus users. I figured since it was a shooter, it'd be an easy play through and I'd get some trophies out of it. I didn't expect to have such an impact of an ending, let alone the choices you're given. I was really impressed.
Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare. I bought that game simply because I just got paid and felt like playing a shooter. Didn't read a single review for it or anything, I just bought it because the cover caught my eye. That game blew me out of the water with it's graphics, awesome single player campaign and addictive multiplayer campaign. I remember during the "flashback" sniper missions saying out loud, "I can't believe I own this game and it's in my living room"….yes, the graphics looked that good to me.
Runners up: Killzone 2's multiplayer and Demon's Souls old school difficulty.
Batman games were awesome, but didn't make the list because I expected them to be perfect…and they didn't disappoint in that regard 🙂
Heavy Rain was also killer with it's unique gameplay and story telling, but COD4 really wow'ed me