Which games pleasantly surprised you?

[Soapy]

As kind of a response to this thread, I want to know what games you've played where you went into them with very little prior knowledge and/or no, very little, or even negative expectations and came away being really impressed with how fun or good they were.

 

[Soapy]

The big one for me was Morrowind. All I knew at the time was that I was hungry for an RPG, and I needed a new game for my Xbox. Morrowind killed two birds with one stone. I admit that at first I didn't really "understand" the game very much at all. I didn't really know what to do or where to go, so naturally I attacked a guy, and then everyone attacked me and it was just a mess. I was very put off by the game in the beginning. I forget just how exactly it happened, but at some point it "clicked" with me that Morrowind wasn't as much a "game" as it was an entire world, and from that point on I was continuously blown away by the game every time played it, and it went on to become my favorite game of all time.

A more recent example would be Darksiders. All I knew about it going in was that supposedly it was as if Zelda and God of War made a baby. I can't put my finger on it, but something about the game really turned me off initially, so I didn't get around to playing until earlier this year, but when I finally did play it, I really could not have been more impressed with it. The story and characters aren't especially deep, but literally everything else about the game is second to none. It is absolutely equal to the amazing games that it's often compared to, and many aspects it surpasses them.

 

[TX85]

Recently I'd have to say Borderlands

 

[Wesley Dodds]

Gears Of War really suprised me. It never interested me. Just thought it looked dumb and repetitive but, yeah, I actually found it really entertaining.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Bioshock 2. I was led to believe it was an inferior cash in game. From what I played, it was a far better game. So, no idea whats going on there. It's kind of amazing just how much people over-look actual gameplay and basic design these days. I'v seen people claiming Skyrim as game of the year, even though it's un-polished, un-balanced and exploitable. People are abit blinded by production values and mainsteam hipster/paid off media I think.

 

[TX85]

^Could be..But there's also always a chance people just have different opinions than you and actually enjoy the game from gameplay to characters&etc!!

 

[James]

I liked the downloadable Xbox Live game Limbo a lot. I didn't know much about it, and ended up being crazy impressed.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

I'v seen people claiming Skyrim as game of the year,.

Thats because it is.



As for this thread, id say Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I wasn't planning on getting it at all, but i was working the wednesday after it had come out and a lot of people were coming into the store talking about it. I decided on an impulse to pick it up and ended up loving it.

 

[Wolfwood]

Dark Cloud, Shadow Hearts and Overlord were all games that wound being pleasant surprises for me.

 

[Jick]

InFamous.
I downloaded the demo and found it really uninteresting, but then I got the game after that whole deal with the PSN and ended up loving it. I even bought the second. It was this year's surprise, to me.

 

[cherokeesam]

Freedom Force.

I didn't hear a lot of hype about it, and just picked it up in a bargain bin one day because it looked like cheesy fun.

Turned out to be the best superhero RPG that has ever been made. Bar none.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

I agree, Freedom Force is a fantastic game as well as very over-looked.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, thought 'meh' at first since I didn't play any of the games on the PS2

I saw this guy in full armor

Spoiler

And wanted to avoid this game like plague

Spoiler

Didn't expect to finish it as many times as I did, or defend it so aggressively

 

[RED_Rider]

Psychonauts. I was expecting it to be merely good and kinda funny. Right now, it's my fave game of the last decade. It had the best gameplay variety I've ever seen in a platformer along with near perfect level design (up there with best of Sonic and Mario).

 

[KALEL114]

The two that came to mind are:

Batman: Arkham Asylum- I went in with very low expectations (typical superhero game?) and it blew me away. Level design, writing, gameplay, voice acting were superb.

Valkyria Chronicles- I went into this game with very little info. I was just looking for a TRPG to fill some spare time. Everything from the characters, story, gameplay were top notch and it sucked me in quickly. I highly recommend it.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Batman: Arkham Asylum- I went in with very low expectations (typical superhero game?) and it blew me away. Level design, writing, gameplay, voice acting were superb.

I get that kind of reaction when I see such a line, find it an overrated reaction, and it comes from many of those who like one game for certain stuff, a superhero game being kinda similar and could be found nearly as fun gets brushed aside as 'meh'

 

[Jick]

Indigo Prophecy.
My dad rented this game a long time ago, a game I had never heard about. I almost dropped it after a few minutes playing and I wasn't expecting everything that happened. It blew me away. I loved. Specially the great soundtrack from Theory of a Deadman.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

Uncharted.

This was a couple of years ago but, I was driving around feeling bored and decided to stop by Best Buy (I love just walking around and staring at all the **** I can't have t:.) Anyways, I got into a discussion with one of the employees about PS3s, since I had recently purchased mine, and he suggested the game. Bought it, played it and was totally in love with it. I love how you aren't expecting anything and something turns out to be so incredible. Good times.

 

[Wolfwood]

Indigo Prophecy.
My dad rented this game a long time ago, a game I had never heard about. I almost dropped it after a few minutes playing and I wasn't expecting everything that happened. It blew me away. I loved. Specially the great soundtrack from Theory of a Deadman.

I really enjoyed this game up until the ending, where it really kicked into high octane weirdness.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Bioshock 2. I was led to believe it was an inferior cash in game. From what I played, it was a far better game. So, no idea whats going on there. It's kind of amazing just how much people over-look actual gameplay and basic design these days. I'v seen people claiming Skyrim as game of the year, even though it's un-polished, un-balanced and exploitable. People are abit blinded by production values and mainsteam hipster/paid off media I think.

You're calling other people hipsters?

 

[Electro UK]

I think probably Dead Space. I knew I was going to like it, but I ended up absolutely loving it.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 was a fun game. Very stupid and colorful. You can tell all the actors involved were having a blast. It was great seeing Tim Curry ham it up with his terrible Russian accent.

 

[misjuevos]

tenchu, the stealth killing was so fun. they had a mini cut scene for various angles. made you want to try as many different kills as you could. not to mention the weapon selection at the beginning of each map. you could play each level many different ways the replay-ability was perfect. also the different characters. it wasn't just the same story it was each character's perspective and their own story. i really hope for a tenchu that is open like assassin's creed. it would make it perfect. to run around this huge japanese village/town.

red faction guerilla, using the sledgehammer was more fun than i thought it would be. i could break stuff for hours and not get bored.

 

[Silvermoth]

The Legend of Zelda. I thought I wasn't into RPGs before I played that. Wow, what an experience!

 

[Oscorp]

Dead Space. I really didn't like the demo for it but eventually got it anyway and now I love it!