[Sega Mega Dave]

Since release day what do you think the most underrated game is to date? For me there is 2 that stand out above the crowd.

Condemned - I am not someone who gets scared by games or films never have but i have to say this is the one and only to do such that. To this day i cannot think of anything with such a dark on edge atmosphere, walking slowly through the rooms with a touch and hearing bottles being knocked around. Then all of a sudden something comes running at you! For me though the bit that sent shivers through my body was those bloody mannequins! Me and a mate spent many nights at his with all lights off, surround sound on and 360 on big TV. Can be had for less than £10 and would recommend to anyone to pick it up.

Crackdown - Not sure what made me buy this probably boredom but what a gem it was, very simple and repetitive game play but how much fun could be had from collecting orbs and climbing the main building (can't think what it's called) spent many hours jumping from one building to another to find that green glow!

So what are yours?

[Codehead]

+1 for Crackdown. I only bought it for the on-disk Halo3 beta, but got dragged into crimefighting and loved it.

Shadowrun - This really deserved to do better. Cross platform (Windows/XBL) play. Massive character/class customisation. Money for better weapons/magic can only be got by playing properly (or getting gifts from team mates). Real team work is required (you don't last long as a lone wolf). It still has an active community, but they're very good at it now and it's hard for a noob to get started.

Skate - Best skate game(s) EVAR! I think Yahtzee hit the nail on the head with his review. If you're not into skating, it's inaccessible. However, but if you've spent any time on a wheeled plank, it clicks almost immediately. I've lost whole evenings just free skating around the city. The world is designed as a skater's paradise and you'll often see lines and gaps that the designers probably never intended to build, but are great fun to session all the same.

[windymillers]

Dark Sector: I was told it was a pile of poo but got it and played it, and played it and played it! Brilliant game if you ask me

[danuk]

Frontlines: I picked it up not expecting much as the reviews I'd read weren't great. The single player indeed turned out to be ok, the mp was a different story altogether. Planes, helicopters, tanks, drones, aa vehicles, auto turrets and good weapons classes all combined to give the most enjoyable xbox mp experience I've had to date.

[SkilledNutter]

for me

Blue Dragon & Lost Odyssey

Best JRPG's This Generation on any console.

[Tiger Feet]

I seem to remember really liking 'The Darkness' cant remember why now as it was yonks ago!

[KyleS1]

Originally Posted by MrAntz

I seem to remember really liking 'The Darkness' cant remember why now as it was yonks ago!

That game was brilliant. It was just something a bit different. Good game to pick up for a fiver if anyone hasn't played it.

[KyleS1]

Originally Posted by windymillers

Dark Sector: I was told it was a pile of poo but got it and played it, and played it and played it! Brilliant game if you ask me

I agree, I bought this new for a fiver, and have player it all the way twice. Love it. Very gears of war style gameplay.

[Tetlee]

Originally Posted by danuk

Frontlines: I picked it up not expecting much as the reviews I'd read weren't great. The single player indeed turned out to be ok, the mp was a different story altogether. Planes, helicopters, tanks, drones, aa vehicles, auto turrets and good weapons classes all combined to give the most enjoyable xbox mp experience I've had to date.

+1 for Frontlines, hugely underrated game, was only talking about how great it was at work today. Still one of the finest FPS games released on the 360 IMO, when the online community was great, it was bloomin' fantastic!

Personally don't really class Crackdown as underrated as I think most 360 owners played it and rate it very highly, not many people run it down and I don't think it was overlooked by too many in the end.

Other underated games, Sega Rally(demo put people off but once used to the handling it was a great game, if a bit too tough!), GRiD would be another, such a sublime game but so many people either didn't give it a proper chance or just stuck with PGR4(which wasn't nearly as great IMO).

Get onto XBLA and there are tons of underrated games, the only ones that really get a look in are the ones which are hyped up by the press, such as Braid, Geo Wars and Trials HD, but there are so many other great games on there that have less mass market appeal.

[dgibbs]

Condemned has to be the most underated and probably overlooked by most. It is simply awesome in so many ways... the atmosphere yet to be bettered, real "jump" moments most films fail to achieve let alone games, brilliant melee action which was very brutal and realistic.

Also agree on dark sector... very good game and i got it for £3.99!!

[oliscott]

Dead Space and Mirrors Edge for me. Both I seem to remember came out at a time where loads of other big games where being released and these seemed to be overlooked.

Dead Space I thought was a fantastic game from start to finish for me. Had a good element of shooting, puzzle and scary moment in it. What Resident Evil should ahve become in my book.

As for Mirrors Edge. A totally standout game with a brilliant art style. Id recomend anyone play it.

[Zzebedee]

Originally Posted by Tetlee

+1 for Frontlines,

Personally don't really class Crackdown as underrated as I think most 360 owners played it and rate it very highly, not many people run it down and I don't think it was overlooked by too many in the end.

l.

i agree, everyone i know who played crackdown loved it (a lot due to the halo 3 beta), it reviewed well too.

I'd go with the darkness, i couldn't finish it due to a game breaking bug (did summat before i should so couldn't access an area

[iainl7]

I bought Crackdown entirely because I wanted to play Crackdown - it was the new game from Dave "DMA Design" Jones, after all. I never even installed the Halo 3 beta. Come to think of it, when I eventually grabbed Halo 3 cheap I didn't spend anywhere near as much time on it as Crackdown, either, which I completed twice.

[cassius76]

Mirrors Edge. A beautiful game, art style and music fitted perfectly together. And playing it.. WOW. It's a shame it didn't do very well...

Oh, and Just Cause... Skydiving never gets old!

[Paul_T]

Just Cause
A GTA Clone set on a paradise Island. Best £15 I've spent on ebay.

[zeroecho99]

+1 for Just Cause.

Can't wait for the sequel!

[Pooon]

Another vote for Mirrors Edge. Stunning game, i missed it at launch but picked it up for £10 from Blockbusters, one of the few games i've enjoyed playing through twice (normal and hard)

and i'll nominate Alone In The Dark, oh wait, wrong thread.........

[durera]

Conan for me, many of the usual games that get attention as "under-rated games" were rated pretty well if you take a look on meta-critic, even if they didn't necessarily get the success in retail they expected.

Conan's meta-critic score sits at a paltry 69%, but for me was one of the most fun, enjoyable, games I played on the 360. There weren't any game breaking issues with the game, and it had one thing that many games fail to achieve -- atmosphere, it really felt like playing through one of those 80's movies.

[Yubious]

Originally Posted by oliscott

Dead Space and Mirrors Edge for me. Both I seem to remember came out at a time where loads of other big games where being released and these seemed to be overlooked.

+1 for Dead Space.
Completed in through in about 3 days over xmas holidays last year.
Absolutely loved it

[sh18]

Mirrors Edge aswell for me, never played a game like it, truly unique. Ended up playing through twice on normal and hard (also to get the cheevo for not using weapons!), I had it from lovefilm so didnt do all the time trials but i intend to buy it so i can 100% it

[Simon Coates]

Yep, another one here for Dead Space.
Unfortunately it came out at the same time as a lot of BIG releases - COD4, GoW2, GTA4, Rockband 2, GH:WT, and it drifted into the background too quickly.
I had intended buying at release but didn't, eventually getting a few months later. What a night that was, just glad I was wearing brown trousers

Underrated by those who haven't played it, never by those that have.

Regards,

Simon

[NewBeetle]

Burnout Revenge. Best online gaming this side of the COD games. Still plenty playing, much better game than Burnout Paradise.

Disclaimer: Don't try to sleep for at least an hour after an online session on the game

[Anotherlimey]

For me it has to be Flatout

Totaly underated and came out of nowhere for me, anyone who has not played it go pick it up

[Codehead]

Originally Posted by Anotherlimey

For me it has to be Flatout

Totaly underated and came out of nowhere for me, anyone who has not played it go pick it up

Forgot about that. It was a great game. Best bit was we got it ~3 months before the US so in-game chat was 'nicer' for a while.

[Anotherlimey]

Originally Posted by Codehead

Forgot about that. It was a great game. Best bit was we got it ~3 months before the US so in-game chat was 'nicer' for a while.

I'm really tempted to buy it again, was ages ago i played it and now can be bought for 9.99 i think.

[sdb123]

I'll be boring and second a couple of games that have already been mentioned.

Condemned - Not the finest looking game going but for sound/atmosphere, edge of your seat gaming and sheer playablity this is hard to beat. I recently picked it up (again) for £3.

Dead Space - As mentioned above, this was launched at the wrong time from a marketing perspective; too many higher profile releases at the same time....this and the fact it doesn't have multiplayer probably put a lot of people off - and also the fact that most of those that didn't like the game after playing it turned out to be thinking the playing style should be the same as numerous FPS's. Excellent graphics and sound with some proper jumpy moments (even when nothing actually happened!). Reminded my of a cross between Resident Evil and Aliens. I picked this up (again) for £7.

[Tetlee]

Originally Posted by Anotherlimey

For me it has to be Flatout

Totaly underated and came out of nowhere for me, anyone who has not played it go pick it up

I forgot about that one too, although it wasn't a suprise hit for me as I was a huge fan of Flatout 1 & 2 on the original Xbox so knew we were in for something special

One other game I'll add while I'm here is MX vs ATV: Untamed, hardly anyone I know has played it, and the few that did really seemed to hate it and compared it to Pure(which aside from having quads (amoung other vehicles), was a totally different style of game). May not be the prettiest game out there, and is damn unforgiving on occasions, but it's such a fun game and when it's good it's really good, totally different to all the other racers on the 360.

[Pooon]

i have another nomination in Stuntman good little game, fun to play and challenging-ish at times

[spud131]

Viking: Battle for Aasgard. Altho I think it gernerally got alright reviews you never really heard anyone talking about playing it. I thoughtit was great and played it thro to the end I enjoyed it that much!!!

[BorisVS]

I've just got Pure for £5.99 - basically, downloaded demo at time of release, didn't think much of it, played it again recently and then saw it on offer at Play.com and thought why not. Excellent environments, fun to play, not too serious - will keep me occupied until Dirt2 and Forza 3 come down in price!

Also, as a big fan of racing sims, I eventually got Race Pro for £15 and although disappointed by the graphics, as I got into the game play itself, I have found it surprisingly absorbing and have forgiven the developers for some very shoddy graphics! You can't have it all is the lesson I suppose...