Ok, so post up here your favorite under-rated or under-played or less popular game(s) that you have. AKA your favorite non-best-seller game. My personal favorite is shadowrun, a gread FPS with a pretty unique twist, but never got off to a good enough start, and the company who made it shut down a few months or so after release, even though it was very nicely balanced anyways and didn't really need any Title Updates to fix anything. Sadly it was not a huge hit and never got the attention it deserved.
Out of recent games, I'd definitely say Enslaved. The sales were, quite frankly, terrible. I, however, absolutely loved the game. The combat was fun, though not very complex and while the platforming was pretty much impossible to fail, it was an interesting way in getting from point A to point B. The story and characters were really where the game shined with some incredible voice acting, detailed and original environments, and some of the best digital acting in a videogame ever. Truly an original and great game. Everyone here should at least rent it.
I saw the thread title and immediately thought shadowrun. Anyone that has played it knows it. Jet grind radio for the sega dreamcast was amazing, I would call it more of an experience than a game. The sound track was the best soundtrack I have ever heard for any game. I'm not sure how much attention it got but it couldn't have been much because none of my friends know about the sega dreamcast version. Those are the two biggest ones I can think of.
Yeah, you can tell I had this thread because of shadowrun lol. I have never heard of anyone disliking shadowrun, because it is a seemingly perfectly balanced game (at least to me) because there are counters to everything, and counters to the counters, and encouraged so much team-work. I believe anyone that doesn't think shadowrun was a great game, hasn't played it because it seemed too different/unreal, or just never heard of it.
The game freedom fighters, for gamecube/PS2/xbox, I do not believe ever had massive sales, but was some of the best times I have ever had with friends. Great controls, plot, and multiplayer all contributed to an overall fun experience. The multiplayer, was by-far, the best part, because back when none of me or my friends had an xbox, we all had gamecubes, so we would all go to somebody's house, bring a controller, and let all hell break loose.
Shadowrun was one of the best FPS games ever released, and the cross platform gaming made things interesting, as well as a completely unique gameplay style. The game was COMPLETELY underated, but it still has a decent fanbase to this day. Away from the shooter genre, Too Human was hugely underated, and I though it was a fantastic game. But Shadowrun was just epic. The game had nearly no flaws, great maps, superb gameplay and brilliant AI, but it just got no attention... But still, its got a decent fanbase, and like TF2 on the xbox, you will ALWAYS get a match.
Darksiders, it was a awesome game but was really under rated game. The whole story was awesome and the gameplay was awesome fun. Waiting for Darksiders 2 now.
Deus Ex was an underrated game when it was released but also clearly the best game ever made! You've either heard of, played, and loved it, or just not heard of it. Oh, or you've played its crappy sequel Deus Ex: Invisible War instead. It was a classic "ahead of its time" scenario, except in the graphics department.
Legend of Dragoon for PS1. If you have EVER liked an RPG or any Final Fantasy type game, this is pretty much the best of them ever made. The story is amazing, the gameplay requires INTELLIGENCE, the cut-seens have unheardof graphics for the time, and the concept is just so cool. Definitely a game that everybody needs to play, and time after time it is rated as the number one under-appreciated game, right next to shadowrun.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask It's always been overshadowed by it's older brother, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, even though Majora's mask is just as good as Ocarina.
For recent games... I'd say NFS Hot Pursuit. The gameplay and online are amazing. A shame everyone is too busy playing Black Ops to give it the credit it deserves.
Disgaea 1,2, or 3 Its is a tactics turn based strategy game that not only allows for plus games and subsequent playthrus but also allows players to level there characters (to which the limit you can have is a whopping 100 different toons) to level 9999. Furthermore you may at anytime reincarnate anyone of your characters back to lvl 1. By doing this you will get bonus points to allocate to attributes that affect your skills growth rate.... and thats just scratching the surface... trust me this game will take you on an EASY 500+ hour trip. That is no typo yes five hundred + hours easily. There is much more game features to explore. definately a must have for any tactics fan!
Recent: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood About 3 people on my friends list have it, and all love it. People yet again are too busy with Black Ops to see this game for it's worth. Multiplayer is always fun, with counters to every strategy, and i'm always yelling "Oh damn, that bastard!" when i get killed by a random guy in the crowd. Slightly Less Recent: Civilization: Revolution Possibly the best TBS on the market for consoles. Brought the Civilization series to the consoles without dumbing it down, and kept the controls simple enough for a new player. Possibly my two favorite games in my now tiny game collection.