Post your favorite obscure games here so others can find some nice underrated games to play. My contributions:
Singularity (Ravensoft Games, released in 2010 for Windows, Xbox 360 and PS3)
Description (shamelessly cribbed from TVTropes):
It is 1950. Facing the power of the atomic bomb, still solely controlled by the United States of America, the USSR starts looking for their own super weapon. On a small island, named Katorga-12, off the eastern coast of the Soviet Union, a strange new element is discovered, containing immense power. Named E99, an entire facility is constructed in secret to develop this unique resource, and give Stalin the power to conquer the world.
This does not go well.
In 1955, a disaster devastates the entire island. The experiment, the island, and the facility are buried by the Soviet government, scrubbed from files and hidden from the world.
Flash forward to 2010. A US Marine recon patrol, in response to strange radiation readings from the supposedly non-existent island, heads to investigate. After a sudden flash of light, the patrol helicopter crashes...
You play Captain Nate Renko, who quickly discovers that the island is much more than it appears. The space-time continuum is in constant flux. The 1950s bleed into 2010. The timeline is quickly disrupted, forming a mess of interchanging pasts and presents. Horrific mutants and monsters, the Soviet army of the past and present, and the environment itself are out to kill him. It is only the power of the TMD, an experimental device used to manipulate the time state of objects or people, and the help of a mysterious woman and her old mentor, that allows Renko to survive, and slowly unwind the truth behind the island's mysteries.
Why I like it: It basically Bioshock with a campy B-movie plot based around time-travel and cold war soviet super science. The gameplay isn't as tight and the time travel mechanics aren't used to their full potential IMHO, but I think the weapons and puzzles are better and the multiple clever endings are far superior.
Breakdown (Namco, released in 2004 for Xbox)
Description: You take on the role of an amnesiac soldier named Derrick Cole, who's trapped in a lab room being experimented on by unseen scientists. An unseen force attacks the complex surrounding the room, and Derrick is broken free by a woman named Alex. She knows him; he doesn't remember her. Derrick must escape the facility, which is being attacked by a mixed force of human soldiers and an alien race called the T'lan.
Slowly, both Derrick and the player learn that the entire situation was set into motion by the discovery of a mysterious alien civilization under Japan, code-named Site Zero. Derrick is the lone survivor of an experiment which gives him superhuman strength and speed. Now you're punching out aliens and fighting to prevent an alien takeover of humanity.
Why I like it: I'll admit straight up that this game has a lot of flaws. It's incredibly hard, the story can be really slow-paced at times and there's a lot of backtracking. But what I love about it is that the game never leaves first person view, but it's not a shooter. I mean yeah there are guns in the game, but the enemies are practically bulletproof. You are much more effective with your bare hands, and the combat system is pretty unique. It's a first person brawler. Left trigger is the left arm, right trigger is the right arm, and there's enough combos and special moves to qualify as a fighting game. Later in the game you can even do crazy shit like shoot hodokens and enter bullet time.
The game is also dedicated to maintaining immersion. You want to pick up the ammo from that gun? Derrick is going to kneel down, reach out and pick up the gun, pull the magazine out, toss the gun over his shoulder and put the extra mag in his pocket. You want to drive that car? Derrick is going to reach out, open the door, slide into the seat, close the door, turn the key, put the car into gear and then start driving. Everything is like this. It can get tiresome after a while but it really helps pull you into the game and suspend your disbelief.
And there are some mind-bendingly awesome setpieces in this game. Let's just say that every now and then what you are seeing is obviously not real, and the hallucinations are fucking awesome. And the reason you are experiencing them is one of the best plot twists I've ever seen in a game, it changes everything you thought you knew about the story up to that point. You will not see it coming.
Singularity (Ravensoft Games, released in 2010 for Windows, Xbox 360 and PS3)
Description (shamelessly cribbed from TVTropes):
It is 1950. Facing the power of the atomic bomb, still solely controlled by the United States of America, the USSR starts looking for their own super weapon. On a small island, named Katorga-12, off the eastern coast of the Soviet Union, a strange new element is discovered, containing immense power. Named E99, an entire facility is constructed in secret to develop this unique resource, and give Stalin the power to conquer the world.
This does not go well.
In 1955, a disaster devastates the entire island. The experiment, the island, and the facility are buried by the Soviet government, scrubbed from files and hidden from the world.
Flash forward to 2010. A US Marine recon patrol, in response to strange radiation readings from the supposedly non-existent island, heads to investigate. After a sudden flash of light, the patrol helicopter crashes...
You play Captain Nate Renko, who quickly discovers that the island is much more than it appears. The space-time continuum is in constant flux. The 1950s bleed into 2010. The timeline is quickly disrupted, forming a mess of interchanging pasts and presents. Horrific mutants and monsters, the Soviet army of the past and present, and the environment itself are out to kill him. It is only the power of the TMD, an experimental device used to manipulate the time state of objects or people, and the help of a mysterious woman and her old mentor, that allows Renko to survive, and slowly unwind the truth behind the island's mysteries.
Why I like it: It basically Bioshock with a campy B-movie plot based around time-travel and cold war soviet super science. The gameplay isn't as tight and the time travel mechanics aren't used to their full potential IMHO, but I think the weapons and puzzles are better and the multiple clever endings are far superior.
Breakdown (Namco, released in 2004 for Xbox)
Description: You take on the role of an amnesiac soldier named Derrick Cole, who's trapped in a lab room being experimented on by unseen scientists. An unseen force attacks the complex surrounding the room, and Derrick is broken free by a woman named Alex. She knows him; he doesn't remember her. Derrick must escape the facility, which is being attacked by a mixed force of human soldiers and an alien race called the T'lan.
Slowly, both Derrick and the player learn that the entire situation was set into motion by the discovery of a mysterious alien civilization under Japan, code-named Site Zero. Derrick is the lone survivor of an experiment which gives him superhuman strength and speed. Now you're punching out aliens and fighting to prevent an alien takeover of humanity.
Why I like it: I'll admit straight up that this game has a lot of flaws. It's incredibly hard, the story can be really slow-paced at times and there's a lot of backtracking. But what I love about it is that the game never leaves first person view, but it's not a shooter. I mean yeah there are guns in the game, but the enemies are practically bulletproof. You are much more effective with your bare hands, and the combat system is pretty unique. It's a first person brawler. Left trigger is the left arm, right trigger is the right arm, and there's enough combos and special moves to qualify as a fighting game. Later in the game you can even do crazy shit like shoot hodokens and enter bullet time.
The game is also dedicated to maintaining immersion. You want to pick up the ammo from that gun? Derrick is going to kneel down, reach out and pick up the gun, pull the magazine out, toss the gun over his shoulder and put the extra mag in his pocket. You want to drive that car? Derrick is going to reach out, open the door, slide into the seat, close the door, turn the key, put the car into gear and then start driving. Everything is like this. It can get tiresome after a while but it really helps pull you into the game and suspend your disbelief.
And there are some mind-bendingly awesome setpieces in this game. Let's just say that every now and then what you are seeing is obviously not real, and the hallucinations are fucking awesome. And the reason you are experiencing them is one of the best plot twists I've ever seen in a game, it changes everything you thought you knew about the story up to that point. You will not see it coming.
