4 Underrated Games You Probably Overlooked

Nox Game

Some video games don’t get the praise they deserve. This could be in part because they haven’t sold well, the marketing wasn’t done correctly so not enough people knew about them, or just simply because they were too obscure for the time. But a game that’s not played by millions doesn’t mean that it’s a bad game, right? Some just don’t get the audience they deserve and I for one think that’s a travesty.

The list of unappreciated games could be endless, as one person’s taste in games isn’t necessarily the same as everyone else’s. So I’ve kept this list fairly short and tried to pick out some of the gaming gems I think most people will agree on. All of these games seemed to fly under the radar in one way or another and not gain the praise deserved. Thanks to a large community of passionate gamers and modders, some of them are still alive today. Not only that, they’re active and are still having community led patches.

These games might not be the GTA V of today, but they all have a certain je ne sais quoi to them. Whether that’s the story they told or some great innovative features, these games offered something a little different. For whatever reason they didn’t get the limelight they deserved, so I think it’s time they had their moment in the sun.

 

1. Freedom Fighters

Freedom Fighters game

This was one of the games that had me truly invested in its story. The Soviet Union has invaded and occupied New York City and a group of resistance fighters known as Freedom Fighters turn to the only man who can save them, a plumber. No, it’s not Mario for once – this time it’s Christopher Stone who saves the day. That might all sound like a bit of a joke, but trust me it’s not.

Despite the somewhat laughable premise, the game stood up and still managed to immerse me in its world.

Freedom Fighters was a third person shooter released in 2003. Players would navigate through the streets of New York with a squad of teammates, performing various tasks that disrupted the occupying Soviet Forces grand plans. By completing these tasks you earned Charisma points, which enabled you to recruit more squad members and eventually stomp around New York with twelve unstoppable badasses.

Freedom Fighters may not have been the best looking game. It may not have had the most innovative features either, but it had a great story with likeable characters. Not to mention it had a Plumber as the protagonist. He may not have been Italian, but what’s not to like?

 

2. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-pc
Source: Torrentshack

In 2004, Activision released Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines and I’m sorry to say, it flopped. I have no idea how this game didn’t become popular and sell lots of copies, but the general consensus was that it sucked (see what I did there?). Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines not only had the story, but it had some really interesting gameplay mechanics too. The game had detective elements, sneaking mechanics, combat, great roleplaying, multiple dialogue options and, at some points, was even quite scary.

The player is a newly turned vampire, exploring areas such as Santa Monica, Hollywood, Downtown LA and Chinatown. Players created a character at the start of the game and subsequently got bitten in a rather promiscuous way and then levelled up said character. Character creation was limited, with the character’s look being determined on the class you selected.

In Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, not only could you drink your enemy’s blood, but you also had a large range of weapons at your disposal. Flamethrowers, katanas and sledgehammers all made for brutal deaths. Of course, if blood sucking was your thing, you could always feast upon your enemies. But drinking from innocent humans for too long resulted in their death and cost of your humanity points. Doing this too often meant players eventually became a mindless blood-sucking beast, changing dialogue options to more aggressive ones and altering your play style entirely.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is truly a gem in the world of video games and you can still find it online today.

 

3. Nox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4e1gaY-j44

Isometric RPGs are having something of a revival at the moment. The Diablo series is usually the one that comes to mind when people talk of isometric RPGs, but back in 2000, Westwood released Nox. Unfortunately, it’s hard to compete with Blizzard in some regards.

Not only did it have Seann William Scott (Stifler from American Pie) as the voice of the protagonist, but it took you to a high fantasy world filled with magic and intrigue. Nox had a real charm to its story. Players picked from one of three classes; Warrior, Wizard or Conjurer. Each class had its own story arch and would eventually intertwine with the others.

In a world filled with ogres and giant scorpions alike, Nox had players track down the evil sorceress Hecubah and prevent her from gaining control of the Staff of Oblivion. All this occurred after you were sucked into a TV and transported to the world of Nox. No joke.

Players were able to summon beasts to defend you, cast magical spells or just simply bash opponent’s faces in. It’s clear that each class was created with love and care from the developers, as whichever route you decide to go, the story remains interesting and engaging.

Nox looked great for a game released in 2000 and included some innovative features. There was a line of sight mechanic named TrueSight, which was basically a fog of war. TrueSight added a different and tactical element to the gameplay making the difficulty somewhat increased in the process.

Nox also had some brilliant special effects. Some more notable ones are levelling up, in which the heavens seemed to open and pour light onto your character. There was also a cool magic system that appeared when players cast spells – hand symbols would appear on the screen indicating the gestures the wizard made to cast the spells. You have no idea how many times I tried to copy these.

I’m not sure if it’s because it was a game with Stifler in it or just one of my first tastes of an isometric RPG, but Nox was great and it’s a world I still pay the odd visit to now and again.

 

4. Homeworld

The RTS game market is not what it used to be and after Westwood and the dissolution of the Command & Conquer series, a gap was left in the market. Homeworld was a game that well and truly filled that gap for me.

The story is of Homeworld was one of a quest for answers. Searching across the galaxy you are looking to answer the question of where your race came from. After discovering a ship that crashed into a planet, we find some answers to the origin of our species. It’s up to the player and your armada to piece the rest of the jigsaw together, venturing into space.

Homeworld was a true 3D real-time strategy game. Players could move ships both horizontally and vertically in space – which was almost unheard of at the time. There were a large number of different ships to use, ships with ion cannons, missiles and even ships that could take over enemy ships and bring them into your service. Homeworld also allowed you to upgrade these ships and weapons through the technology trees, increasing damage, speed and other components.

An innovative feature about Homeworld was the ability to finish a level and then continue the next level with all the ships from the previous one. This created a sense of attachment to the spaceships you had built. You could essentially finish the whole game with the same destroyer named Dave in your force.

Not only was there a beautifully crafted story about searching for who you are and where you came from (something which I think resonates with us all), but the audio was also breathtaking at times. The soundtrack was eerie at times and tense at others. The pilots had great voice over work and the story narration was superb.

There’s something for everyone in Homeworld and its sequel – whether you’re into sucking blood or piloting a spacecraft, you’re bound to find something that suits you. Classic games can often fool you into thinking they were as good as you remember. Falling in love with nostalgia is easy and it’s only when you re-watch gameplay on YouTube that you realise you’d rather leave the past in the past.

When I watched gameplay of these games and or even played some myself, I didn’t get that feeling of disappointment. All I got was pure blissful enjoyment. That’s something we can all agree is important when playing games.

Homeworld was recently released as a HD version along with its successor, so it’s easy enough to pick up and play in higher definition and see for yourself. The wonder of space and the final frontier awaits.

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