Games which exceeded your expectations

[MartyG]

Darwinia - can't remember how I came across this one but the visual style instantly appealed to me, it wasn't very long but I really enjoyed it.

I'll add that one to my list too - it has a very old school charm to the game.

Keep an eye out for this tiny UK development company's new game: Defcon.

[AdamJW]

A recent retro purchase that exceeded my expectation was Super Tokusatsu Taisen 2001. I thought it would be way too cheesy when making the purchase, but it turns out thats one of its strongest points. Bought it as a filler title for my SRW collection really and it turns out to be a class game itself. Wouldn't say I was a Tokusatsu fan either, but there's bags of character in this game. Not for everyone though.

[Will Menth]

Grandia- I bought this game a long time ago and played it on and off for about seven years, i didnt want to finish it because it felt like i was ending it all. Its one of my favourite battle systems and i prefer the game over the likes of the ff series.

[eastyy]

Darwinia was very good but i also remember there game uplink

Could not believe how they managed to get the atmosphere in such a simple looking game

[erhgiez]

Shadow Hearts Covenant really grabbed me having not played a truely good RPG since the PS1, the story and the humour and the battle system were brilliant, one of the best RPGs ive played but sadly it seems to have been over looked by most, I mean what other game has you searching for gay porn cards to level up a character?

[Uli]

Metal Arms - Glitch in the System ...one of the most underrated games of recent time. a really amazing shooter!

Kameo ... it's no Zelda but it's a pure joy to play till the end

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Xbox) ... not half as bad as most reviewers apparently wanted it to be. found it's single player campaign highly enjoyable and different enough to make a fresh experience. oh, and there's even a co-op mode that let's you and a buddie play through the campain.

[Dwarf Mash9]

Gun on the 360 really enjoyed this game and also Saints Row is keeping me at the moment which I didn't think would happen

[EvilBoris]

I think I'd have to add saints row to this, purely for the multiplayer.

I only bought the game because I had some spare store credit and I have been pleasently suprised

[Sigourney Beaver]

Far Cry

The PC Demo did nothing for me apart from induce gasps at the graphics.

Those same demo levels in the context of the game were much more entertaining and the whole game really impressed me.

[Combination]

Super Metroid - Had a quick play on a demo pod, which isn't an ideal introduction, but I wasn't immediately hooked. However, I later bought it amidst the times when it was touted as the largest SNES game to date, and as we all know, 24Mbits wasn't enough.

[mr_sockochris]

Resident Evil 4 (GC) ? While I?ve played most of the RE games over the years I?ve never really enjoyed them a great deal. Of course RE4 was being hyped up and I can?t say I was hugely excited but I got the US version on launch day regardless and it went on to become arguably my favourite game of recent years. It looked stunning, had superb bosses, was full of action and there was very little key carrying involved. Never before had I played a game that moved along at such a pace, throwing one memorable moment after the other. It was also a perfect length too.


MotoGP (Xbox) ? I?m not a huge racing fan and I have very little interest in bikes, let alone MotoGP itself, but I loved the Live demo that came when Xbox Live launched. The amount of hours I put into that game (and the following ones) both off and online was far more than I ever expected.


Amped 3 (X360) ? Having played the original game on the Xbox the thought of another one didn?t fill me with much excitement as I haven?t enjoyed a snowboarding game since 1080 on the N64. The fact Amped 3 focused on tricks over racing, much like SSX which also never impressed me, put me off even more. But when play.com had it for ?17.99 a few months back I took a chance on it, even though I didn?t really like the demo either. But now I?m so glad I did. Unlike SSX, the control system made sense and felt good too, the mountains had a certain freedom about them that I liked while the cutscenes are the craziest stuff I?ve ever seen. Katamari made more sense than this.


Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (GC) ? This was one of those games that I wasn?t really interested in, had seen very little in the way of media but I picked up solely on the strength of the reviews it was getting at the time. Although the subsequent games somewhat spoil the special feeling the original had it?ll still be one of those games I?ll look back and remember in 10years time.


Super Smash Bros Melee (GC) ? The amount of time I put into this game was shocking. Considering I didn?t like the N64 game a great deal the way this game hooked me has been one of my biggest surprises in gaming. With over 100hrs in single player alone I think I got all but 6 trophies (6 that I?m just not good enough to get), nevermind the multiplayer too. It always saddens me when I see people write this off as some sort of party fighter when really it?s as deep and complex as any Tekken or Soul Calibur.


God of War (PS2) - This came out of nowhere really for me and was another game I?d bought on the strength of good reviews. I?d seen the name branded about when people were compiling their yearly shopping list in various threads but I never expected much. From the few videos I?d seen it looked like Prince of Persia mixed with Devil May Cry and nowhere near as good as either when in fact it was just as good as both of them.


A few more worth mentioning ?

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (Xbox) ? Simply because it was such a big improvement on the first two. The single player fixed practically all my complaints while the co-op was superb too.
Rainbow Six 3 (Xbox)- I?ve never been a huge R6 fan but I spend hundreds of hours online with this.
Metroid Pinball (NDS) - I can?t say I was expecting anything from this but I haven?t had this much fun with a pinball game since the Kirby one on the Game Boy.
Ikaruga (GC) - I never thought I?d have this much fun with a shooter, mainly because I suck at them, but I spent a hell of a long time playing this over and over and over.