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The greatest underdog games of 2012

10 awesome games that went largely overlooked

Words: on December 26, 2012
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49 comments

  • bass88 - December 27, 2012 3:45 p.m.

    Twisted Metal. It was a fast, deep and immensly satisfying brawler (car-combat variety) with a deliciously dark sense of humour. If it wasn't for the fact that online can be so buggy and annoying race levels that the physics cannot adjust to, it would be my game of the year.

  • shadeslayer77 - December 27, 2012 10:37 p.m.

    Twisted Metal was shit. I was really looking forward to it to. Terrible controls, terrible AI, terrible level design, and bland graphics made Twisted Metal easily the worst game I've played this year.

  • bass88 - December 28, 2012 2:36 a.m.

    Hmm, I had no trouble with the controls. I'll admit graphics are not top notch but I liked the cartoony style. Also, I don't consider graphics to be everything. Level design was brilliant - large maps with many routes and the power-ups were placed strategically depending on the route. If by shit AI you mean that the enemies kept attacking you instead of others, then yes, that is shit. It didn't bother me (more targets to destroy :-D) but I can see why someone wouldn't like it.

  • Darkhawk - December 27, 2012 9:24 a.m.

    To my mind, Unfinished Swan even gives Journey a run for its money for this year's great masterpiece. If you go into it not knowing too much, it's a beautiful little gem of a game. (Try not to spoil by reading/watching too many reviews.)

  • Ryan_Taljonick - December 27, 2012 9:50 a.m.

    FINALLY, I'm not alone!

  • Unoriginal - December 27, 2012 3:03 a.m.

    Spec Ops: The Line. Things happen in that game that were not implied in the least by it's CoD-esque marketing campaign. No one I know played it because it looks like every other modern shooter ever but the rabbit hole goes so deep in that game. Don't want to spoil things but I think it is severly overlooked.

  • Tjwoods18 - December 27, 2012 7:12 a.m.

    I loved how close they got to the book (the heart of darkness) without actually going over that cliff. It choices are morally like that of Mass effect but on another level entirely.

  • Ryan_Taljonick - December 27, 2012 9:51 a.m.

    Aye - only reason it wasn't in this list was because it was featured in our Platinum Chalice awards.

  • ThatFanInThePeacoat - December 29, 2012 9:29 a.m.

    I really like how the choices were in the gameplay, rather than a text box popping up asking me what I wanted to do.

  • winner2 - December 26, 2012 8:49 p.m.

    I thought prototype 2 was shit. The controls in the first were jerky enough and then heller took that scheme and injected it with LSD.

  • Tjwoods18 - December 26, 2012 8:38 p.m.

    I liked the original Darkness because it simply felt real, especially the moment where you can just sit with Jenny and watch T.V. Sadly, the Darkness 2 took that aspect away by going too cartoonish in its character shading.

  • kyle-gerardi - December 29, 2012 1:34 a.m.

    Definitely nowhere near as cool as The Darkness, but I still thought it was a lot of fun. Definitely didn't overstay its welcome either... I think it was like, maybe 5 hours haha.

  • Tjwoods18 - December 26, 2012 8:35 p.m.

    Future soldier was anything but great.

  • MysterEnygma - December 26, 2012 7:46 p.m.

    wonder how many people dropped War of the Roses once Chivalry came out

  • taokaka - December 26, 2012 6:14 p.m.

    I'm ashamed, normally when a list comes out like this I've played most of them but this time I haven't played a single one. I've played a few games that haven't got the attention they deserve like tales of graces f, rhythm thief, binary domain and asura's wrath.

  • J-spit - December 27, 2012 6:35 p.m.

    OY! Just got meself that one for Christmas, I did!

  • elijah-taylor - December 26, 2012 5:34 p.m.

    I haven't reviewed the other end-of-the-year type stuff here, yet, so this may be ill-informed (that is to say: I don't know what's been mentioned elsewhere, already) but Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward for 3DS and Vita is beautiful and a solid sequel to one of the best stories in video games. Also, Asura's Wrath never gets the credit it deserves. But I feel like y'all have probably mentioned it elsewhere. Because GR understands the greatness inherent in punching gods to death.

  • Ryan_Taljonick - December 27, 2012 9:52 a.m.

    Oh for sure - another case of "only didn't make it on this list because it was in our Platinum Chalice awards" category. That game is the best DBZ game I've ever played. I loved every second of it!

  • Nap1400 - December 26, 2012 4:59 p.m.

    Thank you for the Skullgirls mention. It's my favorite game of 2012, honestly. Not GOTY worthy, but just a personal favorite. Hope the people at Lab Zero are able to get back on their feet so we can get Squiggly and Umbrella down the line. Then if they survive after that, playable Bloody Marie.

  • closer2192 - December 26, 2012 4:25 p.m.

    I'm surprised you guys didn't mention the Okami re-release (I think that was this year).

Showing 21-40 of 49 comments

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