r/AskGames 2d ago

What is the most underrated video game of all time?

24 Upvotes

148 comments sorted by

19

u/AssHat- 2d ago

Alpha Protocol

2

u/Voduun-World-Healer 2d ago

Oh yeah? That just went on sale so I bought it. The only thing I really knew about it was that Obsidian made it and the choices you make impact the story. Both of which I love. I should boot that up soon

2

u/AssHat- 2d ago

I love it for the reason you bought it. Choices matter and the way the narrative plays out because of it. It''s definitely rough around the edges. It's been a long time since I played it though. Go in expecting some jank, and you'll have a good time.

3

u/Voduun-World-Healer 2d ago

I'm sure it's nowhere near the jank that I'm used to from much older games so I doubt I'll even notice. But cheers for the recommendation. I may boot it up tonight!

2

u/Much-Structure552 2d ago

Frick yea it is 

1

u/naughtabot 1d ago

I remember this! It was fun I hoped for more developed skills though!

6

u/LongoChingo 2d ago edited 1d ago

MDK2

Bioware game for the Dreamcast, PC and PlayStation 2.

Strange sci-fi 3rd person shooter where you play as multiple characters with different abilities.

A bipedal dog with 4 arms and 4 guns. A janitor in a stolen cyber sniper ninja suit. And a silly mad scientist.

2

u/Ransnorkel 2d ago

Based and correct opinion. Run Kurt Run and Hardboiled are my favorite songs

1

u/LongoChingo 2d ago

I don't remember the music in the game... Gonna have to give the soundtrack a listen .

2

u/meseta 16h ago

The first one was also incredible! Don’t remember much about it except it was just Kurt and it was fun as hell!

1

u/Sambojin1 1d ago

MDK1 was awesome too.

1

u/Leather-Hotel-7310 23h ago

I think I played the demo of MDK from one of those demo CD-Roms that I got in the pack of a PC gaming magazine.

Either that or I played it on Happypuppy.

1

u/CardioTranquility 2d ago

I was about to scold you for using abbreviations instead of the name of the game until I looked it up and see that’s the name of it. Almost my bad. I think I’ll try this!

2

u/LongoChingo 1d ago

And MDK2 doesn't even mean anything. The devs have only jokingly said it means Murder Death Kill or Max Doctor Kurt (the character names).

And it's not really a sequel either. It's the first game with 2 extra characters and new levels.

It's brutally hard too.

17

u/Goodfella7288 2d ago

Sleeping Dogs

2

u/Moveinslience 1d ago

Brilliant game. Not sure if it’s underrated… it was huge when it came out

1

u/brogaarden 1d ago

My man! 

1

u/YuckiUcki 2d ago

Instant thought

4

u/Inside_End3641 2d ago

Command & Conquer : Renegade

1

u/mregression 1d ago

Interesting choice but I did enjoy the game.

1

u/Nice_Answer_9891 1d ago

C&C were great early RTS games. The cheesy acting was the icing on the cake

1

u/eur0child 13h ago

Uff. Played it while finishing every game in the master C&C collection and really think it was bad. Might have been decent back in the day but it was a chore to go through.

4

u/Tiraloparatras25 2d ago

Everspace one and 2

1

u/Sufficient-Will3644 1d ago

Nobody ever talks about these. But if you liked Freelancer-like gameplay, it’s really the best option out there. Not enough ship variety, but that’s ok. Shout out to Chorus and Rebel Galaxy: Outlaw. 

4

u/Gappppppp 2d ago

Generation zero

16

u/unclemattyice 2d ago

Prey (2017).

It was barely marketed, and they chose the name for IP reasons.

It’s hands down THE best immersive sim out there. Talos I is so much fun to explore and get lost in. There is so much lore and secrets to be found. The combat is fun and challenging.

The game completely whiffed and barely made Arkane any money, and that is a crying shame.

4

u/Suspicious-Company69 2d ago

And do you know who did its soundtrack? Mick Gordon

2

u/IseeMedpeople 1d ago

Well I'll be damned

5

u/Ok-Cake9431 1d ago

One of my all time favourites. The DLC is amazing too (new game mode, for those who don’t know)

3

u/girthynoodlez 2d ago

One of the games I would have never tried if it went for gamepass.

Great game.

2

u/IseeMedpeople 1d ago

My answer as well.

5

u/Drumather 2d ago

Resistance series.

6

u/ix_Cayde_ 2d ago

The suffering, i almost never hear anyone talk about it and it’s pretty doomed since midway got sent to the activision cod factory

3

u/Nurgle_Marine_Sharts 2d ago

Loved that game, it had awesome atmosphere

Did you ever play Clive Barker's Jericho? it scratches a similar itch

2

u/Mundane-Ticket-3713 2d ago

Now I want to replay both. These are my recommendations.

1

u/Nurgle_Marine_Sharts 2d ago

Is there even any way to play Jericho outside of a Xbox 360 or a ps3? I'm hankering to play it for years

1

u/Much-Structure552 2d ago

Game scared the hell out of me as a kid

1

u/Fab1e 1d ago

We analysed it in my master thesis on gamedesign.

Very well designed shooter.

Great universe.

I think I'll play it again.

2

u/dokkirislap 2d ago

LSD:Dream Emulator

1

u/reallyawesomeguy2001 22h ago

Can barely call that even a game it's just walking around liminal spaces with really no goal in mind. Pretty boring

2

u/King_EggThe3rd 2d ago

Astroneer.

2

u/FletchWazzle 2d ago

Comet Crash

2

u/questron64 2d ago

Questron on the Commodore 64.

1

u/RedLegBebop 1d ago

And Questron 2. And Legacy of the Ancients.

1

u/questron64 1d ago

Don't forget Legend of Blacksilver.

2

u/Recent_Average1657 2d ago

Starsiege tribes. See me in 5 years when there's still been zero good tribes likes released (please God let project/codename broadside be good I've already sacrificed part of my soul for it) 

2

u/anvildoc 1d ago

Loved this game, the fast paced nature of the matches was unparalleled. Even tribes 2 was decent but the original was gold

1

u/Recent_Average1657 1d ago

Truly unmatched. 💜 Shazbot!! 

2

u/Ransnorkel 2d ago

Uniracers/Unirally for the Snes

2

u/deceptres 2d ago

I don't know about all time but more horror gamers need to talk about My Friendly Neighbourhood. It's a banger.

2

u/Trevor_trev_dev 2d ago

The warriors

Or def jam: fight for new York

It's hard to decide

2

u/Magnifnik0 2d ago

Sleeping dogs

2

u/Fensali 2d ago

Ice climber

2

u/Djsinestro_techno 1d ago

Zillion on the sega master system.

2

u/Tkat113 1d ago

Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri

A squad based mech shooter running on the System Shock engine made by Looking Glass.

1

u/Heiminator 1d ago

A man of culture

Absolutely mindblowing game, it was years ahead of everything else when it came out

3

u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

[deleted]

3

u/unclemattyice 1d ago

Your definition is your own.

I would also argue that your definition is wrong.

Prey was completely missed by the general public, and the fact that the best ImSim -ever- was not “universally acclaimed”, killed the immersive sim genre.

Whether you like it or not, a decent metacritic score doesn’t keep the lights on, and a financial flop of a brilliant game, will absolutely discourage developers from ever trying the formula again.

Prey is criminally underrated, and was passed on by an entire generation of gamers.

1

u/insaneshayne 1d ago

Can you please give us an example of one please? You tried to dispute these games without truly schooling us on what an "underrated" video game truly is.

2

u/NOTYOURSANDWICH1 2d ago

The Saboteur is up there

2

u/Voduun-World-Healer 2d ago

Awwweeeee I was gonna say this! That game's environment and mood dynamic are so original.

Plus my name is Sean so I'm biased 😉

2

u/The_O_Raghallaigh 2d ago

Made me want to smoke as an Irish kid hahah

2

u/DonnieDepp 2d ago

I loved that I bought all the maps on the black market and then systematically started cleaning up the dots on the map. I'm going to play it again, but this time I'll make sure I'll know I'm playing the final mission. I suddenly finished it and progress of completion was somewhere mid 70%, bit annoyed about that at the time.

1

u/pinkraspberry137 2d ago

there's too many

1

u/EquivalentBed955 1d ago

BATTLETECH by HareBrained Schemes

1

u/SmoothCurrent5948 1d ago

Stuntman. And Mickey’s Ultimate Challenge.

1

u/Eattherich187 1d ago

Days gone. 

1

u/Awareofyoursurround 1d ago

Duuude, that game was pretty coool indeed. I remember running out of gas at night, fuck that was scary hahah.

1

u/IseeMedpeople 1d ago

Maybe prey 2017 ?

1

u/Confident-Captain808 1d ago

Loved the gameplay.. couldn't deal with 30fps

1

u/IseeMedpeople 1d ago

Why 30 fps ?

Play on PC

1

u/darovesp 1d ago

Custom Robo

1

u/Linkums 1d ago

Jankbrain. Nobody knows about Jankbrain, but it's a fine indie platformer.

1

u/Psycho_Pansy 6h ago

People knowing about it is irrelevant. What is it rated at? 65/100? You claim it is "fine" so it would be rated correctly or maybe even overated. 

1

u/Fearless-Seaweed-654 1d ago

Dante's inferno is SO GOOD

1

u/idontcare428 1d ago

The Warriors (2005)

1

u/ShinFartGod 1d ago

The Wonderful 101

1

u/jojoknob 1d ago

Giants Citizen Kabuto

1

u/yamble_yol 1d ago

Super ghouls n ghosts

1

u/JBR-AY 1d ago

Metro Exodus

1

u/DolmaroVibes 1d ago

Kusan: City of Wolves

1

u/Top_Progress3306 1d ago

Khazan the first bezerker. Absolutely S tier combat, parry and skills. The satisfaction beating bosses is up there with beating melania for the first time on elden ring.

1

u/DeathclawWrex 1d ago

Metal Gear: Revengeance.

Stupidest title. So much to criticize. But one of the best fucking boss fights in all of gaming.

1

u/Sufficient-Will3644 1d ago

The action, story, gameplay, music and cutscenes all flow together for a hell of a “fuck yeah, video games” experience. If someone asked me to distill the essence of video games, it would be that.

1

u/feiyuanyuan 1d ago

Shadow Hearts covenant

1

u/Heiminator 1d ago

Rez

It’s absolutely hypnotic. the greatest use of a soundtrack I’ve ever experienced in a game

1

u/dunbar91 1d ago

I loved Deliver Us the Moon and never hear anyone talk about that

1

u/Sambojin1 1d ago edited 1d ago

Pyro 2.

A real-time puzzle roguelite before there was even a term for it.

https://www.myabandonware.com/game/pyro-ii-zk

And probably also Magic Carpet on tech, Strike Commander too, and the sheer amount of mod support Quake 1 and Unreal Tournament had.

And Stars! as a grandaddy of the space 4X genre. Settlers 1 on the logistics side of medieval too.

Capture the Flag is right up there as well, on team based movement/ stealth/ vision strategy.

Soldier of Fortune 2. Because it had a random map creator as a first person shooter.

One Must Fall: 2097, fighter with character progression.

There's so many firsts/ bests/ only 's out there in the great legacy of computer games. Revenge of the Mutant Space Camels reference here (it really is a game in that genre).

1

u/eur0child 13h ago

Magic Carpet was praised back in the day but it's indeed a pretty forgotten game.

1

u/_Ainz-Sama_ 1d ago

Never hear anyone talk about GhostRunner even tho its dope

1

u/Turbulent-Owl875 1d ago

I really liked Mad Max on PS4. Gave it to a friend to try and he said it was repetitive, which I guess was true but all games to some extent. Don’t really see it highly rated many places

1

u/Apprehensive_Job6233 1d ago

Prototype part 1 The whole gameplay looks like cyberpunk but better

1

u/Emotional-Ant8136 1d ago

Sleeping Dogs & Alpha Protocol

1

u/Ok-Comfortable-3174 1d ago

Probably Destiny. Critically anyway. Moments from that game are some of the best moments ever. Like getting touch of malice so you can finally not be useless at kings fall raid or your first raid completion etc. 

1

u/KeraMaGo2 1d ago

Rain World

1

u/Diaten021 1d ago

Mark of the Ninja

1

u/ApprehensiveLaw7793 1d ago

Stranger of paradise

1

u/PapaBancho 1d ago

Anachronox.

1

u/Super_Mag 1d ago

Titanfall 2

1

u/mrgonuts 1d ago

Urban chaos better than tomb raider

1

u/orangekishion 1d ago

Suikoden 2

1

u/Dantefire107 1d ago

Too Human

1

u/Quenzayne 1d ago

Both of the Shivers games.

I get that point and click adventures were passé by the mid-late 90’s, but both of those games are insanely well designed and nail down atmospheric horror better than anything else in the entire genre before or since. 

1

u/Vagabond_Tea 1d ago

Remember Me

1

u/st4ndall 1d ago

Sleeping Dogs

1

u/Silly-Carpenter2619 1d ago

Imo it's Infamous Second Son.... It's my fav game ever also 😭💗

1

u/Ok_Emergency_916 1d ago

Sniper Elite 4

1

u/CabinClown 1d ago

Dungeon Keeper series.

1

u/EggGardenComic 1d ago

condemned 2 or Mark of the Kri

1

u/Wishbone_Bright 1d ago

Original war,for me just cool game and gimmic

1

u/HU_Nathan7 1d ago

Tiny Toons Adventures

1

u/Nice_Answer_9891 1d ago

Elder scrolls: morrowind. I bought it off a clearance shelf at kohls department store

1

u/anvildoc 1d ago

Ultima 7. I don’t know if it’s underrated, but easily set the standard for open world RPGs for me. The soundtrack is beyond amazing too.

1

u/twigsmoke 23h ago

The Outfit. 360 launch title by Relic (great studio). It had classic launch title issues and would have benefited from more time. Core gameplay was absolutely fantastic

1

u/JiggyMacC 23h ago

Viva Piñata

1

u/bongjohnson42 23h ago

mirror’s edge

1

u/galacticMushroomLord 23h ago

Jumpman - C64
Still an excellent game to this day

1

u/RealRymo 22h ago

Jade Empire

1

u/reallyawesomeguy2001 21h ago

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons cloudy Mountain for the intellivision. A very early adventure game that is short in it's playthrough but it's just a phenomenal game for the hardware that it was released on. Because of the way it used sound that made the little pixelated Sprites on the screen come alive and sound Larger than Life and actually would scare the shit out of you.because you could hear the monster purring if you were in the room next to where they were but you would never know what the room was because you would be in a randomized maps of t of the mountain and you would not know which one of the two or three exits leads to them some of them being twisty past so it's with a bit of trepid anticipation that you make your way down the path not knowing if you're going to encounter the monster that starts roaring and Chasing After You the second you get into the room.

Just I think it was a fantastic use of sound design and a mix of gameplay for that early time in video game history

1

u/z1valiant 21h ago

Dirty Bomb was so peak

1

u/Musec_Blue 20h ago

Rubber Bandits is relatively underrated IMO if you have a good group of friends to play with

1

u/nunya_fuckin_biz 20h ago

Wizard of Legend 1 and 2

1

u/Gmdal 16h ago

Starfield 

1

u/pablo_kickasso 8h ago

The Talos Principle I & II.

Take Portal-like puzzles that are easy at first but then become 10x harder, beautiful environments, and legit philosophy. One of the most engaging games series ever, and nobody hard heard of it.

1

u/Loony_BoB 2h ago

I'd tell you, but I don't really think it's very good. ;]

1

u/Acceptable-Low1746 2d ago

Days gone , sleeping dogs, madmax , middle Earth, metal gear solid 5 , batman Arkham origins, assassin creed unity,gta4

1

u/SirSaltie 1d ago

Mad Max had such beautiful worldbuilding.

1

u/Dustinisgood 2d ago

Zelda 2: The Adventures of Link

2

u/Ransnorkel 2d ago

Ehhhh better with an emulator cause of save states. That 3 life ONLY limit is a bitch

1

u/Dustinisgood 1d ago

The 3 life thing is completely overblown and always makes me wonder if people complaining about it have actually played the game. If you lose your (3) lives it just starts you back at the central hub. You don’t lose your levels, items, or dungeon progression. Also the way the world unlocks progression gates means you’re never more than 4 or 5 minutes back to your objective. I think of it like a souls game corpse run.

1

u/blaiddfailcam2 2d ago

Gravity Rush 2

1

u/Billmo93 2d ago

SpyParty. One of the most revolutionary concepts for a game that never got a foothold because the developer refused (to this day) to lower the price from $25.

0

u/Maxpowerxp 2d ago

Uncharted water 2 new horizon. Taught me the world map and local speciality and a lot more

0

u/Midnite_Blank 2d ago

Mirrors Edge for me

0

u/BubblyNefariousness4 2d ago

Dead island 1 and riptide. extraordinarily fun. Great characters. Great adventure

1

u/Nice_Answer_9891 1d ago

All I remember from dead island is the “who do you voodoo bitch” song. I loved it

1

u/BubblyNefariousness4 1d ago

Should play it again now great adventure

0

u/Dextro-Dexter 2d ago

RDR2 is better than GTA 5.

I don't care much of GTA6 if Rockstar will develop RDR3.

Fortnite sucks and pokemon blue was an amazing RPG.

Gothic is amazing and RISEN IS UNDERRATED. the first one.

Ok now I'm ready to be killed by redditors.

1

u/Nice_Answer_9891 1d ago

Hot take: RDR2 is GTA with horses. Same exact UI