Games that DO live up to the hype

[Mike Pothier]

We've had plenty of threads and discussions on overrated games, which is fine. But on opposite end of the spectrum, what games have gotten praise that you think deserve every bit of it?

Starcraft - I STILL play this game. Its the one of the most perfect games ever created.

Half-life (1 and 2) - Best FPS series ever created.

Morrowind - I was a late comer in this game. I only got it a couple years ago, but it still blows me away how awesome this game is.

[Serik]

Civilization II,III,IV. Sid has a winning formula. One of the few games that's both epic and accessible. Can't wait for V :D

Half-Life 1 and 2. 'Nuff said.

Baldur's Gate I and II. Consistently ranked among the best PC RPGs of all time - and for good reason.

Homeworld II. Space combat that isn't overburdened with a clumsy interface and unnecessary complexities. If only they made a naval combat game that was this fun.

The Sims - Although I haven't played it in years, The Sims deserves all of the praise it can get. After all, it's the best-selling PC game ever. Fun, clever, and endlessly replayable.

Battlefield 1942 - Hands down my favorite online game. There's still nothing like a 32-plane dogfight on the Coral Sea map or the epic naval battles of Midway. Few other games can capture the thrill of BF42's combat. I was saddened when the sequel abandoned fun, irreverent maps like Battle of Britain - which is nothing but bombers and fighters duking it out over the English coastline.

That's all for now, but I'm probably missing a buncha great games.

[Arilou]

Planescape: Torment By *far* the best story of any computer game. Ever. Consistently given great ratings. No one bought it.

[Young Avenger]

I thought that Okami lived up to the praise everyone gave it. Excellent graphics, great & creative gameplay and it had a fun story. Though I did find the speech in the game to be extremely annoying.

[The Zapper]

Castlevania Symphony of the Night - one of the last, but greatest games of it's kind.

God of War - I haven't played 2 yet, but the first is outstanding, and ripping gorgon heads off never gets tiring.

Silent Storm - A strategy game on the PC that most people never heard of, but the people who did play gave it lots of well deserved praise. (no "hype" on this game, but it did live up to the reviews I've seen.

[Sparda]

Damn you for making this late at night and now I'm too lazy to write a long ass essay on games that do live up to hype. But I'll do it anyway's.

I agree on the Starcraft bit. It's a sci-fi RTS that has a strong storyline, fun races to play from, and overall just memorable. But you really wanna know why this game is still praised while other RTS game's, even though it's more upgraded is still loved? Just two words "online gaming". Come on, not only is it a strong point from a single player's point of view but playing this awesome game against other people on the web and the fact that Blizzard provides excellent web hosting helps keep this game being super popular even today. It's just addicting and add more to it, people make custom maps with different gameplay to add more fun to the mix. Hell Asians a hardcore for this game. Another game I would say, it's comparable in fun factor to Starcraft is Warcraft 3. It has much better web hosting than SC and the idea, that you can have your own hero with RPG elements add's more to the fun. Zoom in, and it's nice to see the battle in a cool kind of way despite the graphics. Custom maps as well for this game is even more fun. SC and WC3 sure as hell live up to the hype.

Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2, is just plainly wow. It has amazing character devolopment, interesting villians, and an awesome story. You really can't go wrong with that.

Age of Empires 1 and 2.......my god that's a very good game series. Despite my lack of interest for 3 (come on, they could have done better) AoE was pretty much the reason why RTS is even a genre to begin with. I know it was'nt the first RTS game but after part one was released, people were engaged by how much fun it is to build units and attack your enemy while at the same time you get history lessons lol. Who did'nt want to be pissed off angry Romans? These 2 games along with the expansion is just beyond wow's and would still play it if I had the time but the online feature sucks though sadly.

Devil May Cry 1 and 3. I'm a huge fan boy for these games (just look at my username). DMC basically to me brought back the challenge that game's were meant to have while doing it with style. To show off different moves in interesting way's to kill your enemy and a bastard of a challenge the game provides make it an overal great. Would love to try God of War when I have the time to see how this lives up.

Resident Evil. What can I say, good storyline, puzzle's, guns, needing to survive but the most awesome part about this series was just the fun of shooting zombies :). Seriously who can get tired of that? Part 1 was scary as F*ck but fun as well tagging with Star's for the ride, part 2 had an awesome system of seeing things from two character's point of views (and even more replayablility if you played each characters scenerio A or B) and not to mention escape from the big bad city. Part 3 is just sumed up in one word.....Nemesis. In the past 2 games, you can just with a clear head kill zombies and not worry much except for ammo preservation and such but never has one have to worry in each different area than to be chased by a behemoth monster that is obsessed with your utter destruction. Plus the Gun powder system was awesome as well as storyline and setting. Part 0 had another interesting background to the series, and an awesome gameplay with working together with your partner and switching items made it refreshing. Now when I say RE 1, I mean more of the Remake and the cheesy voice acting from the original. I would still play the Cheesy original out of sheer fun ness despite having played the Remake.

Now part 4 is another story. Despite not having zombies which was a bummer, it sure as hell lived up to the hype. It's still the same control's but more confortable, awesome aresonal of weapons, good side story to the whole game, freaky monsters and bosses and just overall fun seeing ol Leon Kennedy back in the game. Only the spin off's had sucked from the series but the main numbering has not dissapointed me yet.

Kingdom Hearts, just plain fun teaming up with disney characters and battleing evil. And sephiroth is so bloody hard in the game :o. Gotta get part 2 eventually.

Final Fantasy 6. This game is a bitch when it comes down to which character I wanna take on my journey and a huge cast of them too. Only Final Fantasy with the biggest cast of characters, and not one of them is the main character which makes it interesting. All the characters are the main people with thier own story to tell, fun Esper system, the love of seeing Locke might actually having a chance at Celes and a bad guy who does what he does best, being a D*ck. Kefka to me has got to be the most evil, vile, worst villian (worst as in a very bad man sense) ever to hit the FF genre. Sure people think Sephiroth is bad just cause he killed you know who, but Kefka is a crazed Joker like character that you just gotta hate, and when the final boss moment come's, it's epic when you finally face him. This game leaves good memories with me.

Super Mario 64 just basically a great game in it's own rights. DS version is so much more fun with the extra character's and every Mario game in a 3D form should be like this game really.

Yoshi's Island was the first game I've ever beaten as a gamer. My god this game is better than any Mario game. It felt more at home and all giggly feeling when your playing this game and throwing eggs at things. Opinion wise, this game pwns any mario game out there for my liking. Gotta try out the sequels though.

Caslevania Symphony of the night is just an awesome game in a 2D package. My god when one hates the original borish Caslevania games but try this one, in a different light, you fall in love with it. It's simple but yet addictive, leveling up, killing monsters with cool moves and dodging thier attack's, bad ass bosses, a cool father and son intereraction in the game. And it's really long of a game too with multiple endings, making it worth it just by exploring the casle. Any other game of this series that is an honorable mention of awesome ness would have to be Dawn of Sorror. Dawn has the cool collecting souls gig and you get a Symphony of the night feel, using real weapons instead of being just a boring whip wielding schmuck. I like it more than the GBA prequel and others. Dawn of Sorror along with Symphony is among the best 2 game's ever for the Caslevania series and they both got ton's of extra's that give it replayability. Sure the GBA caslevania's were good but once you go SotN, you can never go back on quality :)

[Ghost]

I thought that Okami lived up to the praise everyone gave it. Excellent graphics, great & creative gameplay and it had a fun story. Though I did find the speech in the game to be extremely annoying.

That, and the un-skippable cutscenes. Including the endless introduction story.



Kingdom Hearts, just plain fun teaming up with disney characters and battleing evil. And sephiroth is so bloody hard in the game :o. Gotta get part 2 eventually.

Do so. I love the first game, but KH2 makes it look plain bad by comparrison.

If you find yourself frustrated at the very long Twillight Town segment at the start of the game, just keep playing and push through. It's well worth it once you get to play as Sora again.

[cable guy]

Zelda
Metal Gear Solid
Madden
God of War

[Sanagi]

Super Mario 64. Perhaps the most fun you can have in three dimensions.

[The Fury]

Do so. I love the first game, but KH2 makes it look plain bad by comparrison.

If you find yourself frustrated at the very long Twillight Town segment at the start of the game, just keep playing and push through. It's well worth it once you get to play as Sora again.

I recently tried to play KH1 again, just to test things, and KH2 is so much better, abilities help with the battle system so much and lack of in the first made it frustrating...okay so it was just after I'd played KH2 but still.

Kingdom Hearts games for me lived up to the hype, both of them.

...And GoldenEye.

[BlairH]

-Halo: Many people say it's overrated, but they're just wrong. Nothing more to say really.

-Deus Ex (THE FIRST ONE!): It really is the best game ever.

-Gears of War: Fantastic, 100% action all the way.

-Half Life: Compelling FPS. Extremely immersive and atmospheric.

-STALKER: 6 years in development. Possibly the most hyped game ever. Turns out to be really good. Pigs reach stratosphere.

[Phrozen]

Deus Ex: Combined RPG elements with an FPS flawlessly. Had more ways to accomplish missions based on different playstyles. I don't know how invisable war came out of the same team.

Shogun: Total War: Revolutionized RTS, this was an RTS for the strategy fan. The engine displayed hundreds of individual units and the group AI hasn't been copied successfully by other companies.

[BlairH]

Shogun: Total War: Revolutionized RTS, this was an RTS for the strategy fan. The engine displayed hundreds of individual units and the group AI hasn't been copied successfully by other companies.

Agreed.

It was the fusion of turn based strategic map elements, and ruthless real time battles that did it for me.

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

Half-Life 2- I love any FPS that actually forces you to think.

Battlefield 2 & 1942- What can I say? I just enjoy shouting "I am the God of War Incarnate, bitches!" while going on a rampage in a battle tank.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War- I confess, this is in part because I'm already an avid player of the WH40k tabletop game. That said, Dawn of War is quite possibly the most fun RTS game I've ever played (even moreso than Warcraft 3 and Starcraft, which is saying a lot)

[Arilou]

Shogun: Total War: Revolutionized RTS, this was an RTS for the strategy fan. The engine displayed hundreds of individual units and the group AI hasn't been copied successfully by other companies.

I'd disagree: Shogun was not a revolutionary step forward but an evolutionary one. The tactical real-time company-based combat had already been introduced in Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat (and it's far superior successor Warhammer: Dark Omen) and the conceit of merging strategic and tactical layers has been there at least since Master of Magic, probably longer.

In fact, the Total War games I'd put up as examples of games that did *not* live up to the hype.

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

Super Smash Bros.

'Nuff said.

[DisembodiedGwen]

Planescape: Torment By *far* the best story of any computer game. Ever. Consistently given great ratings. No one bought it.

I bought it and it was the best money I have ever spent. Some of the funniest quotes are from that game and some of the most memorable characters too. (You can't beat a floating skull.)

[P-Man]

I remember when I was reading about Metal Gear Solid in game magazines I wondered why they were devoting so much time to some sequel of an NES game nobody remembers. They were hyping the hell out of this game, and I was very skeptical.

It delivered though. The gameplay was incredibly fun and it was loaded with other stuff like good voice acting, interesting storyline, awesome presentation, and breaking the fourth wall.

[hoffmandu]

I'm about 11% done with Bully at the moment cand I can honestly say that it loves up to the hype fairly well.

[twilight]

Croc-Legend of The Gobbos

[supremecomicgeek]

Legend of Zedla: Twilight Princess
Wario Ware: Smoohmoves

[Black Atom]

Generally the Nintendo flagships hold up surprisingly well, considering the sheer amount of hype and expectation that comes with them. Though StarFox has been...questionable, lately, the Mario, Zelda and Metroid franchises have yet to disappoint.

[Young Avenger]

Generally the Nintendo flagships hold up surprisingly well, considering the sheer amount of hype and expectation that comes with them. Though StarFox has been...questionable, lately, the Mario, Zelda and Metroid franchises have yet to disappoint.

I disagree about Metroid. I haven't enjoyed it since it became first person. I wish Nintendo stick with the 2D side-scrolling.

[Mike Pothier]

For me, Metroid Prime 1 deserves every shred of praise it gets. Metroid Prime 2 as well, for the most part. I didn't care for the dark world as much.

[kel25]

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2: These games have kept me entertained for a very long time. Easily one of my favorite series of all time. Too bad their may never be a third. :(

[Mike Pothier]

Last I heard, Lucasarts confirmed they were working on KotOR 3 as we speak.

[Wesley Dodds]

Definitely Grim Fandango -- I'm playing it now. As good as Monkey Island.

[SuperSaiyaMan12]

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: The game was as epic as they said it would be, the world is massive and just walking around it can literally take hours. Although Link can't use magic, his sword abilities present the best combat a Zelda game ever had, as well as his new arsenal. Clawshot makes you turn into Spider-Man in Green.:D

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: What's to say? It made Star Wars fun again, and that's a feat in itself considering the last really good Star Wars film was Return of the Jedi.

[kel25]

Last I heard, Lucasarts confirmed they were working on KotOR 3 as we speak.

That seems to be a very popular rumor. I have never seen any evidence that this is true.

[Arachnid]

Every single Spiderman game since 2000 when Activision took over the game franchise. Every single one. And Spiderman 3 is going to pass me expectations.

Sonic and the Secret rings did too. This, as people said, was a redeaming game of the series. I wouldn't know though considering the first sonic game I ever played was Sonic Heroes and I liked it.

[Mike Pothier]

That seems to be a very popular rumor. I have never seen any evidence that this is true.

Don't ask me to find the quote, but I swear Lucasarts stated they were working on it a month or two ago. Something to the effect.

[Serik]

That seems to be a very popular rumor. I have never seen any evidence that this is true.

The Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_the_Old_Republic_II#Sequel) on KOTORII says that Bioware denies working on the third installment. But Lucasarts says the series isn't being left behind, but there's no firm release date...

[TitoJones]

Metal Gear Solid

Final Fantasy 7---Sorry I know 6 is better, but when it came out I've never played a RPG before but I was waiting to see what the hype was about. All I can say is that during the first weekend I had the game, the only time I wasn't playing it is if I were eating, sleeping, or taking a shit.

Kingdom Hearts

KOTOR