Saturday, May 24, 2014

Micro-Reviews For A Few Underrated Games

Most of the games listed here were/are at least cult classics or financial successes at some point in time (especially thanks to the modern wave of retro games being re-released/remade for services like Steam, GOG.com and even Battle.Net), but a couple, like Disruptor and Cyber Org,.. Nobody plays them, nobody discusses them, nobody puts them in all those articles like 'Top 10 Unknown PSX Games'! Cyber Org doesn't even have a MobyGames page - how insulting is that?

Marathon Trilogy (PC) - my favorite gaming franchise of all time; a series of beautifully magnificent first person shooters from Bungie (the guys that eventually made Halo), notable for their ridiculously complicated storyline and teeth-crushing difficulty. Also, all 3 games are OFFICIALLY FREE now!

Chaos Break (PSX) - a fun little third-person shooter from Taito, inspired by the first Resident Evil. Very fast-paced and graphically sweet game!

Disruptor (PSX) - my favorite first-person shooter for the PlayStation. Incredibly beautiful game with perfect difficulty, great level designs and live-action cutscenes; I'm SHOCKED nobody ever talks about it!

Ys I & II Chronicles (a lot of platforms, but best versions are on PC and PSP) - excellent action RPGs in the vein of Legeod Of Zelda and Diablo, with beautiful pixel graphics and very emotional and sweet storyline; my favorite JRPG series hands down.

Resident Evil: Gun Survivor (PSX) - very much hated by the fans and critics, but I still kinda like it. Totally not the worst FPS ever, and I have to admit it's actually pretty damn scary.

Silent Bomber (PSX) - a crossover between Contra, Robotron and Bomberman, of all games! Basically, it's a top-down run-n-gun game, but instead of a projectile weapon, you have bombs and landmines of different types that you plant on the ground and even on the enemies; this adds a whole new gameplay mechanic to the genre, to say the least! Nice music, solid story and pretty graphics don't hurt, too.

Cyber Org (PSX) - imagine a cross between Devil May Cry, Fighting Force and your favorite roguelike or hack-n-slash RPG, complete with heavy metal soundtrack and (supposedly, since it was never fully translated to English) nice storyline, and you'll understand my frustration over Square not releasing it anywhere except of Japan! The intro cinematic alone is mindblowing.

Pursuit Force & Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice (PSP) - my favorite PSP games ever; sort of like GTA meets Chase HQ. The definitive police-themed gaming franchise for me!

Apocalypse (PSX) - a top-down twinstick Contra-esque game with amazing graphics, music by System Of A Down, and the main character based on and voiced by Bruce Willis! Again, how come nobody talks about it?!

One (PSX) - another excellent Contra-styled game with great graphics, nasty difficulty and adrenaline-injected gameplay. Thank God it was released on PS Network, at least!

Crusader: No Remorse & Crusader: No Regret (PC) - popular back in the day, but sort of obscure now series of isometric action-adventure games from the creators of Ultima and Wing Commander, featuring lots of gore, destructible environments, and a PHENOMENAL soundtrack by Andrew 'Necros' Sega. The only downfall of these games is the control scheme, and that's why I prefer the PSX version of No Remorse, even though it has less cutscenes and maps. (detailed review here)

True Crime: Streets Of LA (PC) - another definitive police-themed game for me; yeah it's a GTA clone, but it has enough quirks and twists to stand on its own IMHO. Big hit back in the day, but again, pretty much forgotten now... oh, and the soundtrack just kicks GTA's a$$ and eats what's left.

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