Nayfin's Top 10 Bad/Unpopular/Unknown/Underrated/Low Budget Games

I've just finished catching up on everyone's blogs that I have been neglecting to read and recently I have noticed that many of them are doing a top 10s. I also have noticed that, big as a gamer that I am, I haven't actually blogged anything to do with games. I figure that my top 10 games of all time had been done before, not that it'd be a bad thing to do one myself, but I figure I wanted to let the games that don't receive the spotlights a little spotlight of my own.

Introducing my top 10 bad, unpopular or low budget games that stay left on the shelves of Gamestation, GAME, or Gamestop. The games that constantly are bought upon release and a day later, or less returned because of how bad, boring, or non-capturing the game may be. We've all played games such as these, and some of us actually end up liking them for whatever reason. Like those people who enjoy B-Movies, I am one to enjoy the off B-Game or two, though some of these are not actually bad games, just low budget or just unpopular for whatever reason.

So let's begin with number ten and working my way down to my favourite at number one:

Number 10: Deadly Premonition

The game that made me want to write this particular top 10.

Now as a lover of horror games I'm always looking out for new horror games that haven't moved onto the action genre such as Resident Evil, or sad to say Silent Hill (Let's face it, Silent Hill 5 was not scary.)

So coming across a game in store, depicting what seems to be a mysterious figure standing in the rain, wielding an axe would make me instantly pick it up just to check it out course it was my boyfriend who brought it on home one day thinking the same thing I did; looking at the back cover I find the game to remind me of Silent Hill (Not 5 NOT 5!) Plus Desctructoid (A lesser known but usually good game review company) has given it a 10/10 perfect review. Looking at the Japanese front cover, even more does one think "Now that looks like a horror game)

This has to be a good game! So beginning my decent into the realm of a detective named  Francis York Morgan. The game begins with York driving his car, seemingly talking to himself about the case he's on about a girl who has been murdered, from here it has an off moment where the camera zooms in for a close up, giving the subtitle "Francis York Morgan" and has some really inappropriate jazzy detective music that you'd probably see in a 1960s detective sitcom. Here you also begin to notice that the graphics are very PS2.

So the game recovers soon after with York crashing his car after taking his eye off the road for a split second, only to suddenly see the hooded figure standing in the middle of the road. SUDDEN SWERVE, SLIDE AND CRASH! This is where we find our hero in a strange world full of strange zombie like creatures which moan and appear from the dark murky puddles scattered throughout the level. Here we find the gameplay is much like Resident Evil 5 with over-the-shoulder controls, it seems a bit dicky and tedious at points but that's something I can look past.

After getting out of the forest, away from the zombie like things (Which are actually a bit creepy sometimes) the sharp detective meets up with a police woman and the sheriff of the town and this is where the game shows us what it really is; a cheesy detective horror-comedy with limitations on the word horror. "I'm agent Francis York Morgan. But you can just call me York. Everybody else does." he says which instantly becomes his catchphrase to everyone he meets for the first time. His reply to those who get it right would be "Good. That's good."

We find ourselves with a very fishy character, one who talks to an imaginary friend, who says weird stuff, who looks at his coffee in the morning for predictions of the future - standing up with excitement and shouting "I SAW IT IN MY COFFEE! F...K... what does this mean?" Makes the players eyebrow raise. The game is complete with many over the top facial expressions, stupid scenarios such as making York look smart because he can solve chess puzzles, and very odd yet unique character.

I've said to much about one game for a top 10, but Deadly Premonition is possibly the weirdest game I've ever seen on the Xbox 360. That's right it's a new game. It's made me laugh countless times and I actually enjoy this game. But if you're wanting a serious and thrilling horror game, Deadly Premonition probably is one bullet you should most definitely avoid.

Number 9: Red Steel

Ah one of the very first Wii computer games built to use the full potential of the Wii remote and nun-chuck controller which sad to say was probably what brought this game down. Story? Excellent. Gameplay? Er well, not so good. I personally loved the gameplay but others not so much. The controls vary between using whichever gun you have acquired to moments where you would have one on one sword battles with your trusty katana.

During the game you're going to be firing a lot of bullets, whilst moving things out of your way, slamming tables down to use them for cover, and many actions that you use with your whole arms, rather then just your fingers and thumbs. So there's a lot to get used to, especially since you're no longer just using buttons to do control your actions, now you're using motion.

Using guns itself can be tricky as aiming with the Wii remote isn't as easy as aiming a cross-hair with an analogue stick though it doesn't take too long to get to grips with. The katana on the other hand may take many more tries and indeed I have failed many a battle just shouting at my remote telling it to "SWING UPWARDS!" but again it is another thing that eventually one gets used to. This along with the graphics of the game a lot of people seldom seem to rate as the best they've played, especially for a new console. Music on the other hand, a lot of people have said that the music in this game is excellent.

This was one of those games I found myself putting down after the first level, but eventually I decided to play through it, got addicted and completed. Apparently Redsteel 2 has great improvements to the gameplay, but lacks story. Guess Redsteel has troubles keeping one without the other.

Number 8: Viva Piñata 

This was actually a game I bought on a whim when out with a friend of mine, and she thought it'd be a laugh. Me being the kind of boy who likes childish things decided to go with it.

Now naturally this game would be popular with children, but oddly enough it can be quite attractive, as well as addictive to adults as well.

You're probably thinking this game is going to be crap, I do hope you're one of those facebook fanatics who love their games such as Farmville. Because Viva Piñata is exactly that; it is Farmville but with piñatas and a lot more colour.

It's not a bad game, it's not a boring game (Well it is at first) it's addictive and if you wanted there to be a negative thing about the game then it would be that it's childish and a bit repetitive.

So if you like gardening/farm games, don't just pass this one down, give it a shot, you might actually like it, just remember other people on Xbox Live can see your gamerscore and they'll know what you've been playing!

Number 7: Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness

Like Marmite you're either going to completely agree or disagree. Either you'll, like me, think this game compared to all the rest is the definite let down compared to the rest or you'll think there are worse Tomb Raiders such as Underworld.

Well I don't think this is a bad game at all, I actually like it, though despite I'm not actually stuck in the game, I have no wants to continue from where I left off. Despite my enjoyment for the game, I have to say it is the most difficult to play and is the most problematic.

The games biggest let down are the controls, Lara this time around moves way too slowly and doesn't always respond to controls that you input thus ending in huge explosions you tried so desperately to avoid, or perhaps that cliff side you tried to grasp a hold of was just an inch away because she didn't feel like it.

In terms of story Tomb Raider The Angel of Darkness has succeeded in making a good one, but of course you're not going to find everything out if you don't feel like playing the game itself. The music in this game is also an upside, probably the best orchestrated piece I had ever heard shortly after getting the PS2 for the first time ever was the theme for this game and still today I will say it has a great theme much better then Tomb Raiders recent games.

Now some would say that games such as Underworld are worse then this, though I'd agree, the point I'm making is that this is an unpopular game (Compared to its predecessors) when it really shouldn't be and Underworld is unpopular for good reasons. If you can get past the controls, this one is actually a good Tomb Raider, before it slowly got worse and worse.

Number 6 Shadow of Memories

Shadow of Memories or Shadow of Destiny depending on your region is a game that involves a young man who's life has ended, ended, and ended over and over again. Eike Kusch is living a day like any other, after taking his daily coffee at the coffee shop he goes for a stroll across the streets where he inevitably gets stabbed in the back, falls to the floor and dies.

Upon waking up Eike finds himself in a state of limbo of some kind where he meets up with an odd man (Whom I mistook for a woman at first) named Homunculus (If you know your myths it turns out I was wrong either way) Homunculus seems sympathetic towards Eike and gives him the chance to change his destiny though Eike seems unconvinced he accuses Homunculus of being 'The Devil'. Homunculus reassures Eike of only wanting to help him through his unfortunate disaster and gives him a device enabling him to time travel to not exactly specific places.

The story is all about trying to change Eike's destiny, there is no combat to the game or chases, it is simply a puzzle story game which may as well have been made to be a point and click game. The objective is to change things in the past so that Eike may have a future while at the same time trying not to run in to yourself by accident which would cause a paradox and wipe you from history itself.

I'd probably call this one to be an interactive DVD, though there's not a lot to it, the story is definitely worth the gameplay, especially when there is like several different endings and extra endings, the characters are likeable and the music is really good.


So that's my first 5 of the list, I figure I'll stop now as it'll be a bit too much to read and I fear it already is. Hope you enjoyed the first half and maybe you might actually think twice about these games you thought not to buy at first glance.

Thanks for reading!