In order to get the most out of a game, we as gamers tend to pay a lot of attention to reviews and online opinions on a certain game. We go gaga over scores that MetaCritic put up for games and take their word for it. But the truth is, believe it or not, sometimes these critics get it wrong.
So on that note, we’re here with some of the games that we felt deserve a second chance, in other word –the underrated games of 2013.
Metro: Last Light
It’s quite a surprise that this game didn’t make as much of an impression that I thought it would have. I mean, it did come out during the summer which means schools out for two months. It also came out during a time frame when there was very little competition to take on. And though its first-week sales smoked Metro 2033′s lifetime US sales, it left the gaming scene fairly quickly.
Even though, critics loved its combination of bleak visuals and haunting storytelling, it never managed to be the center of attention for any Game of the Year debates. I mean how can you go wrong with a post-apocalyptic shooter? Doesn’t almost everyone love that sort of stuff!?
It gets even harder to comprehend especially when you think of the release of Bioshock Infinite a few months prior to Metro: Last Light, really gathered a lot of attention and was a real hit. And filled the void of gamers thrills for sci-fi and FPS action.
Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Overall, this game did receive good reviews and did a good job in keeping up the franchise. However there were some complaints, some fair complaints that included the the re-casting of Sam Fisher’s esteemed voice actor, Michael Ironside, and the “casualisation” of the series by opening the game up to more players, in allowing them to choose either the action route or the stealth route.
The game didn’t sell well because Blacklist was a game that strayed away from the pattern that previous games in this series followed, which led to a burst of strong worded opinions by Splinter Cell purists.
In all honestly, I loved the game. Just take a few hours to really get into the game and then you’ll actually notice that even though there is choice in the game, you are still free to play the game however you want. The original stealth elements don’t really suffer just because players aren’t boxed into one mode of play anymore.
Saints Row IV
This game did more than sufficiently well in terms of popularity and sales. The PC version alone selling triple the number of copies of the previous game, Saints Row: The Third. So why underrated?
Its this notion that this game is more or less the younger brother of Grand Theft Auto and also the fact that it came out a month before GTA only adds fuel to the fire.
Saints Row IV is without a doubt, pretty damn hilarious which is brought out by its political incorrectness. But in all honestly, the game is much more clever than its dumb reputation its suggests. It takes a lot to come up with the sly pop culture references, and even to just simple things like the dialogue need creativity, which is something that sets it apart from the GTA franchise.
God of War: Ascension
This game was the first in its series to gain significant criticism for various elements, even after the great success of the previous three games which were regarded as some of the best titles on the PS2 and PS3.
Most of the complaints were mainly about a less-refined feel than the previous games and a less compelling plot. The multiplayer mode too was something that went against the game and many felt it was an aspect that didn’t belong to the franchise. Even the later into the game when players reach the ‘Trial of Archimedes’ section, they found it too difficult to play and the critics too were of the same opinion.
I’ll have to admit to the increase in visual glitches this game had than its predecessors, the multiplayer component was something that I quite enjoyed and hope to see it continued.
Crysis 3
Right off the top, we all praised Crysis 3 for its unbelievably amazing visual presentation, which easily made it one of the best looking games of all time and not to mention, kept us on the edge of our seats waiting for it to come out. But many reviews criticized the multiplayer mode and in particular the enemy AI, which they felt was spotty and inconsistent.
If you think about it, Crysis 3 is the only on of its type. The first game was quite ambitious and showed a lot of potential, Crysis 2 then built on that ambition by having players making their way in a concrete jungle. And then you have Crysis 3, which is by all means, the best of both worlds, which require players to quickly adapt from rural settings to urban locations.
The Hunter Mode in multiplayer is also one of the most insanely addictive things I played for a long time. For those who don’t quite know what this mode is about, its a ‘last man standing’-type mode, in which players have to fend off other online players who are wearing cloaked Nanosuits for as long as possible.
Source: Jack Pooley
