Hidden Gems: The Most Underrated Games of the Last Few Years

Not all worthy projects receive recognition and become commercially successful. There are often cases when a great game is released at the wrong time, goes unnoticed against the background of competitors, or fails in sales due to a weak advertising campaign. Our article is dedicated to such stories.

Bulletstorm is a joint project of People Can Fly, the authors of Painkiller and Epic Games, known for Gears of War. This is a shooter with truly unusual mechanics, which is based on the constant use of the environment and non-trivial ways of eliminating opponents. The more diverse and creatively you destroy local thugs, the more points you get. The game can also be praised for its lively plot in the spirit of the TV series "Firefly", colorful characters and a lot of unexpected gameplay situations — for example, an episode with controlling a robot dinosaur.

The original Bulletstorm was released in 2011, and 6 years later it received a remaster. We recommend checking out the re-release.

The first two parts of the Driver series are car action games, and the third and fourth are GTA clones. But we want to draw attention to the fifth game about John Tanner, which received the subtitle San Francisco. Its characteristic feature is the ability to take control of any car on the track in real time. It is the unusual game mechanics that makes the latest Driver a unique game.

Although Sleeping Dogs is based on the mechanics of GTA, the game differs from Rockstar projects. Shootouts are rare here, and all problems are solved in hand-to-hand fights. Moreover, we are offered a full-fledged combat system in the spirit of Batman: Arkham Knight. The main character is not a criminal, but an undercover cop who infiltrates one of the gangs. At the same time, the events are imbued with the atmosphere of Hong Kong action films of the 80s and 90s in the style of John Woo films.

The reboot of Devil May Cry from the British studio Ninja Theory caused discontent among fans. They wanted a continuation of the fourth part, and not a retelling of the original game from 2001 in a new way. They can be understood. For the best perception of DmC 2013, we recommend forgetting about its connection with the cult Japanese series. Then you will see a quality slasher with its own unique style, interesting combat system and a great soundtrack. Also pleasantly surprising is the local plot with criticism of consumer society in the spirit of the film "They Live".

This game raises an interesting topic with the control of memories, the ability to change them and completely delete them. As a result, we will get new personalities or completely break the fate of a person. The action of the project takes place in Paris of the distant future, where advanced technology is combined with poverty and devastation.

And in Remember Me an unusual combat system. We talked about it in a separate article.

In 2011, the Deus Ex series returned. The prequel to the entire story, called Human Revolution, was liked by players. But its sequel turned out to be a problem — it was criticized for its brevity. Yes, Mankind Divided turned out to be not as long as its predecessor. However, we have a full-fledged RPG with an excellent plot, a detailed world, variability and elements of immersive sim. The story really broke off in mid-sentence, but the game is able to give 10-15 hours of quality gameplay, which remains unique even ten years after the release.

There are examples in the gaming industry when the second part of the series competently reveals the potential of the first. These include Assassin's Creed 2, Portal 2 and Titanfall 2. Respawn Entertainment offered us what Blizzard promised in the second Overwatch — a full-fledged single-player campaign. It feels like Call of Duty on the highest settings, with good direction, time travel, and battles in huge exoskeletons. The multiplayer has also taken a step forward compared to the first part. After the release, the developers started working on the battle royale Apex Legends, which takes place in the same universe. But now there are persistent rumors that a full-fledged threequel will be announced very soon.

This game from Arkane Austin is a full-fledged immersive sim. You will explore the space station, fight with local aliens and try to understand what happened here. If you want, you can use alien technology, but in this case, local turrets will perceive you as an enemy. Those who liked the Prey (2017) series should pay attention to System Shock, Deus Ex and BioShockBioShock.

This anime-style game can be perceived as an unusual action game or as a simple slasher. We remember it thanks to its advanced partner system, which is implemented much better than in Devil May Cry 5 when playing for V. Allies come in different types, and they have to be used both in combat and in peaceful scenes while solving puzzles.

A fast-paced first-person shooter set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. You'll be sent to Necromunda, an industrial hive planet teeming with bandits. Your task is to find and eliminate a particularly dangerous criminal. But along the way, you'll have to intervene in a war between local gangs. The game's main advantages are the thick atmosphere of "Waha" and fast-paced gameplay with excellent shooting and parkour.

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What games do you think are underrated? Share your opinions in the comments!