After asking on the PS3 forum about hidden gems and getting some good feedback. I thought I might ask the 360 owners as well. We all know of the Halos, Gears, and MassEffects. But what about the smaller over looked games? Have a game that you really enjoyed that may not have gotten the recognition you think it deserves? Let us know!

Crackdown. Dismissed as a vehicle for the Halo 3 beta its does the "super powered open world game" far better than the games that have come after it.

riddick owns all

There's tons of cheap, great games out there.

Crackdown
The Darkness
Banjo nuts and bolts
Condemned
Viking
Dark Sector

....off the top of my head, and all probably around $10.

Sure. The biggest one is The Club - a very cool shooting game based on a scoring/time mechanic. It went nowhere and can be found for around $5 or $10 by now. Great game.

Speedball on XBLA is a good one too. Based on the Amiga classic. Fast paced "future sports" action. Very fun little game! And challenging as you work your team through the ladder.

It's not really a "hidden gem" but Test Drive Unlimited is still one of the system's best racers. I remember playing Burnout Paradise and being like, "well this is good but I wish it had this and this and this." and then I played TDU and it had all of those things. And TDU came out like a year and a half earlier.

Chronicles of Riddick just came out and flopped, but its a must play if you like SP FPS and havent played the Xbox 1 original. Its really different from most nowadays.

Banjo N&B is also really good too.

I don't think The Darkness, or Viking are worth playing at this point.

dark sector

I don't think The Darkness, or Viking are worth playing at this point.

What makes you say that? The Darkness is absolutely worth playing still, especially at it's price.

Viking is a maybe, but it's currently like $5 on bogo at Blockbuster, which is a good buy.

+1 to Crackdown. Very addictive game. You won't want to put it down until you've leveled up all your powers - especially jumping.

What makes you say that? The Darkness is absolutely worth playing still, especially at it's price.

Viking is a maybe, but it's currently like $5 on bogo at Blockbuster, which is a good buy.

Because The Darkness is an inferior copy of Chronicles of Riddick which is also now available on 360. Riddick has better graphics, better level design, a better story, better mechanics, and the whole game structure works far better in that desolate prison than it does in The Emptiest Manhattan Ever.

As for Viking, okay its $5, but I consider time more important than money.

Overlord and Kameo, the Viva Pinatas...
Arcade has dozens of Gems depending on your tastes.
Catan, Carcassonne are often ignored.
Aegis Wing and Undertow.
And then there's the XNA Community Games.
Just get the demos and see what you like.

Because The Darkness is an inferior copy of Chronicles of Riddick which is also now available on 360. Riddick has better graphics, better level design, a better story, better mechanics, and the whole game structure works far better in that desolate prison than it does in The Emptiest Manhattan Ever.

As for Viking, okay its $5, but I consider time more important than money.

i enjoyed the darkness more so than riddick.

i have viking and do not enjoy it at all though, so i'll agree on that point..... but still, the darkness is worth every bit of $10.

Because The Darkness is an inferior copy of Chronicles of Riddick which is also now available on 360. Riddick has better graphics, better level design, a better story, better mechanics, and the whole game structure works far better in that desolate prison than it does in The Emptiest Manhattan Ever.

As for Viking, okay its $5, but I consider time more important than money.

So the march of time makes The Darkness irrelevant? It's still a great game if you want to play The Darkness, and not Riddick, which are different experiences. I still enjoy playing games from the last 20 years, even if they've been exceeded in all categories by newer games.

Have you played Viking? You've probably spent more time just walking though the monotonous, desolate world of Far Cry 2 than it would take you to beat a very solid game.

So the march of time makes The Darkness irrelevant?

Yes. Time has made many, many, many games irrevelant. We aren't talking about Tempest or Super Mario here.

It's still a great game if you want to play The Darkness

If you want to play The Darkness sure its fine, just like if you want to play Ninjabread Man it's there for the taking. But if I want to play a good game, I'd say there are much better options.

Have you played Viking?

Yes.

Would I play either of those two games today? No way. However I would play any of the games I mentioned.

number1laing meet opinion. opinion...number1laing.

not sure why you are arguing over someone's opinion. you like the club, i think it's a heaping pile of waste. again, opinion dude.

Yes. Time has made many, many, many games irrevelant. We aren't talking about Tempest or Super Mario here.



If you want to play The Darkness sure its fine, just like if you want to play Ninjabread Man it's there for the taking. But if I want to play a good game, I'd say there are much better options.



Yes.

Would I play either of those two games today? No way. However I would play any of the games I mentioned.


What's that make Riddick then, which is a retread of what, a 5 year old game? It was a great ****ing game on the Xbox, and I'm sure it still is, even though I've heard the Dark Athena part is throwaway. I would tell somebody to play both games, since both have their individual unique experiences, that can't be replicated playing a completely different ****ing game. There are still a few moments in The Darkness which I found amazing, and well worth seeking out at it's bargain bin price. Once Riddick hits $20, I'm buying that, even though I've already played 50% of it.

You're getting way too defensive here. The only thing I said was that I don't feel those 2 games are worth playing in the year 2009. I could go into a long spiel about why but I doubt you want to read it, and I really don't want to write it.

^35%
part 1 makes 35% of the disc
dark athena is another 35%
the multiplayer is the remaining 30%

i wont lie, i flew through the butcher bay part. still have to go back and finish all side quests and find the hidden smoke packs.
i've stopped approx 75% of the way through dark athena due to my cod4 habit
the multiplayer isnt cod4 multiplayer, but its fun.

i also like Sneak King. that burger king game

You're getting way too defensive here. The only thing I said was that I don't feel those 2 games are worth playing in the year 2009. I could go into a long spiel about why but I doubt you want to read it, and I really don't want to write it.

Eh, don't take the swearing for getting defensive, I really wasn't. It's hard to convey tone over the internet.

I just disagree Riddick is a substitute for anything but Riddick, let alone The Darkness being an inferior copy. The games have similarities, especially being from Starbreeze, but the little things make the experience.

Hidden gems is a hard question to answer because if the game is really a gem, then lots of people know about it, thus not hidden. Similarly, games that may not appeal to many, may appeal to you (for example, I really, really like Too Human, and those that liked the game, love the game, but many people hate the game as well). Thus there are many games that fall in that catagory. To me the key is pricing. Many games are not worth $60, but at $10-15, they are really good. There are so many games (like Darkness noted above), that may not appeal to everyone, but for $10, almost become a no-brainer. I think that any game that gets a metacritic above 75% is a no brainer blind buy when you can get it for $10.

Iron Man is a good game. Horrible close up combat but the flying and shooting are cool

The Orange Box.

I mean, it's kinda hard to consider anything containing Half-Life 2 a 'hidden gem'... But, IMHO, it got lost in the shuffle, being released between Halo 3 and CoD 4.
It's $15-20 now and that's an absolute steal. You get HL2, Episode 1 & 2. Portal which is innovative, fun and hilarious. Last but not least: Team Fortress 2. IMO, the BEST online shooter made to date. (That's right, I said it.)

From the XBL arcade I'd say Heavy Weapons and Peggle.

What makes you say that? The Darkness is absolutely worth playing still, especially at it's price.

Viking is a maybe, but it's currently like $5 on bogo at Blockbuster, which is a good buy.

I'll have to agree that the darkness is a good game,in fact I think it's a great game.I bought it several months back for 4$ on amazon and I didn't expect much but I couldn't stop playing it.I would recommend it to anyone especially at that price.

This is a great thread...I am always on the lookout for a good game in the $10 bins.;)

Since someone already said Crackdown and Overlord I guess I will go with Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway. Sure is WWII and people are sick of that but I think its the best WWII game outside of COD2.

I liked both Chronicals of Riddick and Darkness but I do like Riddick better, I was actually suprised I liked Dark Athena as much as I did even though the original BB was my favorite xbox game.


The original Condemned was overlooked by some as was Just Cause which was suprisingly fun.

Odd though that most of the overlooked games we are listing have sequels either out or in the planning, so maybe they were not that overlooked.

Did anyone get Ace Combat? Is that a good one worth going back for? How about Battlestations Midway?

To add something different, and yeah I love Crackdown, The Simpsons Movie videogame. If you are a fan of the series and videogames in general you'll love all the in-jokes. I just had a lot of fun playing that game.

Crackdown is hardly a "hidden gem."

Roogoo on XBLA. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roogoo#Reception

Don't turn it off because it looks like a kid's game. It's really not.

You guys are both right about "The Club" and "The Darkness"; they're both titles that are worth their current $10 or less price tag. Neither will work for multiplayer, due to a lack of players and a less-than-stellar implementation, but both provide an enjoyable single-player FPS experience (of slightly different types) when found at a discount price.

I happen to think "Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise" is an under appreciated title that gets maligned as a children's game, when in fact it has an addictive "always another goal to complete" mechanic that almost anyone would enjoy.

Another really good choice is Stuntman: Ignition. It's a game where you get points based on clean and flawless execution of a given set of orders (the director telling you, the Stuntman, what to do). That's not the style of game that is popular anymore (the PS2 game was a big hit), so that's why it flopped, but it's still really good and very addictive. Can't go wrong at $5 or $10.

Project Sylpheed

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition is a recent gem that seems to have gone largely overlooked. Great control, nice graphics, lots of action, fairly long game, and already deeply discounted. Iron Man was another movie/comic-book tie in that I enjoyed, beat and still own.

I remember picking up Virtua Tennis a couple of years ago for a measly $15 new; I popped the game in a few nights ago and marveled at some of the visuals. One of the few true 1080p games for the 360 and a lot of fun if you like tennis.

As others have said, Crackdown is a great open-world sandlot game with a nice sci-fi angle to it. It was the first GTA style game I ever was able to get into and actually beat.

If you can find them, Doom 3 and Doom: Resurrection of Evil for the old Xbox are BC with the 360 and have visuals that rival early 360 games. Lots of carnage and spooky fun to be had with those two.

Project Gotham Racing 4 is still one of the strongest racers on the console and is practically being given away at many stores. It wasn't nearly as popular as PGR3 but is still a very worthwhile game. Burnout: Revenge is also a lot of fun if you can find it and superior to Burnout: Paradise from my perspective.

All of the Tomb Raider games are a lot of fun and can now be had for short money. The latest even has a couple of nice DLC add-on chapters.

The Flatout game is really good. I also really enjoyed Mercs 2 (especially online co-op mode) and Viking. You can find all of those really cheap.

I'll be picking up Stuntman: ignition and Project Sylpheed today, thanks for the input!

Conan is a very cool game. Bought it for eight dollars and was a very good purchase. If you don't mind seeing limbs get dismembered and bare breasted ladies, then this is a cool game. It's a poorman's God Of War (it actually does some things better).

Kameo is pretty good

Quake 4 is a really decent FPS

I'll be picking up Stuntman: ignition and Project Sylpheed today, thanks for the input!

The Stuntman game has a cool gimmick: There's a "director" whose voice guides you through the stunts ("Turn left and head up the ramp...") -- if you plug in your 360 headset, this voice will only come through that, as if you are listening to his walkie-talkie via a helmet headset. :cool:

The Flatout game is really good...

I second this. This is one of the BEST chaotic racers out there. VERY good physics. Give it more than 30 minutes and you'll start really seeing how awesome it is. If you're just fishtailing around and loosing control simply change to a front wheel drive car.

The AI is a crackup! Spectacular mess-ups and risky moves. Not to mention all the goofy driver-launching mini-games... Get it.

I'm too late to be the first to mention these, but Brothers in Arms and PGR4 deserved much more attention than they recieved. Great games that few people actually played.

Culdcept Saga is my most hidden gem.

I hear Operation Darkness is a good SRPG.

Lost Odyssey may not be hidden, but it is overlooked a lot, and is a great JRPG.

nfl 2k5 for 1.99 is the best deal in history

both condemned games are good

Culdcept Saga is my most hidden gem.

I hear Operation Darkness is a good SRPG.
Operation Darkness starts out very promising, but it quickly grows both very difficult and very monotonous. Rather than providing any sort of real variety, the game just increases the quantity and difficulty of enemies, until your characters are regularly being "one hitted". Since the game uses a Fire Emblem mechanic where characters are lost forever, and there's only one very limited way to bring down characters back during battle, this is a bit of a bummer. Plus, in some cases there are very difficult missions with no way to enhance one's characters to make them easier to complete.

Culdcept Saga would be significantly better if there was no "hand peeking". By that, I mean if the computer opponents couldn't peek into your hand, and if you didn't briefly see into their hands during certain operations. It doesn't make any sense and actually kills a lot of the strategy.

Poker Smash. A fun puzzle game on XBLA that uses poker hands for simple match gameplay.

Surprised that nobody mentioned "Earth Defence Force 2017" yet, it is great B movie style game with a ton of replay value and tons of action.

Did anyone get Ace Combat? Is that a good one worth going back for? How about Battlestations Midway?

I know AC6 isn't a hidden gem, but I picked it up a few weeks ago to give it a shot and despite being BEAUTIFUL, the gameplay is "just OK" in my opinion. The campaign is somewhat repetitive (to be expected), and I have been unable to play multiplayer because of the lack of people playing online. I was a big fan of Ace Combat 5, which I still feel is a better game than 6.

Surprised that nobody mentioned "Earth Defence Force 2017" yet, it is great B movie style game with a ton of replay value and tons of action.

It's got some real flaws -- really repetitive and serious slowdown -- but it's a fun game. Local co-op with my 6 year old is really fun. I picked it up cheap and am glad I did.

It's got some real flaws -- really repetitive and serious slowdown -- but it's a fun game. Local co-op with my 6 year old is really fun. I picked it up cheap and am glad I did.

True, it is repetitive, but it sure is fun to level entire cities while shooting at giant bugs and robots and UFOs and Mutants.

It did bug me that the framerate liked to go for 60fps down to 5fps during some of the hectic battles (like the final boss) but it isn't all that common, at least it isn't as bad as Mass Effect's slowdown.

Bullet Witch FTW!!!!












....Just Kidding

I know its not hidden...but it is a gem, and at $24 can it's a steal...Dead Space. Started playing last night, and I have to say the sound score is fantastic!

Some that come to mind for me: Portal, Tomb Raider Legend & Underworld (if you like adventure games), Condemned, and Riddick.

My "hidden gem" vote goes to Import Tuner Challenge.

I love the "life bar" mechanic it uses for races, and the amount of customization for the cars is awesome.

I have never played a more addicting racing game. When you get beat, you immediately want to have another go at the guy who beat you. This is in stark contrast to a lot of lap-based racing games where, if I lose, I just turn the game off because I'm in no mood to spend twenty minutes doing a ten lap race again.


You probably need to be a fan of Japanese cars to really enjoy Import Tuner Challenge, though, since those are the only cars available.