5 Criminally Overlooked and Under-appreciated Games of 2012

MMGN.com: "2012 has been a busy year in gaming, with plenty of high-profile releases -- Diablo III, Mass Effect 3, Halo 4 and the annual CoD and Assassin’s Creed to name a few. But like every year, for each gaming blockbuster, there's a bunch of quiet achievers lost in obscurity. MMGN takes a look at some of the most overlooked video game gems of 2012."

[jc48573]

if you bought Operation Raccoon city over Binary Domain, then you know you did something wrong.

[Myst]

I made that mistake but I fixed it and got Binary Domain. Lovely game pretty interesting story and the mechanics weren't bad at all. I'd love to see a continuation or something of the sort in the future.

[Derekvinyard13]

Spec ops was great, the story is excellent its a shame it got overlooked

[Myst]

Eh I enjoyed it every now and again the final boss on the hardest difficulty on the last spec ops though...Heh it was something. I will admit it was fun but I just hated the fact that I had to buy so much of the story.

[Kurt Russell]

Binary domain was great fun... I even got an achievement for scoring with an Asian chick, that should happen irl.

[R6ex]

Yup. Enjoyed Binary Doamin. Fun shooter with a Jap. story.

[Somebody]

Binary Domain easily sit as one of my top ten games of 2012. I simply love how the robots react to our shots. Shoot one in right arm and it'll look around for its rifle and pick it up with the left and continue to kill you. Shoot one in the legs and it'll crawl towards you like an angry TX1000.

The giant spider robot's reaction when it only has one leg left is pretty hilarious. Why does a giant, heavily-armored spider robot designed as mobile coastal defenses can easily be brought down by rifles?

[Reverent]

Or shoot one in the head and watch it kick it's robot buddies in the face. Great fun.

[Christopher]

I don't think we can say The Walking Dead is overlooked or under-appreciated considering it's already in the top of many sites' games of the year lists.

[paydayp]

look at them bubbles :) u must have done somethings right.

but i think they mean sales wise with the walking dead.
critical acclaim doesnt mean it cant be overlooked or even be appreciated by the masses.

[Christopher]

Sales for the game have been way above average as well, paydayp. Not CoD or Halo, but better than the mass majority of games out there this year.

[BitbyDeath]

@paydayp, that's a perk of being a mod ;-)

[showtimefolks]

Binary domain
Yakuza 3-4 and dead souls
Spec ops the line

Yakuza dead souls takes some time getting use to but after that it's a blast to lay a zombie game with a proper story

[wishingW3L]

yeah the story is really good, especially compared to the recent RE games but the gameplay is a bit stiff and outdated. =/

[Beastforlifenoob]

The walking dead WAS NOT overlooked, It was GOTY, what else did the writer want? For statues to be built in its honour?

[showtimefolks]

i agree, let's not act like its the best game ever made. i enjoyed it and thought GOTY should have been it and journey.

its a old school point and click adventure so maybe a lot of gamers haven't played those type games before but games like these were a thing for norm a while back

[yesmynameissumo]

Raccoon City is a damn fine game. I've never understood the hate directed towards it. More Resident Evil than 5 and 6 combined plus 4 player co-op. The game is a blast.

[wishingW3L]

50 agrees and no one gives a poor bubble to this good samaritan. =(

[Venoxn4g]

After finishing Binary Domain I wanted more :) One o the best games of 2012 and I'm not even a biggest shooter fan! :) good list btw

[sayedstafa]

Walking Dead is criminally overlooked and under appreciated? Are you serious? The game that won just about every award on the VGAs is under appreciated and overlooked? No, just no...

[Enemy]

Most gamers weren't really talking about it until it won that award.

[LOGICWINS]

MOST gamers don't know what the VGAs are. Most probably don't even know that a Walking Dead game exists.

[Braid]

No one cared what the game was until it put on the m-- I mean, won the VGAs.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

I managed to overlook the entire year. I am starting to want to play Borderlands2 and Sleeping Dogs, though. Lets see what I can get in the Steam sale.

Dishonored too :-D

[RickHiggity]

You're not the only one. I was still catching up with a few games from 2012, but other than that I didnt do too much gaming surprisingly. Gotta love those steam sales for that reason though :D

[Stoppokingme]

I don't know why KoA was overlooked, It's a great game that you can easily put 100 hours into.

It's a shame that 38 studios went bust, KoA definitely deserved a sequel.

[JohnApocalypse]

It sold 1.5 million copies but that was not enough

[Hanso]

i liked KoA!
crazy how many studios closed this gen..
i am scared when i think about next gen is just around the corner :/

[SilentNegotiator]

Just the result of bad planning. KoA sold fine and reviewed fine.

The game sucked, though. Too repetitive.

[GREW50ME]

I got it for 11 bucks, played for abou 11 hours and was bored. Stealth mechanics are terrible. Every fight is punch, punch, kick, and the quests are quantity, not quality. At the end of the day, it was worth my 11, but if you paid more, it was kind of a ripoff. Plus, it came out the same time as Skyrim = death for any RPG...

[EZMickey]

Skyrim came out 2011 and Kingdoms of Amalur came out 2012. KoA was not on the same level as Skyrim, I'll admit, but it was good at doing what it set out to do. It's an action RPG with tons of different ways to develop your character as a fighter. If you found the combat repetitive it was either not the kind of RPG you wanted or not the kind of action game you wanted.

I don't think it was the best, I just respect the effort the designers put in to create an RPG that has it's own strengths to offer in a competitive industry.

[MaleManSam]

Please, The Darkness II takes the cake for criminally overlooked game of the year.

[Dark_Overlord]

It was good, but not great (I think the 1st one was far better). My biggest gripes with it were it was too short and too easy :)

[VonBraunschweigg]

Starhawk. The online multiplayer is spectacular, innovative and fun. I expected it to do better because it offers something else than all those military shooters, not to mention that it actually runs great to with options like a gameserver list, but the game didn't get a lot of attention. Also because Sony didn't advertise. But still, with a great open beta I expected more gamers to know about this gem.

[BlaqMagiq24]

This. I haven't had much fun with a multiplayer like Starhawk in years. More people need to play this game. One of my favorites this year.

[vickers500]

I LOVED Warhawk, but I found Starhawk to be a huge letdown.

[Smokeeye123]

100% agree. If they had just made an HD warhawk with some improvements and new weapons it would probably my favorite game of all time. But no, they had to add gimmicks completely change it.

[SoundGamer]

Starhawk was amazing indeed. So sad that barely anyone played it.

[no_more_heroes]

Good to know. Having just beaten Uncharted 3 (all of two and a half days after getting it) I need more games for my new ps3 (see previous comments).

Amalur looks intriguing. Maybe Spec Ops as well.

[Dark_Overlord]

I'm sorry but Fez doesn't deserve to be brought, the dev of the game is a major dick who refuses to fix it and only cares about the money.

[SilentNegotiator]

How can anyone think Fez is overlooked? It's one of those dozen or so XBLA titles that were gawked over to oblivion and sold like hotcakes.

[animegamingnerd]

blame M$ cause they charge 10.000 dollars for a patch

[Dark_Overlord]

Still, MS allow the first patch for free. If they didn't screw up the 1st patch then there would be no need for a 2nd one.

[SilentNegotiator]

Blame Microsoft for a different developer releasing a broken game?

How 'bout no?

[BanBrother]

@animegamingnerd

I heard it was $40,000 a patch, not $10,000.

Either way, as "Dark_Overlord" stated, Microsoft allow for one free patch. Realistically, the game should be working day 1. If not, they get a second chance. If they are still incompetent, then it is only fair that they pay.

It is disappointing, as sometimes I feel I would even pay for a patch that would fix some broken games. Better than the 'nothing' option.

[bocajbee]

"Unlike that horrible TV show from AMC."

Stopped Watching there.

[floetry101]

I'd say a criminally overlooked game that didn't even make this list was Catherine. Fascinating story with an interesting and infuriating puzzle aspect. Loved Spec Ops and Binary Domain, but I'd also have Catherine in there.

[SoundGamer]

Catherine came out in 2011.

[Mutant-Spud]

I think Australia and the Eurozone had to wait until this year but Catherine was a horrible game, when I returned my copy after one day the guy at EB said "Is this game really bad or something because every copy I've sold has come back", it's bargain bin fodder now.

[Monstar]

Love LOVE specs ops the line, underrated as hell IMO. Story and even gunplay is so satisfying. Sadly with how crowded the 3rd person military the game got a pass by many.

[DarthJay]

Spec Ops: The Line had a really solid single player story. Better than Black Ops 2. There were some pretty messed up moments that made you go "whoa."

Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning was amazing. Still pretty sad about 38 Studios. I was at the release event and got to meet Curt Schilling and RA Salvadore and it was awesome. They were so excited and into it. I also got to meet tons of 38 Studios employees as they literally waited and cheered for every single person as they walked out the door with their game. Such a great experience.

Binary Domain was OK, but didn't keep me interested long enough to actually finish it, which rarely happens.

The Walking Dead was a great playable movie, but in no way overlooked.

Can't comment on Fez.

Transformers: Fall Of Cybertron would be pretty high on the list for me...

[J86blum]

Spec Ops was really good. I think it had the best story this year in gaming, and with three endings. They could of tightend up the controls and polished it alittle more but overall really good game.

Binary Domain was simply awesome, the story wasnt the best but had a good sci-fi feel, also like Spec Ops had diffrent endings depending on what you did. The could of done alittle better on the voice command but it didnt stop me from using it. While playing it for a brief second I was like this is how a terminator game (set in the future) should be like.

[Somebody]

The command system really needed to be better. I used buttons to give the command instead of an actual microphone and voice command.

The most annoying thing is when suddenly the commands switched to social commands (praising or being angry at your team mates) during heated buttons. So instead of spamming the "regroup" command to get them to a better spot, I was berating them for their incompetence. Feels kind of guilty when I heard the submissive tone of team's replies and then seeing their trust level go down.

And in contrast with other squad based games that depend heavily on cutscenes to deliver the characters' feeling, Binary Domain lets you know if you're performing badly in a gunfight. They are just AIs but being berated for cowering behind them when they are pinned down or hurt made their interaction almost natural. If I don't pull my weight in a battle, the other characters will let me know how disappointed or pissed off they are. No boring end-of-level score screens showing what rank your combat prowess is. Just a character who came up to your face and told you in the face that you sucked just now. It was refreshing.

[ginsunuva]

Starhawk and Twisted Metal!

[Tzuno]

Binary Domain deserves a buy not a full 60$ but definitely a buy.

[UnholyLight]

Sleeping Dogs. Nuff said.

[JadedXGamer]

Meh

[Der_Kommandant]

Binary Domain and Spec Ops The Line are pure gold!

[Plagasx]

Why isn't Sleeping Dogs on that list??.

[Pillsbury1]

Most underrated game this generation? VANQUISH.

[e-p-ayeaH]

FUEL a very underrated game as well.

[BanBrother]

Some of the most underrated games IMO,

The Darkness. Alan Wake. Resistance trilogy. Prey.

Forgot the rest.

[Venoxn4g]

yea and Shadows of the damned

[memots]

You can get Spec ops the line and Bioshock 1 and 2 for 9.99 on amazon right now. If you have a decent pc,

*you can all activate them on steam too.

[OhMyGandhi]

Personally, I loved Dead To Rights: Retribution.
if you haven't had a chance to play it, do it now.
the shooting mechanics in that game were incredibly satisfying, and I loved how every enemy would be blown twenty feet backwards with each "critical shot".

[slugg]

Syndicate was the best game no one played this year, hands down.

[aLiEnViSiToR]

I loved every minute playing Binary Domain, Spec Ops: The Line and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (still playing it)... will need to get The Walking Dead (dont think it was overlooked lol it won vga goty) with all episodes too. And yeah strange that Sleeping Dogs got "overlooked" its very good game.

[Gamehard]

Dragon's Dogma should be on there in place of Fez. It got pretty popular with people that follow gaming news, but went under the radar for many. And it's just pretty awesome :P

[BitbyDeath]

Tokyo Jungle

[raiden-49]

i think they need to get a better picture of Binary Domain most storys that talk about it tend to have the picture of the robot guy

[NoTheMama]

From a gameplay standpoint, Spec Ops was as generic as they come. Fun, but still very ordinary. Its the story, (which I'll admit was fantastic) that has everyone praising it like the reinvention of sliced bread. Think about it....

[mydyingparadiselost]

Where's darksiders II on this list? Soooooo under appreciated :)

[mochachino]

Played most of those games, didn't like any of them.

[rataranian]

Oh. Nevermind. I thought this was a pic from "They Live" the game staring Roddy Piper. Got my hopes up there for a minute.

[e-p-ayeaH]

Where´s Yakuza Dead Souls? that´s an amazing game.

[ATi_Elite]

WoW Binary Domain looks Dam Good!!!!

may have to check that out on friends console!

[AlienFodder]

This article reminded me that I really need to buy Spec Ops The Line. I've been intrigued by that game since I first read about it but I was still waiting for a price drop. Gonna go get it tomorrow.

[zeroskie]

Fuck. 3 out of those 5 aren't even overlooked games. Binary Domain maybe, but SpecOps, Walking Dead and Fez definitely got major press.

[Unztayble]

I played the heck outta the Binary Domain demo. I will buy it once I'm done with my current games.

[gobluesamg]

I'm playing Skyrim right now and honestly I had way more fun exploring the world of Amalur. That was a great game!

[SovereignSnaKe]

-COME. AWWNNN! Dragons Dogma! :)

[helghast102]

Legasista anyone?