5 of the Most Amazing yet Totally Unoriginal Games

Let's face it, one glance at the charts will show you that the public isn't too fussed about originality. The public wants first-person shooters, fitness games and the next FIFA or Madden. It doesn't want LittleBigPlanet (despite Stephen Fry), couldn't give a damn about Okami despite all our best efforts, and thinks Rez HD is a sleep disorder you get from those newfangled tellies.

But while some games are unoriginal to the point of lawsuits (Simpson's Road Rage, how do you plead?), there is a lot to be said for a brilliantly-made game that adds little genuinely new to the genre. In fact, some of the best games of the past 12 months have been made up of little more than old ideas cleverly repackaged to create something wonderful.

[HowarthsNJ]

All game designers can do is take established concepts and make them better than what came before.

Okay I was wrong. I've never seen anything like Noby Noby Boy ever before :)

[Darkstorn]

Did you see Giantbomb's quick look at Noby Noby Boy? Best video on the web, imo.

[HowarthsNJ]

http://www.giantbomb.com/qu...

[FACTUAL evidence]

must be "unoriginal" as well...killswitch was out first.

[SilverSlug]

I remember the last game that crossed platforming, 3rd person shooting and puzzles with great exploring segments and writing. I mean, there are just so many games.

[SonySoldiers]

xbots are a bunch of american idiots, SONY FANS are a bunch of ORIGINAL GAMERS.. viva la Japon!
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/srcsm

[Dsnyder]

Im so siick of these articvles from gamesradar. They say they game sucks then turn around and say its the best game ever. Seriosuly between all the killzone 2 hate articles, how MGS4 was supposedly inferior to peggle and all their other biased crap, im ready to claw my won eyes out if they make another Sh!tty article.

Seriously, ban them form this site. They belond on badjoystick because they are a joke.

[mikepmcc]

They never said any of these "suck" you dolt, it says they're "amazing" right in the title. Just because something is unoriginal doesn't mean it has to be bad, which is the point he was trying to make.

[lightningsax]

You're throwing around some strong banning suggestions for someone who comments on articles they don't read. This was a well-made and well-researched article about five great games.

It's probably not your fault. Maybe you clicked on the wrong article, or maybe you didn't click on the Open Zone by accident.

[washingmachine]

uncharted might not be orig but its got the best graphics so far. only on ps3 lol

[Darkstorn]

Best graphics *on console.

[Dsnyder]

*Heavy Rain

[TheObserver]

Nothing is new under the sun.

If you think you discovered something new, chances are someone already did it before you.

[Godmars290]

Its...fun?

Isn't that enough?

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

Yep, is fun.

Also the Game of the Year 2009.

[Rocket Sauce]

It's sad how everybody forgets Drake's Fortune.

And X-Men on Sega Genesis was probably the first to do the console crashing thing. I'm a little surprised they didn't call out MGS for theft, with all the movies they've taken from.

[chronotrigger]

there are so many things wrong with that article.

[tedyesca]

where the hell is halo in the list? seriously, that shouldve been number 1, unoriginal...

[monkey602]

Wow it's been 1 whole hour since you posted that comment and nobody has said anything like - It's because they are supposed to be "amazing" games!
Getting slow N4G

[MajestieBeast]

Simpsons did it.

[Unicron]

...Kill.Switch.
Winback.

Rest my case. If you're going to say something is a "ripoff" of something else, at least be accurate.

[SuperStrokey1123]

Quickly, someone say something bad about halo

[Unicron]

Oh you mean the ripped off "homages" to other things such as -

Space Marines - Aliens
Halos - Ringworlds
Gravemind - Borg/Audrey 2
Crappiest final bosses ever - Gears of War 2

;-)

Nah Halo is totally original. (Great series though)

[bujasem_89]

you gotta love sore losers like these guys , if thats your stand point then every thing anyone has ever done is unoriginal ,

just to let you know every one if u want to be original you cant eat anymore cause there are ppl that did it before you so don't be fake mimickers . yes WTF!!

and i love how he compares it to halo then says it takes everything from third person shooters just goes to show that the guy knows what he's talkin about ;)

[Noob]

I wouldn't want Uncharted 2 any other way and everyone will probably agree. I disagree with Uncharted 2 taking the health system from Halo. It's been around since the 90s.

And I think everyone knows by now that Gears didn't invent the cover system. ND didn't borrow it from them either.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Besides that, Uncharted 1 & 2 combined the elements it did borrow and it works extremely well(better than the games they were taken from IMO).

Nonetheless, good read.

[seij555]

Gamesradar is still crap. no game is completely original. They all have similarities.

[Jamescagney]

Good article.

[ThatDud3]

I think you guys are missing the point of the article but if you want to fight about it go right ahead.
Winback was awesome by the way.

[monkey602]

I've never actually heard of Winback before! The first game I played with a cover system like that was Kill.Switch and I loved it fir that reason!

[Tex117]

Hmm, how about their website ripping off ones who actually know about games and know that regenerate health and cover systems came from other games.

Idiots.

[lightningsax]

Can you give us links to similar articles to back up the "ripping off websites" part of that comment? It would be interesting to read these, and I'm sure they're out there somewhere. You're talking like you've got them in your back pocket, so fire away!

[danielle007]

I actually liked this article :) It was pretty nifty, and true. But all the games they mentioned were amazing, and it's nice to see how they threw layers of polish on the old mechanics.

[karan8624]

Sony, MS and nintendo are cheap. They stole the idea from the nuclear scientist who made tetris

STEALERS! LIERS! CHEATS!

But I respect gamesrader, they're lighthearted and fun, ubaised, but serious when it needs to be. Thats how gaming should be

[N4BmpS]

UUUHHH shooting is from RE4????? That was dumb. Halo damage uh that shouldn't have even been on the list so that was dumb, we can't regain health. Climbing is from Tomb Raider, yeah considering Uncharted climbing is more fluid in the Uncharted series from what I played. So what if Uncharted did take elements from other Games it bested every single last one, especially Tomb Raider.

Hey Guys there were other games too some of you were too stupid to comment on them(cause you insulting uncharted).

Bayonetta, I'll make this short, he was stupid the creator of Devil May cry Had something to do with each of those titles, duh, do your research when you're trying to make an article. Of course he's gonna use material from other games he helped to create, next victim.

You're stupid nuff said.

Batman? We already knew this, Fail. Leave Batman alone it was hard to find a good mix for the bats some of those game were influenced from Batman anyway.

Forza, Lmao what do you expect me to say? I bet you think I'm gonna say Forza sucks huh? Nah Every racing game pays an ode to older racing games, that includes GT, yes Forza is paying an ode to the GT series...Duh.

This article is Ironically unoriginal in thought. But to be fair they are being unbiased, that is very respectable.

[danielle007]

Read the article before you bash it so hard.. They did do their research.

At the bottom of the Bayonetta page where it says "So why is Bayonetta such a big deal?" they put:

"Because it takes all of these ideas, turns them up to 11 and adds a fiercely sassy female lead who summons forth demons with her hair. Anyone can imitate, but Bayonetta simply does virtually all of it better than anyone else. And Kamiya's hardly imitating when he made half of those old games anyway, is he?"
*****NOTICE THE LAST SENTENCE.******

Plus, they aren't insulting these great games at all. They state where they got their mechanics from and then say why they're amazing and why they stand on their own anyways.

[N4BmpS]

Lmao I know, I read the article; I did that for fun. My comment was really for the idiots that didn't read the article correctly, mostly on page one. I just directed towards the author. In fact, there is really no such thing as an original game there maybe pseudo-original ideas and polished game that seems original but a completely original piece of work isn't 100% possible, does that sound better?

[lightningsax]

Danielle, you bring the awesome to these comments. I'm winding up to say something, and then I see your comment below, saying exactly what I was about to say. My work here is done, and it's not my doing once again!

As for N4's second comment, I have no clue what you are doing. That's not a bad thing, but I'm just confused. If you want to reply to Thread 1, you're able to do so. Otherwise we're just sitting here looking at an individual post thinking "Wait, why is he trying to come to a conclusion that was blatantly stated within the article to begin with?"

Plus, the way you worded the comment sounded much more tilted toward not liking the article, kinda like "Well, at least they're unbiased, even though it's not any good." That's the tone I got, and it's probably the fault of that text vs. tone of voice gap we all experience at some point.

However, I do agree with your core conclusion, that it's fine to be unoriginal. If you're trying to create every single thing purely from scratch, you'll sit there devising a new programming language for a long, long time before realizing that monitors and keyboards are unoriginal, and you're back to the drawing board.

[danielle007]

Thanks, lightning. I do my best.

[cygnuszero]

Uncharted definitely needs to be on this list. Great games, but not a single original idea in them, hence why they are unable to reach high sales like some of the more influential games out there. Its really just Gears in an indiana jones setting.

There's a good reason why Gears sold twice as many copies than Uncharted 2. It was one of the first great games this gen to use the third person cover shooter system. Then Uncharted comes out a bit later, and cant even get close to it in terms of sales. You have to be at least somewhat original to start getting over 5+ mil sales.

[danielle007]

Welll.. Uncharted 2 is on the list. So never fear?

But, anyways, Uncharted 2 is an amazing game, and it only takes the cover system from Gears. Not really a reason to compare the two anyways. They're completely different in basically every way.. other than the cover system, obv.

Gears is a straight-up shooter, 5 shades of gray and dirt, and you're fighting non-humans called the Locust and humanity is on its last leg. so it's gritty and all apocalypse-tastic.

Uncharted 2 is an action game, that has platforming in really pretty places, and it does have shooting segments, but it's not the only focus of the game. It's funny, cinematic, and it mixes everything well.

Completely different :)

[lightningsax]

I think saying "Not a single original idea in them" is pushing it. All of these games are great, and simply taking those old ideas and blending them together involves being creative.

Heck, UC2 had a great idea - Let's make some architecture instead of just designing video game arenas! Not everyone's going to notice or even like that idea, but it's a good one.

You could say the same about one of the sparkling examples of originality they mentioned in the beginning - my icon, Rez. Yeah, the music follows your gameplay, the style is awesome, and the way they tell a story (no matter how abstract) is unique, but the gameplay mechanics are straight-up Panzer Dragoon, and the unlockables are structured the same way as Panzer Dragoon Orta. You could also say that the art style takes a lot from Tron. Okami? It's an improvement on Zelda, with a story ripped from Shinto traditions and a dash of... um... MS Paint?

Don't just bash a game because it's not completely original or say that it's the reason why it sold less copies than another game. Remember, Modern Warfare 2 sold like hotcakes. Spot the originality in that game.

[Dnied]

Decent article, but it's pretty funny if you ask me. "originality" only comes from things that have been done before. other things INSPIRE artists to go above and beyond. If nobody built upon what somebody else brings to the table, we would not see any evolution just a ton of first-attempt "ideas".

Also, it's a pretty fine accomplishment if you could fit elements from all those great games into ONE referring to UC2.

It's inspired by other work yes, "copying" no, but including a bit of all the unique qualities of all those great games listed, its a pretty heavy task and ND managed to do it perfectly.

I personally couldn't ask for a better experience. If you wanted to rag on UC2 for not being original, why was it not compared to another game that tried to take solid elements from OTHER games and make an entirely new one with all of them included? as of right now this article makes ND look like geniuses, I mean those are seriously successful games and UC2 included elements from all of them? wow.

Not to mention ND themselves send personal thank you's to all that have inspired or helped them. I personally havn't seen such a cinematic experience and there were definately things ND did "all by themselves". I havn't played many games where you control the action WHILE a cinematic is occuring.

Like some people above me have stated, if you're going to make this comparison you might as well call out every single game and developer.

edit.. This response was directed more towards those on N4g, not the author himself. It's definately a great read.

[lightningsax]

I like your comment. Kamiya says thank-you in an even better way, just blatantly throwing the game references in Bayonetta as homage.

Honestly, I think there are some shoutouts in there that couldn't be completely spelled out since they weren't property of Capcom/Clover/Sega. Some of that music is eerily close to tracks on Final Fantasy X and X-2, and I think they wanted it that way. No way to tell, though, since it would be a lawsuit if there was a way to tell.

[Bathyj]

Games are more unoriginal than you know.

Wolverine Adamantium Rage. This game was released on the SNES, and the Genesis in 1994. It had regenerating health before Halo.

Robotron is just a Beserk ripoff from Atari days. Atari just didnt have two sticks.

And Tenchu pretty much had a cover system before Winback, they just didnt have any guns to shoot.

Whay can we learn from this?
Videogames are a process of refinement. Taking a raw lump of clay, and shaping away at it until it reveals the statue beneath it.

"Nothings original nowdays. Why the Fax machines, nothing but a waffle iron with a phone attached." Abe Simpson.

[Henry Cain]

Every hear of a game called Winback Gears of War so unoriginal

[Corrwin]

WTF?! It's not like Games Radar are new!

Gears was the first to have a cover system? What about Kill Switch??

Climbing came from Tomb Raider? Are you kidding me? No other game had climbing?! None?!

Every over-the-shoulder perspective games owes it all to Resident Evil 4?? Not Splinter Cell or anything else?

Batman's upgrade system is from Ratchet and Clank? Not Metroid??

It's like they can't make a feature without having something wrong in every sentence... what are the bloody editors doing?

[RumJunkie]

...how many people feel they can comment on an article without reading it first. It's not even an article criticising Uncharted 2 - something anyone would know if they'd even read the headline, let alone the story itself. Let's all comment on the thumbnail image and have done with it.

[Garrison]

Gears of War itself copied that Third Person shooting from a game called Kill.Switch from PS2.

[belowradar]

Gamesradar always looking to incite the GC. Good job guys

[Hakimy]

this article proves that the majority of N4G don't read the whole article.just put a title,a picture and BOOOOM!! full of "lame,fail,bad,you suck,no you suck,etc..." posts XD
that doesn't mean that there aren't any intelligent people here.I won't mention names but they know themselves ;)

[Ashriel]

Well originality itself does not make a game good.

Many of the best games avaliable are not the most original.

[hoops]

Almost every single new game coming out is a rip off of a game in the past.

[blizzard_cool]

Did anyone look at the comments on that site? Is that some kind of gathering for idiots?

[s45gr32]

Okay Gears of War was heavily influenced by the crappy looking killswitch. The health system of Uncharted is from the Getaway not Halo because Halo still uses a health bar once the health bar is out you are dead. The getaway health system is what you see in Uncharted, Gears of War, Call of Duty, etc. What Uncharted did brought was an action pack interactive film in terms of story, character development, lip syncing, and that the story unfolds via gameplay not just cutscenes. It added some new gameplay mechanics that other games don't have like able to shoot from a ledge or ladder, the sneak attacks and punching or kicking your opponent senseless. Able to see facial expressions during gameplay. So that is what makes Uncharted original.

[Figboy]

so instead of creative people wracking their brain trying to "dazzle" you with something you've never seen before, i'd much rather see them use their creativity to refine and perfect the ideas that have been established for generations.

Uncharted is a great example. the pulp adventure genre is not new. stories of dashing heroes embarking on globetrotting quests for mythological items/artifacts is not new.

but Uncharted practically PERFECTS the genre (at least in games), and does so with a compelling, endearing cast of characters.

i'm not looking so much for originality these days as i am a good experience.

not every game can be as fresh and innovative as, say, Shadow of the Colossus, or Okami.

some of you people expect too much, and you have no right to.

there is a wealth of things that can be done to polish existing formulas.

look at Heavy Rain. it's simply refining what has been established in Indigo Prophecy and other adventure games over the years. doesn't make it any less compelling of a game.

Gears of War is a 3rd person shooter. nothing about that game is original in any respect, and yet it's a great game.

you guys switch your cloaks so often when it comes to things like that. you'll call out Uncharted, or Killzone for being "unoriginal," and yet praise Modern Warfare 2 and Gears, or Halo.

if everything was so fresh and original all the time, it'd lose it's appeal. i cherish the rare games like Okami, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Heavy Rain, etc, because i know that they are a rarity.

in the mean time, i have NO PROBLEMS diving into a game that lacks originality. and from the looks of things, most of you don't either. afterall, according to the sales of unoriginal titles like Modern Warfare 2, Halo, etc, you LOVE that unoriginal stuff, as long as it has MP. /sarcasm.