Obscure but awesome games?

[Twig]

Everyone knows what Call of Duty, FEAR, Command & Conquer and Halo are. I'm looking for some game suggestions of some not-so-known but still good games. Like Penumbra. I had never heard of it until I stumbled on a Flickr page of a photoshop tutorial and someone mentioned it.
I'm looking for any genre, and release date, any anything.
This is your time to prove your super vast knowledge of all things gaming!

[DaFox]

Just some randoms that very in popularity, none are real hidden gems or anything but they aren't the top tier of AAA games that you are specifically referring too.

Everyday Shooter
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
Trackmania United Forever
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Shadowgrounds Survivor
Spectraball
Strike Ball 3
Switchball
Twin Sector
Disney Pixar's Up

You can find my personal ratings for those games in the link in my signature. Some are not so great (Twin Sector) while others are awesome (Bionic Commando Rearmed)

These are all PC games of course, some of their non PC versions are quite popular (Puzzle Quest, Everyday Shooter) while the PC versions are basically unknown.

[The_cranky_hermit]

Consider any games on this list that you haven't played but are in genres you like "obscure":
http://thecrankyhermit.wikispaces.com/PC+gaming+awards

[01Boxer]

Mount & Blade.

[Dem Pyros]

One of my personal favorites is Psychonauts. Relatively obscure game with some terrible audio work, but amazing imagination.

[Twig]

Consider any games on this list that you haven't played but are in genres you like "obscure":
http://thecrankyhermit.wikispaces.com/PC+gaming+awards

Very good list! Thanks.
I agree Boxer, M&B is an awesome game.
Pyros, I'll check out Psychonauts. I've heard good things about it.

[BRPunk]

Audiosurf
Postal series (Postal, Postal 2, as well as the upcoming Postal 3)
Global Agenda (If they would get their heads out of their asses about eyefinity, I would still play this game)
Vampires: The Masquerade Bloodlines
Dystopia (Free Source Mod) http://store.steampowered.com/app/17580/

Most of the other good ones I like have been posted already.

[Tanuki]

Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse

[Ryom]

Crimsonland - FREE!
http://bitjumble.com/files/games/crimsonland/Crimsonland.zip

You are a lone soldier stranded on an alien planet. Death is inevitable, take as many out with you as you can! This game is freeware.












Shadowgrounds - $9.99
Demo here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/2510/


NOX
This is a fantastic adventure game made by Westwood. Find it if you can :)


Moonbase Commander

[Twig]

Crimsonland - FREE!
http://bitjumble.com/files/games/crimsonland/Crimsonland.zip

You are a lone soldier stranded on an alien planet. Death is inevitable, take as many out with you as you can! This game is freeware.

NOX
This is a fantastic adventure game made by Westwood. Find it if you can :)


Moonbase Commander

I'll chekc out Shadowgrounds. I've had crimsonland for a long time :) I forgot all about Nox. I owned it a long time ago.

[whismerhill]

Vampires: The Masquerade Bloodlines

ha ! didn't like it much
the beginning was ok, however after some time, I felt like you were not a vampire but rather a wizard with pseudo blood powers
moreso since as I remember it, age didn't affect you at all ...

so overall I didn't like the "vampire fiction/backstory" it was built on ...

[Twig]

[quote]Vampires: The Masquerade Bloodlines

ha ! didn't like it much
the beginning was ok, however after some time, I felt like you were not a vampire but rather a wizard with pseudo blood powers
moreso since as I remember it, age didn't affect you at all ...

so overall I didn't like the "vampire fiction/backstory" it was built on ...

I never got far in it. There was some point early on that I got completely stuck at. Maybe I'll give it another go.

[Paradigm Shifter]

I liked Bloodlines a lot. Got damned hard near the end, though.

Malkavian FTW. ;)

Redemption is worth a shot, too.

[Skid]

Aquaria, its a couple of years old now but it was a fantastic game.

[BRPunk]

ha ! didn't like it much
the beginning was ok, however after some time, I felt like you were not a vampire but rather a wizard with pseudo blood powers
moreso since as I remember it, age didn't affect you at all ...

so overall I didn't like the "vampire fiction/backstory" it was built on ...

Well, a lot of vampire fiction includes hints that vampires had significant powers, and actually, only certain clans in the game had "blood powers." Brujah spent most of the time beating the crap out of people. As for age affecting you.... vampires are immortal? That's pretty standard in any vampire fiction.

[whismerhill]

Well, a lot of vampire fiction includes hints that vampires had significant powers, and actually, only certain clans in the game had "blood powers." Brujah spent most of the time beating the crap out of people. As for age affecting you.... vampires are immortal? That's pretty standard in any vampire fiction.

The difference I wanted to make between a wizard & a vampire was that a wizard will somehow need to "cast" a spell
whereas a vampire powers are more like natural abilities not requiring much of anything except perhaps to focus ...
of course some of their powers can be considered as spells, however others such as their unnatural speed / vision / hear should not have to be cast ...
at least it should be instantaneous toggles draining your "strenght/blood" a bit more when you use them ...

As for age affecting a vampire, I was not thinking about how a human grow old but rather how in most popular vampire fictions, vampires grow stronger, more resilient & get new abilities as they get older

ho and I just remembered that the feeding was a too small part, and after very little time you could just feed from afar with a spell
although this could make sense if you were a very old vampire or fed from one...

[yogibbear]

[quote]Well, a lot of vampire fiction includes hints that vampires had significant powers, and actually, only certain clans in the game had "blood powers." Brujah spent most of the time beating the crap out of people. As for age affecting you.... vampires are immortal? That's pretty standard in any vampire fiction.

The difference I wanted to make between a wizard & a vampire was that a wizard will somehow need to "cast" a spell
whereas a vampire powers are more like natural abilities not requiring much of anything except perhaps to focus ...
of course some of their powers can be considered as spells, however others such as their unnatural speed / vision / hear should not have to be cast ...
at least it should be instantaneous toggles draining your "strenght/blood" a bit more when you use them ...

As for age affecting a vampire, I was not thinking about how a human grow old but rather how in most popular vampire fictions, vampires grow stronger, more resilient & get new abilities as they get older

ho and I just remembered that the feeding was a too small part, and after very little time you could just feed from afar with a spell
although this could make sense if you were a very old vampire or fed from one...

Did you actually play this game? Everything you say wasn't there, was DEFINITELY there. It pretty much nailed it.

[whismerhill]

hum, really ? :? I'm confused by what you just said because I did really play it... so either we got two very different experiences from the game or my brain just plain sucks :mrgreen:

[Ryom]

I'll second Aquaria. Also, Castle of the Winds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_of_the_Winds
Free Castle of the Winds download from the author here: http://www.exmsft.com/~ricks/castl11a.zip

(it runs fine on any version of Windows)

[yogibbear]

hum, really ? :? I'm confused by what you just said because I did really play it... so either we got two very different experiences from the game or my brain just plain sucks :mrgreen:

Yes i really do believe you didn't play it. Because everything that you are saying is wrong with the game and should be fixed by doing such and such is exactly how it IS done in the game. Which is why i don't believe you played it at all.