GAME ON, BITCHES: Overlooked 2009 videogames

OVERLOOKED GAMES OF 2009

I recently hit up some friends and peers in the gaming community to ask them a simple question: What 2009 games were overlooked by gamers (and are now pretty inexpensive)? I asked because I am always looking for great deals on games that I might have missed and in this economy, saving cash is essential. The response I received was a good range of console and PC games worth another looksee. Without further ado, here’s what these dudes have to say:

Joey Davidson (Columnist @ CraveOnline) – My attention for last year’s missed games seems to be lingering over two efforts from Sega for the Wii. No, not THE CONDUIT. HOUSE OF THE DEAD: OVERKILL and MADWORLD are two games that sought to fill the hardcore void for the platform occupying the shelf space of more homes than any other current generation system. But somewhere along the lines, these two highly gory and highly stylized games got completely missed by the general public. They’ve instantly fallen into cult classic status while wielding a $20 price tag at most retailers.

BUY MADWORLD AT AMAZON.COM NOW!!!

HOUSE OF THE DEAD: OVERKILL is an on-rails shooter brimming with grindhouse style and humor. Shoot zombies and keep it hilarious. MADWORLD is an incredibly over-the-top take on 3rd-Person action. It’s all in black and white, except for the blood. Kill dudes with street signs and tires. Yes. The fact is, both of these games mark the last Mature rated efforts we’re likely to see from Sega on the Wii. The publisher recently came out and said that the sales of these games, coupled with the sales of DEAD SPACE: EXTRACTION (another solid, on-rails shooter), have basically forced them to move away from the Mature Wii market. Get them now before they fall into complete obscurity and only exist on Ebay for too much money.

BUY HALO WARS AT AMAZON.COM NOW!!!

Richard Mitchell (Contributing Editor @ Joystiq) – HALO WARS wasn’t exactly overlooked, though it probably wasn’t the breakout hit Microsoft was hoping for. It’s definitely worth picking up for RTS fans out there, and the online community is still going pretty strong. On the PC or Mac, I’d also recommend PopCap’s PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES, which is a very unique take on tower defense games. It’s got a long single-player campaign as well as plenty of gameplay modes and collectibles, so it’ll keep you busy for quite a while. Finally, I can’t recommend TORCHLIGHT enough. For anyone that likes dungeon crawlers even a little bit, Torchlight should be an instant purchase. If you’re hurting to play DIABLO III — which won’t release until 2011 at the earliest — you should stop reading this right now and pick up TORCHLIGHT immediately.

BUY TALES OF MONKEY ISLAND AT AMAZON.COM NOW!!!

NixiePixel (Gamer, blogger, video logger @ NixiePixel) – When I was quite young I remember playing MONKEY ISLAND, a swashbuckling adventure game for the PC that required 6 floppy disks to install. (Whoops, did I just date myself there?) Now I think puristic adventure games are almost obsolete except for the pleasant surprise Telltale Games released this year. The amazing MONKEY ISLAND series has been rejuvenated with the title TALES OF MONKEY ISLAND for us PC-gaming (and XBOX 360) landlubbers to enjoy. No floppy disks this time, now it’s available for digital download. Yay for emerging technology!

BUY RED FACTION: GUERILLA AT AMAZON.COM NOW!!!

Rob Keyes (Editor In Chief @ GameRant) – RED FACTION: GUERILLA. Although some say the story of this game was its main weak point, that might be the only downfall of this latest installment in the RED FACTION franchise. This third-person shooter takes the destructible environments the first RED FACTION made famous years ago to a whole new level with clear emphasis on the functionality of the Geomod 2.0 engine. In fact, this if the first game in the series to utilize a 3rd person play-style to show off the damage you can deal to your foes. The one feature missing that could have made this game wildly popular was co-operative gameplay. Maybe next time?

BUY DJ HERO AT AMAZON.COM NOW!!!

Andre Manseau – (Game Reviewer @ Arrow In The Head) – DJ HERO. It’s a true travesty that this game has sold so poorly worldwide because it rocks my socks off. I’m a fan of peripheral games and I love the rhythm games but I will admit the genre is getting stale. DJ HERO is just what the doctor ordered- it’s fresh, compelling, difficult and makes you look at music in a new way. The mash-ups are fantastic and catchy (all licensed tracks and no, it’s not all hip-hop) and that’s what I was worried about most because I don’t tend to like popular music or rap. And besides the crossfader being a little loose, the game really deserves your attention so pick it up when it drops to the bargain bin in a few months or sooner, since no one’s shelled out any cash for it.

Alex Keen – (Your Humble Narrator @ JoBlo) – I’m going to be quick and straightforward with my suggestions. First, a must buy is RED FACTION: GUERILLA. This sandbox game is one of my favorites of the year and can be enjoyed in a multitude of ways. If you like knocking the shit out of buildings with a… frickin’ HAMMER, then go get this game.

Second, I want to ride on Richard’s coattails and proclaim the glory that is HALO WARS. Yes, this game was a major release for the XBOX. Unfortunately, they must not have met expectations because the price tag is silly cheap and a steal at practically any retailer.

BUY LEGO ROCK BAND AT AMAZON.COM NOW!!!

Thirdly, I want to recommend you try out LEGO ROCK BAND. While many gamers see this as the cheesy kids version of ROCK BAND, it really does have a solid gameplay mechanic that kept me interested. For me, it was a more fulfilling solo experience than BEATLES ROCK BAND. Finally, a game that is 100% free and tons of fun, 1 VS. 100. This trivia game, exclusive to the XBOX 360, is enjoyable enough to justify a gold subscription and the pretty pairing of group play, online competition, and trivia madness.

BUY DEAD SPACE: EXTRACTION AT AMAZON.COM NOW!!!

Andre Manseau (Game Reviewer @ Arrow In The Head) – DEAD SPACE EXTRACTION. This was a wonderful little shooter that is smart, scary and fun like its big brother, DEAD SPACE. There’s some great cinematic action here and really good level design. The voice acting is great and the game features all of the abilities and powers that the original had and manages to make good use of them. It’s on rails, but so what? It has all kinds of good stuff to deliver in spades.

BUY X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE AT AMAZON.COM NOW!!!

Rob Keyes (Editor In Chief @ GameRant) – X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE. A title that was overshadowed by the success BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM and one that many gamers assumed wouldn’t be worth the price tag before it came out for two reasons: It’s a direct tie-in to a film which by the trend of this genre is sadly a red flag and secondly, the previous X-MEN movie tie-in X2: WOLVERINE’S REVENGE was not well-received.

For this under-appreciated extreme action game, Raven Software takes over the reins from GenePool Software to make a fun game for the 360//PS3/PC that provides better set pieces, visuals and action shots combined with a deeper story than the film. The game is more fun than the movie and comes with some incredible cinematics that hint at a crazy cool potential film down the road. For fans of Marvel Comics, gamers and fans of the X-MEN films, this is a game you must check out which nicely ties together some incomplete story threads from the origins film to the X-Trilogy. This game gives players the “uncaged” bad-ass Wolverine who’s been missing from the movies.

BUY RETRO GAME CHALLENGE AT AMAZON.COM NOW!!!

Andre Manseau – (Game Reviewer @ Arrow In The Head) – RETRO GAME CHALLENGE. A true homage to old school 8-bit games, this is a strange little title that is unique and challenging. It’s all in the little details and this is a game within a game, where you must read your old gaming magazines for tips and converse with a friend who just loves to watch you play. I know it sounds weird, but believe me, this game is awesome and features 5 or 6 classic style games from platforming to RPG. It’s a hard game but if you grew up in the 80s I can’t recommend it further. Even the 8-Bit music is great!

That’s our list folks. If you’ve got other deals/steals to recommend, drop a striker back below!