What 'hidden gem' of a game did you enjoy the most, that you haven't played in a long time?

[Vemby]

I remember enjoying Wizards & Warriors like 20 years ago. I spend sooo many hours replaying it again and again. Then discovered Gothic and Gothic II, and never played it again. The Gothic games however don’t fit the “that you haven't played in a long time?” description, because I play them even today, absolutely love them.

 

[WhiteNoise]

For me, it would have to be Clive Barker's Undying. This was an amazing experience. I just walked over to my game shelf and pulled it out:

 

[Space Lynx]

For me, it would have to be Clive Barker's Undying. This was an amazing experience. I just walked over to my game shelf and pulled it out:

View attachment 367987

It's on GoG, thanks for sharing, I am going to give it a go when it goes on next big sale.

Clive Barker's Undying

What a horrible night to have a curse! Someone should have warned the Covenant children:

www.gog.com

edit: it is actually on a big sale right now, its only a dollar. so i guess i will give it a go now, it will be a good Halloween timed play

 

[WhiteNoise]

@Space Lynx, it's an old game that wouldn't hold up well today, but it was something special at the time. I had read several of Clive's books before this game was released, and being the fan I was, I had to play it. It truly was one of the best game experiences I've had at the time and its stayed with me since.

 

[Space Lynx]

@Space Lynx, it's an old game that wouldn't hold up well today, but it was something special at the time. I had read several of Clive's books before this game was released, and being the fan I was, I had to play it. It truly was one of the best game experiences I've had at the time and its stayed with me since.

For a dollar it's still worth a try, also, I will be playing it in OLED 2880x1800 (if it lets me anyway), sometimes that alone makes older games more immersive I have noticed. I'm also buying Drakensang and Darkstar One on GoG, all of them were mentioned in this thread and only about a dollar each, so it is what it is. I will give it a go

Also, it's my 10 year anniversary on TPU, so I feel it is appropriate to treat myself today.

 

[Apocalypsee]

Sounds like worth checking out. Is it anything like Jazz Jackrabbit (another hidden gem)?

I miss your reply first time, it looks like it played like the third Jazz Jackrabbit

 

[lexluthermiester]

edit: it is actually on a big sale right now, its only a dollar. so i guess i will give it a go now, it will be a good Halloween timed play

That is a steal!!

 

[Aken Bosch]

Descent Freespace and Descent Freespace 2. Also Independence War ans IW2.

/rant Especially after i saw the damn presentation for Squadron 42. Probably just the demo had a 50 mil budget, for nothing after all. It's the same Wing Commander 3/4 all over but with a reaaaaaaaaaally big budget this time.

P.S. Also, Privateer, especially The Darkening. Clive Owen was in there if I'm not mistaken.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Descent Freespace and Descent Freespace 2. Also Independence War ans IW2.

All of those are solid retro titles! And all can be had currently on GOG. I think even Steam has them. Not sure about Epic.

 

[Kapone33]

Descent Freespace and Descent Freespace 2. Also Independence War ans IW2.

/rant Especially after i saw the damn presentation for Squadron 42. Probably just the demo had a 50 mil budget, for nothing after all. It's the same Wing Commander 3/4 all over but with a reaaaaaaaaaally big budget this time.

P.S. Also, Privateer, especially The Darkening. Clive Owen was in there if I'm not mistaken.

Freespace2 has some of the best Mods ever created. The Blue something was great

 

[Bones]

View attachment 367012

Did you ever find "The Spot" on the battlefield where the enemy Valkyre would shoot at you but coudn't hit you?
That was the fight when the big war machine showed up and you had to plant bombs on it to take it out. Found it by accident and believe me, I used it when I did!

Another hidden classic for your perusal: Star Trek: Bridge Commander.
View attachment 367399

Another one I have and it even has "Voice command" too, in that you could literally give orders via a voice profile!
Microsoft Game Voice Bridge Commander Profile - Star Trek: Bridge Commander - GameFront
Bridge commander voice control, page 1 - Forum - GOG.com

Other Trek games such as the SFC series (Star Fleet Command) were good too, the first two versions can be a tad buggy at times but still worth playing with some interesting scenarios and the interface itself is interesting.
Out of this series Star Fleet Command III was the best and a very good choice overall.

Star Trek: Starfleet Command III - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

One I got into that turned out to be an excellent challenge was "Natural Doctrine" for the PS3.



It's all about the challenge and yes - It's every bit as difficult as it's been said to be but once you get the hang of it (How the game works) you realize how simple it can be..... And the fact you have to get it right everytime.
It's one of those with the ability to piss you off to no end, yet it keeps you engaged too from the sheer prespective of not letting it get the better of you.

Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land

If you ever complete the main part of the game and go into the abyss there is a way to save your progress so you don't have to start it all over again.

Wanna know how?
Just ask and I'll fill you in on how to do that and it's 100% done with what's in the PS2 version - No mods, downloaded files/patches or anything else required to that end at least.
It will take a bit of explaining to do but it's so easy to do too.... If you think about it.

BTW all the above refers to original physical copies of these games, no steam/downloaded versions at all about it.

 

[TechBuyingHavoc]

Since we talked about the PC port of SW: TPM extensively, how about the first 2 or 3 Harry Potter PC games? I think they were great, especially the second one. The series took a massive nose dive into badly ported console game territory with the 4th one, unfortunately.

Since we talked about the PC port of SW: TPM extensively, how about the first 2 or 3 Harry Potter PC games? I think they were great, especially the second one. The series took a massive nose dive into badly ported console game territory with the 4th one, unfortunately.

The first two Harry Potter games are two peas in a pod, they feel very similar to each other in art style (and the Chris Columbus HP films) and level design, the core game loop of platforming and mild spell combat/interactions is the same, the movement is a bit clunky in the classic PS1 style.

The third Harry Potter game is the same game loop as the first two games but everything is simplified or refined, trading quantity of content for quality. Movement is very fast and fluid, spell casting is fast, platforming is more dense and complex but the total amount of platforming is a LOT less than the first two games. The art style fits the third Harry Potter film where the warm Christmas colors and kid-friendly art style was abandoned for a colder bluer color tint and more adult influences on the castle, uniforms, art, etc. Spells are better integrated into the game levels and platforming with some truly creative puzzles but there are a lot less spells as well.

Music in all three games was truly top-notch, peak Jeremy Soule music (whatever you think of the guy and his alleged crimes, his music is fantastic). The in-game menu theme from Prisoner of Azkaban was particularly memorable.

I do find it hilarious that the new Quidditch game released this year is just a rehash of the 2003 Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup game, which itself was a expansion of the Quidditch mechanics in the first Harry Potter game.

 

[Easy Rhino]

Silver

Silver on Steam

Silver, a corrupt and sinister sorcerer, rules the land of Jarrah with an iron fist. He and his henchmen have abducted the village women as part of a pact with the almighty god, Apocalypse. Now, only one man can put a stop to Silver and his minions. That man is you, David, a promising young...

store.steampowered.com

Holy sljsdljslkj this game is on steam!!!

 

[JWNoctis]

...

Other Trek games such as the SFC series (Star Fleet Command) were good too, the first two versions can be a tad buggy at times but still worth playing with some interesting scenarios and the interface itself is interesting.
Out of this series Star Fleet Command III was the best and a very good choice overall.
...

BTW all the above refers to original physical copies of these games, no steam/downloaded versions at all about it.

Strange that Starfleet Command 3 was perhaps the least well-received game of the series at the time of release, which I expect was for changing too many mechanics from the previous and throwing away too much of the series' SFB heritage - 4 sides of shields instead of 6, for one - and for being basically unfinished in its freeplay mode, without much to do at all. But it was classic modern Trek instead of TOS/TMP1-6 stuff.

For myself, SFC3 was great until I got SFC1.

 

[AusWolf]

Strange that Starfleet Command 3 was perhaps the least well-received game of the series at the time of release, which I expect was for changing too many mechanics from the previous and throwing away too much of the series' SFB heritage - 4 sides of shields instead of 6, for one - and for being basically unfinished in its freeplay mode, without much to do at all. But it was classic modern Trek instead of TOS/TMP1-6 stuff.

For myself, SFC3 was great until I got SFC1.

I've never really been a SFC kind of guy, more like Bridge Commander which is one of my favourite games up to this day, but I think I should give SFC3 a spin after all this talk about it.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

I have to say, my gateway drug was Flash games.

I got into Strike Force Heroes, especially the first one. 2D platformer shooting games with all the typical modes and a surprisingly decent story.

I think there is a remaster on Steam now that Flash is no more. Not played it.

Strike Force Heroes

There are few action games with shooting, military forces, and worthy opponents as awesome as Strike Force Heroes, the classic one, as this is a game that has spawned…

www.play-games.com

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Half Life 2 Deathmatch. My brother and I had a server Called Alpha-Bean TDM Arena and ran dm_killbox_tower map made by G-Dawgg. We used Game Servers and at the height of the server/clan where ranked #2 most popular of ALL servers. I would have to restart the server just so I could join on some occasions. The game it's self started to die once COD4 was released and is now just a memory of good times long past.

Did a quick google to see if there's any left over information, it seems Game Monnitor says there's a server still up and running. I'm going to say it must be an old member of the clan that is running the server because I haven't had one up for many years now. https://www.game-monitor.com/GameServer/8.9.16.75:27015/Bean-BotAlpha_Bean_TDM_Arena.html

 

[Bones]

Strange that Starfleet Command 3 was perhaps the least well-received game of the series at the time of release, which I expect was for changing too many mechanics from the previous and throwing away too much of the series' SFB heritage - 4 sides of shields instead of 6, for one - and for being basically unfinished in its freeplay mode, without much to do at all. But it was classic modern Trek instead of TOS/TMP1-6 stuff.

For myself, SFC3 was great until I got SFC1.

SFC III is completely different than SFC 1, 2 and SFC Orion Pirates which were all based on the same basic game engine.

2 and OP are definitely the same engine with OP being a sort of "Continuation" or Add-on of SFC 2 and it plays the same way but it's also a stand alone game so you don't need SFC 2 just to play it.
If you can find it, there is a patch for OP too and I highly suggest anyone with this game to get it if possible.

SFC III is different from the others, that's probrably why it got slammed when it was first released. Alot changed when it came out and I guess some were expecting more of the same, which we all know isn't likely at all with further releases of any game series by name.

@AusWolf If you can find a copy somewhere that's cheap enough I'd go for it.
Honestly it's not a bad game - Just different than it's predecessors.

 

[Easy Rhino]

I would also say both Battle for Middle Earth and Battle for Middle Earth 2 are excellent RTS.

 

[Princess Garnet]

I would also say both Battle for Middle Earth and Battle for Middle Earth 2 are excellent RTS.

Yes! I loved the second one and played it so much! A good fantasy universe is sort of my thing...

Yes, the CD version was a whole six discs! Now I'm wondering what the game with the most CDs ever was, and I'm sort of surprised this one was ever made on CD. I can't remember if I didn't pay attention to whether I was grabbing the CD or DVD version, or if they didn't have the latter, but oh well. It only mattered during the time of installation, thankfully.

That game is unfortunately in such an awkward spot now because the base game was only ever available physically, whereas the expansion pack (does this still hold the record for "longest game title" officially?) was only ever available digitally on what was then the new EA Download Manager (then Origin, and now... whatever it's called). If you wanted both the same way, tough luck. Because of what I imagine are licensing rights, EA probably can't re-release the original digitally.

Worse, if you wanted the no-CD patch or some quality of life unofficial mod updates (which used that), it was a gamble on if the anti-piracy method would kick in. For those unaware, the anti-piracy method in this game was apparently to destroy all your stuff (thus losing you the round) thirty seconds into the game. As I had a legitimate version of both games, it was quite a surprise when I encountered it once, and I found out the no-CD patch could do that apparently.

It's one of those old games that suffers from accessibility, and takes some time and effort to get working, but it's worth it if you do.

There's a certain other RTS title using the same game engine from around that time which was also good. A lot of people give EA a hard time for ruining companies/series after buying them out, and don't get me wrong, I get that, but some of my favorites from some of those series came from around those times and were developed under EA after the acquisitions. My favorite Sims title is The Sims 3. I wouldn't call Command & Conquer 3 my favorite in that series, but it was great. It was almost a 10/10 game worthy of a game of Westwood's standards, with the only thing holding it back was that it was lacking a real soundtrack (it had "generic short music for certain events occurring" instead). I'm a very firm believe that great music (or lack of it) can be the difference in whether a game is perfect, or close but not quite. It would be like taking Nobuo Uematsu's music out of the PlayStation era and earlier Final Fantasy games. They would still be very solid games, but... something might be missing, because the music was a big part of making those games come together. For all the talk about gameplay, story, or graphics, I find that music seems overlooked.

 

[QuietBob]

Now I'm wondering what the game with the most CDs ever was

After some research it seems that this title belongs to Everquest II, which came out on 10 CDs (the last being a bonus disc):

As far as compilations go, Ultimate Dungeons & Dragons will be hard to beat with 17 CDs:

And more recently, GTA V was released on 7 DVDs:

 

[Princess Garnet]

Yeah, compilations (games plus expansions or updates) being more don't surprise me; I meant a single title.

By the time games were large enough to need a very high number of CDs, DVDs would have been around and likely used instead.

Likewise, I never imagined games got up anywhere near 7 discs in the DVD era because I would have thought digital distribution was widespread enough on the PC side, and I thought the Sony and Microsoft consoles were all using Blu-ray as of the last two or three generations. I'm guessing that's a PC release using the "lowest common denominator" like my CD version of Battle for Middle-earth II is.

 

[bug]

Yeah, compilations (games plus expansions or updates) being more don't surprise me; I meant a single title.

By the time games were large enough to need a very high number of CDs, DVDs would have been around and likely used instead.

Likewise, I never imagined games got up anywhere near 7 discs in the DVD era because I would have thought digital distribution was widespread enough on the PC side, and I thought the Sony and Microsoft consoles were all using Blu-ray as of the last two or three generations. I'm guessing that's a PC release using the "lowest common denominator" like my CD version of Battle for Middle-earth II is.

This was only curbed because, at some point, game devs/publishers figured even if they supply physical media, it can only contain a sliver of the game. You would be forced to sign in online any, why not push the rest of the content when you do?

 

[Space Lynx]

The games I mentioned on my first post are on sale if anyone is interested:

The Darkness II on Steam

An intense first person shooter that delivers a twisted and gripping narrative of tragedy, modern crime drama, and supernatural horror.

store.steampowered.com

$5

Save 75% on I Am Alive on Steam

I Am Alive casts the player as a lone survivor in a believable, dark and insecure post-apocalyptic world.

store.steampowered.com

$3

 

[Ruru]

As a kid 20 years ago, I though that Final Fantasy X-2 sucks. Now as an adult, I actually like it a lot. Had to buy a blackbox version for PS2 as well.

Still haven't got all the achievements from the HD release of the Steam version though as I still don't like all the minigames etc.