Most Surprisingly Good Game
At GameSpot we make every effort to approach each new game without any preconceptions about its quality. But in some cases, games will surprise us with how good they are, which makes us realize that we weren't really expecting much from them, for one reason or another. Maybe the game seemed generic at first glance, or maybe the concept seemed too gimmicky. Oftentimes, the odds are positively stacked against a game from the outset. Movie-licensed games, for instance, have a long tradition of being, well, garbage. Some genres simply have a reputation for being too unwieldy or inaccessible to the average gamer. The sleeper hit is the one that rises above any preconceived limitations and proves itself to be truly great. Here are the finalists for 2004's Most Surprisingly Good Game:
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It's a game starring Vin Diesel. Does its inclusion here really need more justification than that? Against all odds, this game rose high, high above the typical movie-game dreck to become one of the finest pure action experiences of the year.
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The MMORPG genre is fraught with problems as it is, and we were skeptical that a comic-book-themed game in which every single player is a superhero could work. But an amazingly open-ended character-creation scheme and streamlined gameplay make Cryptic Studios' first massive effort a winner.
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Let's be honest: It's a paintball game. This sort of extreme-sports game is rarely even worth a rental, yet Greg Hastings' game is, improbably, a surprisingly competent shooter, one that some "hardcore" shooters could stand to learn a few lessons from.
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The original Kingdom Under Fire was a mediocre real-time strategy also-ran back in 2001. Who would have thought that Korean developer Phantagram would turn the series into an utterly original hybrid of hack-and-slash combat and battlefield tactics with an amazing style and a pounding soundtrack?
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For a game that had been out for months in Europe and had little chance of hitting the States, this one surprised us. Then again, with a simple but entertaining racing model, a powerful track editor, a solid multiplayer mode, postrelease content from the developer, and a sensible price tag, how can you go wrong?
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And the Winner is...
