Admit it. We all have a soft spot for at least one game that either got it’s price reduced to $20 or below or got shoved in the bargain bins. The reviews more than likely sucked. Annually released sports titles would fetch a higher return price than your favorite el cheap-o. But still you luvs it and keep coming back for more. Either that, or rant and rave to your friends about it, whom block your stream of praise after ten seconds when their brain tells them “That game? Isn’t that the one that’s wedged between ‘Unlimited Saga’ and ‘Budokai 2’ at Gamestop?”
My favorite scrapped puppy was “Future Tactics.”
Gameplay was pretty unique. Hard to explain as far as mechanics go, but basically it was Humans vs. Aliens, terrain tactical shooter. Voice acting was so terrible it was hilarious in some situations. Story was so-so, not really that engaging. Gameplay was fun as hell, albeit fusturating at times. The replay value was great; in type A, your team goes first, then the opponent. In type B, unlockable after you finish the game, each individual character alternates turn (i.e., one of your characters, enemy, your next character, your next enemy). Also, a mass majority of the terrain could be blasted apart, away, through, etc, any preposition you can think of. Using your mortar-launcher character, you could blast craters in the ground for your team to take cover in.
I bought it brand new long time ago for $5. I still play on it a little bit every year.
I actually own several games I bought used and have enjoyed a lot; in fact I only buy new games if I’m really looking up to play them (like all the Final Fantasies.) Probably my best “bargain bin” buy ever was the first Persona game; I had no idea what it was about, had never heard of it and the game box didn’t help much; but hey, an rpg for 9$? Why not give it a try? I ended up liking it quite a bit (though I haven’t replayed it in a while; I’ve been considering trying the PSP remake tho.)
Not a “Bargain Bin” game so much as it was a really cheap find at a Garage Sale. The game I speak of is Advanced Wars 2 which I got for a buck and included the whole box and everything (though the box was slightly damaged). The best use I ever got out of that game was when I brought it with me when I went to see the first Transformers movie. Ironically its the first and only time I’ve brought a handheld with me to a movie, but I was glad I had it when the theater screwed up and couldn’t get the film to play for over half an hour. Of course I was pissed when I got home and got chewed out by my brother due to the fact that I had planned to watch the movie and get the car back in time for him to have it for class. Sufficed to say that did not happen.
Speaking of which the worst of this was From the Abyss which I got marked down to about $20 bucks. Sadly it wasn’t even worth $5.
The Suffering. Whew - that was really, really hard. I almost couldn’t think of one.
The Suffering was a third person action adventure game in which you explored a prison on an insane fucking island where evil has intoxicated the worst of the worst of the worst, criminals and guards. Monsters rise from the ground around you, and you combat them in what is best described as a Max Payne-esque system. All the while you explore the history of the island and it’s reputation for madness. Phones would ring, ligts would fall from ceilings… it was a pretty awesome game for $12.
…OK, I’m now convinced some of our recent “new members” only joined so they could sneak Spam on links in their signatures. They might even be bots.
:noway:
I discovered Magical Starsign for ten bucks after a friend told me it existed, and was surprised by its quality. The gameplay is interesting, but more than that, the writing is very witty and the storyline got surprisingly dark in places.
I love those games. I played the second one first so I was mildly disappointed when I got the first one, but that changed once I got into it and now they seem equal.
X-Com Collection, bought on Steam. Or more specifically X-Com: UFO Defense.
I bring it out whenever I get the urge to say things like “games are so much getting easier” as if it’s a bad thing.
X-Com is in no way a bad game, but DAMN the difficulty is crazy. You can lose an entire squad to a single alien.
It’s just too bad it’s balanced like a seesaw. As soon as you unlock the psychic lab you can win every map just by looking at an alien.
Would you believe me if I told you that the first X-Com is bugged such that you can never play on anything but the easiest difficulty? The feedback this caused is why Terror from the Deep is obscenely hard.
I think the first Suffering is way better than the second. Doesn’t it take place in a neighborhood or a city or something? The atmosphere of a prison, where the craziest guards and inmates were the worst bosses, and the island with it’s downed Nazi planes and other shit was just great. My room mate played the second one without me, really, I didn’t dig it.
The second game starts immediately after the first one. You go through a number of places from Torques past, that includes a neighborhood, a sewer system, a children’s home, and another prison. Now that I think about it, mainly the city. The first one is definitely scarier, but the second one has better action. You get different forms based on your morality, and like last time different specials.
