What are the most underrated games from the 2010s decade?

Dear gamers in the Giant Bomb forums

Here we go for yet another nostalgia thread, so here are the games that I reckon are being so underrated from the 2010s decade (In alphabetical order):

• Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
• Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy
• Ace Combat: Joint Assault
• Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
• Assetto Corsa Competizione
• Automobilista
• BlazBlue Central Fiction
• BlazBlue Chrono Phantasma/Chrono Phantasma Extend
• BlazBlue Continuum Shift/Continuum Shift Extend
• Blur (2010 Game)
• Dariusburst: Another Chronicle
• Dariusburst: Chronicle Saviours
• Daytona Championship (2017 Arcade Game)
• DiRT 3
• DiRT 4
• DiRT Rally
• DiRT Rally 2.0
• Distance (By Refract)
• Driveclub
• Driver San Francisco
• Fast Racing League (Wii Game)
• Fast Racing Neo
• Fast RMX
• Fire Emblem Warriors
• F1 2010
• F1 2011
• F1 2012
• F1 2013
• F1 2016
• F1 2017
• F1 2018
• F1 2019
• Forza Horizon
• Forza Horizon 2
• Forza Motorsport 5
• Forza Motorsport 6
• Forza Motorsport 7
• Girls und Panzer: Senshadou, Kiwamemasu!
• Girls und Panzer: Dream Tank Match
• Gran Turismo 5
• Gran Turismo 6
• Gran Turismo Sport
• Gravel
• GRID 2
• GRID (2019)
• Guilty Gear XRD -Sign-
• Guilty Gear XRD -Revelator-
• Halo 4
• Halo 5: Guardians
• James Bond 007: Blood Stone (Bizarre Creation's final developed game)
• Kinect Adventures!
• Kinect Sports
• Mad Max (2015 Game)
• Motorstorm Apocalypse
• Motorstorm RC
• Need For Speed Hot Pursuit (2010 Game)
• Need For Speed Rivals
• Neon Drive
• Nitronic Rush
• Pilot Wings Resort
• Project Cars
• Project Cars 2
• RaceRoom
• rFactor 2
• Redout
• Resogun (By Housemarque)
• Ridge Racer 3D
• Sega World Drivers Championship (Arcade exclusive game)
• Split/Second
• Sports Champions (PS Move game)
• Table Top Racing: World Tour
• The Crew
• The Crew 2
• Time Crisis 5
• TrackMania 2 Canyon
• TrackMania 2 Stadium
• TrackMania 2 Valley
• TrackMania 2 Lagoon
• Transformers: War for Cybertron
• Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
• WipEout Omega Collection
• WRC 5
• WRC 6
• WRC 7
• WRC 8

Here is why I reckon Driveclub (PS4) and Forza Horizon 2 (Xbox One) are so underrated in the year 2014, so at that time, most people (No matter if they like cars or not) prefer kart racing games so they choose Mario Kart 8 on Wii U and Mario Kart 7 on 3DS, while Driveclub and Forza Horizon 2 are both more like standard arcade-style racing games and more suited for proper car lovers to play, as I know, not everyone likes every sub-genres of racing games. Yet Blur, WipEout Omega Collection and Table Top Racing: World Tour are the only three racing games with powerups from the 2010s decade that I like because their handling model feels so much different compared to Mario Kart & its clones plus they don't feature go-karts.

P.S I'm not into kart racing games because they're not my type of handling model and gameplay style, yeah I still prefer Assetto Corsa (2014 Game), Forza Horizon 2, and Driveclub over any sort of 2014 kart racing games including Mario Kart 8 while I cannot still appreciate the Wii U, 3DS and PS Vita as much as the PC, PS4 and Xbox One when it comes to the library of driving games.

I clearly exist in the wrong circle of people to be useful to this thread. We would never have put Halo 4, either Transformers game, Resogun, or any of the Forza games on an underrated list. We still talk about them all the time. You appear to be into racing games though, so I cannot speak to the multitude of other racing games you included. If I sit and think about this though, I would put:

• A Plague Tale: Innocence (the sequel and Game Pass helped, but I think this game was pretty overlooked)
• Bury Me, My Love (I'm constantly recommending this to people, and so few seem to have played it)
• Captain America: Super Solider (I'm probably biased as a Cap fan, but I really love this game)
• Detention (had never heard of this, had a friend recommend, it's now on my top ten horror games list)
• DMC: Devil May Cry (maybe? it feels like people are like me and think this is the best DMC or the worst)
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (I bounced off this game initially. Eventually sat down to play it and it's so freaking good)
• Horizon: Zero Dawn (also a maybe, because it was so overshadowed by Breath of the Wild)
• Lollipop Chainsaw (I only recently played this, because a Twitch streamer I liked showed that it wasn't just oversexualized and actually fun/funny. The advertising in 2012 really turned me off from trying it)
• Monster Prom (another game I'm constantly recommending to people and only found by stumbling across it randomly)
• Rogue Legacy (also a maybe, but I think the sequel helped. I'm sometimes surprised by the people who don't know about this game)
• Shantae games (Four of the five games in the series released during the 2010's. I recently started playing them because I picked them up on a deep discount. These games are so much fun and always find ways to make me chuckle).
• Terminator: Resistance (when I saw game play of this, I thought it looked bad. I got it cheap and absolutely loved my time with it)
• The Messenger (helped by Game Pass, but also seems hit or miss with people I would expect to be aware of it)

Anything with a maybe or was on Game Pass may not belong, but I would definitely stand strongly behind the others.

I definitely agree with Drive Club. It was a decent driving game that got completely trashed by the critics, because it wasn't like Forza Motorsport or Gran Turismo. I respect the developers for supporting the game for as long as they did, instead of abandoning it because of the harsh critics and reviews.

There are many examples I can give, but a recent one that sticks out to me is A Plague Tale: Requiem. It's an excellent story driven action game, right up there with God of War: Ragnarok or Horizon: Forbidden West. And an excellent sequel to APT: Innocence. But it got completely overlooked for potential GOTY, or even story of the year. I highly recommend people who didn't play it yet to do so. It's currently on Game Pass, but its been on there for a while now and it could be on the chopping block soon.

And for fun, I'll say Sonic Frontiers. Mainly because of the many Sonic haters who refuse to admit its actually a good 3D Sonic game.

@ginormous76: That's a good list of games.

@av_gamer: Yeah, I guess the reviewers were expecting the Driveclub's handling model to feel like the Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport series, but it turns out that it doesn't feel like these two. To me, it feels much like Auto Modellista (A 2002 racing game published by Capcom), while the name-wise sounds so similar to Reiza Studios' Automobilista series. Those other games that you've mentioned, they're pretty interesting, but I'm not into Sonic since I dislike furries these days and I'm not into platformers, especially Ratchet & Clank series.

Holy racing games. Good thread. I'll add Mad Max (2015) to the list.

Reviews were middling at the time - Alex gave it 3/5 - but that game has incredible car combat and a vibe soul that still stands out for me.

I think you just listed every racing game that came out over 10 years haha

Not to sound mean, but both games you named came out in 2022, not the 2010s.

Considering how much modern scifi is inspired by it (and how certain modern scifi is ripping it off wholesale), I don't think Mass Effect got enough credit for being more than just a really great trilogy "for a videogame."

OK but I would hardly call Mass Effect "underrated". Perhaps the third game, sometimes, but as a whole? Nah.

For my answer, I would say that Legend of Grimrock 2 didn't get anywhere near the attention it deserved. Yeah, I know, you move along a grid, but if you can get past that you'll find one of the best exploration focused games I've ever played. There's brain-bending puzzles, there's combat, there's loot, there's leveling up and making characters, etc. The genre seemed like it was getting a CRPG-ish comeback when the first Legend of Grimrock came out and sold pretty well, but then poof, interest sorta just vanished, and Legend of Grimrock 2 came and went with little fanfare outside of the places you'd expect to care about it. Vaporum and its sequel appear to have done OK, though.

Me agreeing with Drive Club was my 2010s example. Then I gave some recent ones, as my post stated.

But I'll give some more 2010s games if you're interested.

Iconoclats: A very good 2D action game with unique gameplay, cool graphics, and great soundtrack. The game seems to be inspired by developer Treasure, and their hits like Gunstar Heroes and Dynamite Headdy. I had it as my personal game of the year in 2018.

The Witcher 2: When most people talk about the Witcher video games these day, they mainly talk about The Witcher 3. And while that is an amazing game. One of the best RPGs ever made. The Witcher 2 was also very good and no slouch in terms of being a very good RPG that most people who are fans should play.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst: The game should've gotten a lot more praise and credit than it did. The reboot was just as good as the original, but the soundtrack wasn't as powerful and immersive as the original game, and this seem to turn some people off to it.

Like I said, there are a lot I can name, but I'll go with those three.

Edit: Actually, I'll add one more game, since I'm currently replaying it now. And that game is Infamous: Second Son. It didn't get the praise the earlier games in the series got, especially the second game which many people consider the best game in the series. But as the first and only Infamous game I've played, unless you want to count Last Light, the stand alone DLC, I think the game is very good. One thing I find amazing, is how well the graphics hold up today. I'm playing it on my PS5 with the benefits the console brings to many PS4 games, like unlimited framerate. The only downside is the 4K is upscaled, which a lot of PS4 Pros were doing at the time and not native 4K, but its still a nice looking and nice playing video game.

@jacksmedulla: Well, not every racing games that I would list it.

For The Transformers, it's my favorite sci-fi fighting robot series from childhood while Halo is my favorite sci-fi FPS franchise for single-player mode before Cyberpunk 2077 (An action RPG & FPS game).

Edit: Don't get me wrong, I still like the Halo series.

Blur, Split/Second, and Motorstorm Apocalypse were a string of great games that sold poorly, and killed off most of the wind that Burnout had put in the sails of AAA arcade racers. Such a shame.

Resonance of Fate was a very unique steam punk jrpg. When people ask why Sega has fallen so far, it's because when they make games like this no one buys them.

Slice, Dice, and Rice. Yes, the title sucks, but this is about as close as anyone has come to giving us a new Bushido Blade. Steam reviews are mixed, but it's almost exclusively people complaining there is no online. Would have been a waste of resources anyway. PS4 version got online multiplayer, and it was dead on arrival.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. Yeah, it's Ace Combat trying to be CoD. Why do you all say that like it's a bad thing?

Star Wars Squadrons. Doesn't have a ton of content, but EA was upfront about that, and sold it as a budget title. Hits right in between Rogue Squadron and X-Wing, for a perfect ballance of sim-cade space combat I never knew I wanted. No MTX or season pass, so the player base died quick because being fun just isn't enough anymore.

@symbyosys: mad max was such a sleeper for me for a while. Loved it once I got into. Highly recommended also

Gravity Rush 2 is the PS4's best game.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker has the 2nd best story for a Metal Gear game after 4 of course.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is the 2nd best Deus Ex game and the best of the more modern high budget immersive sims.

@judaspete: I still do not understand why COD and FPS elitists trashed Ace Combat: Assault Horizon for not being an FPS game while they claim it's a COD ripoff. Well, elitists in gaming in general are just very annoying people so all we can do is ignore them. For Star Wars Squadrons, it's a 2020 game but it didn't get much attention and I can tell flight-combat games are not that popular compared to first-person shooter and third-person shooter games these days.

Anyway, I find flight combat games like Ace Combat and Star Wars Rouge Squadron are more suited for me to play than any sort of first-person shooter and third-person shooter games in general.

@uranaltruce: I would like to see Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker remake for the modern generation gaming platforms and ideal for newcomers or those wanted to relive their fun memories of playing it, even though Kojima left Konami for a long time and I hope his coming up Xbox's 1st party project to be good.

@ginormous76: To be fair, halo 5 was trashed on after release and you'd think the campaign was horrible. I played it in a few runs and its actually not bad. For some reason i bounced off infinite's open world faster not cause its worst or bad but just have so many open worlds that it came a bit too late. Halo infinite coming out say after 3 would have been mind blowing. After far cry 5 and so on its cool but i dont know, maybe i have to play it more while paying attention. Seems many games dont get a good shake lately with the constant need to turn off brain and listen to podcast etc. lol.

@ginormous76: that transformers game by platnium was great but people dont play it...it had that issue with the budget not letting it go crazy but they used the budget wisely for a quick fun story and great combat...and no one talks about it. would be cool if in the movies transformers transformed mid fight and hit someone in car form then went back to humanoid form then comboed then went back into a car and sat on them...like in that game.

@topcyclist: That's why I specifically only said Halo 4.