As we go to our back catalog of games during the slow time of year for games, at the slow point of this generation's console cycle, I have been revisiting games that I may have rushed through in order to make way for more hyped games. In doing so, I've made the following observations:

1. RAGE is a great game. The AI is entertaining, the graphics are beautiful, and while the setting has been borrowed from other recent games, it is a world which I have enjoyed being a virtual participant.

2. Enslaved is a good game. Not as great as I remembered initially (the lack of hype probably caught me off-guard as did its bargain bin price), graphics were stylisitically great but technically somehwat lacking. Controls are somewhat clumsy, reminding me of BG&E.

I also plan on going back to the last Riddick game, which I haven't had the stomach to finish after being disappointed by the awful fish-eye perspective I somehow missed in the original Xbox release.

Anyone agree/disagree? Also, any games you've recently revisited?

In my opinion Enslaved is to Rage as a Lamborghini Murcielago is to a rather bland but edible muffin.

@nintendoeats said:

In my opinion Enslaved is to Rage as a Lamborghini Murcielago is to a rather bland but edible muffin.

I don't believe I could have said it better myself. Good on ya, sir.

Totally agree on Rage. It really is a very nice game. It's a very solid shooter (which feels decidedly old-school, even with its shiny new graphics). The gameplay is great.

The graphics too look so good at first glance, but if you really start to investigate the environment thoroughly, it kinda falls apart. The textures are super muddy up close (a common problem, on the PC version at least), and physics pretty much do not exist in the world, outside of ragdoll corpses. But damn, that constant 60 FPS is wonderful. It really is.

It speaks for the quality of the game though, because none of the graphical issues have stopped me from thoroughly enjoying the game.

Yeah, I agree with the Bomb Crew on Enslaved. It was a good game, but all the people saying it was the best game of the year were fucking crazy. Having a few interesting narrative twists doesn't make a game great. As a game, it was a very basic action-adventure.

Rage is on the other side of the scale, with great gun-play and a diverse AI to match it. However the story was barely there, and most of the characters were just there to move the plot along.

It's kinda fruitless to quantify my enjoyment of these two completely different games *COUGH @nintendoeats but I'd say they're both on the same level: so close to greatness that the negatives stick out more than they normally would.

@Getz: Fortunately I don't have that problem.

I really like the game for the most part. It does some cool stuff but honestly I feel in the end its still kind of a bland game. The tech behind the game is damned impressive though. Oh, and the crafting stuff is sort of neat making the little robot sentries and stuff was pretty fun but it just didn't hook me to keep playing all the way to the end.

Games are either amazing or rubbish these day. They can't be just good or great or just ok Get used to it

I dont think Rage is under appreciated but it has been quite frankly forgotten. However, it is a SOLID FPS that i would highly recommend to to shooter/action fans. My only real gripe is it is probably the easiest game on the hardest difficulty. Its one of the few games as you level up you are total badass and nothing is going to stop you. If you like Rage check out Hard Reset.
Enslaved seems to hit or miss with a lot of players. I played though it twice and loved every minute. Really would have liked a sequel, but you never know. 

I don't think it was. I thought it was good but not worthy of any more praise then it received.

Enslaved was one of my favorite games when it came out.  I just loved the story and the relationship that the characters developed.  Rage on the other hand, while nice looking and pretty fun at times, got very stale with a lack of any coherent story.

Enslaved had a lot of charm, Rage is just another first person shooter for the most part and that isn't really enough anymore.

Rage was a pretty good game. I like the idea and tone of the world they introduced, and it was quite fun (it's my only S Rank), but at the end of the day I feel like they could have done a whole lot more to flesh out the world and make it feel more alive. Nothing feels more game-y than a world like Rage's that's so transparently in a game. A more in-depth story could have gone a long way in bringing Rage from merely "good" to "amazing". As it stands, the game itself stands up but it's the technology that makes it special.

It also could have used a difficulty boost. Maybe it's just me, but I thought that Nightmare difficulty was more like a walk in the park and Normal difficulty was something akin to playing on god mode.

Enslaved was a fantastic game, Rage on the other hand was about as bland and generic as post apocalyptic games get. The only cool parts of it were the hidden Quake/Doom stuff and Jon Goodman's brief appearance.

RAGE was a massive disappointment for me. Yeah, the game looks good (when it loads the textures as it should, of course), and the shooting was pretty solid, but I couldn't find anything that made me want to keep playing. The story was uninteresting, the open world aspect of the game was underused, the side-quests were boring and the races were... they just shouldn't have been there in the first place. And the ending. Oh, the ending. It was terrible. Barely an ending at all...

So, yeah, RAGE wasn't my cup of tea.

It's no wonder that Rage really didn't leave an impression on me.  FPS games are just blending into the scenery and it's hard to tell the difference between them.  I wish something new would be added to FPS games to make them evolve or just differentiate themselves from the pack. 

To me rage was a game that had potential. It wasn't bad but like others said it needed more. As for the multiplayer they should get rid of death race battles. I didn't enjoy it much and it felt out of place.

I had issues with both games. Both became boring and bothersome in different ways. On the other hand, both impressed me with their visuals (I'm not talking tech but art)

Enslaved is way too much on rails and the simple combat never really changes but at least it had a decent ending and the narrative was nice. Rage was great for the first two hours, okay for most of the middle sections and terrible at the end.

And since the OP also mentions Riddick... I never played the original on the Xbox but the Chronicles release was one of the best fps experiences I've ever had. But I also like The Darkness better than HL2.

@rebgav said:

@nintendoeats said:

In my opinion Enslaved is to Rage as a Lamborghini Murcielago is to a rather bland but edible muffin.

Did you only play an hour of Enslaved too? :p

If you had a bland muffin, how keen would you be to eat the whole box when there were other edibles available?

Rage is amazing. Fuck every goddamn motherfucker in this fucking thread.

@Napalm said:

Rage is amazing. Fuck every goddamn motherfucker in this fucking thread.

You call that ending amazing? Many levels with their ring-structure were kinda bland as well. There was some amazing stuff in Rage, mainly the art design, but there was at least just as much mediocre content.

RAGE <3

I played it for 30 minutes. Did not like one bit.

@CptBedlam said:

You call that ending amazing?

Please point out in my quote where I specifically said that the ending to Rage was good.

@Napalm said:

@CptBedlam said:

You call that ending amazing?

Please point out in my quote where I specifically said that the ending to Rage was good.

It's an important part of the experience and it was terrible. The whole last level was terrible. And many levels before were kinda mediocre. As I already said earlier... Rage is great for the first two hours. After that, it becomes gradually worse with two or three highlights in between (canyon level). It's not a bad game at all, but it's not amazing either. The best thing about it is the art design, in my opinion.

@CptBedlam: Rage is awesome all the way through. The last level is all that's a bit underwhelming, especially the not-ending. The shooting and the wingstick abilities are absolutely fantastic. No "gang" fights the same way, making each encounter completely unique and really awesome. I had a fucking blast with it. I would have liked more gun customization options, personally. That's my only real complaint, though that's more of a preference.

@killr0y: I am in agreement with the Enslaved sentiment. It was a terrific action-adventure that was lost under more popular releases and an aesthetic that is foreign to many. We still live in a generation where people refer to the Na'vi in Avatar as "blue people," and lose the entire point of the cowboy's and Indian moral that flowed throughout that movie. Once people as a whole broaden their horizons and accept gaming as a respectful medium, genuinely stylistic games will always get the cold shoulder. Just as little subjective evidence to my claim, the most popular games and TV shows all revolve around real life, realism, and possible obstacles and consequences we live through every day.

Call of Duty, Battlefield, Uncharted, and sports games. Television wise, we have reality shows, talent shows, sitcoms, and medical dramas. While some are actually good enough to watch, the world ignores pretty much everything else.

I picked up Rage on the steam sale for 10.00. Money well spent. It looks so good and I am having no problem what so ever running it maxed out. I really like the fact that it is very linear because I have enough massive open world post apocalyptic games. Great game.

@Napalm said:

@CptBedlam: Rage is awesome all the way through. The last level is all that's a bit underwhelming, especially the not-ending. The shooting and the wingstick abilities are absolutely fantastic. No "gang" fights the same way making each encounter completely unique and really awesome. I had a fucking blast with it. I would have liked more gun customization options, personally. That's my only real complaint, though that's more of a preference.

I have more complaints (inventory, driving, story presentation etc) but I also think the game didn't deserve all the negativity it received. That's why you're probably defending it so much. I'm that guy when it comes to Lords of Shadow. I loved that game despite its few shortcomings and I think it's highly underappreciated (even though many people discovered its greatness by now).

I'm still getting through RAGE now and do I think it's under-appreciated. The game didn't receive bad scores per se, but so much of the complaining about it was way off. Basically people were angry at the game for being what it is, and not something else. RAGE is super traditional, probably the most traditional 59.99 shooter released since... I don't know, someone back me up here. In any case, traditional.

This "traditionalism," aka simplicity of story/mechanics, doesn't do it for some folks I guess.

Really like the setting, not derivative at all as some claim -- and yeah, the graphics. Pretty damn awesome.

As far as I can tell the only thing RAGE does wrong is the inventory. Hard to look at and always feels disorganized, but a minor quibble.

@CptBedlam said:

@Napalm said:

@CptBedlam: Rage is awesome all the way through. The last level is all that's a bit underwhelming, especially the not-ending. The shooting and the wingstick abilities are absolutely fantastic. No "gang" fights the same way making each encounter completely unique and really awesome. I had a fucking blast with it. I would have liked more gun customization options, personally. That's my only real complaint, though that's more of a preference.

I have more complaints (inventory, driving, story presentation etc) but I also think the game didn't deserve all the negativity it received. That's why you're probably defending it so much. I'm that guy when it comes to Lords of Shadow. I loved that game despite its few shortcomings and I think it's highly underappreciated (even though many people discovered its greatness by now).

It just pains me when people get hung up on extraneous elements of a videogame, especially when these elements are clearly not the forerunners. And especially for an Id Software game. Nobody comes to a goddamn Id Software game looking for some awesome story. Their games have always been a simple story set up, followed by other minimal story beats, and that's pretty much it. If you want a story, go play something else.

Apart from the arcade cheap feeling to the driving (esp. multiplayer) in Rage, the game wasn't bad but definitely plenty of improvement in it.

Rage was borderland 1.5 with bad texture problems and a much smaller world.

@Napalm said:

@CptBedlam said:

@Napalm said:

@CptBedlam: Rage is awesome all the way through. The last level is all that's a bit underwhelming, especially the not-ending. The shooting and the wingstick abilities are absolutely fantastic. No "gang" fights the same way making each encounter completely unique and really awesome. I had a fucking blast with it. I would have liked more gun customization options, personally. That's my only real complaint, though that's more of a preference.

I have more complaints (inventory, driving, story presentation etc) but I also think the game didn't deserve all the negativity it received. That's why you're probably defending it so much. I'm that guy when it comes to Lords of Shadow. I loved that game despite its few shortcomings and I think it's highly underappreciated (even though many people discovered its greatness by now).

It just pains me when people get hung up on extraneous elements of a videogame, especially when these elements are clearly not the forerunners. And especially for an Id Software game. Nobody comes to a goddamn Id Software game looking for some awesome story. Their games have always been a simple story set up, followed by other minimal story beats, and that's pretty much it. If you want a story, go play something else.

Part of the problem was that Rage always hinted that there was more behind every aspect of it. The game opened extremely promising, even narrative-wise. And then you discover that much of it is only an illusion. The awkward racing segments (I did all of those), the rpg elements, the narrative etc. And that ending, man... they must've run out of time, money AND ideas all at once.

I really dig both of those games. They have obvious flaws but both are way under-appreciated, RAGE more so. The world is great to look at and run around in but is severely lacking things to do and find, which is really too damn bad because the core shooting is rock solid. Enslaved's combat is by far that game's weak link. While we're on the topic I would like to heartily suggest checking out the Pigsy DLC if you haven't already. Great stuff.

@Sooty said:

Enslaved had a lot of charm, Rage is just another first person shooter for the most part and that isn't really enough anymore.

This sums up my feels, as well. Enslaved, despite its problems had a good cast and an inviting setting. Most post-apocalypses are rather bleak. Rage went the desolate and burned out grey and brown route (at least what I saw playing it) which I find a bit fatigued. I'll tolerate it in Fallout because it's Fallout, but I'd prefer to see some more inventive "after the fall" settings imagined. Rage was a competent shooter, but I didn't like the driving bits and that's a huge part of the game, so ultimately I lost interest in it. I only paid $10 (sale) so I got my money's worth.

I would agree both are fine games but i think the problem with rage is it was over hyped and it turned out to be a standard pretty shooter. The AI was great but i think people wanted more from the game. Mainly the game ended pretty quick when it felt it was just getting good it just sort of ends. Enslaved was a fine game and had great mocap performances but it just never did anything else better than the many other competing adventures games out there, it also had a quick ending that feels a little early.

@ck1nd said:

@killr0y: I am in agreement with the Enslaved sentiment. It was a terrific action-adventure that was lost under more popular releases and an aesthetic that is foreign to many. We still live in a generation where people refer to the Na'vi in Avatar as "blue people," and lose the entire point of the cowboy's and Indian moral that flowed throughout that movie. Once people as a whole broaden their horizons and accept gaming as a respectful medium, genuinely stylistic games will always get the cold shoulder. Just as little subjective evidence to my claim, the most popular games and TV shows all revolve around real life, realism, and possible obstacles and consequences we live through every day.

Call of Duty, Battlefield, Uncharted, and sports games. Television wise, we have reality shows, talent shows, sitcoms, and medical dramas. While some are actually good enough to watch, the world ignores pretty much everything else.

...but the game part, wasn't that fun, at least to me.

@SmilingPig said:

Rage was borderland 1.5 with bad texture problems and a much smaller world.

No; to call it "Borderlands 1.5" is to suggest that Rage is in some way superior to Borderlands. And that's simply not the case. It's fucking Borderlands Jr.

id stopped being relevant a long time ago, and Rage was the chunk of mediocrity that proved it.

Kind of interested in picking up Enslaved, but the brief amount I played made me quite dislike the controls.

Rage was a really, really well done FPS with some fantastic side stuff. That card game was pretty great, actually. The story ended up falling off entirely at the end, and was never really that compelling to begin with. Enslaved was pretty much the opposite, all story with bland gameplay. Both games were decent. I don't really think they deserve too much more attention than that.

Rage was solid and fun but there wasn't enough of it. The gunplay was good. If there was more story content and a less shitty ending would have been good. Then again, who's to say that would have helped it stick around. Either way, ID tech 5 should be used for the next fallout. Enslaved was good from what I played. The facial expressions made me care more about the characters more than some yelling guy with a gun. Another game with a similar style would be great. My underapreciated game is Supreme commander 2 for the 360.

I went into RAGE not expecting much after pre-ordering it and living overseas (read: 1 week wait before getting it) and having to read all the disappointing reviews in the mean time. Then I was pleasantly surprised to have AI enemies actutally dodge, and fall-back, etc. Rather than stand there like meat puppets. Also, some of the game world spaces were just beautiful. The second town (the major one) was so beautifully realized, it gave me the same feeling that Beyond Good & Evil gave me the first time I reached the city.

Enslaved excelled where Ninja Theory seems to excel: characters and story stuff. Luckily they improved on the combat from Heavenly Sword, too. I really found it to be a memorable game.

As for Rage, I played the hell out of the first disc. Right when I was about to switch to the second I got distracted and never came back. I should, since the combat really started to pick up steam. I loved the Legends of the Wasteland stuff, too. Challenging and a ton of fun.

Enslaved gets a bit more love in gamer circles than from critics I believe. It's a pretty good time, but not all that great. Wayyy too hand-holdy and after the first hour or two you've seen everything you need to see in terms of combat. Visuals are A+ w/ some really amazing motion capture, and the setting is colorful and interesting. Just wish there was more "game" in the game, if you get me.

Ya, I've been revisiting Rage as well.

I also have been playing Metro 2033 for the first time.

The first thing I noticed with Rage is actually how similar (mechanically) it is to Metro 2033. Well maybe just the way it handles having to loot (by actively pressing the space bar instead of auto pick up).

Another thing I feel is the open world slows the game down and feels ultimately unnecessary. It's cool that it's trying to add scope and atmosphere to an otherwise well made but still fairly standard FPS. It doesn't add a whole lot beyond car combat (which I honestly don't enjoy) and just doesn't feel implemented all that well. The story, animation, and shooting are top notch though and I'm going to finish it just because it feels worth it to finish it.

Metro 2033 is an amazing game. I heard some of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. developers worked on it and that's really cool (I loved the first STALKER, i never played any of the others though). What I love about Eastern Bloc games is their perspective. I have made it clear on these forums before, but I'm a story in games guy, so you wont be surprised to know it's a part of this game I find really engaging. On top of that, though, for me anyway, mechanically I love the way it plays. It reminds me a lot of Half Life 2 (what with the way it paces the game, and how the weapons feel when you fire).

It's a really great game but as with all Eastern Bloc releases it has it's bugs. In this one, sadly, I got to a certain level and that level wont load- it just crashes. I can play anything else up to that level and then I can't proceed anymore due to it crashing. That really bummed me out because I was really into the game and I want more then anything to finish it but I cant get it to load the next level.

Those are the only two I can think of at the moment, but I was happy to go back to them. I had always intended too with RAGE (as I have it on XBOX 360 but I really hate FPS's on consoles so I couldn't finish it due to being almost incompetent playing a FPS that way) and I am happy I got Metro 2033.

Sucks Metro 2033 wont let me finish though.

I enjoyed what I played of Rage. Sure it's kind of generic but the shooting is satisfying and the characters are surprisingly endearing.

Enslaved though, I detest that game.

It's incredibly repetitive, excessively simple, and lacks any sort of variety. The story twist is good, but 90% of the cutscenes and story is terrible.

Playing RAGE now and it's just okay. The action is decent and it's very pretty but I can't help feeling it's too close to Borderlands for its own good. Every time I play it, I just wish I was playing Borderlands instead.

I played the first two hours or so of RAGE because that's all I could take of bullet sponge enemies, a super bland and generic post-apocalyptic setting and the most poorly optimized PC port I've ever seen. Like, even worse than GTAIV. Holy shit. How can you even be id and mess that up. 
  

So yeah. I don't think it's underappreciated at all; I just think it's bad.