Do you ever go into a game and come out with an experience that you didn't expect to have? I started playing Dead Island last night, single-player and while I didn't know what to expect from the game's main plot and so on, I was even more befuddled to find that my early on bordom was cured with the game's multiplayer component. I normally am the type of video game player that wants to play through the game's story before tackling a multiplayer component, but the game's story just didn't click with me and the cutscenes were stilted and the characters where annoying, so when I was nearing a point of turning the game off and throwing it to the side, I was halted by the game's co-op that pretty much changed the whole experience of the game for the better. In fact, I ended up finding a nice group of people that I worked well with and became so addicted that I played through the whole game co-op and never once was phased by not catching ever ounce of the game's cutscenes that seemed out of place and in the way. I found that most people that I encountered online, just skipped the dialog and went to the action and RPG elements. I finished the game just a while ago and noticed that, story wise I only saw rough cutscenes that barely strung together a shoe string of a plot. All in all, I enjoyed the game greatly and will more then likely continue to play for a time, due to it's online component being so much fun. Have you ever went into a game and found that the story got int he way or had a similar experience?

I thought Heavy Rain was going to be a boring disappointment when I bought it at a yard sale for $1. Turns out it was the best damn thing I have ever played.

Journey. I went in thinking 'Arty game about sand' and it turned out a much more deep and personal experience.

absolutely, all the time. innumerable cases of supposed SP games being better for their MP and vice-versa. Motion control titles being good with normal controls, and motion controls working well in titles you wouldn't expect. Also, until I actually tried them, I never imagined shooters on PSP would work so well. I could go on and on.

Most recently, Spec Ops. Damn that was great.

when i bought brutal legend i didn't know it was a RTS. I even played the demo and read about the game and that kinda came out of no where. wasn't very happy about that.

Mass Effect 3. I didn't expect to get kicked in teh balls and then laughed at when I finished it by the goddamn writers!

Oh yeah, the twist at the very end of Castlevania: Lord Of Shadows really elevated the experience. Made me very excited about what route that particular line of Castlevania games is going. All in all I enjoyed that game a lot more than most people seemed to.

It didn't feel like a Castlevania game at all, but I enjoyed it's take on the God Of War gameplay and it had some fun twists with the magic and stuff. Excellent production values too.

999. It went from "let's mix Crimson Room with a visual novel" to "most amazing game on DS".

Usually, no, i pretty much get what I expect out of a game.

But recently Binary Domain managed to surprise me with how good the characters were and how tight/punchy the game play felt.

Mark of the Ninja, thought it looked cool, but was a bit over hyped/praised. Then I played it. Then I played it again.

And Ace Combat Assault Horizon was a guilty/dumb pleasure.

I didn't expect Bulletstorm to have anything resembling even an OK story, but it turned out that I was wrong. Some of the dialog is still horribly groan worthy but more than one character is more than a cardboard cutout. Surprise! It's not going to win any awards and I don't think it's anything worth keeping solidified in gaming history, but that doesn't stop it from being good.

Spec Ops caught me by surprise. I can't believe that game shipped.

Crackdown. I think most people like me just bought it to get access to the Halo 3 beta and it ended up being one of my favorite games from this generation. It's a shame they were unable to recapture that magic with Crackdown 2.

Basically every game this year that I have played. Spec Ops, Journey, Asura's Wrath I went in expecting to enjoy them somewhat and ended up loving them where ME3 and Dishonored I was expecting to love the shit out of them and eventually I soured on them. Been a weird year in gaming for me....probably for the better.

Spec Ops definitely, I kind of knew what it was trying to do, but it far surpassed my expectations on execution. Also To the Moon turned out to be one of the greatest things ever.

I went into Darksiders 2 thinking it would be Awesome! turns out I was bored to tears.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. The 3rd person shooting is passable, but the story was so ridiculous that I put in an embarrassing amount of time showing and getting friends to play it. Its the gift that keeps on giving.

Most recently, Spec Ops. Damn that was great.

Killzone 3, I bought it to play co-op campaign with friends, but I ended up loving the multiplayer and must have played about hundred hours of it.

Asuras Wrath looked like it was going to be garbage before it came out, but hot damn thats one of the best games this year.

Saints Row the Third. Pretty much bought it due to good reviews, but I typically do not like open world games. It ended up being my favorite one in a long time (still only 9 hr into it).

@believer258 said:

I didn't expect Bulletstorm to have anything resembling even an OK story, but it turned out that I was wrong. Some of the dialog is still horribly groan worthy but more than one character is more than a cardboard cutout. Surprise! It's not going to win any awards and I don't think it's anything worth keeping solidified in gaming history, but that doesn't stop it from being good.

Ditto. Bulletstorm is seriously underrated. I think some of the charm comes from some of the plot points being so unapologetically bad. It's like watching Manos: The Hands of Fate while playing Gears of War and Painkiller at the same time.

While playing Amnesia I didn't find it that scary, I often rationalize everything in games too much to find them emotional on that level. This was the experience I expected. But damn, subconsciously it must've messed me up really bad. I had nightmares for a week and had to stop playing. I would call that unexpected.

halo 4 made me actually give a crap about master chief and cortana. so i didnt expect that, i never cared about them when i played all the other games, now suddenly they have emotions and character and stuff. well done 343?

@Ravenlight said:

@believer258 said:

I didn't expect Bulletstorm to have anything resembling even an OK story, but it turned out that I was wrong. Some of the dialog is still horribly groan worthy but more than one character is more than a cardboard cutout. Surprise! It's not going to win any awards and I don't think it's anything worth keeping solidified in gaming history, but that doesn't stop it from being good.

Ditto. Bulletstorm is seriously underrated. I think some of the charm comes from some of the plot points being so unapologetically bad. It's like watching Manos: The Hands of Fate while playing Gears of War and Painkiller at the same time.

Also: ACID RAIN

God damn that game had so many great and spectacular looking combos if you were willing to experiment and not play it like a boring shooter.

Dead Island. Me and a friend got a kick out of that one. And recently Dragon's Dogma, despite the annoyances in the game I really like it.