Weekend Debate: What was the last game that surprised you?

The Walking Dead Ep.4 was the last game that surprised me. Nice twist to the plot. Looked great on the 360 as well.

To be surprised by a game, it needs strong characters & an engaging story. Most recently, Heavy Rain had me on edge & with quite a few “What?” moments.

Superb game.

Has to be walking dead. I’ve played many games that have had interesting stories and characters in them, but once the game ends that’s you done. But with walking dead, after each episode finishes, im still left with a bond with the characters. Even while I wait for the next episode to arrive, im still thinking about Clementine and lee. That itself really surprised me.

What is great about them is that they are just basic characters, no special abilities etc. Even moments in the game had me on the edge and many points I had to pause, just to make a choice. I never expected this game to deliver such an experience, heck I’ve never even read or watched walking dead. When i first heard of this game, my interest was very little…now im calling it my own Game of the Year.

I’m going to have to say New Little King’s Story because upon seeing it for the first time (in the trailer above) I was surprised how much it reminded me of Pikmin

Papo&Yo is really huge surprise from me in positive way! I really like that emotions and story in game.

I’d have to say Nier – a JRPG from 2010 that probably got overlooked by many due to it’s sub-par visuals and presentation. Yet it surprised many who played it, including myself, with its sublime soundtrack, excellent voice work but most of all it had a truly memorable cast of characters and a strong emotional narrative.

I am going to be predictable and say Journey. Not only was it beautiful but it’s strange how the lack of communication between your co-op partner actually made you help each other out more.

It was also beautiful, the only drawback was it was short but not sure if it would have had the same impact if it was longer? I was sad when it ended, story wise and because it was over!

I would have to say Motorstorm RC. I was expecting a throw-away mobile-ish game at such a low price. What I got was a fully fledged quality game that brought me back to the top-down racers of my youth on Spectrum and C64. Brought back fond memories of “Ivan Stewart: Super Off Road”. Then to my utter surprise I found out that I could then download it at no further cost to my PS3 as well! Further surprise then came that the trophies are doubled across the two systems! Great game, highly recommended.

I picked up Rocksmith the day it came out and I have been playing at least an hour a day. I started learning to play the guitar about 10 years ago, so it initially seemed all a little easy, but because I can play (a little), I can see and appreciate the pure design genius behind this “game”. It really makes learning songs that I know and others, which I have never played before, so easy and fun. My only hope is that we will keep getting downloadable content. This could easily be the new world standard platform for learning to play guitar and bass. Highly recommended!

Darksiders, the first one. I’ve played a bit of it way back, but when I suddenly decided to go back and finish it, the story and setting blew me away. I thought it was gripping, even though my expectations weren’t that high. So now I bought the sequel, and are (hopefully) ready for a good experience again

Hell yeah Wrath of dead rabit really got me. 1st time I saw the trailer I think it was just another side-scrolling game like many others and I myself Im not into this kind of game. But after I gave it a try, my it really got me with its ridiculous actions and humor and Gore.

To me the last game was Starhawk that suprised me. Which I got with PS+ just Suprised me with it’s Build and Battle System. It all just felt so natural and easy which really added alot to the experiance and made me love shooters again which I never thought I would do again. It’s not just building,with the struckters you build you need to think tactical and strategically and how the opponents play.

In a strange way it was Borderlands (free on Plus). Now I had the game when it first came out and couldn’t get into it. Then I downloaded the free one and was hooked.

This time round I didn’t have any interruptions and put in about six hours in the first sitting. Then pre-ordered Borderlands 2.

So to properly answer the question: PlayStation Plus has surprised me the most with games like Borderlands, Retro/Grade and Machinarium, it’s the best purchase I make each year.

I am currently playing Borderlands 2, and love to discover the humorous dialogues, items and locations that reference other media in various funny ways.
However the last time I was genuinely was surprised was after picking up Spec Ops: The Line from the playstation store. The way the game blew away my expectation of it just being another brainless shooter, caught me completely off guard. Both with it’s complex, emotional and interesting storyline, and the way it was delivered brilliantly was one of the best surprises I have experienced this console generation, and I was definitely not expecting to find that in a game revolving around generic 3rd person shooter gameplay.
It was a nice breath of fresh air, a genuinely mature game, that understands that adding blood and nudity is not the essence of maturity, and actually values a rich mature story, that makes you think about tough issues. Thumbs up Spec Ops, and thanks for asking me the question: am I still a good person?

The most recent surprise for me would most definitely have to be Sleeping Dogs. The brutality and sheer horror of what happened inside the gangs was way beyond what I was expecting. Each part threw you into an area of the gang you either didn’t know about or weren’t quite ready for keeping you on your toes the entire time. The massive change in culture compared to most other games of the same style played a large part in how much I enjoyed the game too.

‘MGS: Peace Walker HD’ That game could be MGS5 really. It’s mind boggling for a ex-PSP game. I just can’t stop playing it:P Kojima is a GOD!!!;)

Heavy Rain, when I lost my first character (don’t want to spoil) I felt the grief.

Its got to be Papo & Yo. The story telling is so so powerful, and is something that really leaves you feeling all kinds of powerful emotions. A true example of how real life issues can be portrayed through the media of games. Plus the guys at We Are Minority really take the time to help expand and explain the issues addressed in the game to fans via twitter

For me it was Spec ops the line because i really liked the emotions and the story, mainly with the ending.

For anyone who likes a decent shooter with a great story, that’s the game for you

One time, my mom went to England for a week, and she brought me a “souvenir”, a PS3 game by the name of “Folklore”. Not having picked out the game myself, I had no idea what to expect from it, I mean, I hadn’t even heard the name of the game before.

So I started playing it, and I instantly fell in love with the artstyle of the game, especially when I made it to the Fairy World, it’s a really beautiful game. Then the gameplay really started, and I really liked the intriguing controls of having to use the sixaxis of the controller to absorb the folks ID’s, and then use those folk in battle. To me that is still one of the best, yet somewhat subtle, use of motion control in any game I have ever played – And I own a Wii, so that’s saying something. It really surprised me how deep not only the gameplay was, but also how deep the story was.

I had never heard of the game, so the surprising part for me, was just the experience, as a whole. It’s a really amazing game, it’s one of my favorite PS3 games, and I truly believe it might be the most underrated videogame of all time. If anyone ever gets the chance to try it, they should.

I have to say Assassins Creed:Brotherhood,Im 30 and disabled and rarely go out so i have alot of time on my hands so after playing the game i got really interested in reading up and learning all about the Borgias followed by the great show on Netflix. I was never a good student at school and nothing ever really interested me in history. It goes to show games about certain things can lead to people wanting to learn *Well for me it did*.

I would have to say Outland – I was mesmerized at the quality presentation of it, it is a 2d platform Game that captured the gameplay perfectly I just had to keep playing it, it was such a joy to play with a lovely story and I would have missed it if it wasn’t for the igc! Wow cant wait for the next game to give me tingly shivers down the spine moment – loved it. Thanks

The last game to surprise me would have to be Arkham Asylum, a game that when it was first shown looked like another poor comic book game from a studio no one really cared about. Then to become not only the game to beat when it comes to doing a comic character but to become one of the best games of this generation if not any generation. I love City as well but Asylum will always be the one to change how we look at comic book games.

the last game to surprise me and not be what i expected was brutal legend.(i know its an older title)

after playing the demo i was expecting a sandbox adventure with lots of humour and a decent rock soundtrack.

i partly got what i expected but with a random strategy element included as quite a major part of the game.(those parts were Marmite but i loved them unlike Marmite itself yuck)
not only that i was introduced to some of the best rock music i have heard(growing up i was a techno child never liked rock really) and a storyline that was pretty deep in places imo.

another surprise is how poorly the game performed sales wise its criminally underrated in my opinion

on a side note the biggest surprise i have ever had in a game to this day is arieth’s death in ff7, i dont know if i will ever be as shocked by a game again

the last game that surprised me was ico hd, i never played the original on ps2 but i know that was a beautyfull game. No word can prepare me to what i play, a beautyfull experience full of emotions and suspence… it will ever remain in my heart

LittleBigPlanet PSVita. Mainly because i don’t think i’ve seen a handheld entry in a series compete so well with its console counterparts. Especially considering that LittleBigPlanet 2 isn’t that old (coming up to 2 years now). Yet I would say that the Vita version is currently the definitive version of LBP.

LBP is my favourite series, so i knew i was going to enjoy it. And i knew going in which tools and features would be included. But I was suprised by how well the Vita’s features (touchscreen, motion sensors etc) were used to enhance the experience. Not to mention how useful they can be for creating levels.

In fact i would say that the general level design in LBP Vita’s campain was the best in the series so far. (Which is saying something).

The last game that surprised me was XCOM: Enemy Unknown becose i loved the previous games and kinda was expecting fail, but Enemy Unknown is great game with that old-school feel and it will not allow you to sleep at night, you will have to play it

Hard to say but i would say The Walking Dead episode 2. Episode 1 was an OK start to the story but the only shocking thing was the final choice of the episode in my opinion. Episode 3 would have shocked me if it didn’t get spoiled for me! But episode 2 really was shocking. They completely change the villains of the episode around SPOILER ALERT! when it turned out it was The family was doing something worst than the bandits. I also liked the cliffhanger of that girl watching spying on Clem from that tree and was shocked to see someone was spying on Lee and the group. Also we see a shocking choice with one of the group members later in the episode where you must pick Kenny’s side or Lilly’s side. Also it was cool about how Telltale added hints to the real villains of this episode.

@sghennest14
That’s a good one. I forgot about it. lol. Never played it either until it was on HD.

That reminded me, i’ll take back my previous post and change it to shadows of the colossus. Such a beautiful story and so full of emotions (more than my previous post for sure)

@MusterBluster & Fred. Is there going to be a blog post telling everyone the 5 exclusive covers that Game is getting for PS All-Stars Battle Royale? Again for anyone wondering the 5 characters are Jak & Daxter,Ratchet & Clank,Cole,Nate, and Sackboy.

There are so many games of this gen that have I have found a delight to play so it took some thought to narrow down the list but here goes.

The Killzone series- In particular Killzone 2. Bundled with my PS3 it sat gathering dust for a few months until the other half persuaded me to play it. Beautiful to behold, fantastic level design & the best baddies in gaming have had me sinking over 1000+ hours into this series.

The Uncharted series- Uncharted 2 had me holding my breath more than any other game.

Red Dead Redemption – Had me Yee! Hah! ing from start to finish. & what a finish 1st & only game ending to bring tears to my eyes.

& finally Batman: Arkham City – grabbed me by the throat & held me 3 feet off the ground from start to finish. 1st game to truly make me feel like a superhero. They even got Catwoman right. This woman couldn’t resist it’s brutal charm.

Hoping Dishonoured will join this list this weekend.

Just today I played the demo of XCOM Enemy Unknown and I was surprised at how well it works with a controller. It’s no secret that strategy games are best played on PC with a mouse and keyboard, but I can easily see myself buy this game on PS3 based on the demo

For me it has to be Killzone 2. Because at first i thought it was just gonna be a halo rip off abd tht i would hate playing it. anyway my friend gave me a copy of it to lend so i thought ok i might aswell give it a try. then i realised that its although like call of duty it also provides a tough challenge which is what like to find in a game which eventually allowed me to earn my Platinum. Plus with its sequels containing big film stars such as Ray Winstone and Malcolm Mcdowell this game clearly doesn’t get enough people playing it as i found out in Killzone 3.

I get positively surprised a lot, since I’ve developed a keen eye for – what I think are – the better games, and the bar keeps rising. Skyrim surprised me, as I didn’t like the controlls and animations in the previous entries that much (not to mention the beautifully colorfull graphics in Skyrim, one of the few games where I actually loved the look and feel of the dungeons and caves.) Golden abyss surprised me, as I would have never thought something so close to a console experience could be possible on a handheld. Battlefield 3 surprised me, long after my first playthroughs actually. When you really start to get a feel for all the little differences, like how each weapon reacts to a certain situation. And the animations are – as far as I’m concerned- a small revolution in the FPS genre. I could go on like this all day, so I’ll get to my ‘official’ answer now :p The last game that genuinely surprised me was Gravity rush. Just the uniqueness of it all. The controlls, mechanics and gameplay. The world, atmosphere and colors. The story and characters. It was just one of those unique experiences I’ll never forget, and it was on a portable not to mention!

im going to say escape plan.

i was surprised by how much i enjoy seeing all the different types of deaths
i was also very surprised at how well the developers utilised the vita’s different control input methods.
the ongoing love this tile see’s from the devs is also a breath of fresh air as they seem to always add value for all customers not only the ones that want to pay for dlc.
the game itself is also fantastic and way beyond what i expected from it

Rayman: Origins for the PlayStation Vita really surprised me. I got it as a part of a “buy a Vita and get a free game” deal. I actually wanted another game but ended up getting Rayman.
I was really surprised at how good a 2D platformer could look on the oled screen. Especially those coulourfull suroundings and funny looking monsters took me by surprise.
And along with sound and gameplay it really stands as one of my best games on the Vita

@35

you can thank James Cameron for raising the bar.
James Cameron doesn’t do what James Cameron does for James Cameron. James Cameron does what James Cameron does because James Cameron is James Cameron!

lol sorry to go off topic but could not help it because you mentioned raising the bar, if you dont know what im on about see episode 9 of the latest south park season

one thing that does not surprise me is how much i want the new south park game.

A little off topic but here’s something I’ve noticed Fred.

This post doesn’t show up for me on the Android PS app, perhaps something to do with it only showing regional feeds (I think) and this isn’t tagged with any regions.

I have to give 2 answers:

1. The FIRST game that genuinely surprised me was Final Fantasy VII and the surprise moment was leaving Midgar. I knew when I bought the game that it’s a “big” game (as I’ve heard), but the first time when I left the city after many hours of gameplay just to see that this is just a tiny step of the journey through a huge world was a fantastic surprise and I’ll never forget this feeling.

2. The LAST game that surprised me was Red Dead Redemption. In fact, it surprised me twice. First – the ending (or the general end story). I will not spoil anything, if you’ve played you know, if not – you should Second – the Undead Nightmare DLC. This is one of the DLC that’s truly worth the name and the money – a funny story with a B-movie from the 80s feeling. It doesn’t take itself seriously and was surprisingly good.

The last game that truly surprised me and blew my socks off was Just Cause 2. I just couldn’t believe how stunning the whole world environment was and the freedom that the game allowed (hooking cars/vans/etc to an aeroplane became strangely addictive for a very long time)

The scale of level design that has gone into that island is simply mind boggling, being able to go anywhere with no loading screens in between.

I know we had Just Cause 1 and lots of other sandbox games that offered free roam environments – but none have captured the sheer scale that JC2 did for me, nor the freedom offered and I just wasn’t prepared for how amazing it is.

I hope GTA5 or even a JC3 can surprise me once again by taking it all another step further soon.

Spec Ops: The Line was a great surprise. I rented it for a bit of bad B-movie violence, but it turned out to be so great. Of course, I bought it soon after. The story, the characters, the shattering of the fourth wall and the depression that followed after ending the game were just so powerful.

I have to say Rayman Origins on the vita as well. I’ve never been a fan of Rayman but people kept trying to get me to try Origins and I absolutely could not put it down, I literally think that it lived in my vita for about 3 months straight.
The art style was amazing (made to look even better by the fantastic vita screen), the gameplay was absolutely perfect and the replay value was sky high. Rayman Origins might actually stand as the only game I have ever bought that I would have happily paid more for and one of the few games that I have ever wiped the save for and started fully over from scratch…

PART 1

The Walking Dead Episodes have been full of surprises. I’m a huge fan of the WD comics & TV show, so when I heard TellTale Games were developing an episodic point and click adventure, I was sceptical. Not because of their recent failed adaption (Jurassic Park), but because I could not imagine a WD game working in the style of their usual games. When news revealed that there would be an all new cast in an all new story, I thought it to be a huge gamble.
My first surprise then, was how well they pulled it off. The idea of making choice matter was genius, gone were the puzzle based objectives, replaced with an emphasis on story and character interactions. My choices mattered, and watching the consequences of them fold out in later episodes was hauntingly beautiful as I immersed myself in this horrific world. The recurring theme of the series (everyone dies, we are only stalling death) held more than true in the game, with many examples coming to mind.

PART 2
One example takes place with my favourite character Carly confessing here feelings for me only moments before our territory is raided. As we luckily made it out, all seemed to be looking up. My mistake was to forget this was WD, as soon I was dragged into an argument between Carly and another character. I defended Carly, before the group momentarily got distracted. To my horror the character pulled out a gun and blew Carly’s head off as she turned around. My jaw dropped as I became overwhelmed with emotion. Such feelings aren’t a rare occurrence in the series, and the same can be said for the game.
Needless to say anyone who’s played even one episode will understand when I say, the Walking Dead is a game full of surprises.

One example takes place with my favourite character Carly confessing here feelings for me only moments before our territory is raided. As we luckily made it out, all seemed to be looking up. My mistake was to forget this was WD, as soon I was dragged into an argument between Carly and another character. I defended Carly, before the group momentarily got distracted. To my horror the character pulled out a gun and blew Carly’s head off as she turned around. My jaw dropped as I became overwhelmed with emotion. Such feelings aren’t a rare occurrence in the series, and the same can be said for the game.
Needless to say anyone who’s played even one episode will understand when I say, the Walking Dead is a game full of surprises.

For me it has to be DJ Hero 2. I mostly listen to progressive rock/metal and rarely stumble upon a trance, house or rap song that I enjoy listening to, yet the team at FreeStyleGames and guest DJ-s who created the mixes in the game did so with so much care and love that is plain to hear for anyone with a passion for music. Rhythm games really aren’t my thing, but with DJ Hero 2 I had to make an exception and I don’t regret having done so. The soundtrack just oozes quality and passion.

Tokyo Jungle… Journey…

Sorry about the last double post Fred, was in a rush to post my comments together before someone posted and split them up. Really struggled to keep in the character limit, wrote a huge essay because I really wanted to win this weeks prize. Did my best to shorten it as much as I could.

i love this weeks topic and i love reading all the posts but pull back a bit on the spoilers guys S-o-h-a-i-l your second post seems to have MAJOR spoilers in it how about a heads up next time as i and possibly others have not yet played the walking dead and its still very new.

i was wating for them all to hit before buying them, this topic can be answered without major spoilers of new titles.

sorry to moan but spoilers are a big deal in story driven games.