It's been a truly spectacular year for games, but for every Halo 3 and Super Mario Galaxy there's been one quality title that's been shoved into the sideline thanks to a huge marketing budget. Here's our pick of some titles you may have missed.
With all those Christmas vouchers and upcoming January sales, we thought it'd be a good idea to recommend where you should put your moth-eaten cash.
Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition It's not hard to persuade us to play through Resident Evil 4 again, but the Wii version really does deserve your attention - especially if you've yet to touch Capcom's excellent survival horror sequel. Or even if you have!
The Wii Remote perfectly compliments Resi 4's shooting system, which constantly has you in frantic gun-bouts where pegging a leg or headshot is crucial.
QTE sequences and slashing with the knife doesn't feel like a gimmick either. Dare we say it? yes - it's the definitive version of Capcom's greatest Resi yet.
PGR4 Alright, so nobody really uses the bikes but that doesn't stop Project Gotham Racing 4 from storming to the front of the Xbox racing pack.
Ever stylish, wonderfully balanced and with some of the best online modes we've yet seen in a racer, PGR4 is easily the best in the series and one of the best 360 offerings in 2007.
Unfortunately little Timmy might be mostly occupied with Halo 3 and Mass Effect, but make sure you've got some of granddad's fivers left for PGR 4; it's probably the most shamelessly overlooked game on this list.
World in Conflict Easily one of the biggest contenders for RTS of the year, Massive Entertainment's Cold War strategy opus was lost in the Bioschock, Crysis and Orange Box nuke cloud - but it's definitely worth your attention.
As well as looking frickin' brilliant World in Conflict delivers one of the most exciting and fast-paced single-player campaigns we've seen in a while.
Napalm strikes and laser-guided precision bombs are common tools in the excellent drop-in/drop-out multiplayer and it'd be a damn shame if more RTS nuts don't clock on before the end of the year.
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Any PS3 owners out there looking for a stunning game that's only available on your shiny new system? Well here it is. A few weeks after its release (backed by a massive TV ad campaign) and the stories came out that it was bombing in the UK. Why? WHY? WHY!!!
Drake's Fortune is an incredible adventure game that really shows off what the PS3 can do. Everything from the animations to acting is ahead of the pack (yes Mass Effect, we're looking at you). If you've got a PS3 then you need this in your collection.
Skate EA's skating newcomer has received plenty of praise for its more realistic take on the grungy sport, but its got a way to go before the mainstream punter's spotlight shifts from the Hawk brand.
Realistically the two skaters are totally different games, but after almost ten years of the Hawkster's arcade grinding EA's effort was a complete breath of fresh air and definetly deserves more attention. We're already looking forward to the sequel.
Picross DS There's no smoke and mirrors about Picross DS; it's addictive, it's massive and it's got more puzzles in its tiny DS cartridge than your 20 quid is worth.
There's not many going around in the shops these days (probably because girls and grannies are too busy filling the shelves with Brain Training) but forget Nintendogs and My Horse and Me; Picross is where you should stick your Christmas card money, especially if you're planning to hide in the shed when distant relatives pop over.
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation OK, so we're not going to pretend that we're surprised Ace Combat 6 quickly got lost underneath the FIFAs and Need for Speeds in the Xbox roster, but Namco's flight sim certainly deserves more attention than it got.
Flight sims aren't everyone's cup of tea, of course, but the 360 top gun is arguably the best the genre has to offer these days. From the get go it's an assault on the senses; attacks coming from all directions, blinding sunlight and a blinking red light than means you're about to get nailed by a flaming missile. Your HMV vouchers wouldn't be wrongly spent here.
Drake's Fortune is truly excellent. I really made the right choice in buying this over Assassins Creed. But when i finished it I did buy Assassins Creed and could not believe how bad it was compared to Drake's Fortune. It was hastily returned to the shop needless to say!
Drakes fortune is one of the best games ive bought this year, i cant believe its failing in the UK. Ive also got PGR4 and skate, both are excellent games. PGR4 particually took me by suprise, its a stunning racer and worth a buy for sure.
I do not get why people are over looking Uncharted. I'm getting it tomorrow and can't wait as it is a beautiful and very realistic game with the superb animations. People moan about there being too many sequels and yet when a new game that is not a sequel comes out people ignore it. People, buy this game!!
Uncharted is one of the games that really makes me want a PS3 (hopefully i'll get one next year). It's criminal that it isn't doing well in the UK!
I agree with that, I just need GT5 to come out and to find some room in between my 360 and new Wii and I'll get one! But for now I am try to convince the friends I know who have a PS3 to buy Uncharted, purely for them of course!
PGR 4 is brilliant, I've been playing it quite a lot and it has put the series back on form IMO. PGR2 & 3 were never quite as good as the first to me for some reason. 4 has surpassed them all and is a truly great game.
I haven't got a PS3 yet but GT5 may change that when it hits stores.
You are missing one game - The Witcher. Its an incredible RPG experience, but somehow overlooked because of the other blockbusters on the pc (crysis, cod4, orange box)
btw. PGR4 rocks! bought an xbox360 becaues of this game
are cvg just trying to fill the pages with utter crap?
what happened to assasins creed? awesome single player and graphics.
I was waiting for halo3 since the launch of the 360, and tbh i was a huuuuge fan of halo2, but the game was the biggest load of over rated bull****
cod4 is where the action is at. im not sure cvg are really up to it when it comes to reviewing games, seems like they just like to go out get p**sed and play the wii
are cvg just trying to fill the pages with utter crap?
what happened to assasins creed? awesome single player and graphics.
I was waiting for halo3 since the launch of the 360, and tbh i was a huuuuge fan of halo2, but the game was the biggest load of over rated bull****
cod4 is where the action is at. im not sure cvg are really up to it when it comes to reviewing games, seems like they just like to go out get p**sed and play the wii
You must of missed the title of the thread. AC can be called lots of things but overlooked?......
I didnt even see the drakes fortune ad!! to be honest i thought drakes fortune was overated, i mean obviously ive only played the demo i dont know if the full game is different, but it didnt grab me like ratchet on ps3 did, ive been meaning to get skate for a while tho also i might give picross a go.
And Assassins Creed is definitely not over-looked, neither is Halo 3 so there is no room for argument over it. Though i really do think that if some games (like Halo 3, or GTAIV) came out under different names (not a sequel) i think reviews would not be as good, maybe praisingthegraphics but not so much the rest.
Halo 3 is only overhyped if you bought into the hype in the first place. If like me you played through the campaign and mostly play it online and don't worry about the hype, then Halo (if you enjoyed the online mode in the first place) is still awesome. But you must have misread the title as this is overlooked games.
I have two of the games on the list Resident Evil Wii edition and Ace Combat 6. Both are excellent games and should not be ignored.
As far as uncharted goes, I was really interested in the game until I played the demo, which put me off to be honest as I thought it felt a little clunky to be honest. I did intend on buying it though, but I couldn't find it in any shops. As it appears to be doing so badly, they will probably sell it cheaper in the new year, so I'll pick it up as a bargain.
This year has been the best for games, especially in the last 6 months. So there are bound to be some overlooked titles. I think that they should add Mario Galaxy to the list as well. That has been criminally overlooked as well.
Picross DS is an absolute gem, glad to see it get a mention. Similarly, Puzzle League DS is criminally overlooked by most. Endless Ocean should be on the list too, utterly majestic.
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