Image via Complex Original
As good, responsible gamers, we make it a habit to play as many different releases as possible, from the smallest indie game to triple-A blockbusters. Despite our best efforts, though, once in a while something slips through the cracks, hurtling past our piles of shame—the games we started and never finished—and landing firmly in the realm of "existence forgotten entirely."
Some of those games are very much worth playing, and it would be a shame to let them slip by without even realizing it. You wouldn't want them to be left off your gaming resume forever, would you?
There are doubtless many more than this, but here are ten great games that may have somehow stayed off your radar. Trust us, you're going to want to get on these.
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Shadows of the Damned
Release date: 2011
Shadows of the Damned is what you get when you mix Suda 51's Japanese punk rock sensibilities with the psychological savvy of Shinji Mikami. It follows Garcia Hotspur, an aptly named hothead who must travel to the City of the Damned and defeat the many, many demons there to save his girlfriend.
It's a bit of a fairy tale, sure, but one filled with swear words, arcadey gunplay, and its own completely fresh style.
Tokyo Jungle
Release date: 2012
Tokyo Jungle takes elements of roguelikes and RPGs and applies them to packs of animals living in an apocalyptic Tokyo that's been overrun by nature. The PlayStation 3 exclusive—later ported to PS Vita—demands strategy, smart planning, and a whole lot of luck to survive.
It also starts you out as a pomeranian or a small cat, but as you complete goals with smaller animals you'll eventually work your way up to rhinos, lions, and dinosaurs. There's a wonderful sense of progression, even if most games last less than an hour before one thing or another gets you. It's a dangerous world, after all, but you'll regret it if you don't get lost in Tokyo Jungle.
Singularity
Release date: 2010
There are plenty of first-person shooters out there, and not all of them are worth playing. That's not Singularity, though. The campy sci-fi shooter involves a secret communist research island with plenty of time travel to send you back and forth between the past and the present as you unravel its numerous mysteries.
But best of all are the guns and powers, like a sniper rifle that lets you guide individual bullets and a massive stasis bubble that freezes whole groups of enemies in their tracks. You can fill them up with bullets to watch them all slump over in unison when the bubble pops; it's even more amusing than it sounds.
Singularity's campaign is a quick ride, but at the budget price that you can definitely find it at these days it's totally worth it.
Bit.Trip Saga
Release date: 2011
Bit.Trip Saga is a 3DS compilation of six of the downloadable Bit.Trip games that have released on WiiWare and mobile platforms over the last few years. It includes Bit.Trip Beat, Bit.Trip Core, Bit.Trip Void, Bit.Trip Runner, Bit.Trip Fate, and Bit.Trip Flux.
These games may not look like much, but if you've played them then you know exactly how psychedelic they can be. And they cover a range of genres, from scrolling runners (think Canabalt) to Pong/Breakout-meets-rhythm-games.
Skullgirls
Release date: 2012
Skullgirls is an indie fighting game released last year, an intentional throwback to old school games, in particular Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. Don't let its cartoony female characters throw you off, though—Skullgirls is a hardcore fighter through and through.
It's a fully-featured game with multiple modes and some unique features, like the ability to choose how many characters you use on your team, trading health for strength in numbers. And on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network it's cheap, too.
Mark of the Ninja
Release date: 2012
Mark of the Ninja may have escaped your notice last year, especially if you don't game on Windows or Xbox 360. Also, it's a game about ninjas. Of course it's sneaky.
Even so, its blend of 2D platforming gameplay with hardcore stealth will have even seasoned Metal Gear Solid players wondering how to escape enemies' notice. And it's from the developers that brought us the awesome Shank and will soon add Don't Starve to their list of achievements; you might want to catch up on their ever-growing catalog of great games before that happens.
Ico
Release date: 2001
Even if you've heard of Shadow of the Colossus—and who hasn't at this point—you may not be aware of the game that gave SotC developer Team ICO its name. Unsurprisingly, that game was called ICO.
What may be surprising though is what a fucking fantastic experience you'll be missing out on if you never play the predecessor to Shadow of the Colossus. The games are eerily similar, despite being very different in terms of gameplay. If you don't mind a little puzzle-solving, though—plus a lot of beating monsters with a wooden stick—then you don't want to miss out on ICO permanently. Particularly since it looks like The Last Guardian is never going to come out at all.
Demon's Souls
Release date: 2009
Like ICO, Demon's Souls is the predecessor to a much more popular game. And although you've probably heard of Demon's Souls, you may not have bothered to play it, even if you're a fan of Dark Souls.
But if you've been avoiding playing From Software's first masterpiece for fear of it not being as good as its successor, think again, because it truly is. If you've mastered Dark Souls you'll feel right at home in Demon's Souls; if you haven't, it's a great place to start.
And if your excuse is that you don't have a PS3, either borrow one from a friend or go buy one right now just to play this game. It's worth it (they're getting cheaper, anyway).
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Release date: 2010
If Resident Evil has you yawning and Dead Space has lost its scare factor, but you never played Amnesia, look no further for your next scared-shitless fix. It scares you more with what you don't see than what you do, and when you finally do catch an up-close glimpse of the game's monsters you're liable to have a heart attack.
Frictional Games has a history with good horror games, as seen in the Penumbra titles, not to mention a future, from what we've seen of the sequel, Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs. We have nightmares about that machine, and we don't even know what it is yet.
Spec Ops: The Line
Release date: 2012
We won't blame you if you passed on Spec Ops: The Line when it was released about a year ago. Judging by the cover, the name, and any gameplay footage you may or may not have seen, it looks on all counts like a generic third-person shooter dressed up with pretty backgrounds and a neat concept.
That beauty goes way past the surface, though, and the concept is more than just neat. Imagine a Dubai swallowed by a giant sandstorm, then apply what you learned from reading Heart of Darkness (or watching Apocalypse Now) in high school—specifically, that human nature is fucking dark. Add in some insanely good writing and the mother of all twists and you've got Spec Ops: The Line, a game that absolutely cannot be missed.