November is by far the biggest month of the year for gaming. So I have no doubt your GameQ is already chock-full of upcoming titles like Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and Need for Speed: ProStreet. But what if you're looking to zig while others zag and rent some of the sleeper hits of this year? You know, those games you may have missed, but which still deserve to be rented and enjoyed. A lot of stores have pushed these games to the back shelves, but at GameFly you can get all these titles with the click of a button.
With that in mind, here are my picks for six hidden gems that may not win Game of the Year, but are still definitely worth a rental.
The Darkness is one of the good comic-book inspired video games of this year.
Daffy Duck runs amuck with your stylus in this amusing DS game.
Crackdown surprised Xbox 360 owners with its massive open-world superpowers.
Released back during the dog days of summer in June, this first-person shooter on the PS3 and Xbox 360 comes from Starbreeze Studios, the team behind the excellent Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. Based on the Top Cow comic, you play the mob hit man, Jackie Estacado. He's possessed by a spirit called, appropriately enough, The Darkness. The spirit talks to you throughout the game, but also unleashes a host of superpowers you control, such as the imp-like Darklings that attack enemies, and my favorite, the Dark Tentacles, which impale foes. The multiplayer was disappointing, but the single-player experience is one of the better story-driven games of the year, with good voice acting and a compelling twist on the usual first-person shooter gameplay. It's definitely worth a look if you missed it.
What if you're looking to zig while others zag and rent some of the sleeper hits of this year?
If you own a PS3, chances are you've already checked out the new Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, which plays like a Pixar movie brought to life. But if you haven't yet made the leap to the PS3 and still want another Ratchet & Clank adventure, check out the PSP release, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters. Released back in March, this game is similar to the PSP title, Daxter, in that it makes you marvel at how the PSP seems just as powerful as the PS2. The gameplay is exactly what you'd expect from a Ratchet & Clank title, as you collect bolts, deploy weapons including a small robotic beehive, and use a grapple-hook-like device to fly around. Also keep an eye out for the next Ratchet PSP game due in 2008, named Secret Agent Clank.
Yeah, I know what you're saying: Geoff is now recommending a Daffy Duck game as a sleeper hit? Well, hear me out because this is actually a really inventive title for the Nintendo DS. Based on the classic Warner Bros cartoon where an animator mucks with Daffy, you use the DS stylus to do the same during a series of mini-games. You annoy Daffy by cutting him in half, throwing an anvil at him, slamming the DS shut, or blowing into the microphone. It's a really fun concept but a short game, so it's definitely best to rent this instead of buying it. How long will it be before we see a Duck Amuck game on the Wii?
Probably the most popular game on this list, Crackdown was a sleeper hit that got a lot of attention for one big reason: It was the key to playing the Halo 3 Beta back in May. Believe it or not, the game also turned out to be one of the best 360 titles of the year. You're a superhuman police officer that's part of The Agency, and you try to take down three crime gangs in an open-world environment. The driving and shooting are fun, but the best parts of the game are the superpowers which slowly develop as you acquire items like agility orbs. At the start of Crackdown you're a tough cop, but by the end you're leaping between buildings Matrix-style and throwing cars across freeways. The 360 has had a great year, but if you're new to the platform or missed Crackdown the first time around, it's definitely worth a rental.
The Wii has played host to a lot of zany game concepts this year, from Cooking Mama to Carnival Games. But my favorite, by far, is a game that came out way back in January: Wario Ware: Smooth Moves. If you've dabbled with Wario Ware on the DS, you know what I'm talking about. This wild collection of mini-games features everything from picking your nose to moving apples with an elephant's trunk - and you do it all using the Wiimote! My favorite mini-game? Putting the Wiimote on a desk and then having to quickly "answer it" like a phone when it rings. Far too many Wii games this year have tacked motion controls onto existing game concepts. Wario Ware shows the Wiimote motion controls at their best. It's also a fantastic party game..
How about an interactive coloring book on the DS? Well, Drawn to Life is as close as you'll get to reliving your childhood. This quirky platformer casts you as a God who designs the game's avatar using the stylus. After you design your character, he, she, or it animates and becomes part of a pretty run of the mill platform adventure. The gameplay definitely takes a back seat to the innovative drawing mechanic, which is used throughout the game to design weapons or items like clouds and vines to help you complete the adventure. If you were a fan of the celestial brush in Okami, you'll definitely get a kick out of Drawn to Life. It's a fun game to rent for a few days. Design your own avatar and see if your DS drawing skills are any better than your Etch-A-Sketch skills!
I hope you get a chance to at least rent a few of these sleeper hits over the next few months. In December, I'll be back with a list that is sure to be debated: My picks for the best games of the year on each platform.
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