A game is only over-rated if it doesn't deliver what it promises on.
Gran Turismo for example is over-rated, as it claims to be a hyper-realistic driving experience when really; they seem to focus too much on the graphics and technical specs rather than the driving experience.
Fable is another over-rated game, as it claimed to be a game where your every choice changed the world you inhabited and the storyline would compensate giving a more realistic feel that your influence on the universe actually had an effect... the actual game had a choice between good missions and bad ones, and no matter what you chose you always got the same ending with a more linear game than others that didn't make so many bold claims (p.s. Knights of the Old Republic, or actually pretty much anything from Bioware)
If you like a game, and it delivers what is promised then frankly how is it over-rated? Many felt that Killzone was over-rated due to bugs, but personally I never noticed the bugs much first time as it engrossed me in a deep and gritty war story focused around the main characters and their interaction. To me that makes it quite an under-rated game as a few people claimed it was crap due to a few bugs that really appeared randomly unless you scratched your CD.
Alright so it wasn't a Halo-killer like Sony claimed, but what Guerilla themselves claimed; it did what it said on the tin.
Rather than focusing constantly on games you fell are over-hyped how about bringing to peoples attention games that frankly are completely under-rated.
I've finally got myself Sin Episodes : Emergence over the weekend (which came free with Sin 1) and frankly I found that it was subjected to obscurity behind HL2 EP1, as it give a much better game experience utilising the Source engine far more productively.
Something I liked a lot was the health system, as you had hypo-sprays for instant health boost; rechargeable wall mounted dispensers, and best of all the canisters you recharge them with could be shot to give you a gas cloud of healing which can come in useful in areas with lots of enemies where you're exposed.
The environment could be used much better against the enemies, for example there's one part underground where I was against more enemies I could survive in an all-out firefight.. so I ended up popping up from behind my cover shooting a canister that exploded taking a few out, setting a few more on fire and throwing a shelving unit against a wall before falling on another couple that were behind cover without them noticing.
The AI also is far superior to Half-Life 2, as enemies will dodge, weave, find cover, work in groups effectively to flank you.
The Adaptive AI and help, ment that if a section was too easy it would make the AI more difficult.. or if you died quickly then it would then make them slightly dumber or fewer numbers to help you through. The game by the end became challenging but not to the point of frustration as the enemies were basically catered for my own abilities. You can then view at the end the statistics of how the system has adapted for you.
The driving sections although you don't get to drive yourself are quite inventive allowing you to fight using the car itself as cover before standing up to take out some people in your way or jumping out and running behind them while they focus on Jessica in the car.
Melee is avaialble with all weaponry, not just when you have a melee weapon in your hand.
You can keep in contact with someone who'll let you know what you should be doing next with some hints, or just to give comments on things you look at.
The character interation, like if you look at Jessica too long she'll say something like "What's HARDCorps views on employee fratranisation?" or "Hey, I always thought Elexis was more your type." all with some nice body language and facial expressions.
It is by no means a perfect game, but certainly used Source far better than Half-Life 2 did; and despite being only as long as the HL2 Episodes in total, was completely enjoyable from start to end with some truely awesome level designs that while very linear feel quite open and spacious enought not to feel claustraphobically so like Half-Life 2 (except for the vehicle sections)... the story is also presented in the same mannor to Half-Life 2, but you actually have something quite rich and deep.
Some of the conversations the dock workers have are great, and some of the other dialog is also quite amusing in an off-hand way.
For example about half-way through I acidentally shot Jessica a few times in a firefight, where she screamed out... "Hey do you actually like me?!" which was funnier later during the credits when they have out-take voice and animation for characters and during that she is stood there looking pissed off saying "I said LIKE not Lick, Blade!"
The stoner conversation was funny too.
See now that is one hell of an under-rated game and I hope that Ritual do actually get back to developing the other 8 planned episodes soon. Damn shame that Mumbojumbo aquiring them mean they now work on Luxor and crap like that now.
