Best lesser-known adventure game?
 

We all know the big name ones, but what do you feel is the best game that either slid under the radar or is somewhat known but very underrated and deserves to be mentioned with the classics?

My pick is a game I randomly bought when I was 14 because it was an adventure game with cool looking art on the box and was selling for under $20 less than a year after its release. With a name like "Death Gate", and being that I had never heard of it, my expectations really couldn't have been much lower. But low and behold, the game is really phenominal on all levels. Great art / graphics for the time (still looks great today), amazing integration of sensical and interesting puzzles that still require thought. And a truly fascinating setting, plot, and many interesting places to visit and characters to talk with.

Its really a game that everyone should play, and for damn sure should be reviewed by adventure gamers!

Have others had similar finds of unexpectedly great games?

Oooh ... I have another one that just crossed my mind as well. Mission Critical is the name. A game that really surprised me with how entertaining I found it, given similar low expectations.

There are a lot of indie games worth your time. May I mention "Pleurghburgh: dark ages", and "Jessica Plunkenstein and the Duesseldorf conspiracy"? I had more fun playing these than playing some well-known adventure games! Both can be quite easily found on the web.

Two come to mind:
The Dig
Sanitarium

"The Dig" is a lesser known adventure?? i really hope not!

Yeah, Death gate was great.

I second sanitarium, and i will also add black dahlia (which some will also argue if it's a "lesser known" adventure...but it was, for me at least).

Especially the latter. It had some minor glitches and bugs but OMG the story kicked ass.

Sanitarium, definitely. The gameplay had some definite quirks, but IMHO the sheer awesomeness of the story makes up for it. Maybe one of these days we could resurrect the "AG Playthrough" idea just for that game...

But anyhoo. I'd also like to put in an enthusiastic vote for The Space Bar from Boffo Games. While I'm not sure it's "classic-worthy", it's a very, very funny and creative game.

The graphics (one of the very few uses of 3D graphics that I find appealing) and voice-acting are well-done (I loved the voice of the "main bad guy" in particular) and the game is chock-full of demented, warped humor. (If anyone's played the game, the robot-world (argh, what *were* the robots called collectively?) section in particular had me keeled over laughing...) Yet, despite the overall kookiness of the game, the plot is still interesting and suspenseful.

The game has a great object-based menu system. And finally the game has an "empathy telepathy" conceit that lets you "experience" (read: play through) the memories of various aliens and their unique cultures and opens up a lot of very creative puzzle opportunities.

There are three things I think drag the game down a bit from "classic status", though. For one, the disc swapping in the game sucks... although with the advent of huge hard drives nowadays you could likely copy all the CDs to your hard drive and not worry about it. (The game manual itself even suggests copying at least the second disc.) For two, as creative as all the alien flashbacks are, the way they tie into the main plot feels kind of contrived.

But the biggie is the fact that the game is turn-based, like some of the old text-adventures (most of the actions you do take up a "turn"), and in some parts of the game if you take too many turns (or "clicks", as the game calls them) to do certain tasks, you lose the game and have to start over.

The game *is* pretty fair, mind you... you don't have to be ultra-efficient to succeed. And it adds to the suspense. And there's always the "save, mess around, reload and use the most efficient path you found" method. But in a game that's so full of so many great details you *want* to spend lots of "time" exploring everything, it sucks some of the joy out of it.

Still, if you can manage to track down a copy of The Space Bar I highly recommend buying it... it's a *lot* of fun.

Peace & Luv, Liz

Yeah, I'm not sure the Dig and Sanitarium really qualify as being lesser known. I played through about half of Sanitarium before getting a new computer a few months ago. I haven't transfered over my save game, so I haven't resumed playing yet.

Space Bar, wow ... I played that back when it came out and thought it was pretty fun, but never finished it. I think I remember it being somewhat buggy though. How does it run on newer systems and does it hold up well?

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon

I think these two DO qualify as lesser-known and unique enough to be included.

Zork: Grand Inquisitor. It's every bit as funny - if not funnier - than the LucasArts games, and its puzzles are great. I'm not sure if it really counts as an unknown game, but I rarely hear people talk about it.

Every single game from Legend Entertainment, especially Eric the Unerady, DeathGate, TimeQuest, Callahans Crosstime Saloon and Gateway series.

They certainly do. I've played both, but ... oh my, I have no mouth and I must scream really creeped me out when I was younger. Hell, I'm sure it still would. Its such an amazingly dark and dreary game. Certainly great in its own right, though.

Spoiler:

I don't quite remember the details (I believe it was an ending you got when you lost), but the thought of being a living creature on the bottom of the sea, unable to move or do anything for all of eternity ... really creepy stuff.

all the ben jordan games, they can be obtain'd b
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The Neverhood and Duckman.

I don't think Normality ever got the respect it deserves. I love that game.

Ok... how about Realms of the Haunting (not pure adventure), Quivering, Bioforge (not pure adventure) and X-files ? *clutching at straws :P*

(not pure = some fighting)

Bioforge is nice.. i like that game :)

Oooh, Bioforge. I loved that game when I was a kid. The combat system was so fun. Haven't played the others.

Now *that* is what I call a good question!

There are so many games deserving of more attention, I'm not even sure where to start. I'll list them as they come to mind.

Mercenary, Damocles, and The Dion Crisis. I bring these games up about every chance I get, so I won't go into detail on them here.

Below the Root and Alice in Wonderland. The first is a bit arcade-adventure, which may turn some off, but it's so well done. The second is just thoroughly beautiful, as well as being the first game to really impress me with its dialogue.

Moving ahead in time and possibly obscurity:

Chaos: A Fantasy Adventure Game: Quite charming and enjoyable educational title designed to teach chaos theory. Not a difficult game by any means, but it is certainly an engaging one and uses the subject in many clever and inventive ways. Also, the fuel pellet attendant is one of the funniest characters I've seen in a game.

Quantum Gate and Vortex: Quantum Gate II. FMV adventures from the same developer as the X-files game, using an earlier version of the same engine. The intricate and sometimes vague sci-fi plot might be seen by some as being heavy-handed and preachy, (which, admittedly, it is) but I quite liked it, and it isn't without comic relief. Also, the acting and direction are of a much higher quality than most similar games.

Total Distortion. Again, not 100% adventure, it's actually heavily flawed by a repetitive and, for me, game-killing arcade sequence early on. However, even before the game begins, there is an an astounding variety of extra details and things to do. Mix sandwiches and drinks, mix videos, listen to comic audio pieces, look at the fish, or read through any of dozens of small books available, some with mini-games inside.

The Day the World Broke: Another educational game. Lovely design and a quirky concept that I found utterly charming.

There are so many more out there, but that should be enough for now.

Was Neverhood a lesser known game? If so, very strange... I always thought it was something pretty special. I wonder how well it sold. My wife and I played through it again recently, and watched the "making of" vid on the CD... features a programmer with the scariest mullet in history smashing a computer monitor with a sledgehammer.

Well, my vote... not a lesser known game so much as a merely forgotten one... Future Wars.

I liked "Asylum" on the C64 too. If you see a man holding a sign that reads "Look Up" ... don't! :)