10 Flawed Video Games That Are Actually Masterpieces
Look past the occasional bug and spotty AI, and you can still find an incredible game.
It's often the case that great visionaries aren't fully appreciated in the time that they're alive. Plato was seen as a bit of an outsider back in the classical days, HP Lovecraft's stories were just seen as oddities in his time, and who knows, maybe in 100 years time people willlook back on Donald Trump and think we were all idiots for ever thinking he was a horseman of the apocalypse.
A similar tendency can be seen in video games. Many titles confuse or disappoint us on release, only for their latent brilliance to be uncoveredandappreciated years down the line, once we'vetired of complaining about their many flaws.
These games usually dare to do things differently - whether by implementing punishing mechanics that don't feel quite right, or by being oddly paced experiences that don't really fit conventional ideas of fun, but offer some of the most captivating gameplay around once we spend some time with them.
Here we run through 10 brilliant-yet-broken games that, for all their flaws, are masterpieces that you owe it to yourself to play.
10. Far Cry 2
Existing in a weird limbo between the groundbreaking first game and the blockbuster,hallucinogenic playground that was Far Cry 3, this understated adventure in the African savannah has been too easily forgotten.
It could've been to do with the emptiness of the huge map, which saw you spend way too much timedriving across the world with few side-activities to catch your attention. Or it could've been the enemy outposts that respawned as soon as you turned your back on them, or the repetitive gunplay, or... well, any number of things really.
But Far Cry 2 was also the most ambitious one of the lot. It doesn'tforce astory on you like its successors, nor posit you as some kind of local hero.Instead, the Heart of Darkness story feelslike it's there if you wantto engage in it, and if you do,then you'll berewarded with something that'ssurprisingly intelligent and grounded in reality.
The savannah setting is unique and immersive, and there are plenty of excellent gameplay flourishes - such as aphysical in-game map that doesn't pause the action, malaria, a solid 'buddy' system, and awesome fire mechanics that can be used to you strategic advantage - that make this one of the most ambitious shooters of the previous generation.