10 Critically-Acclaimed Video Games NO ONE Played

During their heyday developers Shiny Entertainment, of Earthworm Jim and MDK fame, had earned a reputation for the unconventional, so when it was revealed that its next project was an RTS, critics were intrigued.

And what critics got was both suitably brilliant and eccentric.

Played from a novel third-person perspective, Sacrifice casts players as a wizard in command of an army of truly weird and wonderful creatures. It was a menagerie that won universal praise, with one journalist admiringly describing it as an ale-fuelled collaboration between Salvador Dali and H. R. Giger.

Sacrifice was also praised for its visuals, including awe-inspiring spell effects enhanced by the third-person viewpoint and, again focusing on the creatures, for the fluid and believable animations that breathed life and immense character into those bizarre designs.

With all that unconventional brilliance it took an adventurous player to buy in, and indeed, though no sales figures were released, industry insiders confirmed that the game did poorly. One reason cited was marketing that failed to highlight the game’s strengths, and the other, perhaps more egregious misstep, was releasing the game a mere month after Red Alert 2.

Still, as winner of a number of Best Strategy Game of the Year awards, it remains well worth trying.