10 Video Games That Completely Switched Genre Halfway Through

While some games on this list suffered from their genre switcheroo, that certainly wasn't true of Sabotage Studio's The Messenger.

The game's first half is a pretty typical, linear, old-school action-platformer, but at the mid-point there's a major shift, as the linearity fizzles away and it transforms unexpectedly into a Metroidvania-style excursion for the remainder.

At this point the side-scrolling simplicity gives way and the game's timey-wimey narrative tasks you with revisiting levels at different periods in time.

This causes seemingly linear levels to open up, with more areas becoming accessible as the player seeks out certain items to progress the story.

This is the moment at which The Messenger turns from a solidly competent action-platformer into something far more creative and unexpected, effectively giving players two distinct games for the price of one.