What games were ahead of their time, in your opinion?

I would say Killzone 2/3 were.

• A well thought out class system
  • Rifleman/Assaults were your weapons guys
  • Medics could revive and provide health packs
  • Engineers can use sentry bots and make repairs
  • Tacticians can create spawn points and bring in bad ass drones
  • Saboteaurs can disguise themselves as the enemy
  • Scouts can cloak
• In Killzone 3, you could use jet packs.
  • Killzone 3 also had split screen co-op for the campaign.
• Warzone is still unmatched even by today's shooters.
  • In this mode, it's 16 vs 16 and you have to compete various objectives within 30 minutes.
  • It's basically like playing different multiplayer modes all in one match to see who can win the most objectives.

And these games came out in 2009/2011. Amazing how times have changes. This was a deep shooter with a lot of content, and had a single player campaign and multiplayer lol.

How about you, SW? What games were ahead of their time, in your opinion?

Silent Hill 1, 2, and 3 took narrative structure, symbolism and occult teachings and wove them together with gameplay in a manner that was never seen before, and has never been achieved to that degree since. Also, the merging of horror elements with psycho-drama and real-world aspects of grief, isolation, personal estrangement, etc., was light years ahead of its time. Team Silent created captured lightning in a bottle not just once, but three times.

yeah none of those things existed before Killzone

I always think of Actraiser at this question... Still such a unique gem. Amazing they never revisited the formula for something new.... The remastered version from a couple years ago adds some tower defense elements that fill out the settlement building... It didn't need it, but it works pretty well. Gets tough in the late game. A good challenge for seasoned Actraiser gods....

Definitely Crysis was so ahead of its time, it's crazy it still holds well to this day.

The original Halo.

Silent Hill 2 is amazing. I agree, it's a rare example where the gameplay is centered around the story and executes it very well. Most games either excel at story or gameplay, but not both. And it's not a walking simulator! I never played Silent Hill 1 or 3. I have 3 and 4 for PS2 in my possession tho.

Metal Gear Solid wasn't ahead of its time as much as it is timeless I would say.

Battlefield 3 seemed very far ahead of its time, visually. I mean the PC version of course.

What other games in 1998 have the level of cinematic storytelling that MGS did?

System Shock 2. Many games have referenced their method of storytelling and level design.

What other games today have the level of cinematic storytelling that MGS did?

^ lol

Yup. The depth of the narrative in SH2 is unmatched. Plus the thick atmosphere, mixed with overall sense of dread and paranoia at being stalked by Pyramid Head is just on another level. Really gotta turn off the lights and play alone at night to get the full feels. The Toluca Prison area alone in terms of immersion is leagues beyond what other devs were doing at the time.

You make me want to break out my old PS1/PS2, lol. Both are still working. If you are going to play 3, you should definitely play 1 first. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that 3 is DIRECTLY connected to 1, whereas 2 is its own thing, as well as 4. The Team Silent games are so damn good.

Tom Clancy Rainbow Six

Police Quest Collection

Nobunaga’s Ambition

Double Dragon

Final Fight

Dragon Warrior

Early EA NHL game on PC 99 or something

Splinter Cell

Elder Scrolls Morrowind

KOTOR

Super Spike V-Ball

MAG

Let's see here,

• Ultima 7: The interactivity was unparalleled for a Single Player game, with only Divinity Original Sin catching up 2 decades later.
• Ultima Online: Actually disregard that, Ultima Online had it beat in interactivity. But between the player driven gameplay, and the massive ammount of interactivity and room for roleplaying. RPGs still to this days havent caught up to this masterpiece. In fact, as far as roleplaying go, this is still probably the best computer RPG for that.
• Ultima Underworld: Techwise, this game was on a whole nother level. A lot of the stuff we do with rasterization first saw their implementation in a video game with Ultima Underworld. Gameplaywise, this game also created its own genre: the Immersive Sim.
• Crysis: Graphicswise, this game would be the benchmark for years to come. Gameplaywise, it still puts a lot of modern shooters to shame.
• Ocarina of Time: Defined 3d action games for an entire gen.
• Super Mario 64: Defined 3d platformers for 2 entire gens.
• Shenmue: Defined what a cinematic game would be.
• Shadow of the Colossus: Storytelling, boss fights, world implementation are still extremely solid. When people think of Team Ico, this is the game they think of.
• FEAR: The AI, gunplay are still really solid even today.
• Half Life 2: This would be the defining shooter until Crysis.

I remember the beta, it was interesting a weird at the same time. It was cool that you could play with so many people, but at the same time, seemed a bit frenetic. And I think the graphics were meh.

Shenmue and GTA 3, the first open world games I can remember. But Shenmue took it to another level. It was a living, breathing world. I think about visiting the real life location sometime lol.

Nothing comes close. The grand daddy of quality shooters.

Yup, Shenmue made its setting feel alive. Ultima 7 also simulated its world. But Shenmue did it in a 3d setting.

Deus Ex 1. in 2000 it was way ahead of time and like no other game.

still its best game ever made.

@hardwenzen said:

Nothing comes close. The grand daddy of quality shooters.

Lot of good memories. Will Xbox give us an update on the remake next month at The Game Awards?

Street Fighter II.

yep.

crysis always springs to mind when this question gets asked. i remember playing the og modern warfare when it first launched and, as good as it was at the time (and it was back then, for an arcade shooter), crysis dropped about a week later and made it feel totally insignificant. i really hoped it would be the gameplay blueprint for all future shooters.

that feeling of complete freedom to approach scenarios in any way i saw fit after playing such a linear campaign in cod4 was such a stark contrast, it felt so new, so fresh, so modern, it blew me away. warhead released less than a year later and again showed just how good that formula could be.

far cry 2 came about a month after warhead and despite being ballpark formula it didn't come remotely close to the level of quality of crysis.

sadly, being pc only games, requiring a hefty rig to play, and other factors too (being too ahead of its time? ;) ), the first crysis games didn't capture the mainstream zeitgeist, unlike cod 4, whose style was the path the fps genre went down, even so far as to have crytek force crysis 2 into that formula with... mixed results. not a disaster, but not the sequel the original deserved. crysis 3 though was a tragedy

Half-Life stands out.

There have been shooters since then, obviously, but none have managed to implement the sheer immersive nature of that game. There have been shooters that have had better gameplay, better graphics, better stories, better...whatever...but no FPS has managed to have them all in one cohesive package and been such an amazing game, top to bottom.

Even after 25 years it still remains solidly on its pedestal, one of the few things in life I will actually place on one. I don't worship much, but Half-Life? Praise be to the holy trinity; The GabeN, the Valve, and the Half-Life. Glory glory hollyalooyah😋

Yeah, it's such a great game. Still play it once or twice a year. Love everything about it. The half-open, half-linear level design, the open-ended "do what you want" gameplay (stealth, walking tank, hybrid), the action-movie plot and voice acting.

I've also warmed up to the latter games as well despite viewing them as abominations initially; Crysis 2 sort of furthered the story and was still a great shooter despite not living up to Crysis 1's legacy, and Crysis 3 was a lot of fun (and gave us the bow, which was sooooo much fun).

I forgot 2 games, both made by Toady

1. Liberal Crime Squad: What makes this game extraordinary is how detailed it was. The game had a surprisingly accurate simulation of US electoral politics, physiology, and legal system. And when I talk about Physiology, I mean it. Instead of having Hit Points or some other abstraction, each character had individual wounds tracked. A field medic might treat external wounds, but a character can still bleed out from internal wounds. Whereas most games stand still, while you stand still. The police would try to track you down (if you had committed crimes that is), the Conservative Crime Squad would be causing havoc, public opinions would be shifting, laws would be getting passed, and politicians elected.

2. Dwarf Fortress: Take everything I mentioned above and add a Chemistry and Physics engine on top of it. Even modern games feel extremely primitive compared to this game's 2006 release.

I'm still a little confused by what the requirements are for something to be "ahead of it's time". According to Merriam-Webster...

idiom. : too advanced or modern to be understood or appreciated during the time

So by that definition, it's seems like something that is overlooked at the time. Or maybe too far removed from what people were comfortable with at the time. And by that definition, it seems like a lot of these examples don't fit. They are amazing games, no doubt, but I don't know if them being influential is the same thing.

Is a game ahead of it's time just because it's first at something? I remember last time this came up, and at other times, people saying the control scheme for Halo CE was "ahead of it's time" as well. But if it was immediately adopted and loved by the masses, wouldn't that mean it's objectively of it's time? What's the cutoff point for something being contemporary, but still the first? If something like Mario 64 being immediately adopted and loved, wouldn't that mean it's just the beginning of that styles time? Even Halo CE wouldn't fit this definition, at least with the controls. This game apparently did it first..

But even this game wasn't THAT far ahead of Halo. But maybe I'm just talking nonsense. I dunno.

halo infinite...first open world game in the series, and it includes revolutionary feature like grapple hook, vehicles, the wasp and more flying vehicles and even boss enemies. Truly a fantastic game. The only thing they took a step back on was the overall difficulty of the campaign compared to other games in the series.

At this point lems themselves are trolling Infinite. If 343i sees your post, they'd be ashamed of you.

@dimebag667: I'd say it counts. As you say, being "ahead of it's time" doesn't always amount to being "good" or "well received" per se. Case in point (and I've brought this game up SEVERAL different times):

I consider this "ahead of it's time" on one basis: cinematic storytelling (cutscenes in-engine) in the fighting game genre (which initially had you either figure out pieces of a puzzle as to what is canon based on every different character ending, or some side mode from another genre IN a fighting game, ala MK: Deception or Tekken 6), though Budokai mostly re-told what was in anime and manga form adding "What If..." scenarios.

This wasn't accepted in fighting games until Mortal Kombat (2011) came out (to the point where even Bandai Namco, who has all sorts of anime licenses, including DB, cited MK as the reason for cinematic story modes in Tekken 7). And when THAT came out, it was "revolutionary".

@getyeryayasout:

I agree. Mag and MGS come to mind. They would work flawlessly if they first released on last gen consoles. Hence why both need a remake or in MAGs case a MAG 2.

Metroid Prime. Prime's atmosphere and immersion was ahead of it's time. The environments interaction with Samus visor was a first in the fps genre. From seeing the rain droplets on your visor to fog, bug guts and electrical obscuring your vision, seeing water run down your visor from exiting water or seeing Samus hand bones while using the x ray was really immersive back in 2002.

Skate 1. The controls were so innovative and the level design was quite good. It's a shame that the multiplayer was kind of flat. Portal is another one; it was unlike anything that we had been seen before.

@SolidGame_basic:

I agree with the killzone analogy. I was so mesmerized when I first played kz2 online. It was so good graphically, gameplay wise and gun play wise that I remember when I first logged in I would watch other people play and just follow wtf was going on. The game felt very raw as well. There was no auto aim or aim assist either it was all skill. If they make a killzone this gen hopefully the mp will have vehicles and a scope of a bf game. Something along the lines of that first trailer shown on PS3 of killzone 2.

Yea, it was a disappointment what they did with Shadowfall. The series deserved better. I would even be interested in a Killzone 2/3 remaster.

The #1 game ahead of its time will always be Shenmue

@SolidGame_basic:

Complete garbage mp, campaign was ok. Graphically the game was superb. The maps were Soo poorly designed it was hard to believe the same people created kz2.

Ooga Booga on the Dreamcast. Couple of goofy characters with a bunch of unlockable skins running around arenas shooting and punching each other in online battles. Basically an indie Steam game ten years before those became a thing. Would have been a hit if it had been a free to play mtx BR in 2017. And Boar Polo mode was like proto-Rocket League.

But it released 3 months before the system was put out to pasture. Pretty sure it sold negative numbers.

@nintendoboy16: So there were no other fighting games that went heavy on the cinematic elements between Budokai and mk11? If it took that long for people to get onboard with it, then that sounds like it fits the definition.

Super Mario 64
FarCry
Crysis
Donkey Kong Country
Doom 3
River City Ransom

@randy_lahey said:

@blaznwiipspman1 said:

halo infinite...first open world game in the series, and it includes revolutionary feature like grapple hook, vehicles, the wasp and more flying vehicles and even boss enemies. Truly a fantastic game. The only thing they took a step back on was the overall difficulty of the campaign compared to other games in the series.

Revolutionary features like grapple hook, vehicles and even boss enemies. lol

Halo Infinite would be a great contender for most un-revolutionary game ever.

So much this! I was gonna come back to comment on GC Metroid Prime and say yes, it was indeed ahead of its time, it made Halo CE look back in comparisons...in a few things that is. The music for the most part is what really makes Metroid Prime stand out.

I played the Remastered Switch regularly and still a fun game to this day for sure. I don't like the remastered took away the lighting area effects when using the Wavebeam if used in dark places.

Halo CE wins by a light-year or three!! :P

;)

Progress Quest, RecRoom, Half Life, GTA3, FF4, Virtua Fighter, Defender

I seriously did not expect to see RecRoom mentioned in here, lol.

@nod_calypse: If you didn't play it in VR then I can see why someone would think it's unremarkable. It had a huge impact when it first came out and did a lot of physics-y things in VR very well, like dropping a gun from one hand and catching it with the other, throwing grenades and the act of aiming and releasing just feeling right because of your coordination in real life, peering around corners and using objects as cover, proximity to others and occlusion affecting the loudness of their voice in a VR space, having the avatar's mouth move when you're speaking, body language and gesturing to others in a VR space... It really felt revolutionary. That kind of stuff still feels great in VR and there is endless f***ing around to be done.

I still play this almost every day because it's crazy fun and perfect to decompress. Being immersed for a while and losing track of time for just 30 minutes can feel as refreshing/relaxing as being in a sensory deprivation tank.

@girlusocrazy: Oh, no, I played it. It's great. Simple graphics, but you can do so much, it's insane. I totally agree that it is much more than just a novelty. Just largely unknown around here, to say the least.