Pick 5: Sleeper Hits of 2012

2012 was a great year for gaming. Triple A titles like Mass Effect 3, Max Payne 3, Assassin's Creed 3, Black Ops 2, Borderlands 2, Halo 4, Resident Evil 6, and many more flooded last year's lineup. But there were games that literally came out of no where and made a great impression, and there were games that were considered great games, but did not get the attention it deserved. Here are five sleeper hits from 2012.

The Walking Dead

I'm going to start with The Walking Dead. People might go "what? But that's well known". true, we all know The Walking Dead from either the crazy famous TV series, or from the graphic novel were it was originated, but we never thought that Telltale's The Walking Dead Game would come out as one of the best story driven title in this generation, or even be considered best game of 2012. People were aware by the game's creation at Telltale Games, but I believe many were blown away how they knocked this out of the park. From episode 1, all the way to the finale, the game just got better and better. Telltale's masterpiece. You can check out my full review here.

The Legend of Grimrock

Old school dungeon crawling for today's gamers. A game greatly inspired by Dungeon Master and Eye of the Beholder, this is one type of RPG has been absent for years it seems. It was released in April of 2012 but I only gave it a try months after. When I gave it a chance and soon realize that I was missing out. A game filled with smart puzzles and gameplay that's quite unique in my eyes since I wasn't exposed to the classic dungeon crawlers released back in the late 80s or early 90s.

Spec Ops: The Line

At first glance it did look like the typical shooter. Another game that would easily get consumed by the shadows of games such such as Halo 4, Black Ops 2, and Medal of Honor: Warfighter, all planned for release at the end of he year. But it turned out to be a good game worth mentioning. The biggest praise the game got was not because of its gameplay, nor its online component, but for it's narrative, which is rare for a games like this. A story that impressed players  and urged others to give the campaign a chance. Months after its release I did caught up with all the talk about its story and tried I myself quickly noticed that its indeed under appreciated.

Slender: The Eight Pages

I just had to include this. Where did this game come from? A free PC game, that's fairly simple by design, is considered one of the most scariest game of 2012, possibly of all time. When it was released last June, it quickly grew in popularity. It soon spread like wildfire with many streamers and Youtubers making videos of them playing the game. is it really that scary? Yes! I tried it myself and while it only takes half 10 minutes to play one session, I've never felt so isolated and freaked out in a game. It became a hit that spawned games similar to Slender. It's sequel, Slender: The Arrrival that was just announced recently.

Kingdoms of Alamur: Reckoning

This was one game I did not expect to be really good. An action RPG that had a combo-heavy gameplay that made me think of Devil May Cry, and quick time events seen in games like God of War. This game was also massive, which gave an Elder Scrolls impression in terms of how much content there is in this game. I never heard or did research on the game, but after trying demo, I just had to get it, and I did not regret the buy one bit. Sadly, the creators of Alamur, 38 Studios went bankrupt thanks to a fraud lawsuit and was closed down. My dreams of a sequel will never happen now.

Any other sleepers worth mentioning? Hit the comments below.