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Under the Radar Games: 29 Best Upcoming Games You've Never Heard Of

• By GamePro Staff
• July 10, 2009 10:49 AM PST
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Tales of Monkey Island

For: Wii, PC
The original Monkey Island series is one of the funniest and original game franchises around. Now, one of the original developers, Ron Gilbert, is back with another hilarious adventure starring Guybrush Threepwood, inept pirate extraordinaire. I'm excited because TellTale games, the company responsible for bringing back Sam & Max, is handling development, so you know it's going to be awesome. You can expect some smart writing, challenging puzzles and ridiculous pirate adventures. The game's getting a new visual style to similar to TellTale's other adventure games. --Tae Kim (Follow me on Twitter here!)

Scribblenauts

For: DS
I've already gushed about this game after seeing it at E3 but I'll say it one more time: Scribblenauts has tons of serious potential. I basically begged Warner Bros. for a copy, even promising that I'd drive to their HQ to pick it up if I have to. There are a lot of triple-A titles releasing in 2009 but this is probably the one I'm most excited for. The first thing I'm going to do when I get my copy is conjure up a zombie and put it on a skateboard. And I can't wait for the crazy videos that are going to pop up on Youtube. --Tae Kim (Follow me on Twitter here!)

Darkest of Days

For: PC
This is sort of a sleeper title that could make some noise when it comes out. Take FPS shooter action and mix in a dose of time-travelling -- that's the gimmick behind Darkest of Days. You're basically a Time Cop (Jean Claude Van Damme's finest movie -- just kidding) and you hop all around time making sure the natural course of history stays intact. That means blasting people during Custer's Last Stand with lasers and witnessing the disaster of Pompei with your own eyes. Time travel always makes for an interesting premise, so this is one indie shooter that bears watching. --Tae Kim (Follow me on Twitter here!)

Half-Minute Hero

For: PSP
I've decided that Half-Minute Hero is going to be an RPG for people with ADD. Giving players only 30 seconds to complete each mission, the game does away with many typical RPG mainstays, such as spending hours leveling up, and completely throws the long-winded story custom right out the window. The game itself has a decidedly old-school look to it, and the characters and enemies are basically a parody of RPG sprites; you can literally count the pixels on each character. With four different modes which range from typical (but extremely short) random battle fare to a full on shoot-em-up mode, Half-Minute Hero may be a schizophrenic RPG that anyone can jump in and play for... half of a minute. --Andy Burt (Follow me on Twitter here!)

PixelJunk Shooter

For: PS3
When one of the most creative development houses in gaming comes up with a new title, you'd do best to listen up. PixelJunk's latest is a frenetic take on the classic arcade-style shooter genre (hence the name) with enough quirky twists and puzzle elements to make it all their own. The main goal in Shooter is to pilot a spacecraft and rescue humans who are stuck in underground channels (how they got there is anyone's guess) from a fiery death by lava by strategically destroying rock formations, releasing refreshingly cold water into the levels to extinguish the lava. Somehow bats and other enemies made their way down into the lava-infested channels (maybe they followed the humans in?) which you'll need to destroy, all the while rescuing humans and avoiding getting torched by the lava. PixelJunk, just hurry up and give me the damn game already, I'm tired of waiting. --Andy Burt (Follow me on Twitter here!)

Ghostwire

For: DS
For a DS game, Ghostwire looks pretty freaky and I'm interested to see if the ghosts and ghouls found within the game provide some legitimate scares. The game will be Nintendo's first foray into Augmented Reality, which allows users to see ghosts everywhere and anywhere in the real world. The game utilizes the DSi's built in camera as a kind of seeing stone into the paranormal world, and your purpose will be much like Haley Joel Osmond's character in the Sixth Sense: Finding ghosts and helping them resolve some unfinished business so they can move on peacefully. It could turn out to be a surprise ghostly treat, later this year. --Sean Mirkovich

Invizimals

For: PSP
Invizimals could turn out to be the next big RPG in the style of Pokemon if the gameplay is as exciting as it looks to be. Invizimals is another upcoming title that uses Augmented Reality, allowing players to see 3D monsters floating around in real space via their PSP camera. Players can search their homes or any other area, using their PSP to track and sense monsters, eventually capturing them for training and battle. The battles utilize all new PSP add-ons, such as wind attacks (blowing into the mic), lightning attacks (using your own shadow) and earthquake attacks (shaking the console). While it seems lacking in story, the incredibly interactive battles seem more than enough to make up for it. --Sean Mirkovich

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