2007 was the year of hype in gaming. Between Halo 3, Mass Effect, Super Mario Galaxy, Crysis, and Assassin's Creed, this year has seen the release of some of the most talked up games of all-time. While some of them fell far short of the hype, there were plenty of other far superior games that came out, but received little to no attention from mainstream gamers. So, starting today and on every Wednesday (or Thursday) until the end of the year, I will be giving you a look at two games released this year that deserve your hard-earned cash and attention. At the end of this five-part series (ending the day after Christmas), I will list them in order of the most overlooked/underrated.

First up Dewy's Adventure for the Nintendo Wii. Developed by the same team at Konami that created last year's sleeper hit Elebits, Dewy's Adventure is a platformer with a very distinct twist. In the game, you play as a cute little drop of water named Dewy, and what you do is tilt the level and change the temperature. Very simple yes, but it provides many challenges. By changing the temperature, you change the form Dewy takes on. If you raise it, he will become mist and a cloud, and will be able to hit enemies with lightning. If you lower the temperature, he will become ice and slide across large pools of water. The game is also like its cousin, Elebits, in that it grades you based on your performance in each stage, so that adds some replay value. Also featured in that game is a multiplayer mode, and the ability to create levels and send them to your friends using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. If you own a Wii and don't mind a cute, somewhat childish looking game with a pro-environment message and odd loading screen advertisement messages for Nestle bottled water, by all means, give this one a look. I have a feeling that you will be seeing this profiled in some magazine in three years for a "best games you've never played" feature. But don't take my word for it, here's a cool little video explaining one guy's opinion on why the game is so awesome.

Or if a cute platformer isn't mature enough for you, then check out The Darkness (for both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3), developed by Starbreeze, the same studio behind the underrated Xbox/PC game, Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (look for the remake on PS3 and Xbox 360 in the near future!). The Darkness is a game based on the comic book of the same name in which you play as Jackie Estacado, a mafia hitman blamed for double crossing Uncle Paulie, the New York mob boss. Oddly enough, on the same day this happens, Jackie is posessed by an alien creature named The Darkness, which gives him superpowers, but takes over his will. The main game plays as a standard modern day console FPS, complete with regenerating health and dual weilding, but when you summon The Darkness, the game changes completely. When summoned, The Darkness will appear as two tentacles which come out of Jackie's shoulder, giving him strength and four special powers. The first power will make The Darkness extend one of its tentacles, allowing you to look ahead, pick up guns, and kill enemies using it. The second power will give you two super powered guns. The third power will give you a sharp tentacle, which can pierce through enemies and obstacles. And the fourth power will create a black hole which sucks in EVERYTHING in its vicinity. Also, when you have The Darkness summoned, you are able to call Darklings, which are little critters that comes in different varities (Kamakazie, Gunner, Light Killer) to aid you in destroying your enemies and creating darkness for The Darkness to feed off off, since light is its only weakness. No overview of The Darkness would be complete without praising its superb voice acting. Mike Patton's (vocalist for the bands Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, Fantomas, and some others) vocal performance, which was unedited and has no studio effects applied to it, is one of the best ever heard in a video game. However, the coolest part about the game is the sheer amount of content one can watch on the in-game television sets. Instead of having generic stock footage like in most games, The Darkness opted for public domain films, cartoons, and one full-length licensed movie, To Kill A Mockingbird. Yes, that's right. You can watch the entire, unedited version of the 1962 classic right in the game. Or if Popeye, The Three Stooges, or Flash Gordon is more you style, you can always watch some of those. However, it should be mentioned that the PS3 version has much much more in-game television content due to the increased disc size that Blu-ray offers (most notable: five additional Popeye cartoons), however, both versions have plenty to watch. A complete listing of the movies and animated shorts that can be found in the game is located here (I think this list covers the PS3 version). Check back next week where we take a look at a game that's as addictive as crack (and a great stocking stuffer to boot), and a game that many cared about only for the bonus it had.

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