Amnesia is fantastic example of using gameplay mechanics and rules to create mood.

Amnesia wants to use its interlocking game systems to make you feel afraid: You stay sane longer in the light. You have a limited amount of lamp oil with which to create light. Monsters make you insane (and kill you). Monsters can see you better in the light. Monsters make you go insane more quickly if you look directly at them (in the style of Lovecraft, gazing on things you should not see rend your mind).

The end result of this is a pretty wonderful set of rule balancing where, upon seeing a monster, the player immediately douses their lamp and hides in a dark corner staring at the wall, slowly going insane from a horror they cannot look at, knowing that looking at it will make them go truly mad, and turning on light for comfort will bring them a swift death.

It helps that on the art side, the visuals and audio are all built around creating and enhancing the mood, of course, but it's rare that there are a bunch of interlocking systems which can shape your behavior in a way that's that harmonious with an expected emotional output, a mood, tone, etc.

The game is rough around the edges and definitely created by a small team, but what it achieves is pretty rare.

From the same publisher is the earlier Penumbra series, anyone who's only played Amnesia should definitely play those too. My favorite was the second one, Black Plague, and I think for all that Amnesia does right, Black Plague does it better. (I think it was even in one of the Bundles before but I'm not sure.) Amnesia has gained a lot of traction with the modders, though, and it's sometimes interesting to see what other people cook up. (The mods tend to rely too much on "jump scares" however, just like pretty much everyone else besides Frictional Games. They do it too, just not as much.)

> I think it was even in one of the Bundles before but I'm not sure.

That was actually Penumbra: Overture

This assumes that the Metacritic user score is a useful measure. For example, Diablo 3 has a user score of 4.1/10 while the critic score is 89/100.

I think Diablo 3 simply deserves the backslash. The developers are full of themselves and live in a bubble. Lots of people are unable to play the game they've paid $60 (or 60 EUR !!!) money for. "Always online" was supposedly for security, but people trying to play "single player" are getting their accounts hacked. The story and its presentation is an insult to intelligence. Bosses are extremely talkative, and not in the amusing way like in Realm of the Mad God. Cutscenes are used as interruptions. It is also the least random and most linear Diablo game. Low replayability is a big deal because difficulty level (difficulty, no skill level like they were called in Quake) And all this took more than 10 years to make ? It resembles Diablo Nukem Forever.

There is a lot to complain about. But it's not surprising considering the founders work elsewhere, especially at Runic Games. Torchlight 2 is also very colorful and cartoony, but it's not pretending to be something it's not (a grim, gothic game). TL2 is playful and doesn't treat itself very seriously.

My favorite action RPG game is Nox, though. This video does a good job explaining it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4NU3u9sSjE But I feel obligated to add a few highlights - no random loot (!!!!!!!!) - no hit chance. You hit if you aim well and enemy is in range. - no dodge chance. You dodge if you move out of the way. - no shield block chance. You block if you raise your shield in time (and in correct direction :-) - no random levels, but levels very well done and non-linear unlike Diablo 3. Also, some chapters are unique to one of 3 classes. - very unimportant resists: very few arbitrary decisions "You can't use weapon/spell X against monster Y". - as a result, combat is so fun that multiplayer had modes like Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, and Team Deathmatch, where everyone was always on the same level. - huge variety and creativity in Conjurer and Wizard classes.

See the pattern ? It was a highly skill-based game. It's a tragedy that it was labeled as a Diablo 2 clone, because it had fundamental differences. Nox can be purchased very cheaply today.

I think you only get that with recent blockbuster releases that garner "fanboys" who feel that game X is either the best thing in the universe or a direct insult to their mother, even though they've never played the game.

I mean, look at Mass Effect 3 or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Older games like Psychonauts and Amnesia tend to have more accurate user ratings.

You also get that with games where people felt shafted for one reason or another -- Mass Effect 3's ending, Portal 2's weak alternate reality game, and Diablo 3's launch day server issues.