8 Action Games From Well-Known Developers That Went Under the Radar

Every video game developer has to start somewhere. It's just a fact of life.

For example, long before Elden Ring, FromSoftware was making games like Lost Kingdoms. There are also the random games by iconic developers that you may have forgotten about. Did you know that BioWare made a Sonic the Hedgehog RPG for the Nintendo DS?

It's the perfect microcosm of the video game industry: even the biggest developers have plenty of games under their belt that most people may not be aware of. In the world of action games, these are little-known games from some of the biggest studios in the industry.

8 King's Field

FromSoftware's First Game

Since I mentioned FromSoftware, this seems like a good place to start.

Their debut title was King's Field, an action RPG that looks similar to what you'd expect from The Elder Scrolls franchise. It was only released in Japan despite positive reviews.

In typical FromSoftware fashion, one of the game's hallmarks is its difficulty. Oh, if we only knew what would eventually be in store in the future.

7 MDK2

That Time Bioware Didn'T Make an RPG

Everyone knows BioWare as one of the best developers in video game history when it comes to delivering great RPGs. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, these are all iconic and beloved games.

MDK2 isn't either one of those things, but it's still a part of BioWare's past. It was actually a pretty good game, but had the unfortunate luck of being a timed Dreamcast exclusive.

A PS2 version was released in 2001, and a Nintendo Wii re-release in 2011.

6 Oni

Developed by Bungie, Published by Rockstar Games

While working at GameStop in the mid-2000s, there was a PlayStation 2 game that caught my attention.

Oni is a third-person action game that fails to come close to something like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden. Yet, it wasn't the gameplay that caught my eye.

Instead, it was the name on the box. Given their history, you'd expect a game developed by Bungie and published by Rockstar to be the greatest thing in the world. This was before the two became industry juggernauts, though.

5 The Warriors

Rockstar's Cult Classic Game That's Based on the Cult Classic Movie

The 1979 film The Warriors is an iconic cult classic that is stylish, cool, and even a little over-the-top. When word came that Rockstar was developing an action beat 'em up based on the movie, there was plenty of buzz.

To call back to my GameStop days once more, I remember the trailer playing on our in-store VHS featuring Cyrus' iconic monologue. Throw in that typical Rockstar presentation, and you have the makings of a bona fide cult classic.

The Warriors' PS4 version is backward compatible for the PS5, but for some reason, the same cannot be said for the Xbox.

4 Blackthorne

Blizzard's Long-Lost Platformer

While Blackthorne wasn't Blizzard's first game, it's undeniably the first game that looks like a Blizzard game.

The action platformer is undeniably cool and filled with style, helping to give it a little bit of edge over similar games. Unfortunately, that doesn't always translate to success, which is one reason why Blackthorne isn't as heralded as something like Lost Vikings.

That said, it's still worth checking out to take a trip down memory lane and look at Blizzard's past.

3 Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand

Produced by Hideo Kojima

While not an official Hideo Kojima game, Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand was still produced by the man himself.

An action-adventure RPG for the Game Boy Advance, Boktai takes full advantage of the cartridge's light sensor as a gameplay element. It makes sense, since the game is about fighting vampires.

Add in a dash of stealth action, and you have one of the more unique games you'll ever play.

2 Shellshock: Nam '67

Guerrilla's Overly Generic Shooter

There was something in the water in the 2000s that helped deliver seemingly countless generic shooters.

It's not just WWII shooters, either. Vietnam had its chance to "shine" for a while. 2004 saw the release of Battlefield Vietnam early in the year, a game that I very much enjoyed. The same cannot be said for Shellshock: Nam '67, which was as bland as possible.

That same year, though, Guerrilla would release another shooter that saw more success: Killzone.

1 Song of the Deep

Insomniac's Action-adventure Published by...GameStop?

Insomniac's history between the conclusion of the Resistance franchise and the first Marvel's Spider-Man game is, in a word, weird.

Yes, there are a handful of Ratchet & Clank games in there, along with the Xbox One exclusive Sunset Overdrive, but there are a lot of random games that everyone either forgot about or never realized were a thing.

One of them is 2016's Song of the Deep, released for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. The Metroidvania came and went without much noise. Heck, the most notable part of the game was that it was published by GameStop.