mine was command and conquer 3 tiberium wars. it was my first strategy game AND my first in the series so it really suprised me

so how did it surprise you exactly? was it the depth of detail, the fact you liked something you didnt think you would?

anyway, at the moment i think i'll say either Dynasty Warriors or Call of Duty 4.
both were games i had seen in passing that i wasnt particular on trying (didnt think they were my type of game, to simple, etc), but i did and was surprised at the depth of detail to the stories and level of gameplay and enjoyed playing them.

Brave Soul.

HOLY CRAP IS THAT DRAWN PORN IN MY ACTION RPGS!?

Way of the samurai on Playstation2 really suprised me. You can customise your character at the beginning, you get to choose your own path in the game which will end up with its own ending, theres quite a variety of swords throughout the game, you can upgrade your weapons at the black smith and it's got some catchy music. I hired it out first and was so suprised I had to go out and buy it.

A game that really surprised me was the game The World Ends With You for the DS it surprised me because i felt it had a very good storyline, an exellent soundtrack, some very engaging gameplay mechanics and an al around fun game its a shame someone deleted my save that was right at the end but at the same time it gave me a chance to play it again from the begining and enjoy it all over again.

I'd have to say it's a tie between Onimusha Dawn of Dreams, FF7 Crisis Core & Darkwatch.

Onimusha: It was suprising because the game had a great story, fun gameplay, great music, tons of challenges, (SPOILER!) and how the main character sacrifices himself to save the world and end the battle once & for all.

Crisis Core: Great gameplay, good music, VERY long(if you just play through the story, it takes 15 hours+), loads of voice acting, great voice actors, makes you feel for the characters like they're real, and turns a wimpy death of someone you don't care about(in FF7, it shows Zack get killed by 5 soliders) into the epic death of someone you don't wanna die(SPOILER: Zack ends up fighting a Shinra armada, with loads of men, tanks, helicopters that were as far back as the eye could see. He kills everything that was in the armada. He fights, knowing he's going to die, but does it to protect Cloud....I didn't want Zack to die at the end...*cries *)

Darkwatch: It's a good game, good gameplay, etc. But what really suprized me was the sex scene.