Check out the dark fantasy action of Graven here! Steam ➤ bit.ly/MattMcMuscles_GRAVEN_Steam GOG ➤ bit.ly/MattMcMuscles_GRAVEN_GOG EGS ➤ bit.ly/MattMcMuscles_GRAVEN_Epic
This game will always remind me of my friend Maurice. He was never really into videogames and for some reason loved the hell out of this game. Growing up it's the only game I've ever seen him play and complete. He passed away 2 years ago. RIP bro. I miss you.
This is still one of my favorite shooters. I still play this game every now and then. Something about being able to destroy so much with bullets was unlike anything I had played up to that point.
@@RobotronSageit's not the same type of feeling. I played Faction before this myself but DAMN if I didn't love playing BLACK on OG Xbox. it's spiritual sequel, Bodycount, still doesn't compare. I actually just re downloaded BLACK to replay a few weeks ago.
Same, though I can't get over that every gun has the ejector ports on the left side for some reason. It looks cooler for the reloads, at least. (That's probably the reason.)
The funniest part is that every gun model in the game is hilariously bad on some level, but nobody cares because they just feel so good to use. There were games out at the time with more realistic weapon models that felt like pea shooters and the way Black portrayed them really set it apart.
Back when it was released, absolutely. Nowadays, not so much. It felt like a full blown next gen shooter on the ps2. Back then, that was incredible, now, it's just your everyday fps
@@nicklafleur7620 yeah when this came out in the final days of the PS2/XBox, it really was groundbreaking. I remember playing it and wondering how all the broken bits flying about didn't bring my XBox to a chug, nowadays you could probably just play any Battlefield game sans 2042 and get the same effect. Black really hasn't held up, and even when it came out, nobody played it for anything else other than the destruction and the crazy amount of guns in the game, both of which have been done far better elsewhere since then.
I remember back when it released thinking it looked great and was okay to play but didn't feel quite right. The gunplay doesn't hold a candle to games like Halo. It made for a good rental (especially because it was so short) but if I had actually bought the game I would've been disappointed overall.
I don't understand people saying so many games are unknown gems when at the time of release so many of them, this game included, were highly anticipated and known by gamers even if they were seen as casuals for the time. I'm not saying they all had sales numbers that are top of the charts but they definitely were known and just weren't what people wanted. I know for me personally I avoided fps games most of the time if it wasn't on pc up until the x360/ps3 when controls were all updated.
To be fair, the 'come up with setpieces and write a plot around them' approach does often work quite well, particularly in films. Apparently all of the films Jackie Chan directed in the 80s and 90s were written in this fashion, and I can't argue with the results.
That's how the James Bond movies were generally made, going back to something like Thunderball. There are a handful of exceptions like Casino Royale, but most were basically thrown together based around whatever cool locations and setpieces the producers had dreamed up.
I suspect this is how Jesse Stern (writer)and Dan Fukuda (campaign lead) collaborated on modern warfare 1 and 2 (OG series). Fukuda came up with the setpieces and Stern wrote a story that tied everything together.
I remember playing this back in the day and was shocked bullet holes stay in the walls even when you've left the room. At the time all the games with guns i had played the bullet holes always would despawn its a small thing but its a core gaming memory for me. Helps the rest of the game was awesome too
The gun sounds and explosion effects in this game are excellent. In one level, you can shoot one of those natural gas storage tanks, resulting in a massive explosion and visible shock wave. It was really impressive stuff.
Not gonna lie, Black was one of my favorite FPS games ever, mostly because you could blow EVERY FUCKING THING UP. The idea though that you were a sneaky black ops guy and you spent the whole game blowing up the world continues to amuse me.
This was something you can do regardless of a game. I borrowed a friend's Xbox and he was cool enough to allow me to rip my CDs into the system. Modest Mouse + Burnout 3 = An amazing night.
you could, but you couldn't skip through tracks and I didn't want to make secondary playlists from other playlists with better action track setups specific for this game. The GTA games did let you skip tracks so that was a better custom track implementation.
I still remember getting this game when it was fairly new. My first impression was that it was the best looking and most realistic-looking shooter I've ever played. However as I continued to play it even I as a kid started to complain about certain things, including any sort of narrative motivation or explanation as to what I was doing. I'll never forget my reaction to mag dumping an AK 47 onto a basic enemy at point blank range and it wasn't enough to put him down. I was utterly stunned.
Watching Tim Curry try so friggin hard not to break while delivering that line gets me every time. Also I've never played this game, but never heard good things.
Fun fact: Though never officially stated let alone one on one interviews to clarify on the matter. Black's source engine Renderware was pretty much ported over to Insomniacs Resistance: Fall of Man for the PS3. Now as to why they would do such a thing was basically the Renderware engine was easier to run and modify on the PS3 hardware. Which makes sense and for convenience sakes. Now do keep in mind much of this information was available via online forums about said titles. So yeah make of that what you will. I on the other hand do see the glaring resemblances of both titles. And you can say Resistance Fall of Man is the spiritual successor to Black. Edit: It's worth noting Kill Zone shares the same attributes as Black plus or minus.
This game was amazing. I loved the live action cut scenes and the interrogation style story telling. The only game that came close to this was Battlefield 3. But this game is still in my library and I still play it on occasion
"Fortunately, the Black team did have a valuable asset with their lead programmer: Sean Murray." Whoa, you mean McGee from NCIS is an actual programmer? "Yes, [No Man's Sky] Sean Murray." Oh.
I still think that the perspective focusing on the gun when reloading is one of the best visual flairs and I really wish more first person shooters tried it.
Man, i think i played this game like a million times back in the day on my PS2, absolutely loved it. The graphics hold on surprisingly well to this day, it is impressive.
I'm a bit surprised that the sound design wasn't mentioned at all here. As some already said on other comments: Black is one of my favorite (if not my favorite) shooters of all times. Once I get to the Treneska Border Crossing/Mission 2, I take a DEEP BREATH and simply listen to the branches and leaves of the trees scratch against each others and how the wind howls across the fences. Your very footsteps and some soldiers on the caves can be heard in a sublime fashion as you can hear if you step on dry leaves, dirt or mud, and the echoes of the caves can be heard too if they are in them. Much detail for such a big game. Such a shame we didn't get a sequel but I'm at peace to know that the creators are proud of their decision and of what they actually accomplished with this Masterpiece.
I actually still have my original copy of this and absolutely loved it back in the day as the gun sounds are incredible. Though those cut scenes are absolutely the worst of the worst as they aren't silly enough to be fun
I have a game you might want to see what happened. It is called Lawbreakers. It is similar to Overwatch but had a gravity as it main mechanics. From what I heard the director of the game after the fall of the game went to Broadway if that will help make this story a little more interesting.
Reading this comment really makes me surprised that he hasn’t actually made that video. I remember back when Lawbreakers was a big thing as they spent a ton of money to get TH-camrs to play it, but it just failed hard.
Not sure if it would hold up, but I remember really liking BLACK back in the day. I wasn't going to leave Halo for another multiplayer anyway, so a nice fun single player shooter was perfect for me. Seems like I beat it in one or maybe two sittings, but still I remember having fun with it.
Low key really like how the screen blurs when reloading. Usually not too big on forced realism in games, but it makes sense here and it's also a great opportunity to show off the high detail weapon models. This game's visuals really hold up.
Yeah Rakevick (however you spell it) did a video on bodycount it's a bad game they didn't even wanna make it. Basically it was a fall back when everything else didn't work out
As soon as he said I'm going to lay off EA this video I thought "okay, let's see how long that lasts" Honestly I'm impressed he made it as long as he did
It really can't be understated just how crazy this game's graphics are for the hardware it was running on. The gun models still look phenomenal by today's standards
I was so hyped for this game! My girlfriend got it for me as an early birthday present! But it was actually kinda disappointing. Was hopeful the sequel would deliver because it was still a solid foundation! I mean, Criterion was just dropping hit after hit! Naturally they were gonna be cranking out Burnout and Black sequels for the rest of the decade, right???
I bought the game many years ago, played it for like 15 minutes, i was blown away, but it was during the COVID 19 pandemic where i did sit and play through and through and man, i gotta say i hate myself for not playing that awesome game as soon as i got it.. Pretty asshole of me, but i was young and dumb.
I don’t know who will cover this, but i hope to hear about the development of The Uncanny X-Men for the NES. Apparently, it’s not confirmed who developed the game, which I find fascinating.
Man i loved this for the ps2 as a kid. Shooting the tower with the rpg in the first level felt so satisfying as a kid and it still does today as i have it on the xbox one backwards compatibility
Making levels in a 6th gen fps on the fly with no real thought on story or context to make a razor thin deadline: Sounds like a major ingredient in the game development stew to earn an entry in “What Happened.”
Confession time. I thought this game was called "Black" because it was about black people. Most of my experience with black people in media in 2005 included gunplay, so my young mind put 2 and 2 together.
Honestly one of the best games I had growing up, so many memories of playing this with my dad (not a gamer by any means) holds a special place in my heart. And the sound effect of a headshot is very satisfying XD
Man I played the shit out of this game. I still remember the moment when I finally conquered the hardest difficulty. I tried playing it recently and the controls took some getting used to but it was still fun as hell.
Played this game countless times as a kid and still play on my Xbox Series X to this day. This really was like a COD Black Ops campaign. They sure don't make em like this anymore.
This game was a 9/10 only because the cutscenes were unskipabble and long. Even replaying missions. I never understood why devs force people to watch cutscenes.
It's thanks to youtube I actually found out about black about a year ago, and snagged a ps2 copy for like $7. The mid 2000s fps games I missed are suddenly becoming charming to retrod through
Have you played Urban Chaos: Riot Response? Made by Rocksteady for PS2/Xbox before they made the Batman games for PS3/360. Extremely fun and criminally overlooked.
For me it’s Sunday morning. The only day I have fully off from work. I’ll wake up, take the dog out when she’s ready, get back in bed with headphones (don’t want to wake the wife), and watch a handful of things culminating in that weeks WH. It’s my weekly thing to make the rest of the week tolerable.
Travelers Tales - What Happened? Come on, it's an interesting idea. We've heard nothing from the company over the past year, and something tells me Warner Bros either liquidated Travelers Tales or most of the devs silently quit in protest.
Weird as a canon employee currently it's crazy to think they had a company branch off to make games. Especially since developing games was something i wanted to do in life
You need to check out the development of the Avalanche-made Mad Max game, it's got an interesting history with George Miller and using his concept content without permission.
I wish more games were self aware that they are just set pieces tied together loosely by a story. Like how Timesplitters had all these vastly different areas and made up the whole time travel thing to tie them together. Instead of having some generic story do something weird, like having the game be a dream or a fake story told at an interrogation room. That could explain why things are so over the top and would even allow them to lean into that idea a bit more.
I remember picking this game up on a whim, many years ago. It wasn't the greatest game ever (especially towards the end), but it was and is still fairly entertaining, and what you could do with the guns and environment was pretty nice.
Feels like the thumbnail and name of the game is yelling "BLACK!", while pointing a gun at you lol Anyway, a perfect example of a game company jumping into a new genre style for a game, and not succeeding.
I played through Black a couple years ago and really liked it a lot! It's pretty interesting to learn why stuff like the story (as barebones and forgettable as it is) turned out the way it did, though. Great video!
All I remember about this game (besides the hype it got pre-release) was how there were always copies at the used game store, and always dirt cheap too.
Check out the dark fantasy action of Graven here!
Steam ➤ bit.ly/MattMcMuscles_GRAVEN_Steam
GOG ➤ bit.ly/MattMcMuscles_GRAVEN_GOG
EGS ➤ bit.ly/MattMcMuscles_GRAVEN_Epic
okay I will
Do frontlines fuel of war!!!!
When are we gonna see Leisure Suit Larry Box Office Bust
That little bit you showed here reminds me of playing all the FPS’ of the day back in the 90’s on my crappy pc in the best possible way.
You chqnged the icon? No true crime gun?
"A Priest of the Orthogonal Order?"
Don't be silly, everyone knows bishops are only allowed to move diagonally.
Now I want you to know that I didn't laugh but I did smile.
lmao
This game will always remind me of my friend Maurice. He was never really into videogames and for some reason loved the hell out of this game. Growing up it's the only game I've ever seen him play and complete. He passed away 2 years ago. RIP bro. I miss you.
Gone but not forgotten.
You should beat the the game in his honour.
This is still one of my favorite shooters. I still play this game every now and then. Something about being able to destroy so much with bullets was unlike anything I had played up to that point.
for real! surprised to see it on wha happun
everyone was so impressed with the destruction aspect when i played red faction years before this
lol
still a great game tho
Facts, I loved this game
@@RobotronSageit's not the same type of feeling. I played Faction before this myself but DAMN if I didn't love playing BLACK on OG Xbox. it's spiritual sequel, Bodycount, still doesn't compare. I actually just re downloaded BLACK to replay a few weeks ago.
I just remember being really impressed by the high quality gun textures and impressively intricate and detailed gun animations.
Yeah, no wild AF "bullet casings hitting the ground when you use a revolver type stuff".
Same, though I can't get over that every gun has the ejector ports on the left side for some reason. It looks cooler for the reloads, at least. (That's probably the reason.)
Don't forget about using your own music on the original Xbox.
This needs to return as a feature
The funniest part is that every gun model in the game is hilariously bad on some level, but nobody cares because they just feel so good to use. There were games out at the time with more realistic weapon models that felt like pea shooters and the way Black portrayed them really set it apart.
"Kurt Angle has the twisty rockets" should be on a shirt
Fuckin A 😂
I’m trying to decide which is better: just the quote, or the quote with that Kurt Face.
Everywhere I go, people say this is a hidden gem and that its a must play. I think the same
Back when it was released, absolutely. Nowadays, not so much. It felt like a full blown next gen shooter on the ps2. Back then, that was incredible, now, it's just your everyday fps
@@nicklafleur7620 yeah when this came out in the final days of the PS2/XBox, it really was groundbreaking. I remember playing it and wondering how all the broken bits flying about didn't bring my XBox to a chug, nowadays you could probably just play any Battlefield game sans 2042 and get the same effect. Black really hasn't held up, and even when it came out, nobody played it for anything else other than the destruction and the crazy amount of guns in the game, both of which have been done far better elsewhere since then.
@@nicklafleur7620 Still a decent time waster, though.
I remember back when it released thinking it looked great and was okay to play but didn't feel quite right. The gunplay doesn't hold a candle to games like Halo. It made for a good rental (especially because it was so short) but if I had actually bought the game I would've been disappointed overall.
I don't understand people saying so many games are unknown gems when at the time of release so many of them, this game included, were highly anticipated and known by gamers even if they were seen as casuals for the time. I'm not saying they all had sales numbers that are top of the charts but they definitely were known and just weren't what people wanted. I know for me personally I avoided fps games most of the time if it wasn't on pc up until the x360/ps3 when controls were all updated.
To be fair, the 'come up with setpieces and write a plot around them' approach does often work quite well, particularly in films. Apparently all of the films Jackie Chan directed in the 80s and 90s were written in this fashion, and I can't argue with the results.
That's how the James Bond movies were generally made, going back to something like Thunderball. There are a handful of exceptions like Casino Royale, but most were basically thrown together based around whatever cool locations and setpieces the producers had dreamed up.
@@jasonblalock4429yeah it's obvious when they put more emphasis on characters over set pieces.
I suspect this is how Jesse Stern (writer)and Dan Fukuda (campaign lead) collaborated on modern warfare 1 and 2 (OG series). Fukuda came up with the setpieces and Stern wrote a story that tied everything together.
Anyone can argue against, but it worked out fine for Black. What FPS of the time had decent story elements anyway?
The Uncharted games were made like that.
I remember playing this back in the day and was shocked bullet holes stay in the walls even when you've left the room. At the time all the games with guns i had played the bullet holes always would despawn its a small thing but its a core gaming memory for me. Helps the rest of the game was awesome too
The gun sounds and explosion effects in this game are excellent. In one level, you can shoot one of those natural gas storage tanks, resulting in a massive explosion and visible shock wave. It was really impressive stuff.
the worst part of black is that there's no PC port
Always emulation.
This game brings back a lot of memories, i loved the non stop action, explosions, the gun animations, and the sound design is incredible
Not gonna lie, Black was one of my favorite FPS games ever, mostly because you could blow EVERY FUCKING THING UP. The idea though that you were a sneaky black ops guy and you spent the whole game blowing up the world continues to amuse me.
I believe on xbox you can listen to your own soundtracks while playing the game.
Core memory unlocked. I remember blasting mooks to Slipknot and Disturbed lol
This was something you can do regardless of a game. I borrowed a friend's Xbox and he was cool enough to allow me to rip my CDs into the system. Modest Mouse + Burnout 3 = An amazing night.
you could, but you couldn't skip through tracks and I didn't want to make secondary playlists from other playlists with better action track setups specific for this game. The GTA games did let you skip tracks so that was a better custom track implementation.
@@StealthMaster86 Not every game on original Xbox allowed you to use custom music that was ripped to HDD. So it does matter what game
This went hard af when playing San Andreas
I still remember getting this game when it was fairly new. My first impression was that it was the best looking and most realistic-looking shooter I've ever played. However as I continued to play it even I as a kid started to complain about certain things, including any sort of narrative motivation or explanation as to what I was doing. I'll never forget my reaction to mag dumping an AK 47 onto a basic enemy at point blank range and it wasn't enough to put him down. I was utterly stunned.
Black is like Vampires: The Masquerade Bloodlines or Elder Scrolls: Oblivion where once they’re mentioned, someone will download at least one of them.
4:47 - Okay, so.... you're doing a Flophouse Plays of Crush Hour, right?
You can't show me Jim Ross saying "Twisty Rockets" and leave it at that!
Watching Tim Curry try so friggin hard not to break while delivering that line gets me every time.
Also I've never played this game, but never heard good things.
"Never heard good things"? You need to play it. Its a great game
I haven’t heard anyone talk about this game since it came out, I recall its reception being pretty positive back then
It has JK Simmons as the President of the US, & George Takei as the Emperor of Japan. Red Alert 3 is extremely hammy.
You looked in the wrong places then. Black is all in all excellent and a fun time.
It's awesome. People were trippin back then.
Fun fact: Though never officially stated let alone one on one interviews to clarify on the matter. Black's source engine Renderware was pretty much ported over to Insomniacs Resistance: Fall of Man for the PS3. Now as to why they would do such a thing was basically the Renderware engine was easier to run and modify on the PS3 hardware. Which makes sense and for convenience sakes. Now do keep in mind much of this information was available via online forums about said titles. So yeah make of that what you will. I on the other hand do see the glaring resemblances of both titles. And you can say Resistance Fall of Man is the spiritual successor to Black.
Edit: It's worth noting Kill Zone shares the same attributes as Black plus or minus.
Man I miss Criterion. Burnout Revenge and Black were basically all of my teens
This game was amazing. I loved the live action cut scenes and the interrogation style story telling. The only game that came close to this was Battlefield 3. But this game is still in my library and I still play it on occasion
even if its not one im into its kinda cool matts sponsors are usually games. like it fits so much better than the random hellofresh
The title of this episode sounds like *that* uncle talking at Thanksgiving
Based
😂
Sang that anthem boy 🇺🇸 🧢 🛻
"Fortunately, the Black team did have a valuable asset with their lead programmer: Sean Murray."
Whoa, you mean McGee from NCIS is an actual programmer?
"Yes, [No Man's Sky] Sean Murray."
Oh.
_two people typing on the same keyboard intensifies_
Always find myself running-not walking-to my computer or phone whenever a new What Happened episode goes live!
I still think that the perspective focusing on the gun when reloading is one of the best visual flairs and I really wish more first person shooters tried it.
Consistency is something I adore and Matt never misses. Everytime he has to mention the PS3, he calls it "PS Triple Ballin'. Long live Chad Warden.
Pee Ess TRIPLE
Amazing coverage on this one, thanks so much! I was never a big FPS guy but I remember playing this one after seeing it on Classic Game Room.
Man, i think i played this game like a million times back in the day on my PS2, absolutely loved it. The graphics hold on surprisingly well to this day, it is impressive.
1:43 love the Red Faction music being used
I loved that game! But remember having some obnoxious difficulty spikes
Kind of awesome that they just sneaked the recording on the 24 set.
It took me a second to realize EGS meant epic games store and not something much MUCH worse
I think "Renderware" was also utilized for the 3D KOF Maximum Impact games and the "3D Era" MK games as well. (I remember seeing their logo at least.)
I'm a bit surprised that the sound design wasn't mentioned at all here. As some already said on other comments: Black is one of my favorite (if not my favorite) shooters of all times. Once I get to the Treneska Border Crossing/Mission 2, I take a DEEP BREATH and simply listen to the branches and leaves of the trees scratch against each others and how the wind howls across the fences. Your very footsteps and some soldiers on the caves can be heard in a sublime fashion as you can hear if you step on dry leaves, dirt or mud, and the echoes of the caves can be heard too if they are in them. Much detail for such a big game. Such a shame we didn't get a sequel but I'm at peace to know that the creators are proud of their decision and of what they actually accomplished with this Masterpiece.
I remember turning up the volume on my box TV cause of the destruction this game had
Things happen for sure, but now orange is a new black. Thank you and good night everybody
I actually still have my original copy of this and absolutely loved it back in the day as the gun sounds are incredible. Though those cut scenes are absolutely the worst of the worst as they aren't silly enough to be fun
This had to be one of the best shooters of it's time, I wish there was a sequel.
The amount of gunporn in this game was crazy
who the hell says gunporn? what a creep
@@mavielor7394 it means high quality gun models chill out a bit
@@mavielor7394 You know there is a word "Foodporn" exists?😂
I have a game you might want to see what happened. It is called Lawbreakers. It is similar to Overwatch but had a gravity as it main mechanics. From what I heard the director of the game after the fall of the game went to Broadway if that will help make this story a little more interesting.
Reading this comment really makes me surprised that he hasn’t actually made that video.
I remember back when Lawbreakers was a big thing as they spent a ton of money to get TH-camrs to play it, but it just failed hard.
Man I loved this game as a kid in highschool. ty for making this video brings back memories.
Watching this... I forgot just how good ps2 / og xbox games could look...
Not sure if it would hold up, but I remember really liking BLACK back in the day. I wasn't going to leave Halo for another multiplayer anyway, so a nice fun single player shooter was perfect for me. Seems like I beat it in one or maybe two sittings, but still I remember having fun with it.
Low key really like how the screen blurs when reloading. Usually not too big on forced realism in games, but it makes sense here and it's also a great opportunity to show off the high detail weapon models. This game's visuals really hold up.
I was eating my lunch when your edit of the Simpsons “Mr. Black” played over the title. I nearly choked to death. Your attempted murder is noted.
speedboat attack and trickstyle will always have a place in my heart
I remember being impressed by the sound. I hooked my stereo to my tv, and the sound was crazy.
I actually love this game.. it's much better than its "spiritual" successor "Bodycount" released in 2011.
Yeah Rakevick (however you spell it) did a video on bodycount it's a bad game they didn't even wanna make it. Basically it was a fall back when everything else didn't work out
* EA proceeds to sue Matt McMuscles *
EA (shrugging their shoulders): "What?! He said we could."
Sick. I've been looking forward to this episode
As soon as he said I'm going to lay off EA this video I thought "okay, let's see how long that lasts" Honestly I'm impressed he made it as long as he did
The soundtrack alone is part of my teenage years. I'll never forget this game
It really can't be understated just how crazy this game's graphics are for the hardware it was running on. The gun models still look phenomenal by today's standards
Still hoping you do an episode on that Highlander game that never came out
I was so hyped for this game! My girlfriend got it for me as an early birthday present! But it was actually kinda disappointing. Was hopeful the sequel would deliver because it was still a solid foundation! I mean, Criterion was just dropping hit after hit! Naturally they were gonna be cranking out Burnout and Black sequels for the rest of the decade, right???
I literally just watched your video on silent hill historical society like.... 2 hours ago lol
Dude please do a video about Darkwatch. It's an underrated classic.
I bought the game many years ago, played it for like 15 minutes, i was blown away, but it was during the COVID 19 pandemic where i did sit and play through and through and man, i gotta say i hate myself for not playing that awesome game as soon as i got it..
Pretty asshole of me, but i was young and dumb.
I don’t know who will cover this, but i hope to hear about the development of The Uncanny X-Men for the NES. Apparently, it’s not confirmed who developed the game, which I find fascinating.
The lighting was what impressed me most in the game. The lighting in the sub pen in particular was really good.
This is one of my favourite fps games. I still go back & play it every so often.
Black has still one of the best theme musics of all time in gaming. It's amazing. Great game with great music.
Man i loved this for the ps2 as a kid. Shooting the tower with the rpg in the first level felt so satisfying as a kid and it still does today as i have it on the xbox one backwards compatibility
Wait was the preview image changed? Wasnt it just a gun instead of dudes head there?
The ps2 era was such a great time. You really had to be there. Black was a good game that deserves a visit if you haven't done so already.
I played the hell out of this game back in the day, I sometimes think back on it with fond memories
I enjoyed it. The reload blur was a new thing. But players broke it. Hit reload, melee, and reload to focus.
Making levels in a 6th gen fps on the fly with no real thought on story or context to make a razor thin deadline: Sounds like a major ingredient in the game development stew to earn an entry in “What Happened.”
Confession time. I thought this game was called "Black" because it was about black people. Most of my experience with black people in media in 2005 included gunplay, so my young mind put 2 and 2 together.
Honestly one of the best games I had growing up, so many memories of playing this with my dad (not a gamer by any means) holds a special place in my heart. And the sound effect of a headshot is very satisfying XD
Man I played the shit out of this game. I still remember the moment when I finally conquered the hardest difficulty.
I tried playing it recently and the controls took some getting used to but it was still fun as hell.
I love this game to bits
But remember when Black Ops 1 just took this game's presentation for the in between cutscenes?
Played this game countless times as a kid and still play on my Xbox Series X to this day. This really was like a COD Black Ops campaign. They sure don't make em like this anymore.
I still have this game on ps2 to this day, some of the most fun I ever had during that generation playing an FPS
This game was a 9/10 only because the cutscenes were unskipabble and long. Even replaying missions. I never understood why devs force people to watch cutscenes.
Dude the story at 11:29 is so cool. Glad it worked out
It's thanks to youtube I actually found out about black about a year ago, and snagged a ps2 copy for like $7. The mid 2000s fps games I missed are suddenly becoming charming to retrod through
Have you played Urban Chaos: Riot Response? Made by Rocksteady for PS2/Xbox before they made the Batman games for PS3/360. Extremely fun and criminally overlooked.
I haven't even heard of it, thank you for another game to add to the list :D@@robertmartin5781
I would like to see an episode for Eternal Darkness and its spiritual successor that never got off the ground.
Covered pretty extensively in the Too Human episode.
@@MattMcMusclesOkay thanks.
RIP old thumbnail 😔
Black was one of my father's favorite shooter game and the only FPS game he played religiously since he prefers third person shooters
Huzzah for Saturday Morning "What Happened?!!!
For me it’s Sunday morning. The only day I have fully off from work. I’ll wake up, take the dog out when she’s ready, get back in bed with headphones (don’t want to wake the wife), and watch a handful of things culminating in that weeks WH.
It’s my weekly thing to make the rest of the week tolerable.
Absolutely criminal that a PC port was never made. Black was one of the most fun FPSs of that generation.
Travelers Tales - What Happened? Come on, it's an interesting idea. We've heard nothing from the company over the past year, and something tells me Warner Bros either liquidated Travelers Tales or most of the devs silently quit in protest.
Weird as a canon employee currently it's crazy to think they had a company branch off to make games. Especially since developing games was something i wanted to do in life
You need to check out the development of the Avalanche-made Mad Max game, it's got an interesting history with George Miller and using his concept content without permission.
Bro red alert and most of the other command and conquer games where such masterpieces for their time
If Black is your jam, I HIGHLY recommend FEAR and Trepang2. The amount of destruction you deal with guns and grenades in those games are phenomenal.
This game really was amazing. I haven't played it in over a decade and I still think about it regularly
I wish more games were self aware that they are just set pieces tied together loosely by a story. Like how Timesplitters had all these vastly different areas and made up the whole time travel thing to tie them together. Instead of having some generic story do something weird, like having the game be a dream or a fake story told at an interrogation room. That could explain why things are so over the top and would even allow them to lean into that idea a bit more.
@@Le_ChurchI think Free Radical did a great job with Timesplitters, I'm not sure what you mean.
I loved this game back then, but have never replayed it since then.
I remember picking this game up on a whim, many years ago. It wasn't the greatest game ever (especially towards the end), but it was and is still fairly entertaining, and what you could do with the guns and environment was pretty nice.
Man I played this game non-stop on the ps2! One of the best shooters!
Black was the first MODERN arcade style military fps game with 007 agent under fire and night fire right beside it , them came out cod4
I mean, hey, when your cutscenes are done in a movie setting, that's ambitious.
Feels like the thumbnail and name of the game is yelling "BLACK!", while pointing a gun at you lol
Anyway, a perfect example of a game company jumping into a new genre style for a game, and not succeeding.
I played through Black a couple years ago and really liked it a lot! It's pretty interesting to learn why stuff like the story (as barebones and forgettable as it is) turned out the way it did, though. Great video!
I actually got this game in my collection now for OG Xbox. Looking forward to playing it.
All I remember about this game (besides the hype it got pre-release) was how there were always copies at the used game store, and always dirt cheap too.
The CTU interrogation room, amazing.
I used to love how you could play songs via xbox memory, and they gave you a button to play it and skip songs mid combat.