Darkwatch - What Happened?

[@MattMcMuscles]

Check out the brutal 90s intensity of WRATH: Aeon of Ruin HERE! Steam ➤ bit.ly/MattMcMuscles_WRATH_Steam GOG ➤ bit.ly/MattMcMuscles_WRATH_GOG EGS ➤ bit.ly/MattMcMuscles_WRATH_Epic

[@jesusgomez938]

Hey matt can you please make a what happened video of rule of rose on the ps2?

[@sicparvismagna97]

I don't think so it's on ps is it?

[@malbhet]

This planned release situation with Berserk for the ps2 reminded of the exact same situation with LVL5 and how they abandoned the west before porting Yokai Watch 4 in the west, which would have been one of the best selling switch games of all time if it had been released over here. That game was literally my number one "to buy" game for the switch, but LVL5 being the morons they are just pissed away that success completely. Sad part is that game would still be successful today if it had a western release, especially with how terrible the Pokemon games are with all of the technical issues that franchise suffers from now due to Game Freak's laziness.

[@Saintphoenix86]

Could you do a video of "video games industry - what happened?" and explain wtf is going on with the industry right now, with what over 10000 people in the last 12 months fired, something is going on and i cant seem to find out what

[@slingshotdon]

Gotta do a what happened to micromachines, virtual fighter, and from softwares otogi

[@axelprino]

So they escaped being absorbed by Sega just to end up being gobbled up by Activision? That's like dodging a bullet just to be run over by a train.

[@MattMcMuscles]

To be fair, Sega just wanted to shut them down right away. At least they were able to continue on and make Transformers and Deadpool with Activision.

[@axelprino]

@@MattMcMuscles it is a better destiny, but still kinda tragic. It's almost like they were cursed.

[@Gaia_BentosZX5]

This is why it's a great sigh of relief when Toys for Bob went indie. While it's still partners with Microsoft, it's got more creative freedom and a much better fate for that development studio, taking it's experince with it. As in, they already know how to promote a game with a little character called Catbat from the ill-fated Crash Team Rumble. Just imagine an original IP now freed from the CoD mines!@@axelprino

[@Nikelaos_Khristianos]

@@axelprino Heh, good pun, they actually worked on both Destiny games because Bungie takes forever to actually make anything for those games by themselves.

[@EXRazeBurn]

Feels like a textbook example of the bittersweet reality of being a developer during this era. If you had a publisher, you probably had a Sword of Damocles dangling over your head.

[@emilysong2000]

If Toys for Bob can escape the Call of Duty mines and become independent, fingers crossed that one day, High Moon Studios will be able to do the same thing!

[@MagmaMKII]

Toys for Bob paid a huge price to leave and took none of their creations with them. They're pretty much restarting from scratch.

[@theblobconsumes4859]

@@MagmaMKII Fine by me, I want to see them spread their wings.

[@johnsullivan937]

After all this time, is it even the original high moon that we knew and love? So many studios nowadays are the same in name only. They have completely different staff that hold very little understanding or respect of the games they made in the past.

[@IaconDawnshire]

I hope HNS can do a Remaster of Transformers WFC / FOC

[@SwannyTheMike]

@@MagmaMKII That's not the first time they've done so. They lost Star Control to Stardock and Pandemonium to Crystal Dynamics. Toys for Bob will be fine.

[@theliveliestcorpse2997]

Came across some of the concept art on tumblr several years ago and mentally screamed “WE WERE ROBBED” they looked so cool, especially the villain who was far less generic looking

[@CodeNameX001]

Seeing the early, cartoony art for what would become Darkwatch makes me suspect that the idea for Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath must've been in development for quite some time.

[@justgingy95]

Absolute crime that Darkwatch got left behind like it did. Would kill for a sequel or even a high quality remake for that matter.

[@agamaz5650]

yup

[@bobafett4265]

It could happen, I heard in a interview about the Microsoft Buyout of Activision Blizzard, Phil Spencer expressed interest in Acti-Blizz's dormant IPs, so the possibility of them bringing back Darkwatch with an enhanced port/remake and a sequel on the way isn't much of a pipedream as it was prior to the buyout, not to mention as McMuscles pointed pointed out there's been quite a resurgence in horror and Western mash ups as of late, so it's not like trying to sell something like Darkwatch today couldn't do well. If the creative heads behind Darkwatch are still around, maybe MS could work out a deal with them to finish the job on that sequel and do a modern port of the cult classic title.

[@imtoxiq_]

Agreed it was my child hood man, and was such a good game, I don’t understand why it didn’t get a sequel would do numbers today for sure

[@agamaz5650]

@@bobafett4265 i would cry

[@Rnmsr000]

@@bobafett4265 no fucking way, i hope it happens

[@Chris_Tootoo]

Jumping down the Drakengard rabbit hole would be an interesting idea. That series had a pretty difficult and strange development and the differences between the western and eastern releases are pretty stark.

[@rosecullen4429]

Seconding this!

[@Bongomonkeys]

Or hell, Cavia in general. A studio always held back by super low budgets and insane (bizarre) gameplay decisions.

[@Obscusion2]

Not to mention that it, in a sense, wound up being the game it became simply because the originally intended director, Takuya Iwasaki, was also working on Resident Evil: Dead Aim & couldn't handle both games at the same time, so he passed Drakengard over to Yoko Taro. Yes, Drakengard (&, in turn, Yoko Taro's career as a director) can be credited to the Gun Survivor series, in a way.

[@ninthcircleIX01MM]

Thisssssss

[@magnaremora]

I'm so happy you're talking about Darkwatch. R.I.P. Darkwatch II

[@byronbrooks6366]

It's honestly mind blowing that Sammy Studios become High Moon Studios. Since I loved the Transformers Cybertron games. Since Rooster Teeth is being dissolved for good. Have you considered doing a video on the roller coaster that was Rooster Teeth Studios.

[@cowfish13]

10:18 Crazy to think that there was a time where you could appeal to someone's humanity and honor to prevent a studio's closure.

[@webmelt]

Never forget that Sega Sammy merger is what killed Sammy vs Capcom, we could've gotten Guilty Gear vs Street Fighter...

[@MattMcMuscles]

Oh damn, forgot about that.

[@jonothanthrace1530]

We could have had Guilty Gear in Project X Zone! 😭

[@kentuckycryptid]

The mental image of Sol fighting Ryu goes so fuckin hard. I hope that, one day, we can get GG v SF.

[@pcachu]

"It was about what you'd think of when you combined Oddworld with the Old West..." > _Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath_ has entered the chat

[@Dark-Shadow110]

Here we are, Episode 200 of What Happened!! Congrats on reaching yet another milestone! I have really been enjoying this series and respect how you go deep into the development of whatever the episode is being based around whether it be a game or movie. You really do your research of what events occurred during the development of the project in question such as going behind the scenes, talking to people who involved with the project, looking at interviews, in order to explain to the audience about well, “What happened?” and why it turned out the way it did as well as what happened afterwards. I wish there were more series like yours on KZbin keep doing what you do Matt and once again, congratulations!

[@backpackingtony1779]

I actually like High Moon Studios Transformers games. They really nailed the source material.

[@strifenineteen]

Same, loved the Co-op feature for story in WfC even though the multiplayer was basic. Got a lot better in FoC but they took out the co-op. Never played the third one as it had no multiplayer

[@Soundwavesuperior13]

I would just like to note that “Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath” came out the same year

[@NoGasta]

Wow; what an awesome trip down memory lane! I worked on Darkwatch (and Bourne for that matter) and I'm always happy to hear about people enjoying it.

[@ZandorDaysev]

Thank you, for making my favourite PS2 game. From the bottom of my heart!

[@NanaKyoto]

It wasn't until I acquired a big lot of Xbox and PlayStation 2 demo discs that I learned of the existence of Darkwatch, really goes to show how much it tended to fall under the radar. Also, any episode that ends with Activision being Activision is rather heartbreaking.

[@skylarstarborn]

Okay but here me out, Fall and War for Cybertron are some of the BEST Transformers games to ever be released and I want a remaster of both so bad like fr fr

[@bradensmith8682]

The fact that the Darkwatch devs went on to make the *for Cybertron* games is a testament to how great Highmoon Studios is and how fun and memorable this game was. The similar fun and quality now just makes more sense.

[@RedDragonM1]

16:20 "But you let Chris Jerico in!" "No, it say no JERICOSSSSS. We can have a least one."

[@ericfrancisco6615]

I still have that HEAVY METAL issue. Cassidy and Tala were my top video game babes I used to draw commissions for back in the day.

[@greed-1914]

Not surprised. The first thing I remembered about this game was the ladies.

[@MegapiemanPHD]

I remember seeing an add for this game in a magazine when I was a kid. Took me like 15 to 20 years to finally figure out what game the ad was for.

[@cesarhernandez6861]

Darkwatch is what got me into FPS. Black, this and Duke Nukem 3D was how I grew to appreciate shooters.

[@HardCodedGaming]

I played this game very recently and mourned for the day when "cowboy vampire shooter" could be a concept for an original IP big budget game EDIT: I'm deeply appreciating the recommendations, but note that I use the phrase "big budget". The point wasn't "where are all the horror western video games?" But instead "where are all the out-there, original ideas in major game releases and big publishers willing to take even modest risks on new IP?" And while I have everyone's attention: if you like Darkwatch's aesthetic, you'll probably enjoy the album "Gunmen" by Orden Ogan, which is a western-tinged metal album about undead in the wild west.

[@jaceporikos]

Evil west

[@lanciferian]

Literally was going to say this ☝️

[@theblobconsumes4859]

Already is; Evil West. Also, Blood West.

[@mothertrucker341]

Think he means good games​@@jaceporikos

[@wuztron]

I don't know if Evil West is a "big-budget game." But it certainly doesn't play like one.

[@ULilBagel]

You should totally do it one for Dragons Dogma. Would be a cool way to celebrate the new games release by discussing what it took to make the first one.

[@redpyramid6843]

Darkwatch was awesome, who wouldn't wanna run around as a vampire cowboy.

[@geekytronicxz7777]

I love jericho cross, this game series needs to return!

[@jamespaul6315]

Evil west feels like a modern version

[@Pipkiablo]

I didn't realize that the War For Cybertron games were made by the same studio that made Darkwatch. It's a shame they'll never be able to work on the kind of games they want to anymore. Darkwatch was fun.

[@luccacoelho6762]

man, this is a channel that makes me happy this site exists thank you for your insane work, I can't even begin to think the lengths you've had to go to research all this stuff

[@davidhodge0201]

Dude. This game was so fucking good and ahead of its time.

[@saintdave1985]

I own a copy of Seven Samurai 20XX. The spine has SEVEN SAMURAI 200XX written on it. Has bothered me for 20 years.

[@Night_Owl_4668]

Microsoft did let Toys for Bob go their separate ways and gave Remedy the rights back for Alan Wake. Maybe there is a chance to get the rights back. I wouldn't put money on it, but it feels like more of a possibility since now MS is at the helm.

[@andremalerba5281]

Or even better! Microsoft could use Id or Machine Head to develop a sequel!

[@Faso26TV]

The Bobby segment was genius. I was like "What could go wrong from here?" to "Ah fuck." in a span of a few seconds

[@redeyedrook]

This was and still in my top 10 fav ps2 games. Still own it and played again this year. Ive always wanted a sequel to this game. Evil west was a temporary fix for the itch that ive had since darkwatch released. This game was so badass. Loved the world, the characters, styling, sex appeal, and great diverse enemies just to name a few great things bout darkwatch. This game deserves to be revived and given a long awaited sequel.

[@MentokTheMindtkr]

I loved this game so much that I got the Darkwatch badge tattooed on my right calf

[@johnsullivan937]

It is genuinely depressing the amount of legendary, talented, ultra creative studios that have been completely strip mined and destroyed by activision and EA. The fact that they just sit their fat butts on the IP's and do nothing with them makes it all the more miserable. COD alone has like half a dozen studios that were known for making innovative and interesting IP's.. now just churning out the same lazy crap year.. after year... after year... after year. I miss the old raven software, high moon, pandemic, and bullfrog games. No wonder the industry feels so homogenous and bloated nowadays. That's literally what it is. Shackle 12 different studios on the same tired franchise for decades because it makes money.. so fk it. I feel like nowadays we get the same 7 or 8 games constantly. Each generation, each year.. the same crap.

[@PeteTheGrouch]

Blame the unimaginative smoothbrains who keep shelling money out for it... these dud studios wouldn't survive a year if not the armies of sycophants propping them up.

[@trtx84]

The High Moon team deserves a ton of credit for those first two TF games. As you've covered previously.

[@MasoTrumoi]

Wait, Darkwatch was good THIS WHOLE TIME?! I used to stare longingly at that cover in the bargain bins at EB Games/Gamestop for years thinking "it looks so cool in a goofy way, but I've been burned before" and never bought it.

[@CarlosXPhone]

Yeah. It plays similar to Call of Duty in some places. It was marketable, the issue is that it was hard for the game to compete with games like RE4, Mortal Kombat, etc.

[@flipsidelimited6560]

Hope you do a video Vivendi Games as well. No one talks about them but they were known for killing off a lot of merging IPs from the late 90s to early 2000s by buying out a lot of smaller to mid-level companies. I remember a lot of favorite games from that era never got a sequel because Vivendi would become their parent company. Guess they are rarely mentioned since they became Activision Blizzard, but they are one of the major pillars of that infamous merger and why Activision owns so many IPs.

[@BraedenOrr]

The Bourne Conspiracy was actually based on the books rather than the films, though they clearly took visual inspiration from the movies. I quite enjoyed it, especially as a slightly less than full price title at the time. It wasn’t amazing, but it was really solid and had variety.

[@billbo5449]

Final Fantasy 15 would make for a great episode. Between its 10 or so years of development that started as a whole different title, to having half of its post launch dlc canceled, there's a lot to talk about there

[@DBZFan-qi7su]

Wish this game would be remastered with local and online co op for the story, I loved playing the story mode on the Playstation 2 version with my brother back in the day 😊

[@johnsullivan937]

Dude I remember playing the demo from the xbox magazine disc like 100 times (back before I was allowed to play M games lol) I didnt get my hands on the full game until I hit middle school, the 7th gen consoles were coming out so 6th gen games were cheap at hollywood video, and my parents stopped caring what I played. So many good memories.

[@Brentastrophe]

YEAAAH! My little brother and a friend of his got to tour their studio in Carlsbad, and when they came back that day we had 4 copies on Xbox to keep/give to friends. Not only was it an awesome day for my little brother, it was an awesome game to get copies of!

[@GenerationWest]

They started their company to make a game that was gonna be ahead of the curve, ended up making the best Transformers games, and a Deadpool game... and then their reason for existing got drown out by other horror westerns and Microsoft... ahh a take as old as time.

[@jacksmith-mu3ee]

Is no one going to mention sunset riders😂

[@PuppetMasterIX]

14:01 I don't know what's worse: the category, or that they used the word "the" _twice._

[@Dadodaw]

I loved playing this game Co-Op with my brother growing up. This and Champions of Norrath were prime couch co-op gaming for us.

[@codylong7595]

Please do the 1995 Judge Dredd!

[@oopsy444]

18:43 and 2 of those transformers games ended up being my absolute favorite games for the entire franchise Speaking of. Do a transformers episode for war and fall of cybertron

[@fabrix199]

Jericho in a world ruled by vampires protecting a girl sounds a lot like Vampire Hunter D

[@EdwardFregoso]

Phil Spencer said he was interested in reviving old Activision games, maybe they can do dark west. In a time where we are getting an Epic Mickey remake, never say never.

[@williamjones4117]

I still have my PS2 copy of this game I got new on release day, and I still love it. Always glad to see it turn up in conversation.

[@Lazydoodle]

Man, horror westerns are fun. What got me more into the genre was the table top game "Deadlands the Weird West". Anytime I find one, I just go "it's deadlands energy" i need to somehow get my that game in hands now. I still have my Xbox sitting there collecting dust

[@Ghost_Ship2499]

Love the track from sunset riders ost in the intro! One of my all time favorite arcade games.

[@carly7596]

i loved this game as a small babby child. i saw a preview for it in gmr and my little tiny brain became obsessed immediately and had to have it

[@Eric_Cartman1]

We were robbed of the Berserk game not getting localized.

[@Girlwithmetalgear]

My dad bought this game for me as a kid swearing up and down it was the van helsing movie game for so long. Up until I figured out the names Jericho and Gabriel weren't the same😂

[@silverphoenix4934]

The exact same thing with me and my bros

[@ratchetxtreme6591]

The 2000s equivalent to Evil west .

[@random_gamer_guy82]

Definitely feels like it doesn't it. I really liked evil west myself.

[@Cyryvy]

Darkwatch ran so Evil West could fly.

[@TransientWitch]

The very moment I heard the name "Jericho Cross" I was unsure...I've heard that name before, I *feel* like I've seen the game on a show before but...Nothing actively comes to mind when I try to remember! So much of what was shown off here looks like it would have been fun, but while I feel like I heard about it before...I'm not sure if this feeling is of real memories or a Mandela Effect kicked off from the game and character itself resembling a different Western-themed fps that I think was talked about on this very channel >.>

[@arthurcoimbra9345]

Did you know that this is the 200th episode of What Happened? Congratulations on the milestone!

[@aSkymne]

5:40 so Oddworld: Strangers wrath?

[@Wolfwing24426]

Awesome video! Also, always happy to support new 3D Realms releases. Also also, Andrew Hulshult looks so different outside of his can

[@nudicegaming6813]

When this game came out, I was at the height of my Deadlands obsession and this was exactly what I needed.

[@IaconDawnshire]

Ah yes Deadlands. That needs to come back

[@nudicegaming6813]

@@IaconDawnshire I heard that they just dropped a new edition. It's still out there.

[@mage4242]

​@@nudicegaming6813can vouch that Deadlands is still going, both the Savage Worlds and Anniversary Editions with the cards

[@otooandoh9556]

Fantastic episode Matt! I thought almost everyone had forgotten about this game. It's a shame they weren't able to buy back the ip rights but what can you do. Also thank you for unlocking a core memory with that girls of gaming vol 3 cover! I used to have that exact magazine as a teenager and for the life of me could not remember what it was called.

[@dauntlessoperator41]

I love The Art of Darkwatch book. If you can get your hands on a copy, do it...those people were so skillfull! High Moon deserved better than that! Darkwatch, deserved better.

[@brikonikgaming]

Been watching this series before I sleep on my TV finally on my PC to comment thanks for this awesome series Matt.

[@Rightchickenwing]

7:14 One of the only KZbinrs I know that pre-warns of an ad break! Amazing!! 😊😊

[@boomfromLI]

i remember seeing this on x play and numerous magazines thinking it was so cool , but knowing my mother would never buy it for me

[@JhenMaster]

This was literally one of the first games I EVER PLAYED. So I'm happy to learn more about a milestone of my childhood.

[@Fullmetalsoup]

So as saddening as all this is, Transformers War for Cybertron, and Fall of Cybertron are amazing games. Silver lining to every cloud right?

[@Runer719]

I found this game in a used games box at my local EB Games. I feel in love with it and played it to death back in the day. Would love to see this game make a return. but we all know what Acti-Bliz are like >.>

[@dudefromtheearth]

What an great video about this classic that I just had the pleasure of playing last year. I couldn't believe what I was playing and feel that it can contend with any of the new games today!

[@Afr0Punk]

I loved this game back in the day.

[@pedroportillo1585]

This game can EASILY be remade by NightDive Studios!!! It would sell like crazy!!

[@Nolongerhereanymore]

Seriously *Darkwatch should of been far bigger!* This is sad The universe! The history and lore! So much potential!!!!

[@angelem5960]

Should have*

[@SajiSajSa]

Love the fact that you started this video with sunset riders music.

[@Nikelaos_Khristianos]

Hey, High Moon gave Transformers ALOT of love with War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron. Those guys and gals were clearly Transformers super-nerds because those two games were completely original ideas and not based off any “Bayformers” material. And they released those games at the peak of Bayformers fatigue, so older fans were just happy to have something new, original and fun that also resembled the PS2 Atari Transformers game.

[@MattMcMuscles]

Ok. Didnt say anything to the contrary, just pointed out the heads of the studio were not interested in that franchise, and wanted more independence.

[@ZuperNEZ]

Played this game at someone's birthday party back in high school, and convinced to get my own copy. Still have it to this day.

[@R.P.G.G]

This was my all time favorite game to play growing up with friends.

[@matthewkrumlauf9990]

Chris was one of my teachers when I started my masters program. So it is neat to see him here even though the story is sad.

[@karpai5427]

These videos feel like some kind of Darkwatch dlc I never played.

[@HS786-g7r]

I can’t believe the game that I thought was extremely obscure would be covered by the this channel and only 6 months ago at the end of 2024. it makes me even happier to see how many people feel the same about it. This is my first first person shooter because my brother thought BioShock was too dark for me at that age. A year later he gifted me resident evil 4😭

[@FilmAcolyteReturns]

I remember finding a playthrough of this game was nearly impossible, several years ago. Nice to see that some more people have stumbled across this game.

[@somemathproblem]

I never played this game but it has a soft spot in my heart as I used it for a whole section in a college paper on the representation of native americans in video games

[@Igarappappa]

Cool!

[@anthonygaming4766]

My childhood actually one of the first game I ever played thank you for reminding me about it

[@TheTyper]

I've been trying to remember this game I saw on a Blockbuster rental shelf for like 10 years now. I kept getting it confused with Project Snowblind.

[@pjf674]

16:42 that screenshot is perfect

[@johnfinklestein6910]

Oh shit!! I remember playing this when i was a kid. One of my buddies had picked ot up and we played it for days. Loved the idea of a cowboy vampire

[@muigokublack6487]

tbf, War For Cybertron and Fall Of Cybertron are ABSOLUTE gems.

[@BelaMillenis]

I was literally looking things up for this game and your video came up. It's like you knew!

[@CJMoody]

I know this show is mainly for video games and movies. But with this year marking the 10th anniversary, I wanna see a Wha Happun episode about Dashcon! The thumbnail can even have Matt's head replaced with the infamous ball pit!

[@jameswalt1]

Visually this game is incredible for the PS2. It objectively looks better than the first Resistance game on PS3.

[@colbyboucher6391]

Yeah, obviously the resolution amd textures aren't great but the engine was solid as hell.

[@ticknoros106]

I've been waiting for this episode a long time happy to see it finally come out

[@maymayman0]

It baffles me that the cowboy horror crossover genre is not milked more in games. People still want this stuff!! Undead Nightmare, Hunt: Showdown, and recently Evil West

[@mausmalone]

Matt McMuscles: Everybody loves the classic game Darkwatch! Me: I have literally never heard of this game. I don't even recognize it from the GameStop bargain bin back in the day ...

[@demonwind5030]

Pity. You missed out on some good shit.

[@felman87]

You mention NPD numbers. I remember the classic GameInformers used to publish them. I would take a gander at them to see what people liked and see if it was worth my notice. DarkWatch I was interested in but I didn't notice it in the Top 5/10. I can't remember if I definitely bought those that interested in me in the Top 5 or Top 10. I do know that I was 100% into DMC3 and it reached the 3rd spot for the launch month of March of 2005. Ok, I wrote too much. But if you have access to their archives, check out the last couple of pages in the magazine, that's where they would publish the NPDs back then.

[@TheMrGmk]

Gotta love how you always do sponsorships with talented indie devs

[@Lastkoss]

I am with you on this Matt. I wish we got more darkwatch. It was so good. Thanks for explaining we haven't though.

[@JasonTate08]

When I bought this game I was hooked by it's atmosphere, the weapons and the different types of monsters I had to kill. I can't remember much from this game, because I played it a long time ago once. But I remember, that I liked it. And I did a huge mistake and sold it in a buy and sell shop end never played it ever again. But every time I see that kickass cover, I remember that I had fun with this game.

[@blutobeyond]

Thanks for doing this one Matt! Highly requested

[@Cyryvy]

I finished this game on a rental, absolutely loved it. Their website was SO cool, it had all sorts of ideas from Ancient Rome to the future. Ride like hell, Jericho!

[@Soundwavesuperior13]

I would love it if Matt did a What Happened for "Chronos: Before the ashes".