Urban Chaos Review - An Unhinged PS1 Game

[@Dorkaxe]

I will never forgive Jt Smelik for getting me to play this game. Blame them for this video existing. Support me on patreon: www.patreon.com/dorkaxe Support me on ko-fi: ko-fi.com/dorkaxe Follow me on twitter for updates on the channel: twitter.com/darkaxe54

[@EmilyKimMartin]

Maybe it was for a good cause, the Urban Chaos sequel is one of the best shooters on the PS2/Xbox

[@ianswift3521]

yes, don't take accountability or responsibility for your actions. always make a cutsie quirky joke blaming someone else for what you've done. Healthy. y'all.

[@Dorkaxe]

@@ianswift3521 weirdo

[@Eckathor]

Just love these PS 1/2 era lesser known games. Something about those two console generations was just special. Game quality was less consistent for sure, but there was way more experimenting and games felt more unique and fresh more frequently.

[@HQ_Default]

Yeah, we don't really get these kinds of "fascinatingly terrible" games anymore. It used to be that often times when you had these big ambitious games that had a scope beyond what the technology, budget, or team was capable of... towards the end they'd pretty much just duct tape all of the loose ends together so you could at least finish it from beginning to end. Then they'd spend any remaining time fixing bugs and ship what they had. Nowadays they usually reel in their ambition WAY in advance of the deadline, cut out most of the cool ideas they were working on, and just wind up shipping a much safer, by-the-numbers product. It might lead to a technically more competent result, but it winds up being a whole lot less memorable.

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

I mis-read your initial phrase as PS "half" & I thought that was the perfect description for this genre of interesting jank.

[@Cartierian]

This game is a childhood treasure of mine, I kind of like the fact that it’s under rated but I feel like it should have gotten the attention it deserved. I speak on behalf of playing this on PC though as it performs much better on there

[@breasthound]

This game WAS my childhood.

[@JTidiotboy]

I love that every stairstep in this game is knee high. This city was built for Yao Ming and Yao Ming only.

[@AzguardMike]

i loved this game as a kid. When the "agents" show up later, is when the game got real crazy. And the 180 to "magic and hell" on the last mission was just like 1 to 100

[@Joshua-Cain]

The reason this game has so many glitches and bugs is because it’s a port. I grew up playing this on the ps1 and it was one of my favourite games despite the jankiness but back in 2020 I grabbed it for the PC (it’s true form) and I could never go back to the ps1, honestly it’s night and day and the graphics are 100X better, worth another go around if you can play it on there.

[@ninochaosdrache3189]

Yeah, the game is more pretty on PC. Though I felt that the PC version is missing missions and god help me if I ever have to play this game without safe states again.

[@SweatyCowch]

I opened Ebay in a second tab and bought this while you were talking about how bad it is. I can't let free roaming, 3d, city environment on the ps1 go unexperienced.

[@Dorkaxe]

The thought that a video of mine about an old 2000 era PS1 game can influence someone to buy a game on ebay is humbling. Holy shit lmao hope you like it dude! It has some fun moments for sure, just try not to kill hostages!

[@packpock4369]

It's GTA before GTA

[@khululyp]

This game should not be forgotten!!! I think with a remaster treatment of the likes of Nightdive this game can be an interesting little crime fighting romp. I got this game when I bought my first own pc around the turn of the milennium. Yeah the game has some jank to it but I managed to finish it on PC (with keyboard). It is an absolute gem, like Tresspasser and Alpha Protocol. A game that was a bit too ambitious for it's time doing things the world of gaming was not quite ready for.

[@ABuffWizard]

I remembered this game fondly from when I played it as a kid, but I still recall how jarring the Balrog fight was. It really does just come out of nowhere. Plus the last level being a huge pain in the ass and how grueling the timed missions where, especially the bombs and the mission in the snow. To some degree its kind of cool that player receives so little info about all the things that are happening behind the scenes. Kind of fish out of water, like D'arci isn't the hero of the story and is only involved in the fringe events, but that's probably giving the game and its writing too much credit lol Fantastic overview!

[@Three60Mafia]

PC version of this is much better. It was the original platform, maybe the PS transition was rough on the game. Most of the issues you talk about with controls and graphics arent there. You also get additional secret missions where you play as a Wildcat after you beat the main story.

[@maromaro1337]

I played this game a lot during my PS1 days. I remember that I completed it once and it glitched during THE FINAL CUTSCENE preventing me from finishing the game. Fun memories, lol. The whole game was very impressive for it's time. The levels were huge and every mission had some side objectives if you explored the city. I get that the controls are a bit clunky and the graphics could be a bit better but it's the best thing we got that resembled a 3D sandbox in 99. It was before Driver 2 and the only other game like this was the Batman & Robin game in 98... ugh, that was a stinker. I couldn't even get past the first mission! Also you can actually steal any civilian vehicle that is driving. You need to shoot the car a few times and the civilian will get out of it. The setback is, that the car is now damaged.

[@OminousToast]

This is an awesome video, just fantastic dude. Video games used to be so cool

[@chaosking911]

This game was revolutionary back then, utterly ignored, but so ahead of it's time, I did only play the PC version and didn't even know that a PS version was a thing until few years back. That PS version tho is beyond saving, cleanse it with fire.

[@maltsutty]

I never even knew this game existed to be honest ! I played and LOVED “Urban Chaos : Riot Response” and always wished for a sequel. This looks very interesting though , thanks for another awesome video ….UNHINGED!!

[@john2g1]

A lot of the complaints and comments you made are strictly because you played the PS1 version. I played the PC version (making it 2 years older than GTA). I didnt have many of the music/audio issues you mentioned, and the graphics are much better. Fun review though.

[@DrewDoodle]

I went back 10 seconds so we could burp at the same time

[@Dorkaxe]

A true friend.

[@IsmailofeRegime]

As someone who enjoyed the game on PC, I think you did a great job with this review; all your criticisms are sound, though I will say the PC version mitigates some of the issues (draw distance isn't as bad, controls aren't quite as flawed, that heart monitor sound when you die doesn't randomly play during missions, the men in black don't have that lousy "pain" sound when dying, less glitches in general, etc.) The inconsistent nature of the plot makes me suspect the game was rushed. At the start of the opening FMV of the final level, for example, a Wildcat is shown wearing a cult-esque mask (which would make sense now that the Wildcats know they're working for an "ancient warlock"), whereas in the level itself the Wildcats look like they always have. Whatever story existed was probably cut up with bits shoddily pasted together to meet deadlines.

[@IsmailofeRegime]

To add onto what I wrote, another sign the game was rushed is Bane himself. The "Vote Bane" signs depict a figure who looks nothing like Bane in the missions. There's also a cutscene at the end of one mission showing Bane chiding two Wildcats for failing to stop D'arci and Roper, and his voice is very different from the stereotypical "wise old Asian man" voice heard in Estate of Emergency.

[@fastedstate8744]

Just found out about your videos I love the type of games you cover.

[@vampiricpig1392]

Tbh the ideas for gameplay are pretty interesting and the story is so weird I think a remake could iron out the flaws and make something pretty cool

[@zionrodman6409]

This is great. I remember I used to play this mess of a game as a kid. It weird almost to see that other people know about it.

[@MrWrite22]

This game was INCREDIBLE. I ask ppl about it so much and its crazy how many don’t remember. I need a remake

[@Exigentable]

These videos are well done and I appreciate your hard work.

[@ninochaosdrache3189]

There is a pickup animation when you press Circle, which fixes the unceremious disappearence of items. But yeah, it's a pretty clunky game, yet I like it, both because of the setting and also because how crazy the NPCs can be and how open the levels are

[@carlisle6831]

I would love to hear your thoughts on the Mafia series, also enjoyed this video

[@Dorkaxe]

Given that you seem to really like it and want a video from it, I'll at least give the game a shot at some point. I'm not promising anything, the game at a glance doesn't look too interesting to me, but I should at least try it out and see for myself.

[@carlisle6831]

@@Dorkaxe if anything you experiencing the story of each game atleast the first 2 in particular would be great.

[@Dorkaxe]

@@carlisle6831 I see that the definitive edition has changed a lot of stuff. Would you recommend going with the original games?

[@carlisle6831]

@@Dorkaxe Mafia Definitive Edition is the best way to experience the first game since it’s a ground up remake of the first game built off of Mafia 3’s engine. The Definitive Edition of 2 was a low-effort attempt at remastering the game and is buggy but I believe if you buy it on steam you get both the Definitive Edition and the original and for the 3rd game it doesn’t matter since the Definitive Edition is just the original game with the latest patches and DLCs added.

[@rickwong9049]

Game still more revolutionary and lively than Cyberpunk 2077. Let that sink in!

[@scoobydoobydoo4880]

I don't understand how you can be so critical of a game, yet give it 9/10. Anyway, I love this game, and the PC version is so much better mechanically, that I'd suggest you play that version.

[@Blacchogg]

Not listening to someone who was probably 3 years old when this game came out... Stick to what you know 🤡🤡

[@Juwce_86]

Firstly, thanks for making this retrospective. I was lucky enough to play this on the pc back in the day with voodoo 2 and an intel celeron 400mhz cpu. Game was good, i dont remember any of the problems you stated being in that version of the game. The young me loved the atmosphere and gloom this city gave off.

[@BC-vl4rn]

For ps1, this game was far more than good. I played this game in my teens age and I was stunned

[@younesakdah1803]

A 56 minute review about URBAN CHAOS? You psychopath. I'm in. Edit: 14:33 is THE part of the video. Edit 2: 39:42 is now THE part of the video.

[@connorlange4298]

If there’s ever a chance you would be open to it, please do a war of the monsters review. One of the best PS2 games out there with great co-op

[@slamchowder9509]

I really enjoyed this game as a kid haha

[@Lion-O-Richie2040]

Same and I can’t even figure out how I had it lol. I know for damn sure I couldn’t but my own games yet, but definitely sat playing this in my room somehow lol. I did have a chipped ps1 so maybe that’s how. I even remember a name which was Corolla.

[@slamchowder9509]

@@Lion-O-Richie2040 Mine was a chipped ps1 with a dump truck of pirated games

[@WaveySingh]

Remember when you could go to shops and buy gaming magazines... The magazines would have demo cds attached to them, I used to steal those demo cds. The demo for this game was on one of them and I loved it. I feel this review is too harsh, this game was fire

[@beaksaver5361]

Really enjoyed this video. I hope you will review Earth Defense Force 5 soon.

[@Dorkaxe]

I always appreciate any mention of EDF. It likely won't be for a bit, but trust me, I'm itching to get the whole series on the channel.

[@beaksaver5361]

@@Dorkaxe Sounds great. Im glad to hear you are still into it. I look forward to it when it comes out. Wait till you get to EDF 6 and you see the enemies in that one. The final boss is crazy.

[@jeannetitor]

i still remember the same chime you get annoyed by like 24 years later and is what brought me back to look up urban chaos videos so enjoy thinking about it for the next few decades

[@KarlMySuitcase]

I love the fall damage noise in this game.

[@noledge887]

Dude, same thing happened to me with the jingle alarm thing. I was hearing it in my every day life for a few days after renting this from Blockbuster lol.

[@Dorkaxe]

This is absolutely astounding. I have heard this from so many people with this game, oh my god...this is like the tetris effect but with audio!

[@Xegethra]

I played this at some point. Even tried the PC version, it was even worse to control even when you could rebind them. But I do like the old chunky look of it though.

[@vindi501]

Dude that sound was absolutely beautiful to me

[@justinfleck6329]

Wow this was an...interesting game...lol As always a great review that was very well done :) Look forward to the next video!

[@rockstar42021]

I loved urban chaos

[@lonewolffang]

In a way, I feel like Urban Chaos kind of inspired the True Crimes series. Glad I bought it long ago and finished it.

[@BIOGEAR2077]

Loved this game! Miss the days when people didn’t over analyze video games and they just enjoyed them for what they were.

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

One person's "over analyze" is another person's "tell me more".

[@THerculez]

I bought this game off my little brothers friend for £1 at the time. Loved this game so much 😂

[@brisakow7797]

The dialogue of this game was insane. My dad let me play it when he got it, I was about 10… I remember the scene where you have to either convince a jumper not to jump, or he jumps anyways 😂 unhinged

[@Bobo0451]

Definitely seems like the game had a troubled development with too many cooks in the kitchen. I would also have you to guess that the mission order was originally different giving the impression of them being out of order

[@Gruntvc]

Despite its flaws, Urban Chaos looks interesting. I'd check it out if it ever got remastered. Is the Dreamcast version better than the PS1? And if you wanna play a crazy PS1 game, check out Fear Effect. For an RE clone, it got crazier than the PS1 RE trilogy. There's also Covert Ops Nuclear Dawn/Chase The Express for PS1. Might be worth a look.

[@strikeforce1500]

Man,this game's story makes FF XV story look decent.

[@buggypaws5294]

Thank you for reviewing - and finishing - my childhood.

[@inandoutgta6128]

This game looks 10 times better on pc

[@khtheblack]

I loved this game back then when I played it in 1999-2000.

[@JohnFleming-sw7hn]

1999 what a wonderful time to be alive into!

[@jakeholmes9296]

I’ve been trying to remember what this game was called for years. I only ever played the demo of it at my mates house. But we played the demo so many times.

[@Tinyuvm]

I played this game so much on pc when I was a kid. I need to play again 20y later to see if the memory Holds up... probably not 😂

[@ryanmurphy7976]

I loved this game when i was a kid

[@DavetheTurnip]

Yikes. You certainly suffer for your art Dorkaxe. 😂

[@BellyRoll2OP]

yeah this game was nuts

[@mrunitforge]

I thought it was Urban Chaos: Riot Response. You better review that next

[@jtsmelik1574]

THAT IS HIS ONLY NEXT OPTION

[@Dorkaxe]

JT you don't get a say in any video for quite a while lol you rascal

[@JimiVexTV]

I loved this game as a kid, but I can accept - it's janky as all hell and is completely nonsensical. I mostly played it as a civilian merking simulator, before GTA3 came into the picture. Plus, I always enjoyed glitchy games when I was a young'n - was fun to see how far you could push them. Oh, and that one SFX you pointed out haunted your dreams - that's stuck with me for over 20 years now.

[@SvrgitAbsvrdvm]

I think this game deserves more love and appreciation. First of all, I cant be the only one that thinks the dialogue is hilarious and completely fitting for the atmosphere and tone it intends. Also, even though the graphics never looked top notch, it as a whole represents very well a dystopian city corroded by corruption and perversion. And lastly, the controls in my opinion are WAY less frustrating than say first Tomb Raider. All the reviews I see are from people that only experienced it now for the first time, in the Fortnite era, an era where only the 2D retrogames are allowed to be appreciated. I played this game on PC first back in 2001/02 maybe, which clearly is the best version, and I absolutely loved it from the beginning. It was only a couple of years ago when I bought the ps1 version and considering the limitations I definitely enjoyed it too. I'm obviously being nostalgic and biased because of the memories playing this game when it came out, but it bothers me how most reviewers treat early 3D ps1 games. Not a hate comment, just my thoughts on the matter.

[@Dorkaxe]

Considering I referenced MGS1 and Tenchu, I'm not sure I buy the "I experienced it too late to appreciate it" angle. Like I said, it's very ambitious and certainly deserves its credit, but I just don't think it's very good. I actually played RE1 and RE2, Tenchu and MGS1 for the first time around the time I played Urban Chaos, and it was night and day how much better they all were, and not just because of nostalgia or graphics or what have you. Basic stuff like grabbing items and moving your character. I haven't played Tomb Raider, so maybe that would have been another good one to try for perspective, but eh, those don't really interest me much.

[@ichi4468]

played this on a 486x, nuff said, was great time

[@hinata_mu]

great video, i remember hating the ps1 and dreamcast versions, really rushed unoptimized and awful. The sounds u hear at 11:11 are basically 3 stages of enemy detection alert (useless feature tbh) from far range (bell) to close range (stab) to combat engagement (heartbeat), the problem is some npcs that aren't enemies also are programmed as enemies to the radar (policemen, deeks..)

[@Dorkaxe]

Oh man, that's so interesting. Thanks for the info!

[@kylespevak6781]

Looks like a Tomb Raider engine flip

[@grytis]

Sorry cant listen to this review. Clearly you haven't played this game when it came out. This is a gem. No other game before was like it. And on ps1 hardware. And also there was a pc version of the same game. Which is much better.

[@ninochaosdrache3189]

A gem that gets really frustrating later on. I really don't want to play this game without safe states ever again

[@grytis]

@@ninochaosdrache3189 sounds like you problem

[@packpock4369]

This review was nothing but whining, if you compare to later hardware and games that have nothing to do with that time frame yet you find fault with everything which is pretty much this review. I don't think he realizes how hard this was to pull off, GTA didn't get there until PS2. It looks fun, it's open world for it's time, love her as a character. It's very detailed the little details they added like knocking trash cans over etc. It's definitely a gem!

[@grytis]

@@packpock4369 tottaly agree 💯

[@Autistic_Pixel]

Steel Harbinger is one you should play.

[@ghostieknows]

Best game I ever rented from block buster

[@packpock4369]

Everyone had their own opinion, first off the dialogue is supposed to be nutty. For it's time this game is bety impressive because of the hardware it's running on weaker hardware and PS2 wasn't even a thing. So the fact it was able to do this on PS1 is a win. Have you noticed a pattern with ps1 games? Control's are janky is like every ps1 game even the best ones. There is a reason for that they hadn't started using dual analog yet. It wasn't a thing until ps2. See that's an issue with this review you're use to playing all this modern technology that the older controls are going to feel way different. You have to keep an open mind because the technology was limited as well as the controls..

[@tylerdurden4890]

I put hours into this game

[@Knusperknechtinthehouse]

Man u don't get the game, that's it. Finding out that you can search through the containers is part of the searching for the item

[@AndrisLelisTravelChanel]

I remember moment when I played this game for the first time. This graphics sucks, I cried, I wanna Dremcast

[@not28]

good lord, did the devs even play their game?

[@duckman4928]

Hey, could we ask for review of Witcher games or entire series?

[@Dorkaxe]

I'll go ahead and flat out say no on that one lmao Joseph Anderson has me beat by a country mile. I never gravitated towards those games anyway, so I'm not sure I have the interest. Like always, though, I'll keep it in mind in case others ask about it. Who knows, I've done things after saying I would never touch them, like battlefronts, so never say never, but probably unlikely.

[@packpock4369]

Looks fun even if it's not perfect

[@HitlerGaymes123]

Hello there, are you will review Jedi Academy or i will need to force you? Will be with consentimento?

[@Dorkaxe]

oh lord lol y'all are gonna make me stop taking recommendations, so hostile! you gotta wait, it won't be the next star wars games on the channel, but it's on my list, I promise. Don't force me please 😂

[@HitlerGaymes123]

@@Dorkaxe as your wish. But i will keep waiting, right next to you. Make a wise choice.

[@AutumnAprodithe]

Lol you hit that dude for no reason.

[@Knusperknechtinthehouse]

omg bro. if u don't enjoy a game why even play it. the gps is simple for a reason. so that u have to explore

[@OfficialSatelliteMan]

Do Rascal. You’ll absolutely destroy it.

[@Dorkaxe]

what lmao I've never heard of this game. Oh goodie, another random one for the list! Thanks lol

[@Lion-O-Richie2040]

God speed….. I remember that damn game.

[@Lion-O-Richie2040]

And it shall destroy him. What have you done?…

[@chupkabra6805]

Couldn't have picked a better day to post this

[@sissokoshwazz6725]

I loved this game ❤❤

[@fhjunior6183]

Thanks for the vid

[@jabroniyumerale6204]

You can dodge all Ranged weapons by strafe rolling. Still, pc version is better.

[@korbenhouston5913]

Day Ruined. Review Banjo and Kazooie: nuts and bolts, or else...

[@Dorkaxe]

Oh god, more random games to review? Maybe next year lol

[@korbenhouston5913]

@@DorkaxeI said OR ELSE…

[@Dorkaxe]

@@korbenhouston5913 Sorry bruh next 4 videos are set in stone

[@yuki4days]

🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬

[@ScreenHardy]

yesssirrrrr

[@TheGrandBuzzard]

Yipee kayay

[@beneil2]

a fucking what?

[@Dorkaxe]

take your pick, but I did have a specific word in mind that I'm not sharing here lol

[@beneil2]

@@Dorkaxe it Cunt.

[@happynihilist2573]

3rd