Analysis: How BAD Is Secret Service Really? (IT'S SO BAAAD)

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

Thank you INTO THE AM for these Elevated Everyday Graphic Tees! Get yours now and get 20% OFF SITE WIDE when you click the link below before July 4th. After July 4th you'll get 10% off site wide: intotheam.com/DragonShirts Huge thanks for those that kept me sane while I streamed this to twitch! If you want to hang out in the future, come give a follow! www.twitch.tv/jarek4gamingdragon

[@Kai-tn4yx]

If you're interested in more good/ok games to review, I have some recommendations: - Requiem: Avenging Angel - Clive Barker's Undying (fits a bit into the "Half-Like" category) - Clive Barker's Jericho

[@MrDrManPerson]

You should get a grooming sponsor because your facial hair is on fucking point.

[@SeshanTM]

@@Kai-tn4yx don’t forget about vietcong a good game from the time of WWII shooters

[@DrQuagmire1]

@@Kai-tn4yx uh dude, "The Suffering" would like a serious word with you

[@jessegartung294]

I checked the wiki page and it saids they made the arma series

[@SunburnOmori]

The real secret service should have erased everyone’s knowledge about this game

[@spacefisher1427]

What secret service game?

[@SunburnOmori]

@@spacefisher1427 🤫

[@tannerskatrud7504]

Maybe it already has…

[@33SportsOffical]

what game

[@brawler5760]

What game again?

[@shawnlindsey2306]

I think this was one of the games my brother bought for me when he gave me an Xbox 360 for Christmas back in 2011 or something. I remember the achievements were really dumb. There was an achievement for tasing fire extinguishers in one mission, there was one for taking 10 hits of damage without dying with 15 seconds, and there was also an achievement for firing a whole smg magazine without hitting enemies/destructible items and it was worth 0 gamerscore.

[@shawnlindsey2306]

@@Rainbow-Dash I think I remember seeing those achievements but I don’t think I even completed the game. I don’t think I reached the NVG mission

[@jaaaaacob]

You should play the other Secret Service game from 2001 by FUN Labs. They're alot like Cauldron in that they started making budget title FPS games and moved on to Cabela titles, but with FUN Labs, their games are pretty wild, in a good way. They aren't well made, and aren't the greatest to play, but I enjoy them.

[@jaaaaacob]

Oh and you're actually missing one more Cauldron FPS, Gene Troopers. Janky Sci-Fi shooter that managed to get a console release. I enjoyed that aswell, and I didn't really like Chaser, so that might be an indication of the kind of game you're getting into

[@Bulbman123]

In Harms Way, had that one as a kid, honestly not a bad budget tactical shooter.

[@Melki617]

@@Bulbman123 I'm glad to see that it can be played for free now, I liked it when I was younger. Its "expansion pack" (Shadow Force Razor Unit) and sequel should also be abandonware by now I think.

[@pnastysavage5510]

It's actually not bad ! Even Pc gamer agreed back in the day

[@Valkian24]

I remember seeing that version of Secret Service on store shelves back in the day. Not so much the 2008 one (in Australia).

[@josephfranzen9196]

You’ve gotta love how on their AK it magically charges itself without the need to pull the actual charging handle after mag changes. It’s clear none of the devs did any research into ANY of the content, specifically the weapons. Even a common detail found in most games like the slide of a handgun being locked to the rear upon firing the last round in a magazine is absent. To be fair hand grenade range is very close, however like most video games the explosive yield and range of lethality is nowhere near the nuclear explosion games would have you believe it is. Again Jarek, I appreciate the horrible experience you must have endured to give us this great content

[@abbuw-]

The game DOES have different reload animations for guns depending if you're reloading from a partially depleted magazine or not (except for the MP5 for some reason). If there's one thing these weird low budget games tend to get right, it's actually the little details on the guns, that Sig Sauer has a tastefully cocked hammer in a time where multibajillion dollar games couldn't get that right. I watched a walkthrough of this game so I could prove that someone (you) was WRONG on the INTERNET!!!!!!!!

[@Etags]

I remember getting this game with my grandpa from the bargain bin because he liked watching me play bad games and I liked making fun of them. God this game was amazingly awful.

[@TheItalianoAssassino]

sounds like your grandpa is a legend

[@Etags]

@@TheItalianoAssassino he really was. Could never play them himself he didn’t have the coordination

[@oz_jones]

This made me smile, thanks.

[@frostkage6516]

AVGN has LJN, Caddicarus has Phoenix Games, and Jarek has Cauldron Games.

[@TonyTwoBalls]

And Civvie has Capstone

[@cameronkabore9263]

And JDG had Infogrames

[@jefverstraete8574]

@@TonyTwoBalls truly the pinnacle of entertainment.

[@ethanmarley678]

At least Infogrames made good stuff, ala Driver, Oddworld, Total Annihilation, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Neverwinter Nights, Unreal, V-Rally, many Dragon Ball Z games such as Budokai 3.

[@pchtommy1268]

and Tennings has Blast Entertainment

[@wbblueye1387]

I remember when i was with my mom at a Game Store as Kid and i wanted this Game. But she said no its to expensive now look for a cheaper one. I was Mad. Now i need to thanks my Mom for protecting me from this!

[@Web720]

If I remember correctly, this is actually a franchise. The older Secret Service games were decent budget games under the Activision Value publishing branding. According to The Examined Life of Gaming, it has good weapon accuracy.

[@thepie193]

I feel like this premise was wasted, maybe if you were some guard that was sent in for protecting something local, like a mayor or something, and you'd be involved in this deadly shootout but you survive and make your way up the ranks in various other shootouts and eventually you'd be part of the secret service.

[@CatholicShrimp]

Seriously, a game with this premise with a good budget and proper game/level design could be fun

[@jimtreebob2096]

I’ve been an executive protection agent for quite some time now, and I don’t think someone can just get promoted to the secret service. I’m not saying it isn’t possible, but I’ve never once heard of it happening.

[@brawler5760]

@@jimtreebob2096 Find some bullshit excuse then, it’s a better plot than this game has.

[@clamcrewcarclub6017]

@@CatholicShrimp that’s pretty much the story of MW2019 with Gaz being picked up by captain price for the Task force after the terrorist attack at Piccadilly

[@KrinkelsNG]

This makes me think of what an AI generated game might wind up looking like, whenever that starts to become a thing.

[@Kai-tn4yx]

If you're interested in more good/ok games to review, I have some recommendations: - Requiem: Avenging Angel - Clive Barker's Undying (fits a bit into the "Half-Like" category) - Clive Barker's Jericho

[@tejasranger]

Felt like I was the only one that played Jericho that game is a trip

[@stadtknechtproduktion4799]

Man, I liked this one.. Played the whole campaign in one night, helped me to forget about school. Good times!

[@jamesgreenhill7281]

Same here it was a fun game I played it when I was in my last year of college

[@Treyman-yi7ei]

This game should have been about investigating financial crimes. That would have been more interesting

[@oz_jones]

The whole game is just the hacking minigame.

[@flippedoutkyrii]

I recall this had the SOFIII blood effects which you could turn on with a third-party patch. Also worth noting they had some fun with the 360 achievements. My favorite is "Expert Marksmen" which you unlock by emptying a whole magazine without hitting anyone.

[@matteodelapaz1698]

Didn’t you have to move the blood patch into the secret service folder?

[@flippedoutkyrii]

@@matteodelapaz1698 I believe so, it's been a good 12 years since I last placed this lol.

[@FlymanMS]

Funhaus was able to make a whole series of videos out of it so yeah it's got to be entertainingly bad.

[@MajorSilvaa]

These devs really saw the hacking mini game that people hated on in Bioshock 1 and went “write that down write that down!”

[@rolo1034]

Ayyyy no more cauldron

[@nachomateuramon6983]

If 10 was getting shot in the head in a scale from 1-10 how painful has this series been?

[@matteodelapaz1698]

Fun fact: this game has a blood mod that doesn’t have a tutorial or instructions for how to apply

[@OwenAlekos-mh7yw]

Is it like a joke about the difference between noise cancelling software with "nothing" and "absolutely nothing"; like the people who only got "nothing" and not "absolutely nothing", got sick and are dealing with stalker schizophrenia social game Ruining living experience for life (human sensory physiology)?.

[@lordofnomnom9154]

A more logical way to have a use for the taser would be to have some enemies wear bomb-vests and if they are killed and lose there pulse then the bomb goes off. Not saying it would be fun, just more logical 🤷

[@bloodrunsclear]

‘You also become an astronaut when you die’ That will never not be funny

[@IsmailofeRegime]

"Be a secret service agent" is one of those niche subjects that bad game developers thrive on, knowing a big-name gaming studio isn't likely to make an actually *good* game about it.

[@DCGMatthew1]

It's crazy the amount of genuinely horrible games Activision used to publish, and before someone says they still do and say stuff like Vanguard, those games actually have some fun to them though, but this game, Soldier of Fortune Payback, the History Channel games, etc. Why? How?

[@brawler5760]

B-but but this game is better than Vanguard! A-and so are the History Channel games! Just kidding, I hate those comments so damn much…

[@LaRavachole]

@@brawler5760 I also can't stand them anymore, every year it's the same braindead hiveminded comment, they just change the name of the COD and then treat the older one like it was misunderstood.

[@plikonius]

Cauldron studio was merged into Bohemia Interactive Slovakia long time ago. And about two years ago, employees of BI Slovakia took THQ money and created anew company. So, Don't worry. Cauldron will return to haunt you

[@brawler5760]

Isn’t Bohemia the company that made ARMA?

[@rebelboi88]

I remember getting this for the PS2 and not finishing it. Partially because of the fact I was sub-15 years old and got stuck. Also because we adopted a greyhound and he decided to eat the disk.

[@Ar10ch_]

Lol people talk a lot these days about how military shooters are Pentagon propaganda, which is pretty much true, but it's funny just how much more straightforward this was not too long ago. "Here's a game about how federal cops are heroes," "here's a game literally made by the department of defense" it's just kinda funny. Makes me wonder if there will ever be a return to form in that regard or if the government influence will remain more behind the scenes from now on

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

It's one of the reasons I always hated Modern Military FPS campaigns. Every one that that stuff was so cool and I just...how?

[@Ar10ch_]

@@Jarekthegamingdragon 100% agree, I can't even think of something that's offered an actually critical commentary in recent memory, aside from Spec Ops: The Line obviously. Although I'll say siding with the Soviets in BOCW wasn't a choice I was expecting to get lol

[@Hinokassaudifan1]

So we're back to reviewing bad games without cauldron games?

[@matteodelapaz1698]

Not for Gene Troopers.

[@APrairieDog]

Nice shot, keep it up!

[@rabbitguy337]

Now you have to do a ranking of every cauldron game from worst to best. Of course Payback would be number one.

[@mtgAzim]

I never played this one, but there're certain aspects that I really enjoy about these games. I don't know if they're all made by the same people, but there's a bunch of games that share the same engine, many of the weapons, sounds, animations, and mechanics. I was lucky enough to be able to play some of SoF Payback's multiplayer on xbox while it was still fairly populated. It didn't have some of the issues that the pc version had, and it was actually quite a bit of fun. Especially at the time when CoD4 and WaW were still the current thing. CoD4 having a paltry selection of weapons and accessories to choose from, and WaW's weird hit detection at times, by comparison. CoD had a single dot sight, a single scope, etc. And only one attachment per weapon. SoF had a pretty neat range of things to choose from, and some nice attention to detail with some of the weapons, and ways of using them. There was at least one person somewhere in that studio that knew something about firearms. Can't always say the same for CoD, or BF, or whatever the latest offering is from the big budget studio's. Then I played that dinosaur game that shares many of the weapons and assets from SoF. Not a great game, but still neat to have such a wide range of weapons and different things to shoot at. The A³ studio's just don't seem as willing to make something silly and dumb just for the novelty and fun factor. I wish that weren't so, because if Dice or Infinity Ward in their prime had made the same game, it would likely have turned out better than with Cauldron or whoever made those games. Although, nowadays, if Cauldron had made the last BF, or perhaps the folks that did Homefront 1's multiplayer, hard to imagine them doing it worse than Dice/EA. Homefronts multiplayer was too not bad. I also got to play some of that prior to it going down. That's one I wish had stuck around. And I wish I had gotten Frontlines when it was new. Though I would've been relegated to xbox at the time. None of those were the best games when they were contemporary, but they were unique, and now they're gone. Never to return. Seeing how far things have declined has made me appreciate older things more, and lament for not appreciating them as I should have. On that note, if anyone ever wanted to get anything out of Rising Storm 2, now would be the time. With the recent news of the next game being delayed, the already low, albeit fairly consistent player base will be on it for a while longer, and with the summer sale currently, you can get the game heavily discounted, and even get the cosmetic stuff for cheap. I normally don't care about cosmetic upgrades, but it is a very meme-y game, so there's some added fun factor to having some of the cool or goofy costumes.

[@TMac2467]

Gotta say in reference to 0:56 when I first came across your vids I screensharing to some friends on discord and when I first saw your desktop I said "I bet he's a scalie" and when the vid was over i went to your other channels tab and nearly died cackling

[@johannlabertaler6095]

Just a quick shoutout to the actually really cool and detailed shotgun reload animation from this one and the dynamic shadow Chandelier in the second level, the only two things I actually enjoyed in this game

[@Spazerdude]

I always thought they did a good job with that. It's in pretty much every Cauldron game.

[@johannlabertaler6095]

@@Spazerdude Interesting! I haven't played any other of 'em I think, I tried SoF Payback but it refused to work at all, even after several fixes. I always thought City Interactive games were bad, but it turns out they actually work and are not that bad, just not good at all. Cauldron games on the other hand... Man.

[@Spazerdude]

@@johannlabertaler6095 they have a weird charm to them lol. I actually quite enjoyed jurassic the hunted on ps3. Even with its quirks, it was still kinda fun. Maybe I'm biased though, cause I loved the turok games too and want a proper dinosaur fps

[@Endi7b]

Didn’t know you rode mountain bikes that’s awesome man, I just got back into it.

[@TheDerkus]

I'm here from your halo pistol vid. I have never played any of these games but I love your style.

[@mikigameplays]

I just rememeber i stoped playing this game because of those stupid HACK puzzles was so annoying

[@avinabpatnaik9401]

ive not even watched it yet but i liked it already thats called trust

[@skye_music]

You should try starship troopers game from 2005. Fantastic video as always :)

[@havoc3-243]

Hi Jarek, are there any plans for you to cover 007 Legends? Also your content is great, keep it up

[@dionfebrian2940]

I remembered i got stuck in white House because a machine gun is killing me from nowhere

[@kingofstove]

Ohh I weirdly remember this, being a 9 year old with crappy PC and never playing the original CoD:MW (or any modern FPS in that matter), it looks amazing. I think they know their target market are lol.

[@teslashark]

It looks good of course, it's IW4 just like COD4

[@xXSPADEGG]

Lol holy fuck I remember the hacking minigame from the Funhaus play through of this game

[@user-njyzcip]

Isn't the hacking thing a direct ripoff of bioshock vending machines too? Except those were optional...

[@ashleythomas4112]

Yep, it wasn't just the vending machines, it was the turrets, cameras and safes as well. They got a lot harder late in the game and you lost health if you failed too. Thank fuck for the auto hack tool lol. That was one of the very few things I didn't like about Bioshock.

[@sirmerc297]

The grenades have Call of Duty sliding physics, going up a slope like that.

[@dan_loeb]

i wonder if you'll cover the regiment? it's an oddball game in terms of publisher and platform. a konami published first person shooter for windows pc. there's no console version, only windows pc. and it's not on any digital storefronts, but you can still get it through grey sites

[@clownhunter]

Aw man, was really hoping this would be a video on Secret Service (2001) instead. I survived on terrible budget FPS games in my youth and nobody on KZbin has reviewed this game from my childhood before.

[@XeCuTioNR]

Jarek: No More Cauldron Games! Me: *You sure about that?* looking at Gene Troopers Jarek: FFFFFUUUU...

[@edibritschgi3500]

now that you mentioned nolan north voice acting for the main character, he would say the same thing about the game, as he was voice acting for deadpool in the conversation with cable.

[@zogmorp]

I just realized you've been making videos for this channel for over 10 years.

[@askhowiknow5527]

I had a relative in the Secret Service and they DEFINITELY threw grenades at people...

[@WordsofHeresy]

"you could survive anything... except death" you die when you're killed 😮

[@_noah_.7387]

Ljn from the angry video game nerd!(I got that reference)

[@kingwokester7324]

I’m surprised Jarek never reviewed Groove Games yet.

[@SpoopySquid]

I want "Could survive anything, except death" on my tombstone

[@commander31able60]

why does the AR reload ammunition close the bolt before the mag is inserted?

[@brawler5760]

He’s smacking the mag against the rifle to realign the bullets inside I assume. At least, that’s what I remember.

[@Weezerand...]

The last mission you get fired for failure to protect jfk

[@ManiacMayhem7256]

All I remember about this game is it had a plot that would never fly today

[@Sara.Space.H]

Have you covered this before? I swear I've seen a video on this game for some reason and I have no clue why.

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

It's because every cauldron game is the same

[@maxwellsterling]

The hacking minigame is a peak Bioshock moment.

[@SNOWDUDE13]

I wanted to try this game for a while. It sat at the very bottom of my Gamefly list. I'm very glad it did 😌

[@kruletee6176]

"You could have survived anything, except death" So wise🤧

[@smokeystreams8019]

please do the cabelas games, i grew up playing them and would love to hear your review on them hahaha

[@Don-ds3dy]

Remember that one mission from MW3 where you were protecting the Russian president. Just came to mind seeing this game again.

[@voxkoshka]

Ayeeee. Happy to see someone finally bring this one up

[@ultramario4309]

"Cauldron games has kind of become the LJN of this channel, but this is the last one!" Second last one...

[@kvernesdotten]

3:17 - You certainly nailed that one hahah

[@norbertcsorba4639]

AVGN vs LJN, Civvie11 vs Capstone and now Jarek vs Cauldron Games. These are some epic storylines.

[@StellarYankee]

I vaguely remember seeing this sitting on the shelf at GameStop when my mother used to let me browse for a game. I’m glad I never picked it.

[@bakedwaffles420]

now i definitely wanna see a cabellas hunting review jarek

[@n7recruit416]

Sometimes I'm curious Jarek. What are those writers and directors were thinking before putting their games to develop on Cauldron's hands.

[@cv-bo5to]

Great content, still surprised you haven't covered the bomb that was Brink by Bethesda. I think I'm the only person in the world who still likes that game.

[@patricks.7951]

I liked Brink, probably because I bought it used, years later and knew nothing about it.

[@kabob0077]

2:28 You should have played the Secret Service game to the immediate left, you may have had fun with it.

[@KevTheGalaxybender]

Do you think G-sync would fix the 60fps issue?

[@Tom_The_Cat]

This has just made me realize how much stuff is recycled throughout Cauldron Games. Sound effects, animations and first person appearance from Civil War Reload animations from SoF On screen hints from both The sniper rifle is the same as the Whitworth Rifle from CW: Secret Missions. Shoot a guy in the foot and insta kill him Even the movement animations are identical

[@Agent_3141]

Holy hell dude I was thinking about this game right when you posted it!

[@sandradelatorre9238]

I vividly remember buying this game at GameStop like 11 years ago. The case was cracked and the disc just didn’t read. It was only like 5 bucks so I just didn’t even bother returning it lmao

[@StanleytheCat-v8z]

Cabela's Big Gamr Hunter 2010 on the Wii is pretty alright.

[@samz8691]

Any plans to do the original Secret Service by FUN Labs? Also there's one more Cauldron FPS with Gene Troopers.

[@Blank137]

i heard that little "that's what she said", and i am proud!

[@chriscreaturo8809]

So I was just getting my into CoD at the time I found this title at eb games…. I could a slap in the face lol

[@somik-i3x]

So next video is a cauldron tier list ?

[@JJaySV]

IT IS a COOL GAME!! The AI… FREAKISHLY CHASE YOU when you duck for cover!! They die/fall “accordingly” when I shoot the bad guys in the legs or whatever body part!

[@jarodaffygaming276]

Into the AM has great shirt, Can confirm. I have like 12 of them now or something like that.

[@lewkhaki6367]

What’s the name of the background music that’s playing in the first half of the video I know it’s from a game but can’t figure out what game it’s from

[@gonzalocacheiro4580]

I think you missed one Cauldron game Knights of the Temple II, I remember liking it on the ps2 when I was a kid

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

It's not an fps

[@breadinsidebag]

Yayyy no more cauldron ever again hopefully..

[@McAwesomeCrazyness]

Love the Timesplitters music in the background!!!

[@tomulenovak2258]

You could try Vietcong from Illusion Softworks.

[@ronniehopper2726]

You have to do Cabela's most dangerous hunts

[@CpTDbte]

Hey Jarek, there's a game I'd like to suggest you cover please. It's Metal Arms: Glitch In The System and I always remember it from my childhood on the game cube and Playstation 2. I just think it'd be great to see how it's withstood the test of time and what your thoughts are on it?

[@adamir-magnumCZ]

8:17 Looks like the end result is gonna be a swastika, am I right Herr Komandant?

[@Sacrer]

It was so hard to find this game couple of years ago.

[@mr.cheese2928]

Can you make a review for the Modern Combat series? It's a mobile game but I think you can play it with a controller as far as I know.

[@areallyboredindividual8766]

Check out Boiling Point: Road to Hell. It is basically Stalker meets Farcry 2, made by ex-GSC devs who left during Stalker SOC's development.

[@VioletElite4]

Hahaha I remember Funhaus playing this game way back when, looked so bad but hilarious lol ty man

[@josephhelgersonjoseph6115]

New game recommendation for oboeshoes to do video on!

[@rinothename5563]

The good thing that came out of this game is the Funhaus playthrough of it.

[@chrisbanister8192]

It spawned "Time 2 Hack" so I guess it was worth it in the end

[@agentoosnake5490]

Nice shot jarek keep it up!

[@AdahnFlorence]

Damn, for a second there I thought this was Secret Service in harm's way.