Black & White: Playing God With a Giant Cow

In the early-2000s PC gaming world, few titles were more hyped up than Black & White! It was the first game from Lionhead Studios, headed by Peter Molyneux of Populous fame. And it featured a whole lotta cow slapping.
● LGR links:
/ lazygamereviews
/ lazygamereviews
/ lazygamereviews
● Links to the fan-made patches and multiplayer mode:
www.pcgamingwi...
bwgame.wildman-...
● Music courtesy of:
www.epidemicsou...
#LGR #Gaming #Retrospective

[@rhboomer]

Fun story: I bought this the day it came out, and was stupid hyped for it. Probably one of the games that I have put the most time into in my entire life. That being said, the release batch had a problem during manufacturing that led to an imbalance in weight from the paint on the disc (it was one of those full-disc prints). At the time, CD-ROMS were just starting to go into increasing speeds. After about 2 months of playing, the disc exploded in my drive, which destroyed the drive as well. Needless to say, I was upset. Called their support line, and they explained what it was. Not only did they send me an entirely new copy, they also bought me a new CD-ROM. Some of the best customer service I have ever had.

[@dogfat.]

That's really cool, thanks for sharing!

[@dancincoolkid]

That's so cool, good on them!

[@SQUIDWORD15]

That's very cool

[@Ceviche710]

this same exact thing happened to me as a kid when Diablo 2 : Lord of Destruction came out. one day a few months down the line i was playing and i heard my cd rom drive rev up really fast then boom, disc exploded and drive long gone. i was so shocked i wasnt even upset until 20 mins later haha

[@-Pheonix]

I’m sure I had this happen one time too it was weird, I could hear the disk speeding up then smashed into bits lol I was like wtf that sucked and moved on 😂 maybe I should have spoke to support too. Quite hilarious tbh if I must say

[@Alluminati]

This game was mindblowing as a child, I still get the feels when I see my box.

[@venix20]

you kidding on 2002 i thought it was the best game ever created in history ! and i just burned my self for weeks playing it over and over (( i had no internet yet))

[@fusoishere]

@@venix20 same here. It was my first "real game" on PC, coming from consoles, this really blew my mind.

[@hthring]

I loved it

[@gustavgnoettgen]

I feel the same about my settlers 2 gold box. My first serious game.

[@BuddyLee23]

Not the same feels I get when I see your mom’s box...

[@maux7767]

I actually really loved this game as a kid. I dug the whole concept and stuff. ...but I literally had no idea of any of these shortcuts and stuff, and now I'm retroactively angry about it lol

[@kapa1611]

@@AstroKitty16 when i first got the game i bought it legally (new, not used). and it didn't have that manual either. maybe they only included the case, shown in the video, only when it was initially released and for people who bought it a little later, they just sold it in a normal CD case. don't assume he torrented it..

[@Dhhdjdjdj46]

@@AstroKitty16 yeah bros don't assume he torrented it, he could of just rented it, cracked it and then burnt the cds so he can play it anytime. Torrenting is poor form, the studios never get the money.

[@fergusbeckerleg9326]

Played this as a kid too, pretty sure its the first game i remember playing, and I had no idea about the shortcuts either! I still remember the shock of getting to island 3, and getting ruined, that was as far as i ever got.

[@emilychb6621]

Yea I bought the bloody game from my very own chore earned money for 98 DM, equivalent to 100 Euros with inflation, and it didn't come in the box, it came in a regular DVD case with reverse able cover, but NO keyboard shortcut manual. And that was just a couple of months after release. Never made it past the second island but still had great fun.

[@XpRnz]

@Zwenk Wiel Haha damn.. a twilight CD, i remember that's where i got it from! I was too young to afford buying all those games..

[@Grimgolde]

This series needs to return, it’s absolutely perfect for VR.

[@321Leviathan]

woah, never thought of that. Black&White VR would be epic

[@Matracokura]

With or without VR, i still yearn for a proper follow up on the series.

[@kyle1758]

@@Matracokura Same here, been waiting a long time for a reboot or sequel. So many possibilities on modern hardware.

[@invisi-bullexploration2374]

Whoa. Was not expecting so see somebody I knew here. How is Canada these days? O.O

[@Grimgolde]

Lol, oh hey dude. It's cold!

[@getoffamylan6844]

True story: every time a villager dies, a child-like voice whispers "death" in the creepiest manner possible. I did not know this and spent about an hour not knowing my village was dying off and wondering what creepy stuff my roommates were up to. Good times...

[@saganakist]

That's not even the creepy part. If you had a common user name like "Andrew", the game actually would whisper your name every now and then.

[@EratoTiaTuatha]

If I remember correctly, in Black and White 2 vanilla/disc version the "death" was instead a creepy and quite loud voice, which meant that if you had a decently sized village, meaning people were dying all the time of old age, you'd drown in a cacophony of "death, death, deeeaaaathhhh!!!" Afaik those shenanigans were patched out the first chance they got. Admittedly I might be mixing up old memories and that *was* in fact B&W1, just a different voice than you recall due to playing in a different language dub. I feel like it was in number 2 though.

[@bjsteg79]

"deaaaaaaaathhh"

[@Avatariuz]

Yea was creepy as well, especially when you are thinking its going well also being busy being attacked.

[@planescaped]

I remember that...

[@preluderacer88]

Even to this day, nearly 20 years later, I still find my self humming the song by the sailors who want help building and supplying their ship. One of my favorite games of all time.

[@falcont2tjockey]

Me tooo I joke about it all the time with my cousin

[@Radu93Z]

I hate them with a burning passion!

[@MrBurtbackerack]

Ooooh, we've got this notion That we'd quite like to sail the ocean So we're building a big boat to leave here for good. We're not keen on sinking So we're all sitting here a thinking 'Cause we built it too big and we've run out of wood. eidle eidle eee eidle eidle eee We simply can't leave 'til we get some more wood. Oooh, we're not keen on sinking so that's why we're sitting thinking cause we simply can't leave 'til we get some more wood.

[@VenomRaven]

Glad Im not alone Eiiidee eiidee ee.

[@warywolf1729]

It's why I always love using the polar bear they give me.

[@lobstarooo]

We can't do anything until we get some more wood, they're singing. Next to a tree.

[@lordrefrigeratorintercoole288]

yeah. the villagers where a bunch of lazy morons

[@GreyWolfLeaderTW]

In front of a campfire...

[@HeadHunterSix]

I fed them to my avatar immediately, and stomped their boat to splinters.

[@humphrex]

thats how religion works, right?

[@Mmmm_tea]

that is really cool puzzle if you complete it I think on the next land that same boat is a wreck on the beach and you have bonus influence already on that island, I really miss how the sequel moved away from fun little story based puzzles and more towards combat

[@SinaelDOverom]

The learning AI for the creature is still impressive to these days, even if it just juggles weighted values, there's a whole lot of them which allows for some complex behaviour. You can even teach your creature to manage all the resources for you.

[@Okxyd]

@Cole Park Wow didn't know that. I always thought that the creature system was one of the coolest thing B&W.

[@chekhovsgun7729]

I remember just how quirky (in a good way) the AI could become with a little time with your creature, and I loved it so much I often started saves just to see what sort of weird behaviors I could make them do routinely. One time, I made a creature that refused to poop until it found a pig and threw it - every single time. One I praised when it would fart (usually a subtle sign of constipation), so it eventually got to the point it was always constipated so that it would fart all the time.

[@OberstMoep]

Absolutely and you can teach them to do wonders, like to grow trees and stuff like that. It was the better tamagotschi... Felt like a real ped partner.

[@Society2]

@@chekhovsgun7729 I taught mine to horde its poop next to my farms for easy fertilization. Another one I taught it to light its poop on fire and throw it at enemy villages.

[@olivergottkehaskamp3369]

@Cole Park Ha, that's hilarious! I love comments like these, thanks! 👏🏼

[@annel1991]

This game was the one thing that helped me through childhood depression and I love it seeing get attention to this day. No matter how clunky and broken the game was, it'll always have a special place in my heart.

[@jabrockobiden9434]

No such thing as depression. Its evil spirits.

[@Blackdrama20]

I'd so like to get a remastered version of the game! Or at least a wide-screen optimized version that runs on modern systems. I played the hell out of this game when I was younger.. such good memories. (tortoise creature ftw!)

[@Elenrai]

look up patch 1.42, its an unofficial fan patch, just grab the disk image online, install it with daemon tools, and slap patch 1.1-1.2-1.42(skip 1.3) onto the game, keep the virtual disk image in the virtual drive n you now have 4k black and white should you desire(might fuck the UI tho)

[@vvcq]

Ahh, good old LGR busted out the spookiest possible thing to end Halloween: Peter Molyneux.

[@Iruparazzo]

larry bundy jr intensifies

[@Case_]

I can make it spookier still: Curiosity - What's Inside the Cube?

[@Bembel81]

The man that never delivered. One of the biggest dumbasses of gaming history.

[@blahorgaslisk7763]

@@Bembel81 Only played Populus and Syndicate and those two was quite solid. Gave B&W a go, but frustrating was not the word I'd use for my experience, but rather infuriating. Oh and so was Syndicate 2. Never got past the first mission in that one...

[@TheEpicDiamondMiner]

@@Iruparazzo Why do I hear colonization?

[@AsbestosMuffins]

"Everytime someone prays, a god is born" 20 minutes later "Good job steve, now we're enslaved to a god of chaos"

[@texaswilliam]

"Well, our kid's alive, ain't he?!" "Nope. Sacrificed 4 minutes ago for prayer power."

[@stiimuli]

"What did you do, Ray?" "I couldn't help it! It just popped in there!" "What? What just popped in there?"

[@DonVigaDeFierro]

If there's the option in this game, I would totally role play as Slaneesh.

[@senoka4638]

That intro still gives me goosebumps. Man I wish this game got a remaster.

[@informitas0117]

They used the exact same into in b&w 2, so it must been good.

[@simd3082]

Shame 2nd one was just a really boring strategy game. And 1st one just broken and short. Still remember how my creature bugged at the last land..... And become small. Funny thing is - so is nemesis one heh. I suppose they always same size

[@lucapeyrefitte6899]

I'm surprised it looks really fun to play

[@Azugon]

a remasterd edition would so great it would probably put 99% of all newly developed games into its shadow. Same could be said about dungeon keeper 2 remasterd, TES III: The Elder Scrolls and some other jewels of the past. The todays gaming industry is a pain to follow since they are focused on graphics and new game engines to much. Sure neat graphics and a better game engine assist in making a game better. They are not the keys aspects though and the companies should realise that. This can be easily seen when comparing Tekken 3 with tekken 7. The difference in graphics, game speed and hitboxes is huge yet the change does not feel that big for me.

[@chezza9116]

@@Azugon War for the Overworld is a reasonably close "remaster" of Dungeon Keeper 2.

[@Wulfsmasher]

This was the first PC game I ever bought, needless to say I play it a ton. Hearing the voice of the good conscience teaching you how to navigate is giving me severe flashbacks

[@ianmaples6360]

ANY INFORMATION YOU READ ON ONE OF THESE IS ADDED. TO THE LIBRARY. IN THE TEMPLE.

[@Eyem1337]

The boat song... I remembered it the second I heard eidle eidle eee. Was a great game in it's time and it's too bad it wasn't continued on to todays games.

[@seirharp]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. we have got this notion that we would like to sail the ocean......... :)

[@Skiddou]

I have fond memories of this game : slowly creating and expanding your first villages, seeing your creature finally being helpful with miracles after all the training, the soothing music in the background. A comfy experience. Then after hours and hours of play, you realize that managing all your villages is a real chore because your villagers are really stupid, your creature isn’t better and will always be unreliable, converting villages is increasingly painful so it’s just better to kill everyone... and as the video mentioned the difficulty ramping of the campaign isn’t making it any less stressful. Basically I mostly enjoyed the second mission of the campaign and a bit of the skirmish mode. Also thanks to you that sailor song is stuck in my head again.

[@dra6o0n]

You spend all your energy and time into being good, to the point where it's so exhausting and frustrating you turn to evil.

[@Mnnvint]

@@dra6o0n Trust Molyneux to have a message.

[@MandleRoss]

This game was everything and nothing it promised.

[@connordarvall8482]

That is the way of the Molyneux.

[@lightninstriker10]

The old Molyneux Family Recipe for Success.

[@michaelmccray8026]

Absolutely hated the game for this reason I remember this was the very first game that sent me down the path of cynicism of the modern times I was never angry at a game before this hell I didn't even know it was possible

[@pierreo33]

@@michaelmccray8026 Fable did that to me

[@ahouyearno]

I’ve enjoyed most Molyneux games, probably because I never read any of the hype beforehands. Fable 1 and 2, b&w, dungeon keeper … they’re all good games on their own merit, just not when conpared to what was promised. And that’s a shame. These games never needed any hype or lies. They really speak for themselves.

[@Harkz0r]

This was easily one of my favourite games out of anything I've ever played, and it certainly was unique. I still remember how villagers praying to an Artifact would let you build a max size Wonder independently of your belief if you placed 7 scaffolds directly next to it (as well as the online player who taught me that). As well as the various 'sandbox' maps that were out there online aimed at enhancing your Creature's growth and teaching it every miracle in the game from a simple rain or heal to... whatever the multi-blast armageddon nuke is called. (That took forever, even if you had a chimp) Most people online seemed to have full on evil temples, and in fact 'evil' was 'easy', but I could never abide it so my lands and creatures were usually blindingly bright :) Flawed or not, I loved this game back in its day... and that song is STILL stuck in my head after a little reminder of it.

[@tyranitararmaldo]

I remember that! The Mega-Blast if I remember correctly. The Chimp learned it 0.5% at a time. Well worth it though. Once you have creature Isle you can switch to the Chimp, teach it Mega-Blast, then go back to your animal of choice and have it retain the knowledge. Laser-Crocodile all the way!

[@JoBo52]

Also, the sailor song has been stuck in my head for the last 18 years.

[@stiimuli]

I used to torture my roommate with that song XD

[@seirharp]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. we have got this notion that we would like to sail the ocean......... :)

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

EIDLE EIDLE EE...

[@detox9865]

WE SIMPLY CAN'T LEAVE TIL WE GET SOME MORE WOOOOOOD, OHHHHHH

[@steveweidig5373]

Give them a woman at the end and they'll remake the scene from Titanic where they spread the arms at the front of the ship

[@SarahAndreaRoycesChannel]

I remember laying this game to rest when it whispered my name into my headphones. That was a bad joke. Forget modern horror games, child's play.

[@SteveAkaDarktimes]

happened to me too.

[@UberStarFkr]

@@AstroKitty16 Mmmm, Fresh Meat

[@MegaStonerTV]

Yeah I stopped after that aswell thought my game was haunted 🤣

[@yankis.]

Why were 2000s games so creepy lol

[@robertgorgichuk2798]

Yo I forgot about that part, just gave me goosebumps thinking of it

[@tomtalk24]

I started this video thinking "finally" and ended it thinking "oh yeah, thats why I stopped playing".

[@firzaarieperdana5574]

Yeah, me too

[@juvandy]

Yep, I remember really wanting to enjoy it, but it was such a drag that took way too much effort to figure out how to play properly. Wish I'd opened the manual enough to know the keyboard commands!

[@llVIU]

we all stopped playing because of the massive serious flaws. HUGE flaws.

[@llVIU]

@Sursurk that's just the first level, it's the tutorial island... then again, sounds like the (very few) other missions are extremely similar. Constant barrage from the enemy

[@cheryldahl9192]

Me too! I hated the fact I was not the only power and I needed people to worship me for power. That's lame. lol

[@matthewplehn4271]

I never EVER thought anyone would cover this game...i mean i hardly knew anyone that played it back in the day...KUDOS to you Sir!...and thank you

[@Gigator]

Interesting. Everyone I knew who was a PC gamer played it at least a couple of hours. It was the most hyped up disappointment since No Man's Land I think. I liked the sand box nature of it. Never played it as a strict game really, I got bored a bit into it all the time. But training the pet and flicking villagers around was fun. A friend got really into it and played it a ton with a lot of mods as well. It's not a great game. It might not be a good game. But it is an interesting experience every PC gamer should enjoy at least once. :) Fully patched on a capable PC. I avoided most troubles by being a bit late to the party and having a decent rig for the time.

[@rizkaarifiandi5670]

"..with people think they shipped a beta version game than a finished one" EA, not changing a shit since 2001 😅

[@DragonNexus]

The launch game was impossible to be a good god. When you had worshippers they require food, as seen in the video. but a glitch meant that regardless of how much food you put down, a single villager would eat *all* of it instantly. So your villagers were constantly hungry if they were worshipping and frequently dying. You'd be gaining a ton of evil points due to it being literally impossible to keep them fed. It was fixed with the first patch, but that patch took some time coming out.

[@lrgogo1517]

EA can't catch a break.

[@ryanmac8829]

@@DragonNexus you could be a good god? News to me.

[@DragonNexus]

@@lrgogo1517 EA makes the rod for their own back.

[@VineyardGHS]

It's funny how stupid people like you keep putting the blame on EA when they had nothing to do with the development or any of the bugs moron

[@kenbee1957]

"And here's a manual, presented relevantly enough IN BLACK AND WHITE" Never change LGR guy, never change

[@KingGameReview]

I really loved this game as a kid, and now I recently started replaying it with my own kids. We have that sailor's song from the beginning of the game stuck in our heads and we're all singing it and driving my wife nuts.

[@camotech1314]

Be careful, or you might wake up a single patient

[@adam9626]

Used to love this game when I was younger, dread to think how many hours I stacked up. Could never get past Land 4 though, damn fireballs/lightning/gremlins.

[@adamuk5037]

...I...feel...your...pain... Land 4 can kiss my shiny metal ass.

[@KLT-id9nm]

I only beat that land last year after so many tries. Took me what? A decade? Lol The lightning gave me such a migraine though, I was worried I was gonna have a stroke.

[@ulipeterson6112]

You are not alone. I also never came past land 4.

[@seymourhoffman4445]

Land 4 isn't so bad. The fireballs will eventually stop. You just need to last a certain amount of time before they stop. Just use a semi-large shield miracle in the direction the balls are coming from ***not covering your whole town*** (that will use waaay too much mana) But rather a smaller shield on the side of the town that the balls are coming from; they will hit the shield then bounce over the other half of town that doesn't have the shield over it. So you don't need to waste mana shielding the entire thing. Since all of your mana is being used by the shield miracle being active, you have to kill the Gremlins with large rocks. (you wont get them all) It's hard AF but it's certainly winnable. I loved B&W 1 & 2 and the 2nd expansion Creature Isle. I just gave them a play through a couple years ago. Still really fun.

[@chasugc3740]

@@ulipeterson6112 There are online strategies that can fix that. I just sent my creature to influence the fireball village, while I grabbed the fireballs. When my trained creature converted the fireball village, I saved the game. Then, i hurriedly solved the fireball puzzle, stopping the fireballs. After that, it was kind of easy. Save Keiko was easy. Defeating Son of Sledge was easy. The only problem was stopping the fireballs as fast as possible. I ignored the gremlins.

[@hyilpoulle]

Too bad this game didn't survive. Was one of my favorite when I was young :(

[@Toasty667]

Not sure what that's meant to mean but there's a fan patch that gets it working on modern OS's.

[@TheSilentFool]

"So uhhhh killing babies is a legit strategy" Never knew Black & White was so much like Dwarf Fortress

[@sirromanov3038]

All migrants please meet near the Atom Smasher

[@Celeron_619]

This game was a fond memory of my childhood. My Dad would play this on his Pentium 4 equipped Compaq Presario he named "Eleanor".

[@Celeron_619]

@Beck2Wolf I believe it was named after the Mustang in the movie Gone in 60 seconds. I had misspelled the name, my apologies.

[@philipslattery2883]

I've never played a game that gave me so much missing time. I'd play this after school then boom it's 11pm and time for bed

[@Altezza447]

I nerver got my pet too adult size like i just stop progressing. But i kept playing

[@Manuel-j3q]

Ah, that game from peter "trees would grow in real time" molyneux...

[@BigPuddin]

Good ole' Pete. Makes outrageous claims to the press about tech his games will have when the devs know damn well that what he wants is unrealistic. Gets told by said devs that such features can't be properly added to the game. Throws a giant temper tantrum and a bunch of his staff decide to fuck off for better pastures. Never corrects the press about the lack of promised features. Gets offended when people call him out on his bullshit. He's like the actual version of Sean Murray who isn't just misunderstood but is actively stupid.

[@springplus300]

@@BigPuddin And of course, one of the most innovative game designers of all time. It's the weirdest thing. His games have almost always disappointed, due to the hype - but been massive technical achievements as well.

[@BigPuddin]

@@springplus300 That's more despite Peter Molyneux than a point in his favor. He's grossly incompetent, but Lionhead Studios are pretty talented people. There's an idiot at the rudder of a very fine vessel who repeatedly steers said vessel into coral reefs and large rocks, but his crew keep trying to divert course to keep from sinking.

[@user-aRb00d3r]

@@BigPuddin fun to see you write this in present tense, what year do you live in?

[@mullaoslo]

I loved this game when it came out, funny the way lgr described it is pretty much my exact experience with the game.. A modern port is needed badly

[@ikkyino]

Black and White as we know it is unlikely to get a remake. There is an indie start up however looking to get the genre and feel of black and white up to modern standards by roosevelt games, simply called gods. Don't know if it'll go anywhere but I'm hopeful.

[@mullaoslo]

@@ikkyino there also some guyes trying to get funding to make black and white 3

[@mullaoslo]

@@ikkyino is love to get a two point hospital revival of black and white, same Consept and gameplay with some design changes so they can use a new name

[@BinBintheRiceCake]

Wesker hunched over in a dark room on his computer: "Heh heh, you would dare stand against a god?"

[@salman181]

I remember playing this game thinking this is the peak of visual effects in video games lol

[@Salted_Fysh]

11:05 I've played this game 3 times over a span of 17-18 years. It's one of my fondest nostalgic gaming memories. I just found out about the existence of traders...

[@bfkc111]

The inside of the temple still looks amazing. At ca. 8:00. I remember I was astounded by this, though I never had the full game or quite a good enough PC myself (well, the latter I got later, go figure).

[@stiimuli]

YES! The inside of the temple was one of the best parts of the play experience. Really anchored a feeling of a home base of operations. Also loved how as your village populations grew your villagers would start wandering around in the temple looking at stuff. Could not understand why B&W2 got rid of the temple altogether =(

[@SubjectiveFunny]

This was my favorite game when i was a kid, easily in my top 3.

[@DivinityOfBLaze]

"God hand" *Music from the action game "Godhand" starts playing in my head* Oh god this is getting out of hand.

[@R3GARnator]

Now, there are two of them!

[@jakethreesixty]

Haha _Hand_

[@MidnightBlueRed]

God power keeps my pimp hand strong so trust me oh you won't last very long ♪

[@DivinityOfBLaze]

@@MidnightBlueRed Dragon kick your ass into the milkyway! (Milkyway), Don't act like you don't like the ball buster (Ball buster)

[@kamikazoo6599]

@@DivinityOfBLaze My arm, my arm, my arm, my arm, my arm, my arm *WILL SUMMON UP THE POWER OF THE GOD HAND !*

[@AT1972ASDF]

I would pay a lot of $$$ for a full GOG release of this game. So many fun memories and things I didn’t know where there until LGR mentioned them...

[@saganakist]

Oh boy, guess here we go again for my playthrough roughly every five years. This game just has some indescribable magic - If you like it, you'll love it. I don't no a single strategy game where I remember the characters as fondly. From the sailors to the goddamn monk that didn't wanted to be followed. The whole gameplay is just so relaxing without a focus on micromanaging every second while still being challenging in another way. If only there were more modes like skirmishes. I really liked those 4 gods fighting over control setups And the music just gave me goosebumps again, especially that flute.

[@kapa1611]

Amen! no pun intented ;)

[@JamesCobalt]

Loved this game back when it came out. The graphics (especially animation), music, and sound effects were phenomenal. And fantastic voice acting at a time there was either none or you wished there was none. Lots of unique and interesting UI choices. Proper onboarding when most games expected you to read the manual. This game felt special.

[@MagicMaster667]

The swedish dub of this game is an absolute gem. That, and the Swedish dub on the Playstation version of Diablo 1.

[@Painocus]

Weirdly in Norway the main game was only released in English, but the expantion pack was only in Swedish.

[@AndreaAndy85]

Italian dub too XD ! Every person have a different dialect. I'm singing today the boat song!

[@kapa1611]

the german version too! i liked it more than the english version that i got later xD even the sailor song is darn good in german :)

[@MagicMaster667]

@@kapa1611 THe Sailor song is an immortal classic, no matter where you are from.

[@kapa1611]

@@MagicMaster667 100% true

[@michaelsorensen7567]

"Pointlessly excessive slapping" Caption game on point.

Oh the nostalgy. i have some feels now that i didnt have in the past decade. Thank you for remembering me to this gem :D

[@StubbyPlaysPingPong]

I implore you review Black & White 2, you've done a phenomenal job reviewing the original.

[@hortonx2613]

This was the game that, as a kid, really made me excited for the future possibilities of gaming. I was too young to be disappointed at all.

[@KairuHakubi]

yeah we really used to think things were going to keep developing on the lines suggested by the innovations of the time.. we had no fuckin idea those were the last gasps of new ideas.

[@jamstonjulian6947]

Peter Molyneux pretty much invented the God game and tried to keep it alive. One of many interesting PC genres of yesteryear that are now a distant memory.

[@informitas0117]

@@jamstonjulian6947 distant? Godus was just a few years ago, to bad he abandoned it and left it a wreck.

[@jamstonjulian6947]

@@informitas0117 The only reason anyone has heard of Godus (and most haven't) is because of the usual Molyneux controversies surrounding it. I wouldn't consider that evidence that the genre is alive and well.

[@dakyth8160]

I would like a remake of this game

[@James11111]

I would like a 3...

[@-Zakhiel-]

Black & White 2 is what you're looking for if you want a "remake". Better graphics that mostly holds up. Gameplay is streamlined. It has good humor... It's in most parts, a better Black & White experience. It lacks the mystery of the first one and it's more a very simplified mix between Sim City and Age of Empires... But at least you can play it without asking yourself "what am I doing ?" every two minutes.

[@mauricobian]

The remake is Starcraft, in a different world and different supplies.

[@James11111]

@@mauricobian and different gameplay. And different genre. And different time. 3 years earlier to be exact.

[@zeckezan]

@@-Zakhiel- Have you tried to play it recently? When i did, it was impossible to get it running because it relies on some online verivication crap. The servers for that have been shut down a few years ago

[@ScientistDog]

Wow, I used to love this game!!! Then B&W2 come and I was so dissapointed! The creature was totally neglected, even your powers, you could win each mission just building an amazing city and turning every person in the map to your side, or building armies and conquer them. It became a medieval Simcity...

[@ScientistDog]

Also, I din't know you could enter the temple lol. The tutorial was extremelly basic and there were lots of thing you had to learn by your own. The 4th mission with the fire storm was painful... I was so glad when I could beat it.

[@jonobrow]

Glad you chose to play the intro scene uninterrupted in its entirety. Always thought that was superbly done. One of the best intros to a game ever.

[@heralds]

I just started getting back into this game after having only played it as a kid, i'm so glad you made a vid on it. There is so little retrospective stuff for it.

[@megakaren2160]

Still waiting for Good Old Games to put this on their store.

[@thecodemonkey7100]

I remember getting this game the day it came out. I'll never forget it! Such a mind-blowing game!

[@DarkIronDwarf]

I was a Bullfrog fanboy so when this game was finally released I was WAY too excited, and my expectations were probably unrealistic. I was never able to get into the game very much back then, but I think I'm ready to try it again. Thanks for the video as always!

[@KayDazzle90]

Thank you for doing this game! Hands down one of my favorites ever, and no one I meet ever played it so was beginning to think I imagined it

[@DJHazeJams]

This game was my childhood. It was so unlike anything I'd ever seen in any video game before, having grown up playing nintendo 64 and gameboy, and I still randomly think about it from time-to-time today. The soundtrack, the atmosphere, the amazing graphics of the intro video, the quirky humor, the sheer scale of islands, how you could build up entire cities, create forests and fields and farms, zoom in and watch the lives of people as they grew up and get old all in 3D. In 2000 on Windows XP.

[@MrBurtbackerack]

Ooooh, we've got this notion That we'd quite like to sail the ocean So we're building a big boat to leave here for good. We're not keen on sinking So we're all sitting here a thinking 'Cause we built it too big and we've run out of wood. eidle eidle eee eidle eidle eee We simply can't leave 'til we get some more wood. Oooh, we're not keen on sinking so that's why we're sitting thinking cause we simply can't leave 'til we get some more wood.

[@4Wilko]

9:20

[@MrBurtbackerack]

@@4Wilko Not gonna lie, I didn't fully watch the video so didnt see that

[@michaelwilson5114]

Yeah - I was bad about throwing them in the ocean

[@ulipeterson6112]

And after wood they want food.

[@TR-ut3yh]

You had to do that didnt you? Its stuck in my head now

[@psygn0sis]

I wanted to love Black & White so much! I thought it was such a cool idea. I played it numerous times and the bugs made sure each time met with a furious end.

[@informitas0117]

It's weird, I got the game on launch played it for hundreds of hours an I never saw a bug. So I'm probably not very perceptive when it comes to bugs.

[@SlashesWithClaws]

I remember this game. Had fun with it, despite its oddities. Had more fun when I realized the skirmish map data was stored as plain text and could be edited in Notepad. Tried to play the game not long ago, but found it would not work on my modern system; for some reason all the textures were mixed up and text displayed all wrong.

[@xonxt]

same. And the campaign map data was also in plain text and could also be edited to your heart's desire. Which I did.

[@DragonNexus]

That was true for all the maps. I remember changing some things in later story maps that I found were BS difficult rather than fun difficult.

[@Corcky54]

B & W is one of my all time favorite games, probably cause of nostalgia. I remember playing this every single day, having dreams about it, and craving it while I was at school. Just watching this makes me want to bust it out of my closet and play it again. Great video!

[@kapa1611]

same! i recently started playing again and it's wonderful :) if you want you can check out a video of my giant village and the neutral creatures i put on the map :) /watch?v=bwL8xL9-lSA&t=0s

[@MoZz..]

funny, after all these years i still remembered the boat guys song xD i played B&W alot also B&W2.

[@Frank_42]

I remember the accordion singers, which always made me smile. It makes me want to make up a dumb song every time I want a miracle to happen.

[@TrippTillman]

never played it but i sure as hell remember all the Hype ADs in gaming magazines

[@dashwhatchamakalit]

Kinda hoping this game makes a comeback or re-make in VR. Seems like it'd fit in perfectly. ...Not gonna lie, I'd just end up throwing dooks at the villagers to get my Creature to do it as well.

[@glittery_cucumber]

I'm more of a "Let's Play" viewer and less of a gamer myself, but Black & White is a game I've gone back to playing multiple times over the years. I think it still really holds up.

[@TDotHustla]

There is something about these videos I find so relaxing. Its the nostalgia aspect but also how calming his voice is. This has quickly become one of my favourite KZbin channels.

[@Pulsed101]

That intro still gives me chills.

[@6Twisted]

I loved this game as a kid. Sure it’s a bit of a mess, but it was unique. The intro is still amazing to this day. Someone’s already cloned Theme Hospital, now they need to do Black & White, Populous and Theme Park World.

[@ChrissehCat]

I played this game on my ex boyfriend's PC back in 04, I was staying at his folk's place for Christmas and New Years and he had to work late, so he introduced me to the game and I sat there playing it from late afternoon when he left until sometime the next morning when he came home and he's like "Whoa, you're... still at it?" I hadn't even eaten dinner or anything, didn't even notice the time. Just like when I used to play the Sims.

[@sexycavetroll2788]

I can't seem to get pulled into games like this anymore. I also got soul sucked by the sims and other games on the past but even games I've been excited for these days just don't hook me anymore. I wish I knew why.

[@paulmorphy6187]

@@sexycavetroll2788 Its called growing up and its something you have to accept

[@GeneralChangFromDanang]

@@sexycavetroll2788 Same thing. Work and other hobbies have pretty much taken over. Not gonna complain though, I wasted a LOT of time on videogames when I was younger.

[@gabrielhawk]

Man, I loved this game so much. I remember trying it back when it came out but it was so buggy I could barely pass through the tutorial. I was so sad. Managed to play it a decade later or so, in 2013. The graphics were great for the time as well, and the concept, the novelty, it was all awe-inspiring.

[@mondskiez309]

eidle eidle eeeee.. man this brings back such sweet god-mode memories.. nearing 2 decades now.. thank you for a trip down memory lane..

[@shelby3822]

In LGR doing Duke Nukem voice: *The glove is back*

[@Verightess]

Ah yes, I remember having to beat the shi# out of my cow because he wouldn't stop eating villagers

[@alexsilva28]

Lol

[@PacAnimal]

My vegan activist, rebellious tiger wasn't any easier to handle. It simply refused to eat babies, even when they were directly handed to it, but would happily toss them behind its back, down a steep hill.

[@GraveUypo]

I fed villagers to mine

[@kapa1611]

you'd be a good parent ;)

[@kekistanihelpdesk8508]

Those of us with common names who entered it at the beginning were treated to a terrifying paranoia inducing whisper e.g "daaaaaviiiiiiid".

[@timokampwerth1996]

I recently rewatched most of your old videos and it's impressive how you've constantly upped your game so to speak in regards to production quality, comfort in front of the camera etc, and yet it's still distinctly your style from day one up until now. I tip my hat to you Sir, most content creators can't pull that off.

[@LGR]

Thank you!

[@timokampwerth1996]

@@LGR You're welcome. I have to say though, I do miss the beard sometimes :D

[@MrRandomPlays_1987]

I remember playing this game in my youth, it's so nostalgic, I remember all of the things you shown in the video, I loved this game, it had a special magic to it that even modern games with best graphics lack.

[@dreamingpanda]

Dude, you ought to review Giants: Citizen of Kabuto

[@theblacksheephorrorshow2673]

Oh my lord. The video we've all been waiting for. Thank you LGR!!!!!!

[@istivanp8747]

"Lethys my ally, you have failed me. I, Nemesis, arrive to take control."

[@euchre90]

OSHIIIIII-

[@SoleaGalilei]

I don't think I ever finished the campaign in this game, and your review nails the reason for that. It draws you in at the start with the unique gameplay, but wears out its welcome with frustrating controls. You feel like you're fighting the game to perform basic actions. Watching you struggle to draw the heart symbol took me right back to that frustration. It's an ambitious but very flawed game. Thanks for spotlighting it!

[@galacticknight55544]

"Ooooh, we've got this notion that we'd quite like to sail the ocean..."

[@MakotoIchinose]

This looks like it could get more intuitive if it's in VR.

[@TransformHypnosis]

Deisim

[@Artey86]

This could be perfect for VR, yes. Too bad the VR tech is still not there for me.

[@colinyoung3685]

I'm hoping for a god game/point and click revival in VR, the environment can naturally lend to the immersion in both cases.

[@advang4820]

Should be in AR more than in VR. Imagine having a society living on your couch, villagers chopping woods/hunting animals on top of your dog and flood the entire population by putting them in a bathtub.

[@MakotoIchinose]

AR version could've break the godly immersion VR could give, since with the real environment in the background, you might feel like messing around with military's holographic map projection more than being the highest entity of deity, and rule the virtual world.

[@NathanChisholm041]

I kind of like the music when voice over man says " That God is You!"

[@kapa1611]

the music of this game is generally pretty good. i always liked the singing stone melody once you complete that quest :)

[@captainjd02]

You know, I was God once. I saw, you were doing so well until everyone died.

[@greg83083]

Slapping virtual cows, and choking the virtual chicken. This one holds a special place in my gaming history, great video

[@strain42]

Fantastic, in-depth look at one of the most memorable god games of the early 2000's! That may seem like really oddly specific praise, but what can I say? You did a wonderful job, LGR!

[@ryansolomon7922]

Man this game is ahead of its time in 2019...

[@Toastmaster_5000]

That's because back then, EA was releasing actually good/interesting games

[@outsider344]

The opening cutscene makes it clear that gods in this world are born of the warp based on strong emotion.

[@lcmiracle]

Tht entire island is desperately in need of an exterminatus

[@DaveMcGarry]

The music is awesome.. I always wanted to play it, never have.

[@KSharp2]

I really want a remaster. Playing it as a teen was magical. There hasn't been any other games like it

[@rasmusazu]

I return to this game every few years to replay it. It still one of my favorite games.

[@JermStone]

Oh wow... this game was crazy when I was in highschool... so different from everything else I had played up to that point...

[@Knoby1000]

I'm happy to see a review of this game in those days and age, really warm me up. But I also want to point out that while the review cover a good portion of the game genius, most of the frustrating part you described just show you don't know about a lot of deep, somehow hidden game mechanics. To quote a few: obligation to beat your creature to teach her, villagers not being helpful, miracles power gestion and some other have reasonable explanations, but are not explicitely told by the game. If you or anyone is curious about how the game work (a lot of detail into the creature AI, which received at the time several computer science awards), here is a good bit of compiled tips for playing Black&White: www.wischik.com/lu/senses/bwhints.html (lots about creature and villagers behavior) www.rdrop.com/~half/General/GameTips/bw.tips.html (more of a "wiki" oriented guide)

[@TheBrassn]

As a child I had no idea of how all of this comes together and the game felt somewhat hard to manage. After reading a little into these texts I feel motivated to give it a new try and admire its genius. Thank you very much and have a nice day.

[@GamingRetro]

I remember grabbing this off the Best Buy shelf and being stoked to play it... one of the bigger let-downs at the time, but I've since come to appreciate it more.

[@flux1969]

This was one of my favorite games when it came out.

[@wurrkop]

loved this game back in the day, i think it was the first game i left running overnight because once the creature had been trained to be self sufficient it would grow even when left alone.

[@kapa1611]

i do the same thing to make my creature grow :) i also like to put Neutral creatures on the map xD that's fun imo :) if you want you can check out a video /watch?v=HvXV5lacO6I&t=0s

[@MariaIsabel_Fufuria]

I loved this game back in the day. I actually have it installed in my current PC. haha...I always found it satisfying grabbing some fish or grain and watching them accumulate...then drag and drop...the trees turning into lumber. I always used the Tiger creature.

[@kapa1611]

i agree :) it's oddy satisfying xD if you want you can check out one of my videos, i like to build huge villages and have neutral creatures running around (like Gorillas and Ogres xD) /watch?v=bwL8xL9-lSA&t=0s

[@Amy_Dunn]

My favorite part is the creepy soft voice whispering “Deeeeeaaaaaath” every time a villager dies. That’s not unsettling at all to hear as a 17 year old playing the game alone at night with headphones on. 😆 My sister and I still make jokes/references about that.

[@kapa1611]

they got rid of that in a later patch unfortunetly :( i love the game too tho. i've recently started playing it again, if you want you can check out my big village and fun Neutral creatures i have running around (including a Gorilla and an Ogre xD) watch?v=bwL8xL9-lSA&t=0s

[@lildaffy1695]

Me and the game with the cow be like: "Touch the cow, do it now"

[@Vollification]

9:34 Ooooh, I remember these. I threw stones at their boat and then threw all of them in the sea :D

[@oz_jones]

Same. Serves them right for singing about something else than me

[@dragonhunter8807]

i was like 13 when this released and i somehow got it. i havent heard anything about it prior to release. it is, up to this day, one of my favorite games of all time. it was awesome to have the creature, the temple, building villages, the gestures... i loved everything of it, played it for 2 years probably. even the expansion was awesome for me.

[@kapa1611]

i agree :) i still play it and i like to build large villages :D :D if you want you can check it out /watch?v=bwL8xL9-lSA&t=0s

[@icurnvs776]

I LOVED this game!!! Thank you for playing this on your channel!!