That's because publishers saw how successful the series was (as well as Angrey Birds and Minecraft) and wanted a piece of that action. They failed because they didn't realize that because we already had CoD, Angry Birds and Minecraft, gamers didn't see the point of playing substandard knock-offs.
HAZE, aka, "The Halo Killer", in a era of FPS's that existed in PS3/360 era, I only know it as, one of the many PSN free standard avatars people still have today, I should know, I just saw one yesterday.
I use that avatar, but it's because I actually played Haze alot and enjoyed it. Granted, I was like 9 years old, but I remember loving the game. It was, I believe, the first FPS I ever played.
What happened to Free Radical is probably one of the saddest stories in game development history. So much mishandling of a studio literally on par with Bungie back in the day.
Can't really refine your narrative or plot when you're still trying to get the foundation of the actual game under control. Lost opportunities and the developers know that.
I made my Icon the Haze guy holding a vile of nectar when I first got my ps3. I didn't know anything about the game at that time, just thought it looked cool. I wouldn't actually play Haze until 2015 just so I could know. I now know first hand. I can never forget. So in the present day I still keep that Hazeman as my Icon, just for the Irony of it all.
I'll never forget the line from one of the developers that played on 'GameStop TV' on a loop when I was working there leading up to Haze's release. "Haze is not a wargame. It's a game about war."
I worked for Free Radical around the time this came out. The response really hurt them. It was easy to tell they weren't happy with Ubi, and didn't want to work with them again. I suspect the feeling was probably mutual, though. Having said that, by the time I was there they had put a lot more focus on Star Wars Battlefront 3 and 4 - I was on the team for 4 - and those projects wound up falling through afterwards later in the year, which had a big hand in the company going under. What killed me was, when it happened a bunch of the concept art and details for Battlefront 4 started floating around the Internet and people were saying it was for 3. For example if you find the concept art showing a white Darth Vader or a Sith Leia or Sith Luke that was all for the planned Battlefront 4. Where 3 had a fairly typical story (that I don't remember as I wasn't involved in that game and this was 11 years ago), 4 was built around showing off various battles from the movies and then letting the player see what might have happened if things had swung the other way and the villains won. If I recall correctly... Geonosis, Yavin IV, Hoth and Endor were all canon levels, while Tatooine, Kamino and Bespin. were all non-canon variants. There were more than those but it has been 11 years so I don't remember the details that well. What I do remember is they had some really big plans for those games, including a system that would let you start off in a ground battle on planet get in a ship, and then take off to join a space battle. Not a big deal for a game now, but back then it would have been pretty new. Real shame those games never got released as there was some amazing potential for both of them. My main contribution was pointing out that the Yavin IV Death Star battle had been done to death already, so it might be a good idea to implement the new systems within that level to keep things more fresh. Maybe even break into a hangar on the Death Star to capture some checkpoints within the stage. Unfortunately, it didn't get to the point where we could implement that. Would have been interesting to see.
is it possible to come into contact with steve ellis? i wonder if the rights for the game belongs to free radical or ubisoft and if its free radical is it possible to remake the game?
@@alexander1055 Deep Silver Games had helped David Doak and other Free Radical Devs get together to form a new studio to work on TimeSplitters 4, it was on Deep Silver's twitter, and also you should check out TimeSplitters Rewind
@Jadedman Funny thing about Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric. The developers originally developed the game for PC, until SEGA told them it was for Wii U, and the rest of their development period was just them trying to port the CryEngine to the Wii U, which the Wii U didn't support it. In other words: the devs for Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric were trying to fit a square peg in a round hole for a good portion of their development.
The biggest issue with Boom is it's not even ironically good in areas. Whereas things in 06 will make you laugh for all the wrong reasons and if the physics were good maybe the Sonic running stages could have been salvaged, plus the soundtrack's always good in a Sonic game no matter how bad it is, Boom... had none of that. Not even the soundtrack saved it.
Renting gives you better impressions of the game rather than spending full price. If you get a game for free you're more likely to not hate it for instance.
I'm surprised you haven't done a video on Metal Gear Solid V and all the stuff between Kojima and Konami, now a video like that would really butter my buns
After watching the entirety of Spoony's retrospective on Ultima and seeing it peek at 6 and 7 and then just die when EA got involved killed me a little inside and I've never played a minute of the series.
Clive Barker's jericho. I remember that being a huge deal a very long time ago,with advertisements for the game everywhere,then the game just kinda...disappeared from existence
I think a Wha Happun could be done of Clive Barker video games in general, instead of just focusing on Jericho. He had Undying which, honestly, was kind of a cool horror/action FPS game but suffered from what I like to call Xen syndrome, where the later levels are a bit too out there and wonky that they feel like they don't fit into the game (Each of four siblings had a set of levels themed on them. The last sibling you fight, Bethany, had levels that didn't mesh at all with the previous themes). Before that he had like 2 Nightbreed games which didn't do very well and then he had Jericho...after that he sort of disappeared off the face of the Earth with regards video games. Undying did decently but Jericho did very poorly.
@@missbelled6700 Well, after Clive Barker's Clive Barker's Hellraiser, Clive Barker branched out into video games and gave us Clive Barker's Clive Barker's Undying by Clive Barker and later on Clive Barker's Clive Barker's Jericho by Clive Barker.
As someone who is studying psychopharmacology and psychology, Haze's premise of a cognitive-altering liquid is really cool. It's too bad this game turned out to be the opposite.
@@josedorsaith5261 Has it been two years already? Wow! Time flies. To answer your question: I actually took a hiatus with psychopharmacology and abnormal psychology. Now I'm focusing on war history and comparative politics.
I believe a better version of this idea is Genocidal Organ. Soldiers get all kinds of chemicals pumped into them so they can kill anyone without remorse. I only say the anime movie but I think it was a novel originally.
@@headman82 Oh Umbrella Corps is a different game, not Operation Raccoon City. Umbrella Corps was a competitive FPS game that died as quickly as it was announced.
I was in a WoW guild with one of the free radical devs back in '07. On a RL meet up, being a huge splitters fan, mentioned I was looking forward to haze. He just looked at me blank, emotionless and said 'don't bother it's gunna be shit' 🤣
I'm not gonna lie, this was my first ever FPS and... I loved it back then. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have the same idea today but this was the game that actually got me to get interested in FPS games
There was actually a game called Singularity or something like that in which you had a time altering glove and altered the environment. I'm curious as to wha happun with that.
@@mr.raslyon6626 Ahh, Morgan Webb... Now that's a name that I haven't heard in a long time. She was one of my, and I'm sure many other nerdy gamer's, first crushes.
@@Journey_to_who_knows he said haze in the doom engine, not doom in the haze engine, because some modders will remake shitty games on doom but make them not shitty (the most popular example being impietwo's remake of operation bodycount), i myself have tried remaking isle of the dead on doom but I was too inexperienced at the time
Should do a wha happun on Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and how much it crushed Square to which they ended up joining with Enix to become the company they are today.
This game sounds like a more si-fi version of Spec Ops: The Line. Such a shame it died on arrival the way it did. Even more a shame that it will never be remade into what it should have always been.
Yeah the game had some pretty cool moments namely one where corpses dissapear after you You think ok obviously its doing that to save resources No the drug nectar in conjunction with mantel technology makes corpses dissapear so soldiers arnt ethically conflicted and theres a moment where you walk down an empty corridor and occasionally get short doses of reality and see corpses of civilians littering the place and blood all up walls
I remember playing this game in middle school and loving it, I had no idea this was happening, back then I didnt care about reviews and wasn't stingy about games, I feel like the only reason this game failed is the overhype and comparing it to other games.
[Game] killer: this is thrown around so much that no one takes it seriously anymore. Oh Ubisoft, your impatience cost you a potential FPS franchise. Glad to see some of the former members continued in some capacity in the gaming industry. RIP Free Radical, you are missed.
YIIK would be a fun one, being a game that spent years in development, years being rather hyped, until ultimately being released to fairly mixed results at best.
Dunno if it's been suggested, but how about a lookback on Active Enterprises/Action 52? Its development history and people behind the company itself are as bizarre as they are fascinating (unless Wha Happun only covers projects with actual hype behind them).
Good job on the vid, as a kid I followed HAZE from a demo and had no idea it had a link to sumo digital until I ran into the staff member at my old uni of Sheffield Hallam who housed sumo digital colleagues within their grounds
10:04 when the Duelist of the Roses music hit i literally went "OOOO" because the Yu-Gi-Oh games have some really good music to pick for video essays like this
Matt making the good stuff! I subbed for this show but you knocked it out of the park with G-week, and then E3, and then another Wha Happun? You're a machine dude!
Haze was one of the games I got with my PS3 when I was back in middle school. I remember liking it - sure all the 'war is hell' flew over my head as a kid, but at the time I had fun.
I'd love to see you do one of Spore, seeing as that I built my first computer for the expressive purpose of playing that shit pile, to my eternal shame.
What was bad about it? I got it in like, 2011-ish? I thought it was just a goofy alien maker game, and had fun with it. But everyone I see who's played said it was incredibly disappointing
Motorstorm Apocalypse is an interesting one for me. A game series I loved and this one was based around racing tracks that changed with earthquakes and such. Only problem is it released right when the devastating Japan earthquake happened and had to be delayed... it's a shame bc it had a really interesting online mode that you could bet against each other, but never stood a chance due to the tragedy in Japan
I never understood why people were calling it 'The Halo Killer', where such a game already existed in the form of Killzone 2 ( & later the third installment ) Anyway - as for the game/title suggestion from me it would be the RPG: 'Two Worlds' and its sequel. I even bought the first TW and thought it to be the 'better Oblivion' at the time XD
Me and my friend actually liked this game, perhaps because we played co-op so just playing together made it more fun. We still yell "boosh" and smack our arms together like the NPCs did in that cutscene.
Seeing SWBF3 mentioned at the end there, a lot has come out since about its troubled development. So it's honestly amazing a finished product DID wind up coming out from that mess at all... even if Free Radical weren't the ones to put it out. A 'What Happened' on that game - Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron - would be great to see.
Holy hell! Nobody ever talks about Haze... I was a Free Radical fanboy and Haze was my single biggest hype train at E3 2006. I was sold on how amazing it was going to be, and it was CRUSHING when it fell apart. Love that you're covering such weird stories like this. You just got me subbed.
Thank you for this! I worked at GameStop when this game came out and I don’t recall a single thing we did to promote it. I did have a coworker that would tell anybody that would listen how Haze was a “Halo Killer”.
Matt, I don't know if you read your comments, but I'm one of the players of Haze that had simply felt, "let down" by it. Thank you for making this video. It brought me some closure, and seeing how the team was treated, and more-so how they felt about shipping it allows me to remember Free Radical with all the fondness they deserve. Even after Haze. They were a great team of genuine people who loved making games and loved their fans. I love this series honestly. Recent sub. Ringing the bell over this one.
Man, all these devs and publishers tried so hard; spent so much money to kill Halo. All they had to do was wait for 343 Industries to make Halo 4, Halo 5, and the MCC, killing it for them. (Oh god please 4th times the charm with Halo Infinite its literally been over a decade since a good Halo game.)
Actually acting as dead is important feature of Haze. It's mirrored L2 button ability of Nectar Soldiers and on Hard difficulty you simply can't survive without.
@@guyshafor1320 Idk honestly, fallout 76 sold fairly well even for being such a mess. Like I said before, I'm not aware of the sales behind N&B. N&B wasn't really that bad of a game either, its just not what the fans wanted. Apparently, the team that made it wasn't happy with it either, but that's just my poor memory as a reference.
I actually loved this game as a kid. Lots of memories of me and my best friend playing this for hours. As jaded as I am now, I still remember this game fondly.
The concept actually sounds really cool! A narrative FPS game using with the steroids making people lose their humanity and the choice to use them or not? It’s like spec ops: the line, meets we happy few. Damn if they did a remake of this game and did it right? They’d have my 60 dollars.
I enjoyed Haze very much. I miss the times with fun experimentative games To know they were working on Battlefront 3 is heartbreaking. It would definitely be better than the modern Battlefronts we have now.
Honestly, besides seeing the cover, this is the most I've ever seen about the game Haze. And after watching (great video, btw) I feel kinda bad for the devs and everything that happened. I also honestly think that if Haze was done correctly, it could be a pretty kickass game. The "nectar" mechanic seems pretty interesting and there's a lot you could do with it, story and gameplay wise. I feel like if this had happened maybe a few years into the PS3s life cycle, it could have done okay. But unfortunately with all things, there's going to be failures upon launch of a brand new console and it just sucks to see the potential of Haze go down with it.
Would love to see a video on Haven: Call of The King: It was a platformer/adventure game on the PS2 that was intended to have a series of games made (and a GBA port?) but was cancelled due to poor sales, leaving the ending as a horrifically bad cliffhanger.
Whenever LAIR is brought up I remember the devs with a tear in my eye. Almost everybody only remembers the shitty game, but those guys got fucked over by Sony HARD. They were given dev kits with far better motion sensor tech and on that basis developed the game, then the thing came out and the tech wasn't in place (yet). Meaning the controls didn't work, making the thing basically unplayable. I remember one of them was on a german podcast once (because the devs were german) called "Spieleveteranen" and he explained the whole situation there. By the time Sony had implemented the better motion controls it was far too late and ultimately killed the studio.
Bro and I picked up this game in a $5 bargain bin back in the day and it was honestly a riot for that price. Like the gaming equivalent to watching The Room. But in hindsight it's quite sad knowing how it ended up for the studio
I actually got 4th place in that Korn competition. Got the game for free, autographed by the band members, and I still have it.
You're the SHIT
Would auction that thing off, could still make good money i rekon.
You've peaked
Please tell me you have a picture!? I kind of want to live vicariously through you.
But what is haze about?
you could do an entire series on games that were supposed to be "Call of Duty Killers" during the MW2 Era.
That's because publishers saw how successful the series was (as well as Angrey Birds and Minecraft) and wanted a piece of that action. They failed because they didn't realize that because we already had CoD, Angry Birds and Minecraft, gamers didn't see the point of playing substandard knock-offs.
@@StubzTurner Yup, the industry equivalent of tilting at windmills. Though you could argue that Fortnite succeeded in dethroning PUBG.
@@sigilbreaker2628 In Fortnite's defense (I can't believe I just typed that), PUBG sucks.
Like how Medal of Honor released game after game of shitty wannabe CoD games?
@@anthonya.jumelles7103 Haze was marketed as the "Halo killer"
HAZE, aka, "The Halo Killer", in a era of FPS's that existed in PS3/360 era, I only know it as, one of the many PSN free standard avatars people still have today, I should know, I just saw one yesterday.
I'm honestly surprised that they kept the Haze avatars, you would have thought that they would have swept that disaster of a game under the rug.
They really need to update the avatars already or for petes sake let us upload our own image
The Haze avatar precedes the game, as I had no idea what the game was.
I use that avatar, but it's because I actually played Haze alot and enjoyed it. Granted, I was like 9 years old, but I remember loving the game. It was, I believe, the first FPS I ever played.
That avatar is legendary
Pour one out for another legendary game company dead before its time
Woah creepsmcpasta i didn't think you would be here love you're videos bro.
would enjoy a reboot of haze myself
What happened to Free Radical is probably one of the saddest stories in game development history. So much mishandling of a studio literally on par with Bungie back in the day.
Anyone know what music is at 2:20?
@@jet100a czcams.com/video/FSVHx23ByhM/video.html
"We're gonna put a lot of stock into the narrative of this game... and then loudly scream the central plot twist at every opportunity."
They should have given the player the choice to continue the twist, or go back to the status quo.
@@riteousrighthand6144 If this video is any indication, I don't think they had the time to refine it like that, but I don't doubt they wanted to.
Can't really refine your narrative or plot when you're still trying to get the foundation of the actual game under control. Lost opportunities and the developers know that.
@@TechnicolorMammoth hindsight is 20/20. I'm sure they had far greater plans than what they delivered. Even so, I wouldn't call the game bad.
Sounds like anime
The irony that of all the “Halo Killers” the only thing that “killed” Halo was... Halo.
(Hope Infinite is good)
well pc will get some light at least
So hyped for pc.
Technically 343 did but whatever
Still haven't played 5. Just haven't wanted to. :(
Halo never really died it was just... missing in action
What happened to Haze? Well, it became a ps3 player icon ... yeah thats about it.
Whenever you saw a Haze guy and Altair avatar, you knew you were in trouble
@@ApolloPheonix Now I need an avatar of Altair wearing the Haze mask.
I made my Icon the Haze guy holding a vile of nectar when I first got my ps3. I didn't know anything about the game at that time, just thought it looked cool. I wouldn't actually play Haze until 2015 just so I could know. I now know first hand. I can never forget.
So in the present day I still keep that Hazeman as my Icon, just for the Irony of it all.
My friend got mocked for representing such a shitty game was like "I dunno what that was, looked cool"
@@MoistChungus I swear, I thought that was Deathstroke
I'll never forget the line from one of the developers that played on 'GameStop TV' on a loop when I was working there leading up to Haze's release.
"Haze is not a wargame. It's a game about war."
...huh?
:thinking:
Oh man I remember that quote. I was working at GameStop at that time. I wish I could find that video of that quote.
But war never change
They were trying to be Spec Ops The Line and did it poorly.
I worked for Free Radical around the time this came out. The response really hurt them. It was easy to tell they weren't happy with Ubi, and didn't want to work with them again. I suspect the feeling was probably mutual, though.
Having said that, by the time I was there they had put a lot more focus on Star Wars Battlefront 3 and 4 - I was on the team for 4 - and those projects wound up falling through afterwards later in the year, which had a big hand in the company going under.
What killed me was, when it happened a bunch of the concept art and details for Battlefront 4 started floating around the Internet and people were saying it was for 3. For example if you find the concept art showing a white Darth Vader or a Sith Leia or Sith Luke that was all for the planned Battlefront 4. Where 3 had a fairly typical story (that I don't remember as I wasn't involved in that game and this was 11 years ago), 4 was built around showing off various battles from the movies and then letting the player see what might have happened if things had swung the other way and the villains won. If I recall correctly... Geonosis, Yavin IV, Hoth and Endor were all canon levels, while Tatooine, Kamino and Bespin. were all non-canon variants. There were more than those but it has been 11 years so I don't remember the details that well.
What I do remember is they had some really big plans for those games, including a system that would let you start off in a ground battle on planet get in a ship, and then take off to join a space battle. Not a big deal for a game now, but back then it would have been pretty new. Real shame those games never got released as there was some amazing potential for both of them. My main contribution was pointing out that the Yavin IV Death Star battle had been done to death already, so it might be a good idea to implement the new systems within that level to keep things more fresh. Maybe even break into a hangar on the Death Star to capture some checkpoints within the stage. Unfortunately, it didn't get to the point where we could implement that. Would have been interesting to see.
is it possible to come into contact with steve ellis? i wonder if the rights for the game belongs to free radical or ubisoft and if its free radical is it possible to remake the game?
What happun to Haze? Well after the Fabulous Freebirds broke up he went on to manage The Hardy Boyz, didn't he?
A wrestling joke. I tapped.
DOOT DOOT DOOT
Then went on to say the N word in front of Mark Henry and somehow live.
*slow clap* Well played, well played...
I got an ideal!
Still holding out hope that Timesplitters will one day return...
You're in for a treat today...
@@Videokind why?
@@alexander1055 Deep Silver Games had helped David Doak and other Free Radical Devs get together to form a new studio to work on TimeSplitters 4, it was on Deep Silver's twitter, and also you should check out TimeSplitters Rewind
@@hectoraguilar2993 no way. I'll believe it when it happens
@@ericd6708 Trust me, I'm in the discord and David Doak retweeted the announcement
Man..... it's weird remembering a time when Ubisoft was seen as "noble"
I got a good idea: Sonic Boom: The Rise of Lyric.
That game's been compared to Sonic 06 in terms of brokenness.
Jadedman Yes! I would love to see one on Sonic Boom!
@Jadedman
Funny thing about Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric. The developers originally developed the game for PC, until SEGA told them it was for Wii U, and the rest of their development period was just them trying to port the CryEngine to the Wii U, which the Wii U didn't support it.
In other words: the devs for Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric were trying to fit a square peg in a round hole for a good portion of their development.
I like Sonic 06.
But Sonic Boom... it's just sad.
The biggest issue with Boom is it's not even ironically good in areas. Whereas things in 06 will make you laugh for all the wrong reasons and if the physics were good maybe the Sonic running stages could have been salvaged, plus the soundtrack's always good in a Sonic game no matter how bad it is, Boom... had none of that. Not even the soundtrack saved it.
@@gratuitouslurking8610 Well at least the Boom show on Cartoon Network ain't too bad
*Explain game plot*
"sims 3 but with the addition of roid rage soldiers using steroids"
Man, this is just so bad it's beautiful. Thank you for this gem.
I played and beat Haze on hard difficulty on a rental. It was flawed for sure, but I had fun and still remember it.
Haze got the most fun 4 player co-op mode i have ever played.
I would still play it if it was possible.
Yessir. I loved the ability to cannabilize ammo too. That was pretty forward thinking.
Renting gives you better impressions of the game rather than spending full price. If you get a game for free you're more likely to not hate it for instance.
Groovy same I used to oaky it with my cousin and we used to play split screen
Yeah i mean the gameplay was fun cause it ripped off as many ideas as it could from Halo lol might as well just play Halo instead
I'm surprised you haven't done a video on Metal Gear Solid V and all the stuff between Kojima and Konami, now a video like that would really butter my buns
It’s been 2 years. Your poor, butterless buns...
@@beanboi66174 years now
"Halo footage from SuperMega"
Ryan Magoggles and Ratt Watson from SuperMega?!
Quick! Someone make a joke about Matt’s mom!
@@JamesOhGoodie Matt's mom.
You should do Ultima IX, one of the most gruesomely mangled victims of EA meddling.
After watching the entirety of Spoony's retrospective on Ultima and seeing it peek at 6 and 7 and then just die when EA got involved killed me a little inside and I've never played a minute of the series.
Lol, Spoony: Wha Happun'd
What's a paladin?
Clive Barker's jericho.
I remember that being a huge deal a very long time ago,with advertisements for the game everywhere,then the game just kinda...disappeared from existence
I had a choice between that or The Darkness one day and needless to say I’m a pretty big Darkness fan now, early PS3 games were weird as hell
I think a Wha Happun could be done of Clive Barker video games in general, instead of just focusing on Jericho.
He had Undying which, honestly, was kind of a cool horror/action FPS game but suffered from what I like to call Xen syndrome, where the later levels are a bit too out there and wonky that they feel like they don't fit into the game (Each of four siblings had a set of levels themed on them. The last sibling you fight, Bethany, had levels that didn't mesh at all with the previous themes).
Before that he had like 2 Nightbreed games which didn't do very well and then he had Jericho...after that he sort of disappeared off the face of the Earth with regards video games. Undying did decently but Jericho did very poorly.
Clive Barker's "Clive Barker's Jericho" by Clive Barker? Never heard of it.
@@missbelled6700 Well, after Clive Barker's Clive Barker's Hellraiser, Clive Barker branched out into video games and gave us Clive Barker's Clive Barker's Undying by Clive Barker and later on Clive Barker's Clive Barker's Jericho by Clive Barker.
I was actually wondering when Lair would get the "Wha Happun?" treatment. Looking forward to that one! Great video as always. :)
As someone who is studying psychopharmacology and psychology, Haze's premise of a cognitive-altering liquid is really cool. It's too bad this game turned out to be the opposite.
How're the studies going? Know what area you want to specialise in yet?
@@josedorsaith5261 Has it been two years already? Wow! Time flies. To answer your question: I actually took a hiatus with psychopharmacology and abnormal psychology. Now I'm focusing on war history and comparative politics.
@@AidenRKrone typical
I believe a better version of this idea is Genocidal Organ. Soldiers get all kinds of chemicals pumped into them so they can kill anyone without remorse. I only say the anime movie but I think it was a novel originally.
As a couple of characters in the game say, things like love and hate are just chemicals in the brain...
...wait, has Woolie ever played Haze?
But those chemicals/neurotransmitters/stress hormones are the result of nerve impulses. They're just a way to carry the message - not the origin of it
Next one should be Resident Evil: Umbrella Corps.
Oh yeah, I... vaguely remember that game.
@@headman82 Oh Umbrella Corps is a different game, not Operation Raccoon City. Umbrella Corps was a competitive FPS game that died as quickly as it was announced.
I feel like more could've been said about Haze's amazingly ham-handed plot delivery, but this was still a good one.
I was in a WoW guild with one of the free radical devs back in '07. On a RL meet up, being a huge splitters fan, mentioned I was looking forward to haze. He just looked at me blank, emotionless and said 'don't bother it's gunna be shit' 🤣
I'm not gonna lie, this was my first ever FPS and... I loved it back then. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have the same idea today but this was the game that actually got me to get interested in FPS games
There was actually a game called Singularity or something like that in which you had a time altering glove and altered the environment. I'm curious as to wha happun with that.
Singularity was awesome! I've been considering rebuying it for nostalgia sake.
Singularity was actually good, got raved about for a bit, and then they forgot it. Pretty much that.
I should play it again, sometime.
Nothing that interesting happened, a good game came out with a neat but underdeveloped gimmick and it’s remembered by people like you and me
Poor Raven software
Unlike Haze, Singularity is actually a solid FPS, too bad Raven didn't elaborate upon the "time" mechanic
Y’know, I’d like to see G4 and TechTV (+ the shows included) get the Wha Happun treatment.
Leo Laporte's donger lmao
czcams.com/video/ZEBwGOHntro/video.html
Well, we know Wha Happun to Olivia Munn. I'm curious about what Morgan Webb has been up to.
Well, it’s getting revived.
@@mr.raslyon6626 Ahh, Morgan Webb... Now that's a name that I haven't heard in a long time. She was one of my, and I'm sure many other nerdy gamer's, first crushes.
I'm patiently waiting for some hotshot modder boi to remake Haze in the Doom engine.
I just took a shit in a toaster, that's objectively better than Haze made in the Doom engine. You're welcome.
Doom in the haze engine would just be doom 3 so let's port haze into the GameCube, that would be amusing
@@Journey_to_who_knows he said haze in the doom engine, not doom in the haze engine, because some modders will remake shitty games on doom but make them not shitty (the most popular example being impietwo's remake of operation bodycount), i myself have tried remaking isle of the dead on doom but I was too inexperienced at the time
Should do a wha happun on Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and how much it crushed Square to which they ended up joining with Enix to become the company they are today.
.... I actually like that movie...
@@Christopher-eq1rn Same. Watched it a few months ago, it doesn't deserve the hate.
Advent Children, on the other hand....
Matt, please, please, please! Dragonball Evolution. I need to know wah happun!
This game sounds like a more si-fi version of Spec Ops: The Line. Such a shame it died on arrival the way it did. Even more a shame that it will never be remade into what it should have always been.
Yeah the game had some pretty cool moments namely one where corpses dissapear after you
You think ok obviously its doing that to save resources
No the drug nectar in conjunction with mantel technology makes corpses dissapear so soldiers arnt ethically conflicted and theres a moment where you walk down an empty corridor and occasionally get short doses of reality and see corpses of civilians littering the place and blood all up walls
Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within is 100% Wha Happun material.
Oh god. I remember this game. My buddy had it. At the time we called it the "drugs are bad, mmmkay?" game.
I remember playing this game in middle school and loving it, I had no idea this was happening, back then I didnt care about reviews and wasn't stingy about games, I feel like the only reason this game failed is the overhype and comparing it to other games.
amongst the bugs, the ham fisted story, and feature creep
Literally many games get ruined Because they're good but get over hyped
[Game] killer: this is thrown around so much that no one takes it seriously anymore.
Oh Ubisoft, your impatience cost you a potential FPS franchise. Glad to see some of the former members continued in some capacity in the gaming industry. RIP Free Radical, you are missed.
YIIK would be a fun one, being a game that spent years in development, years being rather hyped, until ultimately being released to fairly mixed results at best.
Naming your game the “________ killer” I think is a sure way to have it fail
Halo killer, tf2 killer, cod killer etc.
wow killer
RedEyesUDragon I knew I forgetting something
Giordan Diodato fucking lies
Giordan Diodato yeah not even close, if anything overwatch is dead
If there's one thing i've learned over the years, its that the only "killers" of franchises are the franchise owners themselves.
Dunno if it's been suggested, but how about a lookback on Active Enterprises/Action 52? Its development history and people behind the company itself are as bizarre as they are fascinating (unless Wha Happun only covers projects with actual hype behind them).
How has Jericho not had a Wha Happun episode
You forgot to write "yet"...
Halo: You fool! The only person that can kill me is me!
Why was this video taken down after it was first uploaded?!?! An actual "What Happened?". Glad it's re-uploaded though.
Good job on the vid, as a kid I followed HAZE from a demo and had no idea it had a link to sumo digital until I ran into the staff member at my old uni of Sheffield Hallam who housed sumo digital colleagues within their grounds
10:04 when the Duelist of the Roses music hit i literally went "OOOO" because the Yu-Gi-Oh games have some really good music to pick for video essays like this
Same here, hearing that really took me back, although the track "VS Yorkist" is my favorite track is my favorite from that game.
Matt making the good stuff! I subbed for this show but you knocked it out of the park with G-week, and then E3, and then another Wha Happun? You're a machine dude!
Also, Ninja Gaiden 3 should probably be covered at some point.
Haze was one of the games I got with my PS3 when I was back in middle school. I remember liking it - sure all the 'war is hell' flew over my head as a kid, but at the time I had fun.
I'd love to see you do one of Spore, seeing as that I built my first computer for the expressive purpose of playing that shit pile, to my eternal shame.
You're actually not alone in that exact experience
What was bad about it? I got it in like, 2011-ish? I thought it was just a goofy alien maker game, and had fun with it. But everyone I see who's played said it was incredibly disappointing
@@SpiralDownward people hated the space stage because it took way to long to do anything and before the classes dlc it was flovourless and bland
Motorstorm Apocalypse is an interesting one for me. A game series I loved and this one was based around racing tracks that changed with earthquakes and such. Only problem is it released right when the devastating Japan earthquake happened and had to be delayed... it's a shame bc it had a really interesting online mode that you could bet against each other, but never stood a chance due to the tragedy in Japan
I never understood why people were calling it 'The Halo Killer', where such a game already existed in the form of Killzone 2 ( & later the third installment )
Anyway - as for the game/title suggestion from me it would be the RPG: 'Two Worlds' and its sequel.
I even bought the first TW and thought it to be the 'better Oblivion' at the time XD
Did you really just call killzone a halo killer?
@@Mike-dy8sj Yes; what I meant though it's a Playstation exclusive AAA FPS game that moved some units back in the day
Me and my friend actually liked this game, perhaps because we played co-op so just playing together made it more fun.
We still yell "boosh" and smack our arms together like the NPCs did in that cutscene.
>Halo Killer
>Playstation Exclusive
Something doesn't seem right here.
That official Hitomi at 14:12 tho
Seeing SWBF3 mentioned at the end there, a lot has come out since about its troubled development. So it's honestly amazing a finished product DID wind up coming out from that mess at all... even if Free Radical weren't the ones to put it out.
A 'What Happened' on that game - Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron - would be great to see.
Holy hell! Nobody ever talks about Haze... I was a Free Radical fanboy and Haze was my single biggest hype train at E3 2006. I was sold on how amazing it was going to be, and it was CRUSHING when it fell apart.
Love that you're covering such weird stories like this. You just got me subbed.
Thank you for this! I worked at GameStop when this game came out and I don’t recall a single thing we did to promote it. I did have a coworker that would tell anybody that would listen how Haze was a “Halo Killer”.
Since you brought up Dambuster, you should do an episode on both Homefront games.
Matt, I don't know if you read your comments, but I'm one of the players of Haze that had simply felt, "let down" by it. Thank you for making this video. It brought me some closure, and seeing how the team was treated, and more-so how they felt about shipping it allows me to remember Free Radical with all the fondness they deserve. Even after Haze. They were a great team of genuine people who loved making games and loved their fans. I love this series honestly. Recent sub. Ringing the bell over this one.
Never thought I’d hear Yugioh: Duelist of the Roses music in a Wha Happun video
“A card a card my kingdom for a card”
14:07
Oh Matt, you dirty boy 😳
Man, all these devs and publishers tried so hard; spent so much money to kill Halo.
All they had to do was wait for 343 Industries to make Halo 4, Halo 5, and the MCC, killing it for them.
(Oh god please 4th times the charm with Halo Infinite its literally been over a decade since a good Halo game.)
The concept behind the game is actually phenomenal, it’s a shame it wasn’t fully realized
Actually acting as dead is important feature of Haze. It's mirrored L2 button ability of Nectar Soldiers and on Hard difficulty you simply can't survive without.
How many medicore shooters were branded as "Halo Killers" back then? I still remember people saying the first Killzone would be a "Halo Killer."
Could you do a video on Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts? (Nice video btw)
@@guyshafor1320 I don't know about the sales behind it, but many people who were fans of the originals were not happy with it.
@@guyshafor1320 Idk honestly, fallout 76 sold fairly well even for being such a mess. Like I said before, I'm not aware of the sales behind N&B. N&B wasn't really that bad of a game either, its just not what the fans wanted. Apparently, the team that made it wasn't happy with it either, but that's just my poor memory as a reference.
"THAT'S RACIST" it hurts to laugh dammit and it was worth it.
Being associated with Korn is the ultimate humiliation.
I actually loved this game as a kid. Lots of memories of me and my best friend playing this for hours. As jaded as I am now, I still remember this game fondly.
Finished it in hours with cuz when it came out.
I was mad. I spent $88 on this shit.
I'd love to see a video on Insomniac's _Fuse._
The concept actually sounds really cool! A narrative FPS game using with the steroids making people lose their humanity and the choice to use them or not? It’s like spec ops: the line, meets we happy few. Damn if they did a remake of this game and did it right? They’d have my 60 dollars.
I love all the Timesplitters background music in this video. It has some bangers in its soundtracks and I’m glad someone appreciates them
I was wondering “when will Matt take a look at Haze?” And then boom! This episode shows up.
You posted this video yesterday, then just took it down, Matt.
Tell me, Wha Happun?
Samuel Solomon the release was meant to be exclusive to Patreon backers/flophouse VIPs. He just made a little mistake
@@fusionman29 thanks for explaining. I wasnt upset or anything, just a little confused.
10:17 Yu-Gi-Oh duelist of the roses deck edit theme detected, good shit man
I appreciate the “Duelist of the Roses” background music @10:04 - much love, Matt!
Thank you for not forgetting this one
Huh, didn't expect to hear a Duelists of the Roses track on this channel
Well, ya showed it. Why not Gundam: Crossfire?
I was not expecting an Adema reference today... or ever. Great video as always.
The longest legacy of Haze is that a shisha bar in Glasgow was still using the logo for the game as their own until it closed last year
Still waiting on Advent Rising and my psychic fish people!
I enjoyed Haze very much. I miss the times with fun experimentative games
To know they were working on Battlefront 3 is heartbreaking. It would definitely be better than the modern Battlefronts we have now.
Ah yes inject that Haze nostalgia right into my veins
I actually loved this game so much and would play it all the time on local multiplayer with my friends
Honestly, besides seeing the cover, this is the most I've ever seen about the game Haze. And after watching (great video, btw) I feel kinda bad for the devs and everything that happened. I also honestly think that if Haze was done correctly, it could be a pretty kickass game. The "nectar" mechanic seems pretty interesting and there's a lot you could do with it, story and gameplay wise. I feel like if this had happened maybe a few years into the PS3s life cycle, it could have done okay. But unfortunately with all things, there's going to be failures upon launch of a brand new console and it just sucks to see the potential of Haze go down with it.
Nectar was done well even if the twist was so obvious it was on the back of the box
The game that killed Timesplitters
I'd love to see an episode focused exclusively on Timesplitters
13:45 Gosh this Pokémon Collosum music is bringing back memories.
On the subject of 'Halo Killers' I wanna know wha' happun' with Halo 5.
Bungie stopped making them :P That was a special team that put love and care into everything they could.
343
You should do Final Fantasy 15
I agree
the remade one or the orginal poopy one
Would love to see a video on Haven: Call of The King:
It was a platformer/adventure game on the PS2 that was intended to have a series of games made (and a GBA port?) but was cancelled due to poor sales, leaving the ending as a horrifically bad cliffhanger.
I have a positive nostalgia view of Haze, playing with my brother back in the day
im curious, What Happened to the game BRINK?
Bethesda happened, my friend. Bethesda happened.
Whenever LAIR is brought up I remember the devs with a tear in my eye. Almost everybody only remembers the shitty game, but those guys got fucked over by Sony HARD. They were given dev kits with far better motion sensor tech and on that basis developed the game, then the thing came out and the tech wasn't in place (yet). Meaning the controls didn't work, making the thing basically unplayable. I remember one of them was on a german podcast once (because the devs were german) called "Spieleveteranen" and he explained the whole situation there. By the time Sony had implemented the better motion controls it was far too late and ultimately killed the studio.
Hearing the Timesplitters 2 title screen music just makes me so happy
Bro and I picked up this game in a $5 bargain bin back in the day and it was honestly a riot for that price. Like the gaming equivalent to watching The Room. But in hindsight it's quite sad knowing how it ended up for the studio
Oh i'm here early, better make a worn out early joke. OK i got one: Bethesda's E3 2019 press conference.
"hahahahahaha"
- Nintendo
wow i know this vids old but: "Deep Silver Working On New TimeSplitters Game With Studio Formed By Original Creators"
I have good memories of playing this with my dad so i gave it another go years later. Good god i was looking at it through rose tinted glasses
Best use of Pokemon Coliseum music hands down