Welcome to Tues Your Own Adventure! Join Jules and James as they take a look at video games that ended before they started! Running out of gas before turning on the engine!
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00:00Hello all of you little demons, Jules here for whatculture.com, back again with another
00:05episode of the awesomely named and awfully hosted Choose Your Own Adventure, the weekly
00:09medieval themed format where I, the Crown Jules of whatculture.com, take a list chosen
00:13by you.
00:14Yes, you, the person who has a super special live and let's dice channel update that's
00:19going to be at the end of the video.
00:20Don't worry, I won't waste too much of your time with my usual preamble mumble jumble
00:24that is my introductions.
00:25But yes, stay tuned to the end of the video because there is something very, very special
00:29happening.
00:30Yes, you get to decide what list I dole out to you each and every week.
00:33And this week we have none other to thank than, I'm just going to tune up the drum
00:37trumpets or the drum pits as they have now been known, I don't actually know who suggested
00:44this.
00:45I probably should have had that up on my screen.
00:47Ironically, I'm stopping myself before I've started, which is actually today's topic.
00:52So that's worked out quite well.
00:54James will probably put the name up right now.
00:56Thank you very much for your suggestion.
00:57So sometimes when you're playing video games, it can feel like the action only really kicks
01:01into gear come the very final part of the game, and as such things end just at the point
01:06in which you feel like they're just getting started.
01:09Other times, exceptional ideas can just fall afoul of bad release windows, meaning that
01:12the series they represented are buried before they've even had a chance to bloom.
01:16And in other, even more unfortunate examples, titles can be killed off or cancelled before
01:20even getting to market.
01:22These are the tales of the unloved.
01:24These are the tales of the underappreciated.
01:26And these are 8 video games that ended before they even got started.
01:31So let's take a look at them as I'm Jules, and this is WhatCulture.com.
01:34Say hi to me here on the live chat and put your suggestions for next week's episode
01:38down in the comments section below.
01:40But with that in mind, let's get on with that list, shall we?
01:43Number 8.
01:44Vanquish.
01:45Oh, what's that?
01:46Yes, it's time for Jules to wheel out his little soapbox car thing, because it's got
01:51wheels apparently, and stand on top of it to proclaim, where is Vanquish to?
01:56Where is Vanquish to?
01:57Yeah, it's that time again.
01:59Because seriously, this game demanded and deserved more.
02:02Now while the story might be a good old slice of B-movie ham, delicious, the action tied
02:08things together so well that it fits like a well-tailored suit, delicious.
02:13Not wearing a suit, but you get the idea.
02:15And with the late game reveal that your own government was in on the whole coup of the
02:18solar sun space station turned death laser, well that's something that hypes up the
02:22player for a showdown for the ages.
02:25So who's first then?
02:26The rascally Russian leader Viktor, or is Elizabeth Winters, the US president, about
02:30to get her teeth booted down her throat?
02:32Either way, you're scooting towards the end of this game at such speed that you resemble
02:36a coked up greyhound with worms, and it's here that the action is put down with a brick.
02:41After battling a pair of souped up mech suits, it's revealed that Viktor has already left
02:45the space station, and Winters has just shot herself rather than have the world find out
02:49about her treason.
02:50Oh, right, okay, so what do you get then?
02:55Nothing.
02:56Just sliding straight into the end credits, because you've had your final boss battle
02:59and it was against the two mech suits.
03:00Cool.
03:01We're just going to ignore the very dour tone that's underlying this very kind of
03:06cheery end message, they're all like, yay, we saved the day, it's like, no you haven't.
03:10No you haven't at all.
03:11There's a resource war waiting for you when you crash land back on terra firma.
03:14That is an issue that I want to see in a sequel, where is Vanquish 2?
03:17Number seven, The Force Unleashed 2.
03:20As much as we all enjoyed Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2 when it came to its action, that's
03:25pretty good, when it came to its story, or moreover its content, the backbone of this
03:30game was broken over its knee like Bane and Batman.
03:34It's a comic reference in my gaming soup.
03:37I love it.
03:38It's like a crunchy little crouton.
03:39I say this because it only lasted four or five bloody hours, which is pretty insulting
03:43considering the full price tag that came with this game, let alone that it flies in the
03:47face of the two things that all sequels should strive to be, aka bigger and better.
03:52Honestly, things feel so phoned in that you could replace half the alien forms in this
03:56game from the Star Wars universe with that roving ball bag known as E.T. and things would
04:00fit better, because, and brace yourself, James, you'll be experiencing a grand total of
04:05four areas, two of which are on the same planet, and that's what this game does to you.
04:13And yet, what hurts the most about this title is that this offshoot series contains so much
04:18potential to be great.
04:20The act of exploring the dark side, working for and then against the Empire, and indulging
04:24in levels of violence not really seen in Star Wars video games since, was something that
04:28could have been mined for several years had the devs actually bothered to put more into
04:32the game than the leftovers to the first with some fan fiction sprinkled on top.
04:36It was a series that was destined for greatness, but unfortunately fell to the dark side.
04:41Don't know what voice I'm doing today.
04:43What accent?
04:44You tell me.
04:45What accent am I doing?
04:46Number 6.
04:47Star Wars Battlefront 3
04:48Now I know what you're going to be saying, James, that you're going to be saying, oh
04:53Jules, why are you putting on another entry from the same franchise, surely you're meant
04:57to only have one franchise per list, but guess what, oh, what's this, oh, it's Evil Finger
05:03Temple of Doom.
05:04Off, off.
05:05Yeah, that's right, I'm saying boo to a goose and you too, my friend, because more people
05:09need to know about the sheer tragedy that was the original Star Wars Battlefront 3.
05:14Yeah, that's right, we're not lamenting the fact that EA won't get another chance
05:17to botch their way through another Star Wars title, but instead we're looking back at
05:21a time when plucky developer Free Radical was working on a sequel to the much-loved
05:25series after taking up the reins following Pandemic Studios, and how despite being, according
05:30to sources, 99% complete, never got a chance to release this game.
05:34Now the title was set to have huge changes to the core experience, with players able
05:38to engage in space battles, and then ride down to the planet's surface to continue
05:42the fighting on foot seamlessly, which obviously at the time would have pushed consoles to
05:47their limit.
05:48It was also set to have a single player mode that focused on two clones, one of which defects
05:52and joins the Rebellion, and the other staying loyal to the Empire after Order 66.
05:56As you can tell, there was a lot going for this title, however thanks to LucasArts changing
06:00management three times across this project, the disaster that was Free Radical's haze,
06:05and the fact that budgets were slashed and deadlines pushed forward meant that Star Wars
06:09Battlefront 3 was stuttering hard.
06:11This, coupled with withheld payments from LucasArts, meant that soon Free Radical had
06:16no resources to put into the game, all of which led to the development studio closing
06:20and LucasArts refusing to put out the game.
06:22Thankfully, though, you can find a ton of footage of what might have been online because
06:27the devs just leaked everything they possibly could, which is great.
06:30Now there's a weird thing as well that a lot of people saying that a lot of the assets
06:34from this game got used in the PSP version, like a spin-off game that came afterwards.
06:39There was actually one of the lead developers when I was doing research for this actually
06:42said no, that's not the case.
06:43They used some assets in the sequel to that offshoot game for the PSP, but the original
06:47one didn't have it.
06:48So there's no real way to say that the Star Wars Battlefront 3 experience that we should
06:52have got is out there in the public, but still, we were so close, 99% close.
06:58That's a real shame.
06:59Number five, Halo 2.
07:01Do you mind telling me what you're doing on that ship, Master Chief?
07:05Sir, finishing the fight.
07:07Oh, that sounds so cool!
07:10Go on then, don't let me stop you, off you go, off you go.
07:15Well, what are you waiting for?
07:17Go on, off you go.
07:18I'm waiting until next year, until the sequel drops.
07:21Oh, you motherf-
07:22Yes, this was the cry heard all around the world when the Chief of Beef decided to sting
07:27fans with a sequel that we kind of all knew was coming deep down, but was delivered in
07:31such a horrendous manner in the form of Halo 2.
07:34Here after waiting a fair old while for the sequel itself, we were dragged through a rather
07:37confusing mess filled with arbiters and grave minds, only to be told that the real action
07:41wouldn't be starting until Halo 3.
07:44Once word got out about this, it's fair to say that the hype train was significantly
07:47derailed, and for many, it felt like a slap in the face to be delivered with a, let's
07:51just let these wheels spin narrative, in order to drag out the series.
07:55Of note, very little happens on this journey, and if you're being truly honest with yourself,
07:59you could skip right to Halo 3 and still piece together what's going on within minutes.
08:03Thankfully, Halo 3 more than delivered on the single player front, but for a time, it
08:08definitely felt like the series was sinking under its own expectations.
08:114.
08:12Titanfall 2
08:13Now, as we've said many, many times before here on WhatCulture, please, if you haven't
08:19already, play Titanfall 2.
08:21Also like and subscribe, I guess.
08:22As this game is quite possibly one of the most underappreciated hidden gems of the last
08:27And it's such a shame, seeing as the series was just finding its footing, only to get
08:32its legs kicked out from underneath it here.
08:34The original Titanfall game presented a brilliant concept of big mech battles amidst massed
08:39firefights, and coupled this with a brilliantly engaging parkour system that allowed for liquid
08:43quick gameplay.
08:44However, when it came to its narrative, it was a bit on the light side.
08:48Stories played out on the same maps that you'd played in multiplayer over and over, and in
08:52all honesty, the creatures that you could spy off in the distance were actually more
08:55interesting than the military guff you were being forced to inhale.
09:00Tom Clancy.
09:01Then along came Titanfall 2, smashing into the ground and tearing up the script of the
09:06original, while also delivering a truly heartfelt and action-packed narrative of a man and his
09:11mech who take on all odds and exchange barbed remarks along the way.
09:15This was a breath of fresh air, not only for the series, but the entire sci-fi genre at
09:19the time that was rather in danger of disappearing up its own arse.
09:23So of course, with all of this positivity, it died a commercial death.
09:26Cool.
09:27This was the game Titanfall 1 needed to be, but thanks to a decline in interest and a
09:32terrible release window of the sequel, Titanfall as a franchise is now gathering rust down
09:37the scrapyard.
09:383.
09:39The Order 1886
09:40Okay, so Jazz, I've actually got a game pitch for you.
09:43I know that I usually speak to James, but let's face it, you're the real brains
09:46of this operation.
09:47Oh yeah, betray me like that.
09:49Well, Jazz isn't here, so you're gonna have to talk to me.
09:51So how about a video game where you play a group of secret monster hunters looking to
09:55defend humanity using high-tech weapons, and it's set in Victorian England?
09:59Sounds pretty sweet, right?
10:01You can stop nodding now, by the way.
10:03We've already made our point.
10:04Well, how about you take that idea, and all of the cool set pieces that it could create,
10:08and the interesting take on steampunk gadgets and weapons you could see, and smush it all
10:12down to a four hour experience?
10:14What's that?
10:15Do you want more time in this interesting world and the supposedly immortal characters
10:19you're playing as?
10:20Well, tough.
10:21If this is all you get, then you best be bloody happy with that meagre amount, because we're
10:24not gonna support the game with DLC or a sequel.
10:27Welcome, my friends, to the world of The Order 1886.
10:30The game that so many wanted to be so much more than what we got.
10:34Just as the wheels started spinning at full speed, they came off entirely as the game
10:38crashed to credits around four hours in.
10:40And remember, this is just when the players finally got to fight against some of the werewolves
10:44promised in the early stages of the title.
10:47It's a game that felt like a short story instead of a movie, and its desperate scrabble
10:51to a close made The Order look like a glorified and very expensive tech demo, albeit one that
10:56we desperately wanted to see more of.
10:592.
11:00Deus Ex Mankind Divided
11:01So recently I've been watching a lot of Hbomberguy's videos.
11:04I love the fact that he has these really long form essays, and they're so well thought
11:09out and I kind of like, even when they're about games that I love and he's ripping
11:13them to pieces, I'm like, damn, I've learned something from this experience.
11:17But after watching his recent video on the Deus Ex Human Revolution, I just sat there
11:22thinking yep, he's right, I'm going to start firing up the original game again.
11:26I might even play through Invisible War, that's obviously a joke because no one should play
11:29through Invisible War.
11:31But still, before I did, I started thinking about Mankind Divided, the sequel to Human
11:37Revolution's reboot prequel thing that was going on, and actually noted that all of the
11:41issues that he's kind of addressing in that, they were kind of ironed out in the
11:44sequel.
11:45Buuuuut, while the combat definitely was tweaked so that it wasn't as relied upon as in the
11:50former title, and yes, the approach to level design was rehauled to make things feel more
11:54connected to the in-game world, and yes, in place of boss battles that were farmed out
11:58to another dev studio that was just kind of won and it came at the end of the game, but
12:03but, the issue is not the lack of boss battles per se, but the fact that the story just felt
12:08like it got going right as the battle hit our screens.
12:12And remember, it is the end boss.
12:14Now a running joke within the Deus Ex community is that Mankind Divided attempted to eliminate
12:18downtime by... cutting out a ton of chapters of its own story, as here it definitely feels
12:23like you just go to the Alps to battle some bioterrorists, head to London, have a boss
12:27battle, declare war on the Illuminati, and then hit the showers.
12:31Quite literally, the most interesting point of the game is where Mankind Divided chose
12:35to end things.
12:36And with no sequel on the horizon, as Square Enix is clearly more interested in dividing
12:40Mankind from their disposable income through microtransactions, it looks as if the Illuminati
12:44are calling this a win for themselves.
12:461.
12:47Psyops the Mindgate Conspiracy
12:49So for those wee babies in the group who look with furrowed and sweaty confused brow at
12:54the memory card slot from a PS2 and start going BRUH WHAT IS THIS BRUH BRUH BRUH, Psyops
12:59the Mindgate Conspiracy came out before things like Fortnite, and was, as we would call it,
13:05a brilliant title, or as the current generation might term it as, a game that totally slaps
13:10brah.
13:11Combining ragdoll physics with complete and utter psychic-powered chaos, Psyops was a
13:15game that shed its military shooter vibes and aesthetic not two levels in, and only
13:20ever looked back to laugh at the slew of other brown-palleted action games that were struggling
13:24to find a home.
13:25However, maybe Psyops should have checked where it was going from time to time, as just
13:29as the action seemed to hit a high and the plot developed into something more intriguing,
13:33things stumbled and fell off into the abyss.
13:35In the closing moments, Nick is confronted by two attack helicopters, and it's suggested
13:40that an even bigger threat is going to emerge to tie all of the psychic shenanigans together,
13:45but the game just cuts to black with a classic sequel bait of TO BE CONTINUED.
13:49It's one thing for a mega blockbuster like Halo 2 to pull this move, but here, in a much
13:53lesser known IP, it feels like a truly misguided move that seems to rob the player of a satisfying
13:59conclusion.
14:00And it's such a shame as well, because the story, while definitely not going to be the
14:03sort of thing that goes on to win any awards, even though it weirdly was nominated for some,
14:07which is mind-blowing, it's definitely not boring.
14:10I mean, you've got psychic powers, evil government conspiracies, twins!
14:14Twins!
14:15One of them's evil, obviously.
14:18There's a lot going on.
14:19None of it's great, but it's the best type of B-movie stuff, and it's a shame that we
14:23never got to see this series continue.
14:24Boo!
14:25And there we go, my friends, those were eight video games that ended before they even got
14:29started.
14:30I hope you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the
14:33comments section below.
14:35But before I go, I just want to say one thing.
14:37I told you at the beginning of this video that I had a big announcement for the Live
14:39and Let's Dice channel.
14:40If you don't know what that is, that is my board game channel where I do my streaming
14:43and tabletop gaming stuff, and especially Warhammer, which this announcement relates
14:48to.
14:49Now, I have been invited, along with the rest of the Live and Let's Dice boys, Mikey, Beanie,
14:53and Lawson, we are going to an event in Warhammer World in Nottingham on the 7th of May to represent
14:58a bunch of content creators for the Horus Heresy launch event, and it would mean the
15:03world to me if you could support this by retweeting, telling people about it, or if you have the
15:08gumption, if you got the stuff, coming to see us live at the event where we can show
15:13you what we've been working on.
15:14I can't detail what it is I've been doing for this event at the moment, but trust me,
15:18it is spectacular, and it's something that I'm really, really happy to be included with.
15:23So please, if you can come to the event, 7th of May, 2022, in Nottingham, here in the UK,
15:28come along, say hi, and play a little Space Marines, just walk around, bang, bang, bang.
15:35Or something like that, depending on what's going on.
15:38Anyway, yeah, thank you very much, hope to see you there, it would mean the world to
15:41all of us.
15:42But yeah, that's been it for today's episode, big love to James, hope he's feeling better
15:45because he was feeling a bit sicky recently, so big love to him as well.
15:48And before I go, I do just want to say one thing, sometimes in life we can hit sort of
15:53checkpoints that make us feel like we're getting stopped just before we're getting started,
15:58and that can be really, really off-putting, but I promise you, my friend, you should
16:02never give up.
16:03If you truly believe that there is something that you've been put on this Earth to do,
16:06to grow as a person, to do something special, then never give up on your goals and dreams,
16:10my friend.
16:11Look to others for friends, family, support people in the sport industry, because they
16:15care about you, they want you to do well, and they'll help you achieve your goals no
16:18matter how long it takes.
16:20Just keep persevering, my friend.
16:21That is the message I want to leave you with today, all right?
16:24Big love from me to you, you are a massive ledge, now go out there and smash it.
16:28As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak
16:32to you soon.
16:33Bye.