Darkwatch 2 is the cancelled sequel of the 2005 FPS that was developed by High Moon Studios and published for the Playstation 2 and Xbox. Few months after the release of the first game, High Moon started to work on Darkwatch 2, following the same gameplay and scenario of the original title but now with the graphic power of the PS3 and Xbox 360. The project was shown at the GDC 2006 with a beta build as the studio was trying to pitch the game to a new publisher, but it seems that they did not have any luck and Darkwatch 2 was never finished.
Crude Awakening (aka The Crib) is a cancelled action / driving game that was in development by Pseudo Interactive in 2007 / 2008, planned to be released for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The project was meant to be a “next gen” Carmageddon with a different graphic approach: the idea behind it was to make it stylized, like Team Fortress 2, with a crazy cast of characters and a weird city to explore.
As in the original Carmageddon, the player had to race a vehicle against a number of other competitors with a certain amount of time to complete each mission. More time may be gained by collecting bonuses, damaging the competitors’ cars or by running over pedestrians.
The Crude Awakening concept was quite funny (in a gruesome way), there would be different objectives and sometimes the objective was to hit only one type of pedestrian and avoid others. Crude awakening was basically Carmagedon HD including some reworks of old characters.
The game was going to be published and funded by SCI / Eidos (the original Carmageddon publisher, now known as Square Enix Europe), but later they changed their mind and canned the development. As Crude Awakening was a major project for Pseudo Interactive, its cancellation became one of the causes for the studio’s economic problems and the following closure. In april 2008, Pseudo was officially shut down and all their WIP projects vanished with them.
However, whatever plans SCi had were subject to change once investors called for a change in upper management. Longtime CEO Jane Cavanagh resigned shortly thereafter, and the following month the new regime announced some drastic changes, including layoffs of 200 workers and the cancellation of more than a dozen games.
Only some artworks, concepts and few screens remain from Crude Awakening, preserved in the gallery below.
Thanks a lot to Roberto Robert, David Wu, Kay Huang, Heidi Klinck, Albert Alejandro, Bronwen Grimes and all the former Pseudo Interactive artists that helped us to preserve info and media from their lost project!
Ratchet Deadlocked (Ratchet: Gladiator in PAL regions, also known as Ratchet & Clank 4) is an arena style shooter from Insomniac games, released on 10/25/05 for the Playstation 2. This game strayed the most from the standard gameplay of the Ratchet and Clank series, being the first and only Ratchet game to be based upon the idea of arena fights instead of exploration.
Combat bots at one point were supposed to have legs instead of their hover base. This changed how they affect gameplay, mainly because flying lets them get a better angle than they could by walking. Also to be seen here, is that when given a command, that command appears above their heads. This can be seen at the very start of the video. The combat bot on the left to be precise. Also here, is a beta version of the ammo crate. It’s orange here, but the final version is green. And also, the ammo refills are the Gadgetron ones, and they are cylinder shaped. The final versions, are more box shaped, and green and black in color. Finally, notice that Ratchet has two combat bots here, and rescues a third. It is not known if the third battle bot would have affected gameplay or not.
Evan Hanley found even more differences in the early trailers shown at E3 and Tokyo Game Show:
The Eviscerator lacked his leg pads.
Ace Hardlight has a different missile glove.
The combat bots had legs at one point.
The Landstalker had different missile sound effects.
The HUD was different.
The health bar was different.
The weapon icons look slightly different.
The number text for the health bar, ammo and bolts was different.
The minimap is different.
The robot ability box is a different shape.
There is no level text for the weapons.
The EXP text is different.
The EXP bar is smaller and harder to see.
The Weapon EXP bar is different and in a different position.
The Landstalker’s health bar is different.
The Flail Whip has no hit sound effect.
The Electric Mine Launcher has a different sound effect.
Ratchet doesn’t grunt when hit.
The Online Multiplayer footage has pretty much the same differences as the Tokyo Game Show Trailer but has different HUDs and activity texts for different modes.
Ice Nine is a cancelled FPS with tactical elements (inspired by the film “The Recruit”) that was in development by Torus Games in 2002 / 2003 for the Playstation 2. The project would have been published by BAM! Entertainment, but for unknown reasons they never released it. During the missions the player would have been able to make choices that would have ultimately impact the multiple endings of the game. A GBA version of Ice Nine was released, but it was obviusly a different game from this one.
Over at Gaming Target we can read an old interview with one of the developers, that has some more info on the game:
AH: The enemies have an ‘awareness cone’ which is visible on the HD, showing you when they’ll spot you. The cone is not static however, and is affected by player actions. Knock an enemy out and grab a disguise and the enemies relax, meaning their cone will shrink. If you start shooting wildly, the enemies will go on alert and their cone will grow.
The system is designed to make the game feel more dynamic than most shooters – we wanted it to have more depth than just running and shooting, and allow the player to work through each level in their own way, making sure they got feedback from the enemies for each of their actions.
AH: There are twelve playable levels, each of which has at least two different art styles and three to five load sections. Each level is unique – we were very keen to make certain that there was a lot of variety through the game. We have forests, mines, submarines, office buildings and more.
Pixeljunk Shooter, is the fourth in a series of games made by Q games for the Sony Playstation 3. Your main goal in the game is to save the scientists that have been sent to investigate a planet, and solve puzzles while doing so.
In a prerelease video, we can see the difference between the unfinished game, and the final release.
To start with, the ship design. You can’t tell to well in the video, but it’s somewhat rounded. In the final version, it looks almost like a yellow fly.
Also, the scientists are colored more yellow in the final version. Here, they’re orange. The final version of the scientists are also more detailed.
Also, the temperature bar is VERY different from the final. The final is more segmented. For that matter, the entire HUD is beta here. There’s no display of how many gems you’ve found, it shows how many lives you have left when in the final there’s no way to tell, and the area that shows the scientists at the bottom right, shows how many are in the current area, and thier current status. Either saved, deceased, or still missing. Also, the final version of the HUD is sort of a yellow and gold mix, and is designed and arranged slightly differently in the final.
Also to be seen in the video, Are somewhat of a beta version of the bats. They barely look LIKE bats at all in the beta. And also, the doors that bar you from leaving the section you’re in are different in design.
Also beta here, is the “water bomb”. It’s rather large. The final version, is at least HALF the size. This is not to be confused with the sponge however. Water bombs explode with water all over the place upon being dropped. The sponge sucks up water it’s been dropped in, and then releases over time upon being picked up. However, on the subject of the sponge, in the beta, it releases one steady stream of water. in the final, it realeases the water steadily, yes, but in a 5 way spread.
In the beta, the “points” the enemies leave behind are yellow. In the final, they are a deep red orange.
Back to the men in destress again. In the beta, most have a flag. In the final, most don’t. In fact, only 1 per level does. On another note, upon being put under water, the men will begin to swim in the beta. In the final, they just continue to stand there.
And lastly, the enemy life meters are red and white. In the final, they are red with a yellow border. Also, when an enemy dies in the beta, they make the same sound that the standard flying enemies in Pixeljunk Monsters do when they die.
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