New Cancelled Games & Their Lost Media Added to the Archive

Microsoft, Xbox 360

Halo 3: ODST [X360 – Beta]

U64 Staff & Contributors
30-09-2009
5 Comments

Bungie initially conceived ODST as a small side project to produce in the lull between Halo 3‘s completion and Halo:Reach. Instead of featuring recognizable characters such as the Master Chief from previous games, the developers focused on the ODSTs. Story director Joseph Staten penned a detective story utilizing film noir settings, design, and characters. Composer Martin O’Donnell abandoned his previous Halo themes to create a quieter, jazz-influenced sound. During development, the game grew in scope to that of a full-sized game. [info from Wikipedia]

When Bungie decided to make a new Halo game after 3, they tossed around alot of ideas and concepts, such as another game where you play as Master chief, or one focusing on the Arbiter. Eventually they came across the idea for a game where you play as an ODST, they went through several concepts of what it would be about, some early concepts for the ODST idea were a game where you’d play as a ODST squad that would follow alongside a Spartan. Another one was about going back to Waypoint. They reused alot of cut ideas from Halo 1,2, and 3 in ODST such as these cut Pelican models cut from Halo 3: Read more

Others, PC / MAC

Far Cry (X-Isle) [PC – Alpha & Tech Demo]

U64 Staff & Contributors
29-09-2009
6 Comments

Far Cry is a FPS developed by Crytek Studios from Germany and published by Ubisoft in 2004 for Microsoft Windows. The codename of the project was “X-Isle”, a tech demo with dinosaurs on a jungle island. Crytek history starts with the ECTS 2000. It was there that they impressed all the big publishers with their tech demos at the NVIDIA booth. They continued releasing various tech demos over the years and the X-Isle one evolved into Far Cry.

From the original X-Isle: Dinosaur Island the plot of the game was changed many times before the final one, and once there were aliens too. As we can read from an old Gamespot preview:

In the game, players will be pitted against an ancient alien life-form closely related to the dinosaurs. The aliens have re-created a colony of dinosaurs in an attempt to take back control of the globe. The player must overcome the advanced alien technology in addition to the brute strength and power of the dinosaurs in order to succeed.

In the pre-alpha version of the game, there were some differences as noticed by Slayermaggot81:

  • Different Hud/Health Bar
  • Different and unfinished levels (low textures)
  • More sunny lightning and clear transparent water (ain’t blue-ish like in the final game)
  • Enemies does look different than in the final game
  • Effects like explosions, smoke and blood were looking different

A Far Cry demo from E3 2002 was found and preserved online, you can read more on the “BRP: Beta Restoration Project” ModDB page!

Thanks to Slayermaggot81 for the contribution!

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Microsoft, Others, PC / MAC, Playstation 3 (PS3), Sony, Xbox 360

Necessary Force [Cancelled – Xbox 360/PS3/PC]

Liam Robertson
29-09-2009
2 Comments

Necessary Force is a cancelled action game that was in development at Midway Newcastle. The game was supposed to be open-ended, with the player that would have been able to choose how to approach the mission. Unfortunately, Midway Newcastle shut down in august 2009 and the project had to be shelved. A preview of an early playable demo can be found on the EDGE website and, as we can read, the game sounded promising:

[…] the developer’s demo room is the result of only three months’ work, yet there is plenty to see, and in remarkably stable, consistent form. […]

As a police officer assigned to this beat, you’re looking at a clean-up operation, which due to the game’s construction will play out literally. As you eliminate criminal activity to make these streets safer, we’re told, they will transform. The ubiquitous graffiti will be scrubbed away. Boards will be removed from windows. Entire buildings will be replaced with shiny new constructions, putting a shop, say, were once there was a tumbling-down tenement.

Thanks a lot to Sam Chester for the help in preserving some screens of the models that he created for the game!

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Nintendo, Wii

Epic Mickey [Wii – Beta / Concept / Unused Animations]

U64 Staff & Contributors
28-09-2009
8 Comments

Epic Mickey is a platform/action-adventure game designed by Warren Spector (of Deus Ex fame) and developed by Junction Point Studios exclusively for the Wii. The game was released in November 2010. As the title suggests, it stars the world-famous cartoon character Micky Mouse, however, after toying around with a magic paintbrush on a model of Disney Land made by a wizard named Yen Sid (“Disney” spelled backwards), he accidentally creates the Phantom Blot. He tries to erase it with paint-thinner, but he spills more paint on the model in the process, creating a portal with the paint/thinner mixture, which The Phantom Blot enters. Eventually, Micky gets pulled into it by the Phantom Blot, finding himself in a dark world known as The Cartoon Wasteland, populated by Disney characters who haven’t seen the light of day in years, even decades, not the least of which is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Pre-production started in 2007 when the company was bought by Disney. Some concept arts were leaked in Summer 2009 from a former employes’ resumes, but the final game doesn’t really look like these. It’s possible that parts of the original concept were cut.

As we can read at the Escapist Magazine, the Epic Mickey project originally started out as a PS3 / Xbox 360 / PC game, but later the developers decided to go with a Wii exclusive:

Speaking to Official Nintendo Magazine, Epic Mickey developer Warren Spector revealed: “The reality is that we started Wii development in 2008, but before that we were a PC, PS3, and 360 title.” Spector told Disney Interactive Studios boss Graham Hopper that to develop a true success, “it’d be awfully nice if we could focus on one platform.” Everything was switched up when a Wii port of the game was discussed, with Spector rightfully believing that a regular port wouldn’t cut it due to the unique, arm-flailing nature of the Wii, so Hopper suggested that Epic Mickey go Wii exclusive.

Thanks to Robert Seddon for the contribution!

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