Future Killer is a cancelled sci-fi FPS that was in development around 2004 – 2006 by Futrix Studios, a team funded by former Ritual Entertainment level designer Thearrel McKinney. It would have probably been similar to other sci-fi horror titles such as Doom 3 and Resistance: Fall of Man, plus light “metroidvania” mechanics and featuring creepy alien enemies and teammates who could help or betray you. As we can read from the old Futrix Studios website:
“The first is an FPS game for the PC titled, “Future Killer”. Set in a futuristic earth setting, you are the only survivor of a failed genetic experiment. The experiments were developed by the government to produce work clones in an attempt to build a New Earth as their means of escaping a dying world from an alien invasion. The engine being used for the game is being kept under wraps until further development.”
In 2005 Gamecloud published an interview with McKinney where he shared some more details on Future Killer:
“Future Killer is a sci-fi FPS game based on a dying earth set in the future. The main character Yuen is the only survivor of the N.B.H. (New Breed Human) experiments conducted by the government. Playing the role of Yuen, you find yourself waking up in the middle of an alien invasion. Not knowing what has happened, you become informed by the people who find you, then set out to accomplish your different missions, find out why you were created and stop further invasion of the unknown alien race. Throughout the game, you team up with groups of human survivors, some of which can aid or betray you. Overall, there’s a number of plot twists in it that should catch the player by surprise. You have a pretty unique arsenal at your disposal, some of which can be upgraded by finding various items and modifying your weapons. That’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Yuen also has special abilities that the player must use in order to progress through the game. We don’t want to give too much away right now, but we’re hoping that once players play through it, they’ll walk away feeling good from a unique gaming experience and not let down.”
At the same time Futrix Studios were also working on a fantasy first-person adventure for cellphones titled, “Deadly Gates”. In the end it seems they were not able to find a publisher interested in funding their projects: the team disbanded and all of their games got canned.
Ascension (AKA Volitant Assault) is a cancelled community-based online FPS that was in development around 2006 – 2007 by RenWerX, a team previously known for a few popular Tribes mods. By looking at footage and screenshots available it seems the game would have indeed been inspired by Tribes, with huge maps, jetpacks and vehicles in team VS team online matches.
Essentially RenWerx conceived an open, crowd-developer online multiplayer FPS, to create a better Tribes experience for hardcore players. As we can read in their old website:
“Renwerx has revealed that the final release title for its upcoming game will be ‘Ascension’, replacing the previous working title ‘Volitant Assault’. The name Ascension alludes to the freedom of movement afforded by the universal jetpack featured in the game, and also indicates a tangible evolution from past games of the genre.
Ascension is being described as an online ‘FPS+Z’ (First Person Shooter with advanced character movement on the Z axis). FPS+Z games typically use jetpacks to propel players through the air and across extreme terrain in a variety of game-types such as CTF, Rabbit, and Siege. The Renwerx game combines exhilarating freedom of movement with team-oriented gameplay to immerse its players in fantastic new worlds without limits.
Renwerx Project Lead, Nick “Novanix” Daum explains, “Some folks have played games like this in the past, but the vast majority of online gamers are still out there slogging it for miles across boring terrain. These gamers are going to find a liberating new experience thanks to the FPS+Z gameplay in Ascension.”
As you can imagine in the early ‘00s it was not as easy to develop such a game and in the end Renwerx had to give up their dreams and hopes.
They is a cancelled survival mystery-horror FPS that was in development for PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 by polish videogame developer Metropolis Software, founded in 1992 by Adrian Chmielarz and Grzegorz Miechowski. In 1997 the studio acquired the license of “The Witcher” from Andrzej Sapkowski, however, they ceded it around 2000 to CD Project as they were already worked on 3 games at the same time (one of them being the cult-following turn-based rpg game “Gorky 17“).
Metropolis started working on They between 2005 and 2006 and officially announced it at the Game Convention 2007, but CD Projekt acquired the studio in 2008. The majority of the team was then taken over to work on “The Witcher” series and in the end Metropolis were subsequently closed in 2009.
One of the most interesting mechanics conceived for They was its weapons customization system: you only had a single weapon, which could have been modified, upgraded and designed with hundreds of different items. The PC Action magazine mentioned “a large amount of over 250 upgrades and design parts“, including stickers and logos. As we can read on Destructoid:
“Throughout the game, weapon body-parts and plug-ins will frequently crop up for the collecting. Maybe they’ll be part of a boss’ arsenal, dropped when you kill it, or you might just find them lying around in the aftermath of a battle. However you get hold of them, they can be put together, Lego-style, and tweaked and tuned to make a gun to do whatever the player can think up.”
“Every variety of gunfire, from single-shot, to machine gun, to explosive, to laser, to pretty much anything else you can think of can be blended and combined with however many others you want, along with all kinds of special properties such as fire, ice, lighting, and God knows what else. On top of that, there are loads of little adaptations to be had in the way of reload speed, shot frequency, blast damage etc. You want a rapid-fire electro-shotgun with exploding shells? You’ve got it. Grenade launcher with freezing ammo and your choice of blast radius and trajectory? Why not?”
We also know from IGN’s preview, levels in They would have been partially destructible, to let players create new ways of moving around:
“Of course, this being the next generation and all, it’s possible to destroy some buildings with a well placed grenade or two which, interestingly, is more than a simple aesthetic gimmick – laying waste to buildings uncovers shortcuts through levels and even secret power-ups. However, it’s worth remembering that being hit by falling debris is seriously bad for your health so take precautions. “
Metropolis Software’s philosophy with the weapon customization system was detailed in an interview on GGMania:
“Q: You announced a unique weapon feature, where you are able to upgrade a flexible weapon to your individual needs. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
A: Without naming so many things of the weapon yet, you might think of a soldier in every war. He only wears some few weapons – mostly knife, gun and maybe pistol. Common FPS games are really unrealistic in that point of view, that a soldier is really able to wear 10 more or less heavy guns at the same time (or he must be HULK to carry them all). In THEY you will have this one weapon, where you identify yourself with, which you can customize and enhance it based on YOUR needs and preferences! You will be able to store setups, so you have the expected control system with keys 1-0 to have access to different types of weapon setups – but it still will be YOUR buddy, YOUR best friend, YOUR WEAPON. The appearance will change dramatically, but you are still able to identify yourself with the weapon. So what we will bring to the genre is some more realistic and believable approach in sort of weapon handling. The fear of players, to have only one gun can be easily refuted, as you have hundreds of combinations which you can store and customize at your own discretion – to create YOUR perfect weapon setup, store it to the expected keys 1-0 and have access to them at all time! So each player will have the weapons of HIS choice, a large variation to be used based on needed functions (gameplay relevant decision!) and need not to get along with standard weapons – this is something unique and new to the genre and will grant more freedom for each player! On the other hand, if someone WANTS’ his standard “pumpgun/rifle/Ak47” feeling, he is able to create that…but when he will figure out the fun and possibilities from our new weapon system he will get used to it soon.”
Weapon customization was essential, because you would fight against some weird and stealthy alien / robot creatures in a “not so distant future”. The setting was a destroyed English city and the main plot was told by a little, mysterious boy.
“Set in near-future London in a world crippled by increasingly severe terrorist attacks, THEY follows the story of a British soldier during the emergence of a new global threat. An army of robots has appeared and begun laying waste to everything around it, and while everyone has assumed that a new terrorist faction is behind it all, it will eventually turn out that things are a lot more complicated than that. The robots are far more intelligent in their combat tactics than anyone can believe possible, and seem to be able to work together without any visible signs of communication. Needless to say, humanity is taking a serious kicking to the face, and it’s during one of these kickings that the player’s story starts.”
“The game will take in around twelve levels, and IMC/Metropolis were keen to point out that they’re taking an episodic structure to the game’s story. Taking their model from shows like Heroes and The X-Files, they’ll be making each level work as an individual episode, but will be building a bigger overall story arc as the game progresses.”
We can only hope one day someone could find a playable version of They, so it could be preserved online.
Helix Core is a cancelled online sci-fi FPS that was in development around 2002 – 2003 by Bright Light Productions, planned to be released for PC. Its main focus was the high number of players who could frag together in a single arena: up to 64 players. This was worked on 8 years before MAG and its 256-players deathmatch, or 13 years before PlanetSide 2’s 1158 simultaneous players: at the time it was quite an ambitious feature for Helix Core.
“In Helix Core, you and 63 of your friends engage in a massive multi-theatered struggle across the universe! Helix Core seamlessly blends gritty team-oriented First Person Shooter warfare with dramatic vehicular action, layering the combat with a powerful strategic component. Fight on foot, and in ship, on land and in space as you work to accomplish mission objectives in epic dynamically scripted levels. As you try to defeat the other team in any of the game’s vast environments, you’ll cooperatively pilot over 20 vehicles ranging from single-person nimble Starfighters to massive multi-personnel Capital Ship behemoths. Teamwork is key as you collectively earn credits for each small victory over your opponents, allowing Players to pool their resources to buy bigger, better technology for their forces.
In Helix Core, you’re not just a grunt. You’re a pilot, a spy, an engineer, a tactician — a combat-hardened soldier of a dark future. In Helix Core’s gothic sci-fi universe where “good” no longer exists, a fascist government combats a ghost of the past, and the only sure thing is bloodshed. Vengeance, hatred, betrayal — all are weaved together in the midst of this terrible struggle surrounding you. Ideas do not come in black and white anymore, there are no rights and wrongs — only greys.”
“VGI: Can you tell us a little about how the vehicular portion of the game will work?
Jeremy: A lot of the ships/vehicals in the game require cooperation. You can have a Capital Ship that can fit 20 players in it. Once you load it up, you can take the behemoth out, and your turret gunners can make mince meat out of their opponents. Eventually you make your way to the enemy base in this moving battlefortress. Without teamwork though, it will be very difficult to make your way to the enemies headquarters. That is why we are going to have up to 64 players in each game. In a game like Tribes, most of your vehicles are limited to 3 or 4 people tops, which leads to a very unstructured experience, and people don’t really have much of a way to cooperate in real game mechanics. Helix Core will change all of that.
VGI: I am just wondering, what kind of servers will be required for a concurrent 64 members on at one time, it seems like a lot of computer power would be needed (Counterstrike limits to 21 or 20) and it also seems like bandwidth. Do you think latency will be a problem?
Jeremy: 64 players is for people with the most powerful of systems, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t recommend a 64 player game to people who barely meet the minimum requirements for the game. We figure the typical game will hold 32 players or less.
VGI: That is great to hear. Console gaming is more popular than ever, if Helix Core went over well on the PC, could you see it on say. . .Xbox?
Jeremy: If there’s any console that could do Helix Core, it would certainly be the Xbox, because it’s graphic capabilities are essentially that of the GeForc3, one of our target cards. Although on Xbox there would be those damned online fees. . .
Tim: Honestly, PC is where it’s at for now. Who knows though, it all depends on how well HC goes over on the PC. Console gaming would definitely be where we’d look next, before moving on to another game.
VGI: You could always port it to the Dreamcast! :-)
Jeremy: Dreamcast eh? Hell yeah — then you wouldn’t have to pay any fees. ;-)”
“Players can walk up to any space flight vehicle, ranging from nimble starfighters to huge multi-personnel battlecruisers and Capital flagships, and take control of it in the multiplayer environment to cooperatively aid their team. Analogous to the many starship types available for flight (in both space and planetside missions), there are 5 player classes for each of the two races that emphasize different game styles and player skills. Your class determines what weapons you can use, but also gives you special abilities that makes certain aspects of the game more suitable for your character — say, piloting, heavy combat, or starbase defense construction.
Missions in Helix Core are objective-oriented & story-oriented, depicting the chronological course of a vast interstellar military conflict between a fascist government and a tortured foe from long ago. Each mission, in addition to having a backstory in the cinematic universe of the game, is different in scope and gameplay — one particular mission has one team staging an Alamo-style last stand for a period of time, while another is a two-way base assault on land and air, whereas a certain mission is a race to reach a remote in a treacherous hostile region of space.
In Helix Core, you’re not locked in combat in some phony hallway in the middle of nowhere, you’re in a location on a massive battle spacestation in a greater battle of an epic war. Your teammates outside are cooperatively piloting starships both small and huge in an effort to keep the supply lines open and ensure that your Space Station Assault succeeds. On both land and in space, foot and flight, the future of cooperative multiplayer team gaming is Helix Core. Be a pilot, be a grunt, be a real-time strategy tactician: The choice is yours, and the battlefield awaits you!”
In 2003 Helix Core vanished and today there are no more details available about the team or their projects. It seems Helix Core was reworked by some of its devs and resurfaced in September 2004 under the name of Cry Havoc. It became a FPS/RTS game, but in the end it was also canned. By looking at screenshots and previews Cry Havoc sounded much different from the original Helix Core concept, so we may have another page on Unseen64 to remember it.
Cyberjack is a cancelled “six degrees of freedom” first-person shooter similar to Descent, that was in development for Playstation by SCE Studios Team Soho (the same team behind Porsche Challenge, The Getaway and the unreleased Mean Arenas) around 1995 / 1996. Unfortunately the project was never officially announced and it was soon forgotten when the team decided to focus on other games.
It was conceived as a sci-fi shooter set in cyberspace. Players would have been able to fly through the game’s levels in all directions, shooting down enemies and finding the exit to the next mission. Not much more is known about Cyberjack and as far as we know only 2 images remain today, preserved below to remember this lost Playstation project.
If you know someone who worked on Cyberjack and could help saving more details and media, please let us know!
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