BioShock 2 [Beta – PC Xbox 360 PS3]

BioShock 2 is a FPS developed by 2K Marin and Irrational Games, released in february 2010 for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Users at 2K Forums noticed many beta differences in the early trailers of the game, especially in the “Hunting the Big Sister” demo:

  • It would have been possible to explore areas from the 1st game (some of them underwater)
  • Tenenbaum was going to be the player’s guide
  • Splicers ran away in fear from the player
  • Textures looked more like the original Bioshock
  • You were able to carry more health packs and eve hypos
  • The whole demo is set up differently. It starts as the normal game would, but the path and events are fairly different, including the final scene of the demo, that location, Fontaine Futuristics, is towards the end of the game.
  • Looks like the drill recharges when it’s not used. In the final game you had to find drill fuel.

Also, as we can read on Wikipedia, the original story and gameplay elements related to the plot were changed / removed from the final game:

The story received major changes over the course of development, with two of the most important relating to the player’s character and the Big Sister. Initially there was only going to be one Big Sister who would continually hunt the player down throughout the course of the game and then retreat once she was defeated.

This Big Sister was written as a Little Sister who, as she grew up on the surface, could not leave the memory of Rapture behind and eventually returned. The reason for the change, as explained by Zak McClendon, Lead Designer for 2K Marin, “If you have a single character that the player knows they can’t kill because they’re so important to the story you’re completely removing the triumph of overcoming that encounter with them.”

Jordan Thomas explains however, “The soul of the original Big Sister character still exists, but in the form of somebody you get to know over the course of the game.” The other major change is that the player’s character, Subject Delta, is no longer the first Big Daddy, but rather the fourth prototype. He is, however, the first to be successfully ‘pair-bonded’ to a single Little Sister.

Also, according to Rockpapershotgun’s BS2 review the special edition’s art book shows lots of unused designs

I’ve already completed Bioshock 2. None of these things were in there – the Big Daddy with arms like tortured tentacles, another which looked like a spaceship on legs, the Splicer whose grotesquely mutated face had become a fleshy whirlpool, a hideous sea-beast halfway between a merman and giant phallus, a frail, frock-wearing Big Sister who carries her hulking oxygen tank around on a rickety hand cart… Where are they? What happened?

Thanks to Robert Seddon, Robert and Dr. Swank for the contributions! If you can find more differences in the early Bioshock 2 screens and videos, please let us know!

Images:

Videos:

 

Psy-Phi [Arcade – Unreleased]

Psy-Phi is an unreleased arcade action-shooting game based on Sega’s Lindbergh hardware, that was designed by Yu Suzuki and incorporated a 29″ touch-screen display for gameplay. In Psy-Phi players hovered in the air and competed against the CPU or another human with attacks by trailing a path or inputting special symbols on the touch screen.

The original release was planned for spring 2006, but the arcade units were called back in March 06 (the units were still in shipping and had yet to reach arcades) and so Psy-Phi vanished forever.  Some units were previewed at trade shows, as well as some arcades receiving units for beta tests (most notably Gameworks). It’s currently unknown why Sega decided to not release this project. [Info from Wikipedia]

Thanks to Kieranmay for the contribution!

Images:

Videos:

 

Shadow Stalker [SNES – Cancelled]

Shadow Stalker is a cancelled 2D side scrolling action game that was in development in 1993 by Athena for the Super Nintendo / Super Famicom. From the few screens preserved in the gallery below (scanned from Console Plus #24,  EGM #51 and Game Power #25), we can assume that the game was probably going to play similar to Shinobi / Ninja Gaiden, but with lots of huge robots and other mechanical enemies.

Thanks to Alex and Celine for the contributions!

Images: 

Demon’s Souls [PS3 – Beta]

Demon’s Souls is an action rpg developed by From Software and released for the Ps3 in 2009. The opening cutscene mentions a “Land of Giants” which archstone was destroyed in order to seal the demons that infested it. The broken archstone can still be seen among the others, and many fans of the game thought that this lost / beta scenario was going to be playable in a future DLC, but no additional content was ever made available.

 

Article translated in Russian thanks to Sergey Tyutin!

Videos:
 

007 The World is Not Enough [N64 – Beta / Unused Level]

007 The World Is Not Enough is a FPS based on the James Bond film of the same name, developed by Eurocom and published by Electronic Arts for the Nintendo 64  in 2000 (a Playstation version was released the same year, developed by Black Ops). An unused beta level was found hidden in the game  and thanks to some GameShark cheats codes created by Goldenboy, it’s possible to explore it to see how it could have been played. A video of this beta “Subterranea” level can be seen below, from SubDrag’s YT Channel.

This is the code to activate the beta level:

D00E0779 0008
813B002C 3FF0
80102EDF 0011
811FFFD8 C300
811FFFE8 C300
811FFFEC C300
D00E0779 0030
80102EEF 0001
800E0931 0000
800E0933 0000
50002610 0000
803B0164 0001

While at ANY menu (preferably the first) press L and R at the same time, the load screen will appear twice. Press C^ to rise (or moonjump) then gently tap it to get down in the pit.

Thanks to DCodes 7 we preserved some beta screenshots and videos in the gallery below. For some reason some images bond is wearing a black camouflage suit, which makes bond blend into the night. Also the HUD is different.

In the second screen you can see a bullet-proof glass door / metal detector that isn’t used in this level in the final game. In the same image a MI6 civilian employee is standing near the doorway, in front of the black door. The civilian seen in this image (dark pants, white shirt, dark tie) isn’t in the final build. He is replaced with scientists in white lab overcoats. The black tie civilian model was retextured with different shades of grey and used in another mission of the final game.

The 7th screen shows the top floor of MI6, near the starting position: behind the beta metal detector you can also see a table and a computer terminal down the hallway, not present in the final game. Then we have the security guard standing next to Bond. He is much different from the final. In the beta the security guard is wearing a suit with a hat to match, but in the final he wears  a bright colored shirt with a blue body armor.

A PC and a Playstation 2 versions of The World Is Not Enough were planned too, but then cancelled.

Images:

Videos: