Powerslave 2 (AKA Exhumed 2) is a cancelled game that was in development for playstation and PC, set in ancient Egypt, thousands of years before the original title. At the start of Powerslave 2, Ra ( the sun god) disappears causing a permanent solar eclipse on the land. It turns out that he has been abducted by one of his arch-rivals, and its your duty to rescue him and return light to the world. As a young egyptian warrior you must seek out various egyptian gods and attempt to gain their super natural powers, in order to ultimately challenge and defeat Ra’s rival.
Contrary to the first Powerslave (a FPS) the sequel was meant to be a third person action game, even less linear than the first episode. Developed by original creator Lobotomy Software, the game was probably cancelled when the studios was acquired by Crave Entertainment in early 1998.
Images from GameFan 5-10
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The 2nd picture is straight out of Quake 1 – it’s the boss room (E1M7 “House of Chthon”) from Episode 1… O.o
Thanks for the info Pictures! Maybe they used that screen in the magazine for an error?
@Pictures?
Even the character ?
It’s not surprising they put some Quake reference in it because Lobotomy at the time was known for an incredible conversion of the id masterpiece for the weak Saturn hardware.
The first PowerSlave was very impressive for its time and its probably the only multiplatform title that looked and ran better on Saturn.
The dev team made excellent use of the CPU’s in the Saturn and managed to beat their results on the Playstation. Its a shame more developers (aside from Sega) didnt take the time to properly learn multicore architecture back then. If they had things might have turned out differently for Sega.
Lobotomy were asking for ideas etc in order to help shape the sequel, back in April 98:
“While we (Lobotomy) are working on our current project, we are making some
decisions regarding Exhumed 2 and would like your feedback.
First of all we are deciding whether to do Exhumed 2 or a different action
adventure in a similar style, but using a different theme (maybe a Conan
style game…). What would you rather see us do?
What about Exhumed 1 did you like the most (i.e. graphics, engine
performance, lighting, puzzles, non-linear game play, theme, monster
design, special permanent items, hidden stuff, level designs, cinematics,
controller usage, feel, etc)?
How would you feel if characters could be interacted with more (dialog,
allied relationships, story development), rather than being straight
action?
Assuming we pushed the hardware to the limit of polygon count, where would
you rather see the polygons used, the monsters and objects, the
environment, or simply the best compromise for all?
What would be more important to you, a great single player game released
earlier, or several additional months of development with multi-player
support?
Lastly, would you prefer a first person or third person perspective?
We already have a design in place, a combat and camera system planned, and
will be carrying on what we feel is best about Exhumed 1 into the sequel
(or utilizing the design plan in a different theme). Thanks for your
feedback, your participation can only help us create the best game possible
to follow-up Exhumed 1.
Now for the requisite disclaimer: We are not soliciting for game design
ideas, and are only looking for feedback regarding the specific questions
above. Any design ideas posted in regard to this post or e-mailed directly
to Lobotomy and Crave Entertainment may or may not be used in the
production of a commercial product and in any case would be without any
compensatory liability on the part of Crave Entertainment.
Sorry! we don’t mean to discourage you, but we have to be very specific
when it comes to this sort of thing.
Thanks in advance!
Lobotomy”
Gamefan interview:
Development is currently underway for the sequel to Lobotomy’s hugely
underrated corridor masterpiece: Powerslave. Knightmare recently took a trip
to Lobotomy’s new HQ near Seattle to get the scoop.
Powerslave 2 in Development:
GF: Tell us about the story for Powerslave 2?
LOB: The game is set in ancient Egypt, thousands of years before the first
Powerslave. At the start of the game, Ra(the sun God) disappears, causing a
permanent solar eclipse on the land. It turns out that he has been abducted
by one of his arch rivals, and it’s your job to rescue him and return light
to the world. As a young Egyptian warrior you must seek out the various
Egyptian Gods and attempt to gain their supernatural powers, in order ot
ultimately challenge and defeat Ra’s rival.
GF: You’ve stated that Powerslave 2 will be a 3rd person adventure, like Tomb
Raider. How much will a 3rd person perspective alter the gameplay? Will it
play more like Tomb Raider?
LOB: No, it’s much more action oriented that Tomb Raider. There’s more
involvement with each enemy, more hand to hand combat. There will be some
enemies that you can crush quickly, like the spiders in Powerslave, but for
the most part, combat will be a little bit more complex. We want ot give the
creatures more believable A.I. So they can run and hide and come back out on
the other side of you and attack.
GF: Will the combat be like Powerslave?
LOB: It will still be weapon based, but this time there’s a lot of hand to
hand combat. The hand to hand will be a simplified version of a one on one
fighter, like Tekken. As you close in on an enemy the camera pulls out to the
side so you get a better view of the action.
GF: Will the camera system be similar to other 3rd person adventures, like
Tomb Raider?
LOB: There will be all sorts of cameras, but for the most part it will follow
you around and stay behind you so you can see the action clearly. In certain
areas there might not be room for the camera so we’ll put in a more dramatic
camera. As you walk into the room you might want ot have a side view so you
can see a God or a big enemy approaching. We’re going to have very dynamic
camera use.
GF: Will you still have the world map screen for accessing levels?
LOB: No, There’s a map you’ll see for reference but you won’t be able to use
it to change levels. You’ll actually have to physically travel from place to
place. It’s kind of like Tobal 2’s Quest Mode, where you go from area to are,
and it loads another area quickly. But you’ll need a special ability to reach
the Afterlife.
GF: What’s the Afterlife?
LOB: Instead of just having regular 3D play like in Powerslave, we are
actually going to include a 4th dimension – The Afterlife. The Afterlife will
be a whole ‘nother supernatural work, mapped over the world you are already
on. Once you gain the ability to cross over you can travel between the two
worlds at will. By doing certain things in one world, you can alter the
physical appearance of the other.
GF: So you’re going ot design two interlocking version of every level!?
LOB: Pretty much. They’re going to be pretty involved.
GF: How do you reach the Afterlife?
LOB: It’s an ability you acquire about 3 levels into the game, the first time
you die. We’ll use if for puzzles and shortcuts, and for reaching areas that
you couldn’t previously get to without the ability. The Afterlife is
basically a continuation of the non linear game structure we had in the first
Powerslave. In fact, Powerslave 2 will be even less linear than Powerslave.
In Powerslave 2 you can actually skip some of the Gods and not get all the
weapons, or abilities. You don’t need everything to complete the game.
GF: Will the main character have superhuman powers like in Powerslave?
LOB: Kind of. He’s a little bit more super human than most characters. But he
won’t be crazy like he was in Powerslave, where you could fly around for an
unlimited amount of time or jump up higher than your height. But it will be
close to that. You’ll be able to get powers from different Gods.
GF: How much will the level design differ from the first Powerslave?
LOB: We want the environments to be lusher than Poweslave. Not as much
sandstone. Larger scale. More decorative. One of the important things we want
to try and accomplish, what we didn’t do in Powerslave, is the distinction
between natural terrain and man made terrain. They kind of blended together
in Powerslave. Hopefully we can create more natural looking terrain and more
interesting man made structures. You know, rolling hills and rounded
surfaces, instead of having everything squared off.
GF: Are you using the same graphics engine?
LOB: No, it’s a new engine. I mean, we’re using the same tools we used to
build the other engine, but it has a bunch of different techniques depending
on whether you’re indoors or outdoors. I’d definitely call it new.
GF: Will Powerslave 2 be multiplayer?
LOB: The PC version definitely will be. As for the Playstation version, I
think we probably do a link cable mode.
GF: Is there any connection between Powerslave and Powerslave 2, besides the
Egyptian theme?
LOB: A few of the characters are back, some of the weapons, some of the Gods.
The Cobra Staff if in there, but it comes in two forms. And it’s not a staff
anymore. Plus we’re throwing in a weapon similar to the controllable missiles
in Death Tank.
GF: Will there be Team Dolls?
LOB: Wait and see…
It looks like the game got cancelled when Crave pretty much bought Lobotomy, split them up and put them to work on other projects. The character design was said to be very smooth too, Paul
Lange said that they had a demo up and running to show off the new 3D world
and characters models but still didn’t get to many bites for publishers.