Axeman is a cancelled musical on-rail shooter that was in development around 2011 by Pipeworks Software and ImaginEngine, planned to be released on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Players would follow a linear path in the city, using a guitar as a “weapon of mass distortion” to take out enemies, bosses and recruit girls into their crew of fans. While there is no gameplay footage available, we imagine Axeman as a mix between REZ and Guitar Hero: by playing different songs, following the rhythm and taking down enemies, you would complete each level and improve your scores.
Axeman was meant to be part of an advertisement campaign for AXE Body Spray, something similar to what Burger King did with Sneak King and Big Bumpin. As far as we know Pipeworks and Axe did release an Android version of Axeman, but the Xbox 360 and PS3 games were canned for some reasons.
In 2005 Studio Gigante created a Kill Bill hack & slash prototype, pitched to be fully developed on the original Xbox. Players would have been able to follow the story of Tarantino’s movie, using the Bride to fight enemies with her katana. The team was mostly known for Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus, another Xbox-exclusive fighting game published by Microsoft in 2003. While they had a great 3D engine and talent for fighting mechanics, unfortunately they had to close down before being able to find a publisher interested in their Kill Bill proto.
“Gigante was ready to roll onto a proper Tao Feng sequel, and Microsoft wanted it – but the proposed deal gave the team pause, as it didn’t quite offer the resources desired to pull off the more elaborate design, which featured wildly destructible stages. Simultaneously, THQ swooped in with an offer to develop WWE Wrestlemania 21 – a richer contract that could not only help build up the studio further, but possibly also secure a lucrative annual franchise. After much agonizing, the studio principals opted for THQ’s deal, leaving Tao Feng 2 dead in the water.
Not only did the team lose its passion project, but the WWE deal backfired. An incomplete build of the game was accidentally pressed and released, leading to backlash and an eventual recall and revised release. Relations between Gigante and THQ had already soured prior to release, and the poor reaction was the final nail in the coffin.
The Xbox series was dead, and the studio was running out of money. Using a proprietary engine, Gigante prototyped potential Kill Bill and Star Wars fighting games and sought new projects, but decisions weren’t being made quickly enough. By July 2005, just three months after Wrestlemania 21 shipped, the studio closed its doors.”
Daybreakers is a cancelled episodic time-traveling first-person RPG that was in development since 2006 by Trilogy Studios, planned to be released for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. The company was founded by game industry veterans who worked in such companies as Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, RockStar Games and Vivendi Universal.
In Daybreakers players would have been able to explore different time-periods to find a solution to save our doomed world. The game was talked about by major websites such as IGN and Playstation Universe:
“The world is falling apart with war, disease, insurgency, and starvation rampant among humanity. The only hope lies with the Nexus Corporation, a U.S. funded group using volunteer convicts as experimental guinea pigs in an operation called “Project Daybreak.” Utilizing Project Daybreak, the Nexus Corporation studies time travel to find the means to cure the world of its problems.”
“Developed by Trilogy Studios, Daybreakers puts players in the role of undercover US secret operative Nolan Reeves who is asked to enter the world of the criminal underground, joining the Nexus Project and time traveling in order to find three escaped convicts. Upon returning from his task, Reeves finds that the only people aware of his mission, of his existence – have been killed. From this point forward he must rely on the ability to manipulate the relationships with those in the world around him: inmates, factions, and the corrupt officers and officials who permeate Nexus Island.”
“We would like to be the first team to truly monetize the online gameplay of first-person shooters,” Pole proclaimed. “It hasn’t been done. First-person shooters traditionally have not done a very good job of rewarding players. The way they reward players is that you run through a level, shoot everything on the level, finish the level, and you go to the other level and get a bigger gun. Our goal and our objective is to get a player a sophisticated and very detailed level of gameplay that hasn’t been delivered in first-person shooters by offering gamers a moment-by-moment reward system versus a level-based reward system. All these RPG elements that we mentioned will allow players to build upon their characters so they can see how well they are doing.”
“Instead of describing the game as an open world title, he told us that Daybreakers was a “dynamic world simulator“. He added that the game would feature more interactivity and more of a sense that the player’s actions have consequences in the game world. “I think that’s where games need to go, especially first person shooters,”
The first Daybreakers’ episode was planned for 2008, but the project quickly vanished and was never completed. As far as we know Trilogy Studios worked on a few social games before closing down around 2010.
Wild Summer is a cancelled action adventure that was in development by Novarama around 2005 / 2006, planned to be released on Xbox 360 and PC. Gameplay would have been similar to Rockstar’s Bully, with a young protagonist exploring an open world city using parkour moves, resolving missions and… stealing panties?
Players could go out for drinks, flirt with girls and do other “youth leisure activities”, as covered in a 4Gamer preview (translated from Japanese):
“The range of activities is not limited to the city, but you can also travel to Sun City University and the neighboring town of El Serito. What you do in this space is entirely up to you. That’s why you go to parties and do bad things with local gangsters. […] one of the main objectives is to win Jessica over, the girl of your dreams.”
“[…] while jumping between buildings from roof to roof, I found a gang of young shaved heads in dragon shirts. […] At this point, the player was pressed against the binoculars and instructed to steal three panties that hang outside a window on the rooftop. This seems to be the initiation (rite of passage) for joining the gang.”
“Novarama began working on PC titles, releasing Fallen Lords: Condemnation in 2005 all over Europe. We then moved on to Wild Summer, a PC / Xbox360 adventure title, which was cancelled and never saw the light of day.”
Cold Energy is a cancelled third person shooter / action game that was in development by Keystone Games Studio around 2008 – 2011, planned to be released on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Players would have to shoot down hundreds of enemies and huge bosses on a post-apocalypse earth, looking somehow similar to SEGA’s Gunvalkyrie.
Cold Energy’s main feature was the ability to manipulate the magnetic force, using for example metallic objects to walk on walls. As in games with psychic abilities such as Second Sight and Psi-Ops you could also lift barrels and throw them at enemies, using them like bombs.
The game was playable at various chinese gaming events and it looked quite fun to play, but unfortunately it seems Keystone Games were not able to find a publisher for their project: Cold Energy was canned and sometime later the team closed down
This website uses cookies to improve your experience, by continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to the use of cookies. Find out more about cookies.Hide
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
