Beta + Cancelled Microsoft Video Games - Page 122 of 150

Dirty Harry/Dirty Harry Extreme was a cancelled third person shooter action game that was first in development at The Collective, Inc. and was intended to be published by Warner Bros. Interactive in the first half of 2007 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Additional versions were planned for Nintendo Wii, DS, Xbox, PSP, and PS2 to be released that same year.

Go Ahead, Make My Game

The first conception of ‘Dirty Harry’ is believed to date back to around June 2004. Around this time, multiple sources such as Eurogamer reported that license holders, Warner Bros. had started to privately invite developers to pitch their ideas for a Dirty Harry video game. It is unknown how many other developers responded to the offer, but it was The Collective, Inc. who delivered the successful proposal and was granted the license in late 2004.

An Announcement Too Soon?

Scripting work on the Dirty Harry game started around January, 2005. Eastwood had signed on to reprise his titular role, lending his voice and likeness, as well as being a creative consultant on the project. Actors Laurence Fishburne, Lucy Liu and Gene Hackman were also planned to feature.

The reveal of the Dirty Harry video game came in February, 2005. At the time, it was being targeted for a release in 2007 to coincide with the release of the HD-DVD Dirty Harry film collection. This was part of a marketing push by Warner Bros. to resurrect the franchise and the video game, in particular, was intended to give the series greater relevance among to younger audiences.

“Creating Dirty Harry video games will also introduce this memorable film character to new generations on a medium they appreciate.” – Clint Eastwood

Its first public announcement came in the form of a press release from Warner Bros. Interactive. At the time, details on the game were scarcely available. No trailer, screenshots or information about which platforms it would be made for other than multiple unspecified “next generation consoles” was attached. This was because production on the game had not even began at this point, but WB had great confidence in the project; to the point at which they’d announce it so prematurely. It would be a while, too, before the core of development would start. WB, The Collective and Eastwood spent the remainder of the year steadily refining the script and producing concepts of set pieces.

The game took place between the first and second films, Dirty Harry and Magnum. Little information on the narrative was ever revealed, but according to the initial press statement, its aim was to add more depth to the protagonist.

Concept art:

The Collective Gets To Work

It was in February 2006 that the game, then still going under the working title of ‘Dirty Harry’, was finally put into full development. It was being worked on for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

It was initially undecided whether or not the title was going to feature an open world San Fransisco, one former developer told us, but by the start of the year, it had been decided that it would instead take on a mission-based structure. It then became a ‘duck and cover’ third person shooter with melee combat elements.

The storytelling of the Dirty Harry game was linear, but featured a “reputation system”, as one ex Collective developer described. Players would be given the choice how to deal with criminals: they could either knock them unconscious with a melee attack or straight up shoot them with Harry’s trademark .44 magnum. The NPC’s in the game would then react dynamically to these actions. For instance, developing a high kill count or firing on someone unnecessarily could land you in hot water with the chief of police. Conversely, being too lenient on crooks could cause them to take the detective less serious, mocking him and considering him less of a threat.

In-game environments and misc. assets:

The First (And Only) Trailer

By April 2006, the game was progressing steadily at The Collective, but was not yet ready to put on display to the public. Warner Bros., on the other hand, had been talking it up to various outlets for some time and was keen to show it off. The solution to this was a trailer, which was produced by an external company. Initially, it was only shown behind closed doors to the press at E3 2006 in May, before being released online shortly thereafter.

The trailer, seen below, has been subject to some debate over the years. Some fans believed it was entirely pre-rendered and not representative of its in-game visuals, while others thought it could be an actual look at the engine itself. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. The Collective had given their game assets to ACMEfilmworks, including character models and engine schematics. ACME, under the direction of filmmaker Tigar Hare, then used these to render the trailer. Thus, it gives us a somewhat accurate portrayal of what it would have looked like in motion; albeit with a slight up-resing treatment.

As we have come to understand, Eastwood had yet to record any voice work for the game at this point, so the trailer used audio lifted directly from the original movie for the voice of Harry Callahan.

High quality direct feed screenshots of the trailer:

The Unseen Versions

It was never formally announced, but in late 2006, Warner Bros. Interactive had hired the now defunct Sensory Sweep Studios to create multiple versions of Dirty Harry for other systems. These plans included Nintendo Wii, DS, PS2 and PC.

Ambitiously, the developers were aiming to deliver the same third person shooter experience across every platform. Whereas the PC release would have been a straight port of Collective’s 360 game, the DS title was built from the ground up; as were the ones for PS2 and Wii. The Wii version was never put into full production, but would have been an “up-port” of the PS2 game with the additions of IR pointer aiming and motion control for melee attacks.

PS2/Wii Version models:

DS Game environment screenshot + model:

A Sudden End To Development

Up until the start of 2007, development on the title had been progressing “smoothly”, one developer recounted to us. The game, which had been renamed to ‘Dirty Harry Extreme’ towards the end of 2006, was on schedule for release within the next 7 months. One source told us that Extreme was about 70% complete, when in March, it met an abrupt end.

Representatives of publisher, Warner Bros. Interactive, visited The Collective to check up on the project and were unsatisfied with the progress they had made. The former devs we quizzed are quiet about the specifics of what exactly went wrong, but the product had failed to meet the standards of WB. In the interests of protecting the brand, the company revoked the team’s access to rights, cancelling their game. Sensory Sweep’s projects were also terminated shortly thereafter.

One reliable source who was close to WBIE attributed the demise of the project to a shift in their upper management, including the installation of a new president. An internal review lead them to revise their plans for the game, the source claims.

Subsequently, The Collective had to lay off the entirety of their Dirty Harry team of around 30 people. This was, at first, denied by a representative of the studio, but as time went on and more former employees came out of the woodwork, it became apparent that this had been the case.

Foundation 9, the parent company of Collective, said that the redundancies were part of an effort to “optimise” the studio’s development capabilities. While these statements were by no means untrue, our sources disclosed that it was, in actuality, a direct result of Dirty Harry’s failure; a truth thinly veiled by the PR cover-up. The loss of the contract with WB meant that Foundation 9 no longer was financially secure enough to keep them on board.

One ex employee alleged that staff at The Collective were mislead by the publishers into thinking that the project had been outright dissolved at this juncture – it had not.

Life After The Collective

After The Collective had been taken off the project, it was widely assumed that it was dead. Rumours of its end began to circulate when WBIE’s president, Samantha Ryan, released a statement to reassure fans that this wasn’t the case:

“We are moving forward with the Dirty Harry next generation videogames and will be changing our development plans in keeping with the best interest of the franchise legacy. WBIE is dedicated to creating a game that will bring Clint Eastwood’s legendary Detective Harry Callahan character to the interactive space with a new story and great gameplay.””

The extent of these supposed plans was never divulged to the public, but Ryan and the rest of their management were indeed looking for another developer to take up the reins. It was towards the start of 2008 that TimeGate Studios, fresh from launching F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate, was brought on board to complete the game.

TimeGate, however, could not simply pick up from when the previous developers had left off. Up until this point, it had been running in The Collective’s in house engine known as ‘Slayer’ with the Xbox 360 as its lead development platform. However, as Warner had no claim to use the engine without them, the game was rebuilt.

The production was subject to a major overhaul, involving the implementation of full two player co-operative gameplay for the entirety of the story mode, a former designer told us. The title of ‘Extreme’ was abandoned, as well, as it reverted to its prior working title of ‘Dirty Harry’. Monolith Productions of Shadow of Mordor notoriety had also been contracted to do additional work on the project externally.

The Final Nail In Its Coffin

Ultimately, despite years of toiling away behind the scenes, the Dirty Harry video game was not meant to be. In mid 2008, its final cancellation came about after its short-lived revival. A former artist from TimeGate said the decision was made by WBIE simply because “it wasn’t very good”. After several years of sinking money into a project that wasn’t turning out as they had hoped, the publisher ceased all work on it. Unlike detective Callahan, WB had no last shot left to fire, as no further attempts were made to pursue a new development studio.

Since the game vanished without a formal statement from Warner Bros. on the game’s status, various fan movements such as “Bring Back Dirty Harry The Game” have been established online in an attempt to resurrect it.

Alternative video link:

Microsoft, Others, PC / MAC, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony, Xbox

Psychonauts [XBOX/PS2 – Beta / Concept]

U64 Staff & Contributors

19-04-2008

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Originally, the main character was an ostrich suffering from mental imbalance and multiple personalities. Tim Schafer killed the idea because he strongly believes in games being “wish fulfillments,” guessing that not many people fantasize about being an insane ostrich. Raz was originally named Dart and it had many different design before the final one. Even the Censors were different, with a more “green monsters” look. The HUD, the Menù, the Psi Challenge Markers and the Telekinesis style were changed too. Some “brains” were in different positions in the beta version, as the one at the top of the wall in front of the asylum. The Milla’s Lab does not exist in the final game.

Tim Schafer first conceived the idea for Psychonauts while working on Full Throttle, which originally was to have an interactive peyote trip sequence. The idea was deemed unsuitable for a family-friendly game, but it led to Schafer’s desire to do a game featuring psychological trips or interactive dream sequences. – [Info from Wikipedia]

Images:

Video:

Microsoft, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony, Xbox

Daredevil: The Man Without Fear [XBOX/PS2 – Cancelled]

Liam Robertson

19-04-2008

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Daredevil: The Man Without Fear was a third person action game developed by 5000 Ft Inc. with the backing of publisher, Encore. It was being made for Playstation 2, Xbox and PC. The game was cancelled in 2004 following a slew of creative disagreements over its direction both internally at 5000 Ft. and between two of the project’s integral parties, Marvel and Sony.

Video:

Microsoft, Others, PC / MAC, Xbox

Halo [Beta – Xbox PC]

U64 Staff & Contributors

16-04-2008

12 Comments

On July 21, 1999, during the Macworld Conference & Expo, Steve Jobs announced that Halo would be released for Mac OS and Windows simultaneously. Before this public announcement, game industry journalists under a non-disclosure agreement had previewed the game in a private showing during E3 1999, and were reportedly amazed. Bungie Studios later stated an even earlier development build of the game centered on real-time strategy and was “basically Myth in a sci-fi universe.”

At E3 2000, the first trailer of Halo was well-received. The version shown there differed greatly from the one exhibited previously, marking the first major overhaul in the game’s development. At this point, Halo was a third-person action game, in which a transport starship crashlands on a mysterious ring world that orbits a star. Early versions of Covenant aliens appear in great numbers and loot what they can, and war erupts between them and the humans. Unable to match the technologically advanced alien race, the humans on the ring world resort to guerrilla warfare. This version of the game featured Halo-specific fauna, which were later dropped because of design difficulties and the creatures’ “detract[ion] from the surprise, drama and impact of the Flood.”

In accordance with rumors, Microsoft announced on June 19, 2000 that it had acquired Bungie Studios. Halo became an exclusive game for Microsoft’s Xbox video game console, and Bungie Studios rewrote the game’s engine, heavily altering its presentation and turning it into a first-person shooter. Originally a key element, the game’s online multiplayer component was dropped because Xbox Live was unfinished at the time of Halo’s release. While a playable demonstration of the game at Gamestock 2001 was well-received, critics had mixed reactions to its exhibition at E3 2001. The game was released in North America simultaneously with the Xbox, on November 15, 2001. [info from Wikipedia]

In 2007 the studio recorded a play through of the game and reveled additional quips from its development and differences from the beta version. The Silent Cartographer was once about murdering a Prophet (who do not appear in this game) in order to prevent him from acquiring a map of the ring. The level went through many revisions and its codename was “B-30”. In the scene where the marines are listening to a song original music by Bungie is used, but this was not always the case. Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones was intended for that segment.

Cortana was written with a British accent in mind, hence why says words like “toady”. The trusty A.I. went rouge and attempted to take control of the Halo Array in a discarded script. The Seraph ship was an old concept for a Covenant tank, and the Scarab debutted in this game instead of the sequel.

[Thanks to Randy 355 for some of the images!]

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Videos:

Microsoft, Xbox

Halo 2 [Beta – XBOX]

U64 Staff & Contributors

16-04-2008

4 Comments

Halo 2 was officially announced in September 2002 with a cinematic trailer. The trailer was subsequently packaged with later Halo: Combat Evolved DVDs. A real-time gameplay beta video was shown at E3 2003, which was the first actual gameplay seen by the public; it showcased new features such as dual-wielding and improved graphics. Bungie informed the public on development with weekly Halo 2 development updates which started on January 16, 2004 and ended June 25, 2004; the weekly updates became standard on the Bungie website even after the release of Halo 2. With only a year to go until release, Bungie went into the “mother of all crunches” in order to finish the game. The cliffhanger ending of the game was not originally intended, and resulted from the frenzy to ship on time. [Info from Wikipedia]

Thanks to FullMetalMC, Randy 355 & Earthwormjim for the contributions!

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A beta enemy cut from the game called the Flood Juggernaut! Although it is still in the disc it does not have any spawn points and no dying animation. Some people think its a Hunter Flood form but the Hunter can not be turned into a Flood because it is made up a bunch of worms and have no central brain system. Personally, I think its a Flood version of an enemy that was also cut called the Sharquoi. [by FullMetalMC]

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This beta vehicle was called the Mongoose and although it didn’t make it to Halo 2 it has been officionally announced that it will come out in Halo 3. This vehicle’s advantage was its speed and was good at getting to places in a short time but did not have any weapons. [by FullMetalMC]

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Another cut enemy or the Drinol. It is based on an enemy from Bungie’s previous series, Marathon. Since the other Covenant have human nicknames such as Elite for the Sangheili I believe that the Sharqoui and the Drinol are in fact the same enemy. I have come to this conclusion because there are no other beta pictures that prove otherwise. [by FullMetalMC]

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A Jackal Carrier? Whatever it is, it was obviously cut from the game. Also still in the disk but unused. [by FullMetalMC]

From an article at EuroGamer we can read more info on the development of Halo 2:

“The graphics engine that we showed at E3 2003, driving around the Earth city… That entire graphics engine had to be thrown away, because you could never ship a game on the Xbox with it,” Butcher sighs. “Through putting ourselves through hell, we were able to do a five-minute demo of it, but after we came back from E3 we had to admit that this graphics engine was never going to work – it was never going to support the kind of environments that are really important for a Halo game. So we literally scrapped the entire graphics engine and started from scratch.”
“Even that whole environment, the Earth city, was way too big for the engine at the time,” adds Carney. “We ended up cutting out huge parts of geometry from that level, so you never actually saw that.” […]
“We were building stuff that just couldn’t be played, in any engine,” says Butcher. “We built, and detailed, and went a huge way down the path with a whole bunch of environments and levels for the game that just totally didn’t make it. If you look at the level with the Flood, inside the quarantine area – that is the remaining 20 per cent of a gargantuan, sprawling level that was meticulously built and hand-constructed, but that could never, ever have shipped in any engine.” […]
“It was too ambitious. We had a lot of ideas about other games we’d played, and things that we really wanted to try – but when we got in there, we realised that it was going to require a lot more effort to make it as good as our single-player and our standard Slayer and CTF experiences. We had to cut our losses and just ship with what we were all happy with.” […]
“The original plan had you returning to Earth at the end – which you did, at the end of Halo 2, for about three seconds before it abruptly ended,” says Griesemer. “I think if we’d been able to finish that last couple of missions and get you properly back on Earth, a lot of the reaction would have been placated.”

Another removed feature was a sort of “sea monkey fish tank“:

We should have a little fish tank like thing that had little flood tadpoles in it swimming around. We affectionately called them the “flood sea monkeys.” […]
I remember Harold clearly told us we were going to be locked out of the source depot at 6 am. Well Vic is trying to get these things to animate in a cool way keeps making tweak after tweak to them as we’re hurtling toward 6 am. At this point everyone’s slap happy because we’ve been crunching so hard and for so long. Somehow at the last minute that we’re checking in we notice that Vic’s last tweak to the sea monkeys totally breaks their animations and now they were floating around in their tank it a hilariously ridiculous way, but it’s 6 am and Vic is freaking out. […]

In the videos below you can see more about the game’s development and the removed weapons, levels and characters.

More light was shed on Halo 2’s hectic beta development by the extra content in the Halo 3 collector edition. The first iteration of the space station was expansive enough to drive vehicles around it. Master Chief was to tow the Covenants’ bomb using a Warthog and dispose of it. Following this he boarded a Covenant ship (in place of that deleted level is the cutscene where decimates with it an explosion). Miranda Keyes was introduced inside the ship, and the Chief was tasked with destroying it from the inside. He accomplished this by using a Wraith and shooting its power core.

Miranda had a different role in older plots. She distrusted the Master Chief because of her father’s death and did not comprehend the Spartan’s dire concern for the activation of the rings. Arriving from a mission, the Chief stumbled into her making a truce with the Prophets inside a Phantom. The unlikely allies conspired to plant an explosive on the Spartan’s back and detonate it to eliminate him and the Gravemind. The Gravemind appeared more frequently in older builds. Its tendrils emerged from fissures in the levels, occasional attacking and obstructing pathways. To reach the Flood mastermind the player had to go through some caverns.

On the topic of removed campaign segments, a map that went by the codename “Forreruner Tank” was abandoned. The Arbiter was to race the Master Chief to the Activation Index. Bungie’s original plan was to have the player play through three additional stages instead of ending the game with the Chief arriving in Earth’s orbit. The heretic faction was initially compromised of only Hunters. They were fought on a moon adjacent to one of the Halo Arrays.

Images:

Various Concept Arts:

Videos:

Tech demo + Prototype UI & Live

Making Of and team’s comments:

Removed Scenes, Weapons Vehicles and Characters:

Multiplayer: