Others

Others, PC / MAC

Jack the Ripper (Cryptic Studios) [PC – Cancelled]

monokoma
18-11-2021
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After launching Star Trek Online and some Champions Online expansions in 2011 Cryptic Studios worked for a few months on an unnamed adventure game based on the Jack the Ripper murders. A small team created an early prototype of the Whitechapel district in London, set in the 19th century. This would have been the main explorable area in the game, where players would investigate murders, talk with NPCs and resolve a series of related quests.

This project was never officially announced by Cryptic Studios and it was canned in just a few months. There’s not much information or media available: just a series of screenshots from the Whitechapel prototype, preserved below to remember the existence of this lost game.

Thanks to Crov for the contribution!

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N-Gage, Others

Ashen 2 (Torus Games) [Cancelled – N-Gage]

monokoma
10-11-2021
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Ashen 2 is the cancelled sequel to N-Gage’s obscure FPS, in development by Torus Games around 2004 / 2005. It seems the game was officially announced by Nokia, but there is not much information about it online, just some 3D models shared by a former developer. We can assume Ashen 2 would have been similar to the first game, with big maze-levels to explore, full of demons and other enemies to shoot down.

Possibly because of the N-Gage failure on the market, Nokia and Torus Games canned the project and Ashen 2 was never completed.

Thanks to Michael for the contribution!

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Others, PC / MAC

Warhammer 40.000: Agents of Death [PC – Cancelled]

monokoma
10-11-2021
5 Comments

Warhammer 40.000: Agents of Death is a cancelled FPS that was in development by Mirage Media (mostly known for Imperium Galactica and Mortyr) in the late ‘90s, planned to be published on PC. The game was about the confrontation of 3 heroes against the ruler of a certain planet who sold himself to the forces of chaos. Before the beginning of each level, players could choose between one of the 3 protagonists, while the other two would have been controlled by the AI.

Levels had different objectives following the game story and one character could have been more useful than the others depending on the mission. For example if you had to kill one specific target without alerting the other enemies, a sniper would be the best choice. Instead in a mission with dozens of enemies to kill, someone with a huge fire-power could be the best choice.

Mirage Media was working on Agents of Death along with Mortyr 2 and both games used their homespun three-dimensional engine, which (according to the developers) made it possible to create an incredibly realistic and detailed world. Unfortunately they were not able to complete the project and in 2000 Agents of Death was scrapped.

It seems a playable alpha version of the game was leaked online many years ago: if you still have a copy of this, please let us know in the comments below!

Thanks to Josef for the contribution!

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Others, PC / MAC

The Institute (Dimension Creative Designs) [PC – Cancelled]

monokoma
28-10-2021
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The Institute is a cancelled horror adventure with comical elements that was in development by Dimension Creative Designs (Synthetic Dimensions) around 1996 / 1997, planned to be released on PC. As with their other canned project “Federation” we cannot find any information about The Institute anywhere online, but thanks to Alex we saved a short preview that was published at the time in a Spanish magazine.

It seems gameplay would have been similar to Myst, with a story inspired by Kafka’s The Trial: a mysterious group of people within the establishment have planned to accuse the protagonist of a crime that he did not have committed. Players must escape from the police, finding a way to enter The Institute, searching for clues about what is happening and why they want to persecute the protagonist.

Dimension Creative Designs are mostly known for working on such titles as Corporation, Druid: Daemons of the Mind, Ed Hunter but as far as we know they never released anything similar to The Institute and it’s unclear what happened to this lost game. If you know someone who worked at DCD please let us know!

Thanks to Alex for the contribution! 

Others, PC Engine / PC FX

Geisha Warriors [PC Engine – Cancelled]

monokoma
28-10-2021
No Comments

Geisha Warriors ( 芸者ウォーリアーズ) is a cancelled parody action game that was in development by Taito around 1993, planned to be released on the PC Engine Super CD ROM. It seems this would have been a humorous take on The Ninja Warriors, in which players would fight enemies using a japanese geisha instead of a Ninja.

The game was shown in various japanese magazines and by looking at screenshots it seems it would have featured animated cutscenes and many parody characters, such as drunk old men, almost naked workers and tanks with legs. Geisha Warriors could have been quite the fun game for its time, but in the end Taito cancelled the project for unknown reasons.

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