Playstation 2 (PS2)

Microsoft, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony, Xbox

Red Dead Revolver [Beta – PS2, XBOX]

monokoma
21-01-2010
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Red Dead Revolver is a western third-person shooter published by Rockstar Games and developed by Angel Studios, a team that is now known as Rockstar San Diego. The game was released in May 2004, for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, but its development begun 3 years before (2001 / 2002) and the project was originally meant to be published by Capcom.

In 2002, Angel Studios were acquired by Take Two Interactive and Rockstar Games purchased the rights of the title and expanded on it. The original version of Red Dead Revolver had a more arcadish and fast gameplay, while the final one had a more “open world realistic” approach. The “Angel Studios Version” was played more like an “on rails” shooter (but with free movements), instead the “Rockastar San Diego Version” is more like an action adventure.

Chek the trailers below for a comparison. If you played the game and can help us to notice more differences, it would be appreciated!

Thanks to BemaniAK for the contribution!

Images:

Beta Videos:

Here’s the final version of the game for comparison:

 

GameCube, Microsoft, Nintendo, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony, Xbox

Knights [XBOX/PS2/GC – Cancelled]

monokoma
14-01-2010
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Knights is a cancelled car combat game that was in development by Eden Games for the Xbox, Playstation 2 and GameCube. The project would have been published by Atari but in May 2002 the company was sold to the Infogrames Group and Knights vanished without any traces. In 2003, Eden Games released V-Rally 3 and Kya: Dark Lineage. Only some artworks remain to preserve the existance this car combat project.

Thanks to Hey Hey for the contribution!

Images: 

Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony

MegaMan X7 [PS2 – Beta]

U64 Staff & Contributors
10-01-2010
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Megaman X7 (Rockman X7 in Japan) came to the American PS2 in october of 2003, and brought with it some of the biggest changes the X series of Megaman games has seen. For the first time, players could control X and Zero in 3D worlds, as well as switching back to 2D at times. It also brought with it, a new face to the series, Axl, with the ability to completely transform into certain enemies.

Players could now switch between 2 characters of their choice in any given level, with the Intro stage, being the only exception, considering that for the first time ever, X, was an unlockable character, instead of being available right from the start. However, it seems this wasn’t always the case. Take a look at these beta videos and screenshots taken from before the game was released. 

Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony

Ratchet Deadlocked [PS2 – Beta]

U64 Staff & Contributors
15-12-2009
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Ratchet Deadlocked (Ratchet: Gladiator in PAL regions, also known as Ratchet & Clank 4) is an arena style shooter from Insomniac games, released on 10/25/05 for the Playstation 2. This game strayed the most from the standard gameplay of the Ratchet and Clank series, being the first and only Ratchet game to be based upon the idea of arena fights instead of exploration.

Combat bots at one point were supposed to have legs instead of their hover base. This changed how they affect gameplay, mainly because flying lets them get a better angle than they could by walking. Also to be seen here, is that when given a command, that command appears above their heads. This can be seen at the very start of the video. The combat bot on the left to be precise. Also here, is a beta version of the ammo crate. It’s orange here, but the final version is green. And also, the ammo refills are the Gadgetron ones, and they are cylinder shaped. The final versions, are more box shaped, and green and black in color. Finally, notice that Ratchet has two combat bots here, and rescues a third. It is not known if the third battle bot would have affected gameplay or not.

Evan Hanley found even more differences in the early trailers shown at E3 and Tokyo Game Show:

  • The Eviscerator lacked his leg pads.
  • Ace Hardlight has a different missile glove.
  • The combat bots had legs at one point.
  • The Landstalker had different missile sound effects.
  • The HUD was different.
  • The health bar was different.
  • The weapon icons look slightly different.
  • The number text for the health bar, ammo and bolts was different.
  • The minimap is different.
  • The robot ability box is a different shape.
  • There is no level text for the weapons.
  • The EXP text is different.
  • The EXP bar is smaller and harder to see.
  • The Weapon EXP bar is different and in a different position.
  • The Landstalker’s health bar is different.
  • The Flail Whip has no hit sound effect.
  • The Electric Mine Launcher has a different sound effect.
  • Ratchet doesn’t grunt when hit.

The Online Multiplayer footage has pretty much the same differences as the Tokyo Game Show Trailer but has different HUDs and activity texts for different modes.

Thanks to Evan for the contribution! 

Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony

Ice Nine [PS2 – Cancelled]

monokoma
15-12-2009
2 Comments

Ice Nine is a cancelled FPS with tactical elements (inspired by the film “The Recruit”)  that was in development by Torus Games in 2002 / 2003 for the Playstation 2. The project would have been published by BAM! Entertainment, but for unknown reasons they never released it. During the missions the player would have been able to make choices that would have ultimately impact the multiple endings of the game. A GBA version of Ice Nine was released, but it was obviusly a different game from this one.

Over at Gaming Target we can read an old interview with one of the developers, that has some more info on the game:

AH: The enemies have an ‘awareness cone’ which is visible on the HD, showing you when they’ll spot you. The cone is not static however, and is affected by player actions. Knock an enemy out and grab a disguise and the enemies relax, meaning their cone will shrink. If you start shooting wildly, the enemies will go on alert and their cone will grow.

The system is designed to make the game feel more dynamic than most shooters – we wanted it to have more depth than just running and shooting, and allow the player to work through each level in their own way, making sure they got feedback from the enemies for each of their actions.

AH: There are twelve playable levels, each of which has at least two different art styles and three to five load sections. Each level is unique – we were very keen to make certain that there was a lot of variety through the game. We have forests, mines, submarines, office buildings and more.

Thanks to Userdante for the contribution!

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Videos: