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Mercs Inc. [X360 PS3 PC – Prototype]

Mercs Inc is a spin-off title based on the Mercenaries franchise, planned for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. Pandemic Studios worked on a prototype of the game until its closure in November 2009. After a video of this prototype leaked, EA announced that the game would be developed at EA LA.

As we can read on Wikipedia:

The game was first rumored to be in development by Pandemic Studios as either Project X or Y which were rumored to be based on the Mercenaries franchise. Footage of the game was first leaked onto the internet on November 24, 2009, the footage was a multiplayer trailer of the game. The game was then officially announced by Electronic Arts less than a day later though without a proper platform or release date. The announcement of the game came less than a week after the closure of Pandemic Studios by Electronic Arts as it had been development there under the name, Project Y, the game is currently being developed by remaining Pandemic Studio staff members located at EA Los Angeles.

In november 2010 another Mercenaries video leaked from Kotaku, but we are not sure if it’s from the same project as Mercs Inc, as they call it “Mercenaries 3: No Limits”

Thanks to Jason for English corrections and to DCodes7 and Daniel Nicaise for the contribution!

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Crusader: No Pity [PSP – Tech Demo]

Crusader is a series of action-oriented computer games developed by Origin Systems and published by Electronic Arts. The series consists of two titles: Crusader: No Remorse, released in 1995, and Crusader: No Regret, released in 1996. [Info from Wikipedia] In 2006 a tech demo for a new / remake Crusader (called Crusader: No Pity) for the PSP was created by Outsider Development and pitched to EA, but the company was not interested in funding development. As we can read in an article by The Gaming Liberty:

“they had a functional version which I found quite impressive, but they didn’t have any luck convincing EA to let them finish and release it.”

Thanks to Denis Murphy for the contribution! Thanks to Jason for the english corrections!

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Nero Zero [Hasbro VR – Cancelled]

Nero Zero is a cancelled first person virtual reality game that was in development by 3D Creations and KATrix for the unreleased Hasbro VR console. The Hasbro VR was meant to be a “Home Virtual Reality System” for which the company invested $40 million, but because of the increased competition in the home-gaming market, Hasbro decided to terminate work on their new console.

There is not much info about the Hasbro VR or Nero Zero beyond an over-ambitious description of the game from an old press release, found at The Strange (and Rare) Videogame Pics Page:

(Nero Zero) It takes place in the far future on a distant planet ruled by an evil tyrant named Nero. It offers a combination of several areas of gameplay, including a first-person perspective, a labyrinthine 3D world to explore, high-speed racing with hover-chariots through twisting tunnels, and an advanced fighting engine for one-on-one swordplay. Using sophisticated neural net technology, the computer controlled opponents in the game actually learn from the player’s fighting style, and require progressively more involved strategies to defeat.

Thanks to Celine for the contribution! Thanks to Jason for the english corrections!

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The Fallen [PSX PC – Cancelled]

The Fallen is a cancelled action adventure game that was in development in 1995 / 1996 by Sensory Deception and it would have been published by Psygnosis for the original Playstation and PC. Sadly just few screenshots were found by Celine in CD Consoles magazine issue #19 and Edge magazine issue #33.

Below you can read the story / setting of the game, as announced at E3 1996:

The Lords are the law enforcers of the future, maintaining their own brand of vicious law and order in cities across the U.S. The Fallen are their prey, the drop-outs from society who fall foul of The System and want to find their own way without rules. When the two meet, only chaos can follow.

Play Lord or Fallen in this huge and minutely detailed strategic adventure which takes you from coast to coast across America and offers so many real-life options, you’ll think you’re there. And with bribery, corruption, gambling and violence all on the agenda, there might not be the place you want to be.

Some of the promised features:

  • Unique characterisation system introduces realistic characters capable of complex interaction.
  • Fully textured real-time 3D graphics.
  • Non-linear structure allows the player to dictate the action strategy.
  • Huge array of fully interactive vehicles, weapons and special objects.
  • Combat includes hand-to-hand fighting, vehicle ramming and use of futuristic weapons.
  • Multi-player options (PC version)

Even if we don’t know much about the project, from this description it seems that the gameplay could have been somehow similar to a futuristic Grand Theft Auto. The Fallen was cancelled for unknown reasons, maybe because it was too ambitious for 1996.

If you know someone who worked on this game and can share some more info or media, please let us know!

Thanks to Celine for the contribution! Thanks to Jason for the english corrections!

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Campfire [PS2/XBOX – Cancelled]

Campfire: Become Your Nightmare is a cancelled “reverse survival horror” that was in development in 2003 by Daydream Software, for the original Xbox and Playstation 2. The project was going to be an open ended action game, in which the player would had take the role of a serial killer, to massacre tourists and youngsters during their holydays in the woods. As we can read in the official press release:

What if you were the hunter instead of the hunted? What if your sole purpose in life was to cause misery, death, and pain to anyone and anything you encountered? Now you have your chance. So begins Daydream Software’s brutal “reverse survival horror” game, Campfire. Based on contemporary slasher flicks, Campfire allows players to choose from four different serial killers (Vincent Voucher, Mac Douglas, Louis Winterstorm, and Mannie the Clown) so that they may use them to wreck havoc on the unsuspecting populace of an out of the way campground.

Campfire vanished without any official announcement, but it’s possible that Daydream never found a publisher interested in the project.

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