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Battletech: Gray Death Legion [Saturn/Mega CD – Cancelled]

Battletech: Gray Death Legion is a cancelled mech game that was in development for the Saturn and Sega Mega CD at Absolute Entertainment in 1995, before the closure of the company. The project was based on a fictional mercenary company that exists within the fictional BattleTech Universe and probably the gameplay was going to be similar to other mech games, with mission-based levels and first person shooter view.

It’s currently unknown if the Saturn version was similar to the Sega Mega CD one or if they were 2 different games. A playable beta demo of the Sega Mega CD version was leaked somehow and it’s available at Good Deal Games. As we can read from the description:

The Gray Death Legion is a mercenary regiment within the Battletech universe. This game demo does not have audio, but is very playable and a blast at that! The game plays very similar to the excellent AH-3 Thunderstrike. Battletech: Gray Death Legion makes use of the Sega CD’s scaling and rotation hardware to create an impressive 3D environment with a smooth frame rate. Features a very long 3D animated Battletech intro that is also very impressive.

Thanks to Celine for the contribution (scan from GamePro #79)!

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Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando [PS2 – Beta]

Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando (aka Ratchet & Clank 2: Locked and Loaded in certain PAL regions) is a 3D platformer/shooter developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. Going Commando was approved for development five months before the first game’s release, after highly positive reviews from the original’s playtesters. In August 2002, Insomniac Games started designing the visual concepts for Going Commando, while still fixing bugs in the original game. [Info from Wikipedia]

In the early screens of the game we can notice some graphic differences, especially for the HUD and the weapon designs. Also, the slot machines that should be in one of the levels are blank in the beta version. The launcher model was used for a sort of flamethrower weapon, but there wasn’t a flamethrower in the final game, just a firey-rock thrower and a gun with a stream of magma. There is also a beta Sniper Rifle and a beta Blitz Gun.

In the image with the glass tubes, the level is at night instead than to be during day like  in the final version. Also, something in the background looks like a tree… and an odd one at that. The gladiators in the arena were pink, while in the final they’re green. As we can see from a beta trailer from MegaLamb YT account, all of the MegaCorp crates were  still “Gadgetron” crates at that stage of development.

In the first beta video below, one major thing is at about 1:11: that weapon looks like NOTHING in the game. The graphics aren’t the same, but it does have the same general effect as the Zodiac. They both blow EVERYTHING up around them.

In BOTH videos, you can see two different versions of the SAME area. In the first video, it’s at 1:00 and in the second, it’s at 0:49. Also, in the second video the boss life meters are different from the final ones. Also in the final game  you can unlock an area called the “Insomniac Museum”, that is full of  beta-info and unseen-models! You can check a tour in the Insomniac Museum in the videos below, thanks to Bowserenemy and ScottishDuck17 YT channels. In Bowserenemy first R&C: Going Commando video you can even see the glitch way to reach the Insomniac Musem!

You can check the Ratchet & Clank Beta topic in the U64 Forum for more info!

Thanks to Bowsersenemy for the contribution!

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Cops [X360/PS3 – Cancelled]

Cops: The Police Experience is a cancelled action game that was in development at Pyro Studios from 2003 (early concepts and prototype) to 2008, that would have been  published for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. As we can read on Anait Games, in december 2008 the studio laid off 30 employees just before the xmas holiday and the Cops project was officially canned. With the cancellation of Cops, Pyro Studios was then able to concentrated their resources on the “Planet 51” game, based on the the animated film created by Illion Studios and planned to be published by Sega  in winter 2009.

Another rumored cancelled Pyro project was known as “InZero” but it’s currently unknown if the 2 projects were somewhat related.

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Project Hermes [PS2 – Cancelled]

Project Hermes is the code name of a cancelled platform game that was in development at Lucas Learning in 2001. The game was going to be the “spiritual successor” to Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing, using super deformed characters from the Star Wars universe. It seems that the project was stopped early in development and only a small prototype was created before the cancellation.

Thanks to Jar for the contribution!

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Parkour [PSP – Prototype]

Parkour is a prototype for a platform / action game that was created by Torus Games to pitch some publisher for a full game. It was loosely based on the  extreme sport with the same name, in which people run and jump from city roofs and buildings, to moving from one point to another as smoothly, efficiently and quickly as possible. In the game we would have been able to jump around the city to arrive to the final gateway and fight a boss to complete the level. Sadly it seems that they never found a publisher interested in the project, so Parkour was cancelled.

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