FPS

Retribution [XBOX 360 / PC – Cancelled]

Retribuition is an early XBOX 360 & PC first person / third person shooter, that was in development in 2005 / 2006 by U-235 Studios. It was planned for the “XBOX 2” even before the final spechs of the console and it would have been created thanks to the “Reality Engine” developed by Artificial Studios. The player would have been able to hire a crew to help in battles, and they would had learned to fight depending on the action they saw, or the training they have been placed in. Also, it would have been possible to buy, hijack, steal or ransack boats, to go aroung the sea or to sell them for cash. Sadly U-235 Studios never found a publisher interested in the project and Retribution was then cancelled.

[spoiler /Click here to read the original Press Release/ /Hide the Press Release/]Retribution uses Artificial Studio’s advanced game engine – Reality. It is a FPS or 3rd person shooter (your choice) with a movie like script. A large variety of photo realistic scenes to explore as you work your way through the game ensure that you never feel the game is repetitive. Featuring open play which enables you to hire and improve your crew members and their abilities, build an arsenal of weapons, acquire a range of equipment, and complete numerous mercenary tasks for cash. Attempt the main storyline missions at your leisure.

Primary Objective- Take retribution on your parents’ murderer.
Sounds – Simple
Difficulty – Hard
Problem – Finding him
Problem – Women…well…one woman
Problem – Your target commands a navy vessel and has a trained army at his disposal

Intense action, coupled with the most intelligent team management seen to date, artistic diversity rarely seen in a computer game, and a script that reads like a movie. Plus the advanced features of the Reality engine which utilises the latest in artistic techniques. At U-235 Studios just having the ability to do something isn’t enough, we set out to fully utilise and exploit every new technique. It’s not good enough to have an advanced physics system, but each object in Retribution is carefully modelled to our ‘game standard’ so interactivity is realistic.

Couple this with a multiplayer element across 11 unique scenes, each very different and so well crafted you’ll forget you’re playing the same game.

Key Features
Scenery: 11 unique land-based scenes, ranging from your tropical beach hideout, a marine corps camp, a drug lords compound, the port area of Miami and more.
Ocean: Realistic water techniques never achieved before in real time in a computer game.
AI: Elaborate and intelligent AI which makes you re-think the way you play computer games – without taking away the joy of beating impossible odds.
Damage System: A unique damage system devised in conjunction with gamers to enable enjoyable game play, visual effects, and a realism level that doesn’t detract from the fun.
Crew Advancement: Once you hire your crew members they begin to advance depending on the action they see, or the training they have been placed in.
Crew Battle Management: Unique battle management techniques to interact with your crew that are sure to become standards once other companies see what we’ve come up with.
Interaction: A detailed level of interaction between characters including realistic cause and effect. The days of ‘3 phrase characters’ are officially over.
Transport: Buy, hijack, steal or ransack boats in the Caribbean. Clean them up and sell them for cash. All attacks on vessels are done in FPS/3rdPS mode, use your brain as well as brawn to make your attacks as clean as possible.
FPS or 3rdPS: Play in first person or 3rd person modes (switch at any time) throughout the game.
Hostages: Take hostages from a battle, be it an attack on a vessel in the Caribbean you have coordinated, or a mercenary task. Manage your hostage negotiations and build up your cash, but be careful not to attract too much attention.
Environment: Realistic day/night cycles and advanced world time system which ties into various elements such as crew advancement, financial management etc.
Time warp: Retribution is played over a large geographical area, however, a unique time warp system ensures you won’t waste time waiting while travelling.
Multi-Player: Death match, team death match, cooperative and team cooperative modes.[/spoiler]

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Manhattan [PS3 – Cancelled Prototype]

Manhattan was a survival horror prototype for PlayStation 3, which was in development at Sony Cambridge in 2006. Manhattan had been overcome by a 28 Days later-style virus that had reduced its citizens into a frenzied state of violent zombies. After the city was quarantined from the rest of America, the player had to attempt to escape the chaos and save as many other survivors as possible from the marauding hoards, leading them through the city to safety. The game was pitched as a first-person action game with elements of strategy, as the player tries to keep the survivors alive and get them to various checkpoints.

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Commando [Jaguar CD – Cancelled]

Commando is a cancelled FPS that was in development by Microids (also known as MC2-Microïds) in 1994 / 1995 for the Jaguar CD. There are not much more info on the game, and in the end it was canned for unknown reasons. We could speculate that it was never released because of the failure of the Atari console. Celine was able to find a screenshot of Commando in CD Consoles Magazine issue #5.

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Project Delta [PS3/X360 – Cancelled]

Project Delta is a cancelled FPS that was in development in 2005 by PlayLogic for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was announced when the “next gen consoles” were still not released, but it soon vanished without any official statement. It’s possible that Delta was originally in development for the PS2 and XBOX, with the code name “Project Snap”, another cancelled FPS that Playlogic was working on in 2004.

Project Delta’s gameplay was going to be more tactical than the usual first-person shooter: while shooting with our main character, we would had to command a team of soldiers and comfort or threaten them during the battles. The game was set in different time periods, as the story dealt with time travels from the future back to the dark ages.

Project Delta was cancelled for unknown reasons, but we can speculate that the team had some development or quality problems. Only few concept arts and models remain from the project, preserved in the gallery below.

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Bioshock Infinite [Beta – Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC]

BioShock Infinite is a first person adventure game and the third entry in the BioShock series. Previously known as “Project Icarus”, it is being developed by Irrational Games for a February 2013 worldwide release on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. In August of 2012, several high-level developers from Irrational that had been working on Infinite announced their departure from the company; these included art director Nate Wells, who began working with Naughty Dog, and director of product development Tim Gerritsen. At the same time, Irrational announced the addition of Rod Fergusson from Epic Games as their product director while Scott Sinclair, art director from the original Bioshock, replaced Wells.

There are some features that were removed or not implemented from BioShock Infinite beta version. For example Ken Levine revealed in an interview with Gamasutra that the plot’s conflict would have been originally about tech geeks against luddites, those who resist the proliferation of technology. Some more rumors about the problems with the development of the game tell that various multiplayer modes were tested in a prototype form, but later removed. Even if Levine told Kotaku that multiplayer wasn’t guaranteed to be in the game, but in May of 2012, job listings at Irrational hinted that the studio was in fact working on a multiplayer component. Also, the 2011 E3 demo, seems to have been much different from what we’ll be able to play in the final game. For more beta differences and unused characters / items / models from BioShock Infinite will have to wait for when the game will be finally published.. in the meantime, here are some early screens and videos!

Chris Henzler noticed some more beta differences:

  • HUD is different from final game
  • various voice actors changed from final version of booker and Elizabeth
  • story has changed alot
  • atmosphere of the game has changed
  • some of the vigors seem different in the final game
  • the twins seem absent in the beta versions of the game

There are also some unused content that you can check at the Bioshock Wikia! If you played the final game and see more differences, please leave a message below! :D

Thanks to Inspector for the contribution!

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