SoulCatcher is a cancelled game that was in development by Rare LTD for the Xbox 360. The project was meant to be a prototype for a fantasy action adventure game in first person view, that used the Xbox Vision Camera and a customized proto-wand for motion-controls to attack and do magics. At Develop 2011 in Brighton, Rare’s Nick Burton shown a video of this game, but sadly it seems that none recorded it. If you know someone that participated at the event and was able to take some photos / videos of SoulCatcher, please let us know!
Sorcery was to be the first, ambitious project of game developer Starbreeze Studios, who have been responsible for such titles as the Chronicles of Riddick series, and Enclave. They have developed games that have been seen on all of the major consoles since the Xbox. Sorcery was conceived in 1997, long before either of these well-received titles.
Little information is available about Sorcery, and what we do know comes largely from interviews with the developers. Sorcery would have been a fast-paced RPG, with a “high fantasy” setting. The player would have taken the role of a young mage seeking to restore order in a war-torn continent.
The unique thing about Sorcery‘s gameplay is that it was being created with an almost exclusively magical combat system. Instead of using weapons, the protagonist would have used various spells to take down opponents. The creators described the gameplay of the concept as “a cross between Diablo and Quake, with a huge world to explore and lots of quests to solve”. Indeed, the game would have contained a number of different activities and tasks for the player outside of the main plot, giving the game a heightened sense of freedom. Despite its fast-paced nature, strategy and puzzles would have been important gameplay elements.
Another promising aspect of the game was its custom-made 3D engine. The engine, created by Starbreeze, included support for movable mirrors/portals, illuminated volumetric fog, skeleton animation/deformation, animatable multitexturing materials, dynamic lighting, day/night cycling and curved surfaces with variable tesselation degrees depending on a user’s computer’s capabilities. In 1998, when 3-dimensional gaming was still in its infancy, these technologies would no doubt have been a very impressive.
Sorcery would also have contained a multiplayer mode, although the developers have admitted that this part of the game was only going to be included after the single-player game was completely polished. We know that the multiplayer side would have included team play, action and “plenty of possibilities to develop your own playing styles”, according to one of the game’s developers.
Starbreeze Studios originally found a company called Gremlin Interactive to publish Sorcery. However, after Starbreeze merged with O3 games in 2001, the game was sadly deprioritised, and never reached completion. However, the company has gone on to make excellent games since the project’s demise.
It is a cancelled FPS that was in development for the GBA by a company called Graphic State. The engine was really nice for a Gameboy Advance, but sadly the game was never released. We dont know why it was cancelled, if someone knows more about this, please let us know!
A “Chex Quest 3” game was made by fans of the series who were disappointed that the third had been canceled. But, rather than make entirely new levels and graphics, they stole much of them from other mods (here you can download the stolen resource list), mostly from Hacx and STRAIN. This one was noticeably harder, and when it was discovered it was a fake, it was quickly discarded. In 2008, ten years later, Charles ‘Chukker’ Jacobi, a former member of Digital Café, the makers of the original Chex Quest, created and released Chex Quest 3, including recreations of the original two episodes. Chex Quest 3 can be downloaded here.
ThreeWave CTF is a modification made for Quake and Quake 2’s capture the flag multiplayer mode. It was very popular at its time, but only few players know that it was made not only for Quake. There is a Deathmatch Classic version of it, planned to be released in 2001, but it wasn’t. A beta was leaked in 2003 along with Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life: Source, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero: Deleted Scenes and, partially, Team Fortress 2, and was sold by Russian company 7 Wolf as hidden part of Counter-Strike: Condition Zero: Deleted Scenes (not called Deleted Scenes then).
The leak includes 21 maps from Quake version of ThreeWave CTF, all in Deathmatch Classic style and it is fully playable. Along with flags, it includes grappling hook and 4 runes: haste, regeneration, resistance and strength. However, like most alpha and beta versions, it has bugs. It crashes on when a team is selected. This is fixable by replacing its client DLL with the one from Deathmatch Classic, but some HUD elements get removed. However, it doesn’t lose its playability.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience, by continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to the use of cookies. Find out more about cookies.Hide
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.