hack and slash

Kill Bill (Studio Gigante) [Cancelled Prototype – Xbox]

In 2005 Studio Gigante created a Kill Bill hack & slash prototype, pitched to be fully developed on the original Xbox. Players would have been able to follow the story of Tarantino’s movie, using the Bride to fight enemies with her katana. The team was mostly known for Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus, another Xbox-exclusive fighting game published by Microsoft in 2003. While they had a great 3D engine and talent for fighting mechanics, unfortunately they had to close down before being able to find a publisher interested in their Kill Bill proto.

As we can read in an old article on Polygon:

“Gigante was ready to roll onto a proper Tao Feng sequel, and Microsoft wanted it – but the proposed deal gave the team pause, as it didn’t quite offer the resources desired to pull off the more elaborate design, which featured wildly destructible stages. Simultaneously, THQ swooped in with an offer to develop WWE Wrestlemania 21 – a richer contract that could not only help build up the studio further, but possibly also secure a lucrative annual franchise. After much agonizing, the studio principals opted for THQ’s deal, leaving Tao Feng 2 dead in the water.

Not only did the team lose its passion project, but the WWE deal backfired. An incomplete build of the game was accidentally pressed and released, leading to backlash and an eventual recall and revised release. Relations between Gigante and THQ had already soured prior to release, and the poor reaction was the final nail in the coffin.

The Xbox series was dead, and the studio was running out of money. Using a proprietary engine, Gigante prototyped potential Kill Bill and Star Wars fighting games and sought new projects, but decisions weren’t being made quickly enough. By July 2005, just three months after Wrestlemania 21 shipped, the studio closed its doors.”

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MediEvil Legends [PSP – Cancelled]

MediEvil Legends is a cancelled hack & slash developed by ChocChip Moose team for Sony as a part of the MProf Games Development course. This prototype was based on a brief given by Sony to students of the course with plans to possibly fully developed it into a PSP Mini commercial release.

While this should be considered a course-prototype and never announced by Sony as an official MediEvil game, some details were found online by fans:

“For the second semester, we were given the task of developing a small prototype by Sony that could be carried over and fully developed for sale as a PSP Mini game. The game was part of the established Sony franchise MediEvil and the concept was Dan retelling the story of his heroic deeds in the form of tall tales to his fellow heroes that the player had to relive. It took the form of a simple 3D top-down hack and slasher with humorous dialogue and banter between the listening heroes and Dan. This game was also developed in PhyreEngine.”

“The gameplay was a linear set of enemy waves, each wave getting progressively harder by spawning more enemies for longer periods of time. in addition, the final prototype contained 5 different enemy types, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The zombies, numerous and weak, the mummies, rare but significantly tougher and hard-hitting, Scarecrows, extremely fast and agile, Headless zombies who run in straight lines very fast across the map, bouncing off walls and providing both comic relief and a surprising hazard, and Shadow Demons, deadly, fast and tough.

Waves were interspersed with humorous dialogue between Dan recounting his tale, and the heroes listening in, chiming in with their own comments and version of events, mocking and supporting Dan’s achievements.”

In the end sony never completed the MediEvil Legends prototype into a full PSP game and it soon became a lost and forgotten project.

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Gauntlet [DS – Cancelled]

Gauntlet DS is the cancelled chapter of the popular hack and slash series, that was in development at Backbone Entertainment and it would have been published by Eidos Interactive / Midway Games. The game should have been released in October 2008, but after its initial announcement, the project vanished from their release list. There’s not any official statement, but it’s possible that Gauntlet DS was canned for economic reasons.

The bankruptcy of Midway Games, owners of the Gauntlet license, could be one of the reasons behind the game’s death. The game would have had local wireless and online four-player mode, 40 maps, and voice chat capabilities. We really hope that in the future a playable version of this game could be leaked and preserved, it looked like an awesome coop-game!

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Too Human [X360 – Beta]

Too Human is an Action RPG developed by Silicon Knights and published in 2008 by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. The project is of particular interest to prototype video game enthusiasts. Development lasted more than a decade, and it was planned for three different consoles (Playstation, GameCube and Xbox 360). Silicon Knights promised a game of a grand scope and daring design. It was to be a game that changed genre depending on how the player would customize his character.

On the PlayStation, it was estimated to be 80 hours long and spanned four discs. IGN stated the following as the original story and game play:

Far into the future, when earth has become a mega-civilization of androids, robots, cyborgs and Big Brother companies, players take on the role of cop whose partner was killed by a cyborg. Angered by this death and moved to seek vengeance, the main character will take a job as a security operative in this monolithic chip corporation to find out just what happened.

In this futuristic world, people are part human, part machine, and your character’s limbs, neck, head, and just about everything else except his organs can be replaced by chips and machinery. The player will have the option of enhancing his body with cybernetic enhancements at the start of missions, and will be able to customize the character in line with the way they choose to play the game

For example, a player who prefers the Metal Gear Solid approach may wish to enhance leg strength to be able to move more quickly and stealthily through the game, whereas another player might wish to increase arm and torso strength to be able to carry more deadly implements of destruction. The choices made by the player will have a direct bearing on the gameplay in this manner.

Ancient legends did not have an impact on this version of the game. Briefly mentioned was that Japanese history was used in a small amount, but not for the whole game. The first name they gave the protagonist was John Franks, his name on the final is Baldur.

Multiple endings were planned but axed. Although the basic premise of the game did not change, the game was overhauled when it jumped on the Xbox 360. The final game uses Norse mythology as reference material. You take control of Baldur, one of the cybernetics enhanced soldiers revered as gods. For ages man has been in a war with bloodthirsty machines. To make matters worse, the god Loki has betrayed those he once served.

The Too Human that one can go to a store and buy is a strict action RPG that has a loot drop system. Four distinct classes are available and a “skill tree” gives astonishing customization options. The player may only change body armor and weapons but not body parts.

Even after arriving on the Xbox 360, certain features were altered. Dyack claimed that the game was too big and had to be split into a trilogy.  It’s possible that the 2nd and 3rd Too Human chapters could never see the light of the day, as the first game received low scores and did not sell many copies. In earlier Xbox 360 builds the game had strict control of the camera. Although IGN boasted the game did a great job with the camera views, camera control was ultimately relinquished to the player. Silicon Knights had attempted to omit a HUD from the game.

Four player cooperation was slated for the game as well, but only two players may play together in the final.

In the gallery below we can notice many beta screens, with scenes that were not in the final game or changed before the final version (as the Thor design). There is even a different loading screen. If you can notice more specific differences, please let us know!

For more info on the development of the game and its original unseen concepts, check our article: Too Human, the game that will never be. Also, take a look at our archive for images and videos for Too Human on the Playstation and Too Human on the GameCube!

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Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance [PS2/XBOX – Beta]

Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance is a hack and slash developed by Acclaim for PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC. Early screenshots and footage show many differences, as noticed by Evan Hanley:

#The health bar and magic meter had a very different design.
#The health bar and magic meter are not visible for the tutorial in the final game.
#Invictus can wield all three weapons (sword, axe and arm blades) but he can only wield the arm blades in the final game.
#The select weapon text is different.

#The grab the rope text is different. The button to press to grab is different too.
#The camera work is different.
#A VC text flashes on screen very briefly.
#The arena you enter after using the rope has a completely different design.
#The music is very different.

#The music again is different.

The big and very noticeable differences are the Health and Magic Meter HUD is completely different and the Enemy Health Bars are basic.

Thanks to Evan for the contribution!

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