ps2

Unseen News

Whiplash [PS2/Xbox] – Beta

Yassine Bakrim
24-08-2025
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Whiplash was a fun 3D platformer developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive in 2003. One of the main protagonists in the game, Spanx, originally appeared in another CD game titled Mad Dash Racing. Whiplash early in development went by various codenames: Bust It Up, Spanx & Redmond and others. Even more interesting was the game’s birth, as it all happened after Gex 4 was mysteriously cancelled.

Below, we can observe a few beta changes before the game was released.  The images below date back to a late 2002 beta build of the game that, as of the time of writing this article, remains inaccessible…. Unfortunately. If you know anything more about the game, do not be shy to share!

Images:

Differences:

  • Different HUD (cool DNA design)
  • Different idle animation
  • Slightly different attack animation (kinda slower)
  • Some guards in the game are wearing different uniforms (?)

Videos:

 

  

Unseen News

Conan: The Dark Axe [Beta & Concept] — PS2/Xbox/Gamecube/PC

Yassine Bakrim
11-08-2025
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Conan: The Dark Axe was a fun action-adventure game based on the iconic Conan franchise. You played as the legendary barbarian as he slashed and clashed with enemies of all sizes, and rose victorious like he always does. Unlike the 2007 Conan game, this one didn’t play like a copy of God of War or Devil May Cry. It felt unique with all its pros and cons. Looking back, this game excelled in several areas over the 2007 Conan iteration by THQ.

Below, we can see a couple of beta images and concept artwork showing some of the changes.

Concept Images:

Beta:

Differences:

  • Different HUD (twice)
  • Different enemy icon
 
Unseen News

ESPionage [Beta] Xbox/PS2/PC/GameCube

Yassine Bakrim
03-08-2025
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Before it became known as Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, the game was originally titled ESPionage. In its early beta builds, it looked and played quite differently from the version that eventually hit the store. This was largely because Midway began showcasing the game while it was still in its alpha phase.

The game was indeed shown at E3 2003, where it was featured under the ESPionage codename. Thanks to footage and media from that event, we can catch a few rare glimpses of what the game looked like during its early development.

While the game was officially scheduled to release on the GameCube, that port was eventually cancelled.

Video:

Beta differences:

  • Different HUD
  • Different character model
  • Different gun sounds
  • Different environment
  • Different running animation

Images:

 

 

  

Unseen News

Jet Li: Rise to Honor [Beta] – PS2

Yassine Bakrim
03-08-2025
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Jet Li Rise to Honour was a fun beat’em up released exclusively on the PS2. The project began when Sony was exploring ways to bring action-hollywood cinema experiences to the small screen, and it happened that Jet Li fit their goal. After a few calls and discussions, Jet Li decided to give the project a kick (or a punch)

From the images and videos below, we can notice a handful of beta differences that have, unfortunately, gone undocumented for a few years now.

Images:

Beta changes:

  • Different jacket
  • Different character HUD (it went through two iterations)
  • Some different attack moves
  • Gun pointer was changed twice
  • The Fei & Huang brothers look different
  • The guy shooting you early in the game is different here
  • Different bike colours (blue in this instance)
  • From the pre-final build, a different HUD can be observed with green circles. It is unknown what their purpose was

Videos:

This video shows the pre-beta footage gameplay of Jet Li Rise to Honour.

This video, on the other hand, is very important as it shows the following beta changes:

  • Jet Li isn’t wearing a jacket
  • Different Jet Li fascial textures
  • Different attack animations (a bit slower)
  • Different HUD once again
  • The Fei & Huang brothers are different here
  • Chueng Mo Pao wears different clothes, and so does Jet Li (White jacket)
  • Again, a different HUD towards the end
 
Unseen News

Van Helsing: The Game [Saffire- PS2/Xbox] — Beta

Yassine Bakrim
27-07-2025
No Comments

Van Helsing is an awesome action-adventure game where you get to play as the titular monster hunter Van Helsing himself. The game plays similarly to Devil May Cry, Ghost Rider and many action games released during that time. Before launching in 2004, we can observe tiny beta changes from the images below.

Images:

Changes:

  • Different HUD for Van Helsing
  • Different HUD for boss fight
  • All pick-ups disappear quickly in the early demo