Sandbox

Mercenaries [PS2 XBOX – Beta / Unused]

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction is an open world action game developed by Pandemic Studios and published in 2005 by LucasArts for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. DCodes7 was able to find 2 unused cut scenes, one placeholder intro and one unused trailer still hidden in the final game. Also, from looking at the data on the disk it’s possible to see some E3 files (maybe a beta level / demo?) and a debug menu (disabled).

In the gallery below you can see some beta screens with:

  • Beta Jacob
  • Removed Blood?
  • A carbine with a scope (the scope isn’t in the final)

Images:

Videos:

 

Dealer: Chronic, Pills & Coke [XBOX/PS2/PC – Cancelled]

Dealer:  Chronic, Pills & Coke is a cancelled action game / third person shooter that was in development by Nagual Games in 2004, for Playstation 2, Xbox and PC. As we can read in the original press release, the game was set in a huge metropolis, with a lot of driving and shooting,  a gameplay similar to GTA, in which the player was able to take part in the bloody and amusing adventures of a drug dealer.

The main object of Dealer was to build up a prosperous, illegal distribution network with one of the four characters available: the player had to expand the business by buying a drug lab, a cellar to grow mushrooms or even a marijuana plantation. The extra money were used to buy extraordinary cars, weapons , whore houses and luxurious properties.

Some of the unseen features:

  • Drugs, weapons, and sex – unpredictable and explicit story + free game course;
  • Prevention – the game demonstrates the effects, traps and dangers of various drugs;
  • Adult content – Night clubs, junkie prostitutes and sexy women;
  • Completely lifelike, enormous and elaborate city (Ghetto, Harbor, Downtown, Beach, Suburbs, Hills, Luxury seashore etc.)
  • Different drugs – different effects (Depending on the type of drug and consumption and use: morphed tracks, +/- health, speeding up/slowing down time, +/- susceptibility to injuries, freshness/tiredness, bent walking, falling asleep, addiction etc. – even lethal overdose).
  • 60 different NPCs;
  • 40 different controllable vehicles, controlled by AI;
  • 20 complex missions from the storyline +10 hidden or optional missions;
  • Multi-play
  • 40+ hours game play

The game was developed on the BioGraphic Inc. Gamebryo engine, a 3d-game engine used for other titles as “Morrowind”, “Dark Age of Camelot” “Axis & Allies”, but sadly there are no in-game screenshots from Dealer:  Chronic, Pills & Coke preserved yet, only few artworks in the gallery below.

The game was cancelled for unknown reasons, but we could speculate that Nagual never found a publisher interested in the project.

Thanks to Userdante for the contribution!

Images: 

Starsky and Hutch 2 [PS2/XBOX – Cancelled]

Starsky & Hutch 2 is a cancelled mission-based driving game based on the TV series with the same name, that was in development by Mind’s Eye for the original Xbox and Playstation 2. The project was announced in 2003 when Empire Interactive signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Sony Pictures to publish a sequel to their first Starsky & Hutch game.

As wrote by IGN, Starsky & Hutch 2 was shown behind closed doors at Empire Interactive’s booth during E3 2004, featuring the same drive and shoot gameplay as the original, and an on-rails Virtua Cop-esque mode up to 2 players. In 2005 Mind’s Eye Productions was acquired by Disney Interactive and their Starsky & Hutch 2 project was canned. The few images preserved in the gallery below are probably from a target render and not in-game.

Thanks to Cyrax151 for the contribution!

Images:
 

Saint Row 2 [X360/PS3/PC – Beta]

Saints Row 2 is a sandbox / action game game developed by Volition Inc and published by THQ for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2008. James Tsai,  SR2’s Lead Designer, in and interview with IGN revealed that some content had to be removed from the game before it was published:

JT: In the early stages of development we had some really crass stuff in the game, the kind of things that put you in that weird place where you’re laughing and squirming uncomfortably with guilt at the same time. One prototype had you driving a truck full of smuggled underage foreign prostitutes across the city while rival pimps rammed into you, knocking the girls out and cutting into your human trafficking profits. Another had you using a high pressure fire hose to wash homeless people off the street and into the gutter. Not exactly Nobel Prize material.

There was a lot of stuff we had in that didn’t register very high on the human decency scale, so we dialed some things back. For instance we changed the gender of the first character you encounter, since beating a female doctor to death with an IV stand wasn’t the impression we wanted to leave with the very first player action in the game. Instead, we have you beat a male doctor to death with an IV stand, to ease you into the killing.

From the early screens we can also notice various beta differences:

  • You can not customize characters in youe crib in the final
  • There was a different looking crib
  • Hideout has a different appearance
  • A pic shows  a cutscene that was removed

Images: 

Propaganda [Playstation, Saturn – Cancelled]

Propaganda is a cancelled mission-based racing game that was in development at Burst for Sega Saturn and the original Playstation in 1996 / 1997 and it would have been published by Virgin Interactive. The gameplay was going to be somehow similar to the Driver series, in which the player could have been able to explore the city with a car to complete various tasks. It’s currently unknown why the project was canned and only few screens were found in GamePro #92.

We can read more about the game in its original press release:

The world of Propaganda is perfect for the standard game story. In an alternate universe where Eastern Europe never really lost power, you play an ex-military loner, Jack Heller, who has been pulled into a rebellion against an evil government.

The film clips depicting this tale contain sets, costumes and acting (including an impressive performance by Yancy Butler of Drop Zone fame) that are worthy of a feature length film. Special effects have also been produced in a more traditional fashion – when the script called for a huge explosion tearing through a warehouse, the crew set up an actual explosion with a 20 foot jet of flame rather than use computer modeling which would have been easier, but looked less realistic.

And what about the game? After all, no amount of video, no matter how impressive, will keep players entertained if the actual play is terrible. Here also, Propaganda seems to shine. Although it’s far too early to make a final call, even at this stage of development, the game looks great. Finished stages revolve around player piloting armed cars through a 3-D world in which they have complete freedom.

Enemy cars loaded to the brim with amazing retro-tech weapons like wheeled torpedoes and side mounted guns are everywhere. Each of the game’s cities offers different challenges and more confusing pathways that the player will need to sort out in order to survive. Even better, the design team has gone to amazing lengths to blend the video footage with the game, creating a unified look that will be absolutely absorbing.

Thanks to Alex and Celine for the contribution!

Images:

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAWxUugTRSc