third person shooter

Tank Assault (Wicked Witch) [Nintendo DS – Cancelled]

Tank Assault is a cancelled third person shooter that was in development by Wicked Witch Software, planned to be released on Nintendo DS. The game was based on their eponymous mobile app, trying to find a publisher interested in releasing it on the portable console market. The team created a playable demo using their own 3D engine, which looked quite impressive for running on the DS hardware.

Some details were published on their old website:

“The game draws on themes from the real world game titles such as Battlefield 2, Call of Duty 4, Counter-Strike or Operation Flashpoint. This demo is a range of possible games from Arcade First Person Shooter, to Combat simulation, to Squad based Real Time Strategy with local or online multiplayer features!

Many styles of gameplay will have players finding themselves fighting with or against their friends on a local connection or online in an open map or as team-mates fighting cooperatively through hordes of AI soldiers and vehicles. The multiplayer game and maps will vary from modified versions of single player maps to unique battlefields designed for warring parties.

The modern world with its trouble-spots and current conflicts gives plenty of scope to base this game off a real scenario or even to make a very compelling scenario out of imaginary countries and regions. The time period can vary as well with modern warfare games easily converted into Vietnam War, post-modern or even WW2 games.”

  • Deeply immersive 3d world and a cast of characters and scenarios to fight through.
  • Superbly rendered 3d graphics featuring detailed characters, vehicles and environments!
  • Modern warfare inspired combat, customizable classes and vehicle orientated gameplay.
  • Call in air strikes, operate UAV’s, and demolish buildings.
  • Complete missions and watch a compelling modern conflict scenario unfold.

As far as we know Wicked Witch Software never found a publisher and Tank Assault had to be canned, along with their other games for Nintendo’s portable consoles: War Monster DS and War Monster Game Boy.

Images:

Videos:

 

Under Pressure (Rage Software) [Cancelled – PC, Playstation]

Under Pressure is a cancelled underwater shooter adventure that was in development by Rage Software Newcastle around 1997, planned to be released on PC and the original Playstation. By looking at the few screenshots available it seems you would have been able to play in first and third person, exploring a 3D sea filled with fishes and robotic enemies.

As it happens for many other cancelled games, today not much can still be found online about Under Pressure. Screenshots were published on Edge magazine in February 1997 and a former developer mentioned the title in an interview with Arcade Attack:

Have you ever worked on any games that were never released, and if so, which unreleased games do you feel would have been the most successful?

After Power Drive Rally, I designed and helped create ‘Under Pressure’ running on PC for Rage Newcastle, an underwater submersible/action adventure game in 3D. EA were funding the game development at the time, but unfortunately they pulled the plug mere months away from release. The next game we made was the co-op space shooter Expendable, also known as Millennium Soldier on the Dreamcast/PC.”

 

Alien Front [N-Gage – Cancelled]

The original Alien Front is an arcade game developed by Sega, which was then ported to the Dreamcast in 2001, adding online multiplayer. In 2004 Sega announced another port of the game for the ill-fated Nokia N-Gage, as we can read on IGN:

“In Alien Front, you can take on the role of an army tank commander to defend the Earth against invading aliens, or switch sides and take command of a futuristic 2-leg walker, a 4-leg spider walker, or an anti-gravity hovercraft vehicle. Alien Front also has a two-player deathmatch mode via Bluetooth wireless technology and the possibility to share game statistics with the world via the N-Gage Arena.”

As many other games planned for this phone-console hybrid, Alien Front was later cancelled. In 2019 a playable prototype was found and released online.

Images:

Videos:

 

GunForge [Nokia N-Gage – Cancelled]

GunForge is a cancelled run ‘n gun that was in development in 2005 by TKO Software for the ill-fated Nokia N-Gage. As far as we know the game was never officially announced by the company and was soon cancelled when TKO Software was closed down by their parent company. A few GunForge sprite animations created by a former TKO employee are preserved below, to remember the existence of this lost project.

TKO were also working on another canned N-Gage game titled “Leisure Suit Larry – Pocket Party”, but part of the team later formed Method Solutions, who were able to release Call of Duty and Space Impact for Nokia’s console / cellphone hybrid. 

Dead Justice (Cat Mother) [PC, Xbox – Cancelled]

Dead Justice is a cancelled third person shooter that was in development by Cat Mother between 2001 and 2003, planned to be released on PC and Xbox. As far as we know the game was never officially announced, but after the team closed down for lack of funds they decided to release online the full Dead Justice source code and prototype PC demo. While this is just an early demo for a linear shooter, it’s cool that Cat Mother decided to share it online, huge props to them! Just think about how many lost games we could preserve if every team could do something like this.

Before closing down they were also working on another project titled “Bladeball”, but it seems only a few, tiny screenshots remain in their old website.

Thanks to Piotr for the contribution!

Images:

Videos: