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Vis Entertainment

State of Emergency was a fantastic beat’em up originally developed by Vis Entertainment in 2003 for PS2, Xbox and eventually PC. The game garnered widespread recognition for its raw depiction of cities overrun by protestors and police officers running amok. It was a game like no other, and one that hasn’t been outdone ever since.

Early in its beta form, we can notice some differences, particularly the main characters of the game: the Freedom members. Not only was their face texture different, but some differences, like less blood during combat, alternate police officers’ outfits and the citizens running around, were also slightly different. Please, check the image gallery below for a full breakdown:

Images:

Freedom Members have different face textures (Mack, Libra, Spanky, Freak, The Bull)
Different NPCs
Different task force costume (changed twice)
Different objective pointers (basic at this stage of development)
Slightly different level structure (?)
Blood spills on the ground (a lot!)
Weapons are unfinished (missing glow)

Videos

Credit: Evan Hanley

Some differences can be observed from this video:

Different timer
Different objective reminder
The arrow pointing to where you should go is different here
Ambulance (?)

Additionally, the game was originally scheduled to release in October 2001, but it was eventually pushed back to 2002.

Unseen News

Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick [PS2/Xbox] – Beta

Yassine Bakrim

30-08-2025

No Comments

Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick is one of the few instalments to land on home consoles, and among the many forgotten games based on a popular IP. Little is known about early beta footage of the Evil Dead games on PS2, but thanks to a rare video, we can see a glimpse of the early changes prior to the game’s release.

Video:

Differences:

Ash has a different attack animation
Some zombies are different
HUD (HP and Magic are different)
The weapon icon is different
Different lock-on
Police officers lend you a hand

Unseen News

Brave 2 (PS2) — Cancelled Sequel

Yassine Bakrim

01-09-2024

No Comments

Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer is a relatively unknown 3D action-adventure developed by Vis Entertainment and released by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe in 2005. The game was released late into the PS2’s lifespan and couldn’t compete with the many blockbuster hits of yore. Consequently, the game fell into obscurity due to poor marketing, critical acclaim, and sales. Eventually, Vis Entertainment shut down in 2005, laying off all of its employees in the process.

However, before Vis Entertainment’s demise, the company was actually working on a sequel that was 25% complete according to producer Robbie Graham. Not only this but according to assistant director Pete Shea, the sequel was going to be an open-world action adventure with a sophisticated AI wild-life experience akin to what Far Cry 2 managed to achieve. All in all, it was envisioned as a step above its predecessor. Unfortunately, the sequel was never finished and neither any images of it were preserved online. All that remains is a mention of Brave 2 in the archived portfolio blog of artist Mathew Cooling.

Images:

Not only this, but after reaching out to the main writer Brian Gomez, he said Brave was, at one point, planned to receive a TV Series adaptation. Unfortunately, that idea never came to fruition. It seems that Vis Entertainment had good plans for Brave, but they never materialized.

A video exists documenting the history of Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer in full detail, covering how it all began, the main inspiration and other misc tidbits you might find interesting.

Video:

Credit goes to Evan Hanley for finding the archived portfolio blog of Mathew Cooling.

PSP, Sony

Brave: A Warrior’s Tale [Cancelled PSP Port]

Yassine Bakrim

23-06-2024

No Comments

Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer is a hidden gem platformer on the PS2. It stars a young native American boy who seeks the legendary spirit dancer in order to stop an entity known as the Wendigo. Most of the game sees Brave fighting wolves, dabbling in the art of platforming and channelling his native American powers. (like summoning an eagle spirit!)

The game didn’t do well back then, considering the timeframe in which it was launched saw the emergence of heavy hitters like Resident Evil 4, God of War and Call of Duty. Consequently, the game was deemed a failure. The story didn’t end there. Two years after Brave’s launch on the PS2 and the closure of Vis Entertainment, SouthPeak Games snagged the IP from Bam Entertainment (owner of Vis Entertainment at the time) and attempted to revive it.

Their first attempt was going to be Brave: Shaman’s Challenge, a spin-off scheduled for a February 11, 2009 release. Alas, that never happened. In an IGN article dated July 10, 2008, we read that SouthPeak Games had plans to remaster the original PS2 game for three platforms; the Wii, Xbox 360 and the PSP. In the end, the PSP release never happened. But the most bizarre situation ever is that box covers of the PSP release were made, complete with an age rating and an art cover different from the original. What adds to the mystery is that an Amazon listing was spotted years after the PSP release was quietly cancelled. The question that needs asking is; was the game released, or was it not? Nobody knows.

Here’s a high-quality image of the supposedly PSP remaster that was quietly cancelled without any prior notice from SouthPeak Games. Nobody knows if the port was finished or if SouthPeak Games just fooled everyone.

Other retail listings of this obscure PSP release were also spotted in various websites like:

Nintendo, Nintendo DS

Brave: Shaman’s Challenge [Cancelled — Nintendo DS]

Yassine Bakrim

03-05-2024

No Comments

Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer is a lesser-known 3D platformer on the PS2. Much like its brethren from the genre, Brave received minimal attention, which led to the game slipping under the radar for many players. Seeing as how the game didn’t fare well critically, the game ended up selling poorly. Such poor performance was the last straw for Vis Entertainment’s business operation.

It wasn’t until a few years later that SouthPeak Games purchased the rights of Brave from Evolved Games, and attempted to do something with the IP. On August 20, 2007, SouthPeak Games unveiled four of its games at the GC Developers Conference in Leipzig, Germany. That game turned out to be, Brave: Shaman’s Challenge, a spin-off of Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer that played similarly to Tetris.

Videos:

The game was finished and was supposedly planned to be released in 2009 alongside Brave: A Warrior’s Tale, but it was quietly cancelled without any official announcement. Whether a ROM of this game exist online or not remains unknown.