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.
Differences:
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!
Differences:
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.
Differences:
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.
Beta differences:
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.
Changes: