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:
Stolen is an obscure stealth game developed by Blue52 and published by Hip Games. The game was originally intended as a PlayStation 2 exclusive, but Sony abandoned the project. Blue52 eventually found a publisher, and the game was released in 2005 for the PS2, Xbox and PC.
Before the game’s release, it went through several changes, which I’ll demonstrate below. From the build dated April 5th,2004, we can observe the following differences:
Whereas in the July 26, 2004 build, the only differences I noticed are the following:
However, in the early build that probably dates to late 2003, we can notice MORE differences in this build. Please check out the video attached below.
Anya Romanov, the game’s protagonist, went through several iterations along with Breeze, the game’s main villain. Below, we can observe some of the early sketches:
This trailer of the game is important to note because it shows the following:
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Spawn: Armageddon is a relatively fun action-adventure game based on Todd McFarlane’s iconic Spawn comic book. The game adapts from issues 1 to 99 of the Spawn comic book series. However, before the game’s final release, we can notice a few differences from the E3 2003 preview trailer of the game.
The differences are as follows:
Alter Echo was a strange, ambitious beast—an action-adventure title that dared to fuse multiple gameplay systems into something boldly experimental. It had style, ideas, and a confident strut all its own. But despite all this, the game didn’t walk away with awards. THQ’s gamble didn’t pay off commercially, and Alter Echo quietly faded into obscurity—at least for a while. Years later, it would resurface as a cult favourite, remembered by those who stumbled onto it as something genuinely ahead of its time.
But before Alter Echo became the shape-shifting, time-bending spectacle it’s now remembered as, it went through some major changes in its earliest form.
Back in its early development days, the game looked—and played—differently. The camera system mirrored that of Devil May Cry, relying on fixed cinematic angles to introduce players to action. Nevin, the game’s protagonist, was also nearly unrecognisable: a different face, a different suit, and different visual effects altogether. It was only after internal feedback from a THQ producer, who pointed out the visibility issues caused by the original camera, that Outrage made a drastic shift. The decision not only overhauled the game’s visual design but also impacted its performance, cutting the framerate from the intended slick 60 frames per second down to 30.
With the new direction in place, Alter Echo moved to a fully controllable 3D camera, and Nevin received his final redesign. His allies, Arana and Stom, still wore the original red/orange suits late into development—until the team finally settled on their now-iconic bluish armour for the retail release.
Apart from the visual differences, in the early E3 trailers shown, the time dilation for Nevin was much slower than the final release. There were different gunshot and slashing effects as well as different icons for the Time Dilation. The HUD colour was different. The running and jumping animations for Nevin were also different. Below, you’ll find a comprehensive gallery of the early changes, and more!
Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance was Cavia and Capcom’s attempt to revolutionize the beat’em up genre and win over the American market. It took heavy influence from crime and mafia films, and it’s evident throughout the game’s environments and narrative. However, Cavia and Capcom ultimately failed to deliver what they envisioned.
The game began development in late 2003 and was released in 2005 for the Xbox and PS2. Before its final release, a few changes were spotted in early builds. Here are the differences: