CANCELED PS3 games you never knew existed (Videos/Art/Screens Inside) 56K Warning!

[Nousemercenary]

Canceled PS3 games you never knew existed

I decided to start a thread based on cool new information and media I found via Unseen64.net.

Unseen64.net specializes in covering canceled or unseen games. They have stories showcasing deleted scenes from Toe Jam and Earl III from Xbox, pre-alpha footage of Far Cry 2, and a whole list of media from canceled games (from all platforms)...many of which I've never even heard of. I stumbled across this site when I pulled up a leaked tech demo on Youtube for Fighting Force 3 (a canceled PS2/Xbox title).

Anyways, I thought I'd share a few of these with you guys and get your thoughts on some of these PS3 games that could have been. I'm only going to post a few pieces of media from each game, so if you want to see more, follow the links.

Necessary Force
Platforms: PS3/Xbox360/PC
Source

Plot:
Necessary Force is a canceled action game that was in development at Midway Newcastle. The game was supposed to be open-ended, with the player that could have been able to choose how to approach the mission. Unfortunately, Midway Newcastle shut down in august 2009 and the project had to be shelved.

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

Trailers/Video:
Debut Trailer
Gameplay Trailer

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Wanted 2
Platforms: PS3/Xbox360
Source

Plot:
Wanted 2 or “Cult” was the sequel of Wanted: Weapons of Fate. In development at GRiN Barcelona, the game was canceled in 2009 when GRiN had to close as a result of financial troubles.

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

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Lone Wolf: Flight From The Dark
Platforms: PS3/Xbox360/PC
Source

Plot:
Lone Wollf is a cancelled First Person RPG in the vein of TES: Oblivion, that was in development by Ksatria Gameworks, a studio from Singapore. The project was meant to be published for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, but sadly the studio closed down after the investor failed to secure additional funding.

Lone Wolf was based on the series of adventure books with the same name, created by Joe Dever and initially illustrated (books 1-8) by Gary Chalk. The series began publishing in July 1984 and of the most popular game books ever published, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide. The story focuses on the fictional world of Magnamund, where the forces of good and evil fight for control of this planet in a final showdown. The protagonist is Lone Wolf, last of his caste of warrior monks known as Kai lords.

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

Trailers/Video:
Intro to Game
Gameplay Trailer

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Faith and a .45
Platforms: PS3/Xbox360
Source

Plot:
Faith and a .45 was an action game developed by Deadline Games for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The story would have follow a couple named Luke and Ruby, two outlaws during the Great Depression. The gameplay should have been similar to a cover-based third-person shooter (as Gears of War or Army of Two) in particular with the dual-character dynamic, with online and offline co-op.

Sadly they were not able to find a publisher interested in the project, so Faith and a .45 had to be put on hold and probably we’ll never be able to play it.

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

Trailers/Video:
Trailer

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Rebelstar – Psionic Rebellion
Platforms: PS3/Xbox360
Source

Plot:
In 2007 NamcoBandai asked Kuju Entertainment to work on a successor of their GBA game Rebelstar, for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The game was set in the near future and was about an Alien army attacking Earth. The game was cancelled when NamcoBandai decided to allocate their resources to other projects.

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

Trailers/Video:
Tech Demo

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Superman (Factor 5)
Platforms: PS3/Xbox360
Source

Plot:
Factor 5 were working on a Superman game for Brash Entertainment, but after Brash went out of business in november 2008, the project was probably cancelled. It was going to be released for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

During development, the game had the project title “Blue Steel”, whereas one of their Wii titles was called “Blue Harvest”.

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

Trailers/Video:
Concept Trailer

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Career Criminal
Platforms: PS3/Xbox360
Source

Plot:
Career Criminal is an action game that was in development at Midway Austin (formerly Inevitable Entertainment) for the XBOX 360 and PS3, but later cancelled because it was too risky economically. It seems that the game would have been about stealing jewels / other precious stuff and it was set in a sandbox world. Sadly the studio closed its doors in December 2008, laying off the entire local workforce as part of a larger, company-wide, action.

As we can read on Kotaku, the president of Midway explained that: “The Career Criminal title was a large, ambitious, open-world project. Midway management recognizes that ambitious games need extensive resources and can require lengthy development cycles with much iteration. We are willing to invest in the long run and we need to continue developing new intellectual properties. But all of our projects have to demonstrate a likelihood of success and profitability. The resource needs, feature set, schedule and financial profile for the Career Criminal project were not converging towards a reasonable chance of success.”

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

Trailers/Video:
Trailer
Tech Demo

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Titan
Platforms: PS3
Source

Plot:
Titan was a concept for a game that was in development at StormFront Studios (the original creators of Neverwinter Nights) before it was closed down on March 31, 2008. From the look of the few artworks available, it seems that the game was going to be an action adventure / third person shooter, with an huge robot to use as support in the battles. Sadly Titan was cancelled with the death of StormFront.

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

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Redwood Falls
Platforms: PS3/Xbox360
Source

Plot:
Redwood Falls was a FPS / Horror project that was in development for Xbox 360 and PS3 at Kuju Entertainment in 2006, that led to an impressive looking playable demo made as a way to pitch a publishers for the final game. Thet Redwood project was running on Unreal Engine 3, with full flammable and destructible environment, enemies scared of fire, an infective virus that was able to regenerate monsters and a potentially interesting gameplay.

Sadly the development of Redwood Falls was stopped in 2007: Kuju was bough out. The new owners of the studio were not interested in a new IP like this one and did not gave more funds to continue the project. Even if many publishers were impressed with this prototype, especially as it was the result of only 4 months of work, without the possibility to see more of the gameplay mechanics, no one was confident enough to support the game. In the end Redwood Falls was officially cancelled and only few screens and a video remain from this promising title.

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

Trailers/Video:
Gameplay Trailer

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Lord of the Rings: The White Council
Platforms: PS3/Xbox360
Source

Plot:
The Lord of the Rings: The White Council is a RPG that was under development at Electronic Arts Los Angeles. It was going to be based on the fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, however on February 2, 2007, EA announced that the game had been delayed indefinitely. This was said to be due to management problems. EA worked with Pandemic Studios to create The Lord of the Rings: Conquest instead.

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

Trailers/Video:
LOTR White Council Doc
LOTR White Council Video Diary

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The Fixer
Platforms: PS3
Source

Plot:
The Fixer was a third person RPG in development at Climax for the Playstation 3. When SCEE decided to terminate their publishing contract in 2006, the entire project was canceled.

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

Trailers/Video:
The Fixer

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Ascendant - (May still live)
Platforms: PS3/Xbox 360/PC
Source

Plot:
Ascendant is a third person action RPG with a fantasy theme. The game was announced by THQ in 2007 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Developed by Big Huge Games and led by Oblivion designer Ken Rolston, Ascendant (also known as ‘Big Huge RPG’ and ‘Crucible’) was originally intended for a release in 2009.

When THQ decided to cut workforce for cost reduction in early 2009, Ascendant failed to gain the support of the publisher. THQ would no longer fund the ambitous RPG, still they were seeking a new investor for Big Huge Games. In late May 2009, Curt Schilling’s 38 Studious bought the studio. The corresponding press release makes the impression that Ascendant is back on track:

“Big Huge Games is currently developing an unnamed RPG title for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, and Windows PC.”

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

Trailers/Video:
Trailer
Video
Video 2

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Batman: Dark Knight
Platforms: PS3/Xbox 360
Source

Plot:
The Dark Knight was a action video game loosely based on the film of the same name. The game was unofficially announced in the summer of 2007 to be developed by Pandemic Studios Brisbane as an open world Batman game.

It had been announced by EA and Pandemic Studios that it would come out on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. However Pandemic Brisbane, who was responsible for developing the game, has since been shut down and the project canned.

This cancellation makes The Dark Knight the first Batman film made by Warner Bros. not to receive a video game translation.

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

Trailers/Video:
Tech demo fly through of Gotham

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Dirty Harry
Platforms: PS3/Xbox 360
Source

Plot:
Dirty Harry was a canceled video game that was in development by The Collective, Inc. intended to be published by Warner Bros. Interactive. The game was to continue the story of the 1971 motion picture of the same name starring Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan, the main protagonist. Clint Eastwood was intended to reprise his role, lending his voice and likeness as well as consulting and creative input. The game was to follow the same storyline of the film, with the San Francisco detective tracking down a serial killer named Scorpio. Versions were planned for both the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360, with a release in 2007.

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

Trailers/Video:
Trailer

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Beowulf (4Head Studios)
Platforms: PS3/Xbox 360
Source

Plot:
In March 2006, 4HEAD Studios, developers of The Guild series, were joining forces with 3D-IO to work on this next-generation title going by the name of Beowulf. In the meanwhile, Ubisoft was also working on an installment, while Paramount Pictures has obtained the rights to Beowulf's core properties (now that both the movie and the game are out) including trademarks, Internet domains, and other assets, and so 4HEAD Studios was forced to discontinue their version of the game.

An official report confirms that as the Beowulf movie from Paramount Pictures debuts in cinemas worldwide today, along with an original video game adaptation of the movie becoming available, "work on the independently developed game of same name is suspended." Paramount Pictures has indeed obtained the rights to the project's core properties, including everything mentioned above (trademarks, Internet domains etc.), while things couldn't go worse for developer 4HEAD Studios, also having become financially unstable lately. They were recently acquired by German publishing house DTP.

The link I gave above is to PSU's screenshot gallery. The shots posted on and before July 24th are from the 4Head Studios project.

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

Trailers/Video:
Trailer

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Terra: Formations
Platforms: PS3/Xbox 360/PC
Source

Plot:
Announced in 2006, developed by Star Cave and Cellien Studios, Terra: Formations was to be a sci-fi fps.

Concept Art:

[Show spoiler]

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That's it for now. I'll maybe add more later or in a separate post. Games I'd check out in the above list include; Lord of the Rings: White Council, Beowulf Redwood Falls, and Lone Wolf: Flight From The Dark.