10 Cancelled video games that would have succeeded

It’s always a shame when games get cancelled. People lose jobs, development studios close, and we’re robbed of experiences that could have been brilliant. Many games actually get binned before they’ve even seen the light of day, their entire existence confined to a tech demo on a developer’s screen, or a bunch of concept media rejected by a publisher. However, some are presented to the world before meeting their untimely demise.Let's take a look back at some of the bigger, more exciting games to fall onto the scrapheap during the previous generation. These are the 10 games we reckon had the most potential and, as you’ll soon read, we may still get to play some of them in the next generation.

#10 Star Wars 1313

This, for us, is probably the most exciting Star Wars game we'll never get to play. Set in the darker underbelly of the Star Wars universe, it was to be about bounty hunters, criminals, and the "hell" of 1313, Coruscant's underworld. "It has a little bit of class, but you know it's a little bit rotten underneath," was how one LucasArts developer described the grungy, filthy environment. "It's oppressive. It has all that weight bearing down on the player all the time."

The glimpse of footage in the video above looks great, and it's depressing to think that the game's axing has more to do with bad timing than any lack of quality. When Disney bought LucasFilm, LucasArts was shut down, its projects terminated, and the rights to 'core' Star Wars games farmed out to EA. It's possible that EA might dust Star Wars 1313 off and release it in the future, but we probably shouldn't hold our breath.

#9 Metallica: The Game

Here's a really, really weird one: a driving game 'inspired' by the hard rock music of Metallica. The trailer of the game had a few bits of concept art showing characters from the game, are all we have from the production, but we're guessing it would have been some sort of competitive racer with a Mad Max edge and lots of weapons. The game’s poster showed James Hetfield and Kirk Hammet all geared up and standing in front of their bikes

The studio behind it, Black Label Games, were behind the atmospheric and under-appreciated PlayStation 2 title The Thing - the only game they managed to ship. Black Label later became Vivendi Universal Games, and two of its other projects - Metallica: The Game and a tie-in based on Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill - were quietly dropped.

#8 Tom Clancy\'s Rainbow 6: Patriots

In 2011, Ubisoft released a video showcasing target footage for a new Rainbow Six game, subtitled Patriots. While we're used to putting down droves of terrorists in this series of tactical shooters, the "homegrown" variety showcased in the pre-rendered video hit a bit close to home. In it, disgruntled Americans fed up with a collapsed economy had formed a terrorist cell known as the Patriots, taking down money-hungry bank tycoons and anyone deemed somewhat responsible for the United States' financial downward spiral.

The gameplay improvements looked promising, with a substantial increase in tactical options and AI smarts. And its story--though a bit unsettling--seemed poised to provide a bit of social commentary on modern-day terrorism. But in March 2012, Patriots' creative director, narrative director, lead designer, and animation director were all removed from the project. Then, in May 2013, Patriots was delisted from GameStop's pre-order database, and Ubisoft has remained silent on its status ever since. Goodbye, Rainbow 6: Patriots; we hardly knew thee.

#7 Eight Days

This action game was in development at Sony London’s studio, and first appeared as part of a PS3 tech demo at E3 2005. The following year, it was announced as a full game, and the first trailer showed off a gunfight in the Arizona desert. There were plenty of explosions and cars getting smashed up. Exciting, but the trailer was clearly pre-rendered footage. Oh, and the reason it was called Eight Days, is because that’s how long the in-game story was set to last.

The game was officially cancelled in 2008, following an internal game review at Sony. Various comments made by Sony execs suggested that Eight Day’s ‘lack of online mode’ was one of the considerations for its cancellation. However, in 2009 rumours began to surface that the game was only on hold and could make a comeback. All quiet since then, so it now seems hugely unlikely that we’ll see Eight Days--on PS3 at least.

#6 Rockstar\'s Agent

Where the hell is Agent? Rockstar North’s espionage thriller was announced back in 2007, as an exclusive for PS3, and caused a huge stir at E3. It wasn’t until 2009, however, that any solid details emerged. The game is set in the 1970s, and features (to quote the press release) ‘the world of counter-intelligence, espionage and political assassinations’. So, basically, Spy Who Loved Me-era Bond, only with less Roger Moore sex-pesting.

Given that Rockstar North has completed GTA 5, it’s safe to assume that Agent could be next on the list. However, it certainly hasn’t been publicly cancelled, leading some to speculate that it will appear on next-gen consoles. Then there’s the question of exclusivity. In 2011 Sony CEO Jack Tretton said that he was ‘unsure’ about whether or not Agent was still a Sony exclusive. So, putting all the pieces together, we reckon that Agent will be cross-platform release on next-gen. But that’s just our best guess… only Rockstar really knows.

#5 This is Vegas

Though the game’s official website still lists this as “Coming Soon,” the odds are higher you'll hit a 00 Roulette jackpot than This is Vegas ever seeing the light of day. With frat-house like gameplay, gambling, fighting, and partying, there were some who were excited for the game to release.

Fans of old console games like Caesar’s Palace or Vegas Stakes were curious how it would handle gambling, while others were excited for the brawling. Regardless, Midway it went bust and after acquiring the title, sealed its fate.

#4 The Lord of the Rings: The White Council

Of all the games in this feature, Lord of the Rings: The White Council had the most potential. Announced back in 2006, this was going to be EA’s answer to the Elder Scrolls franchise. An open-world RPG set in the official Lord of the Rings universe, with AI and character behaviour pulled directly from The Sims studios, this could have out-Skyrimed Skryim if it had come to fruition.

Sadly, the project barely lasted a year, and was announced as being ‘on indefinite hiatus’ back in 2007. While the Lord of the Rings brand has lost weight in recent years, the world is back on the Tolkien train thanks to the release of the Hobbit trilogy. And Skyrim itself proved that fantasy RPGs can sell like crazy. So, do we see a future for The White Council? No, it’s too expensive to make and EA has since had success with Dragon Age.

#3 Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned

Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned was in production by Vancouver, B.C.-based studio Propaganda Games, makers of the 2008 Turok game. The game was meant to be an action RPG set in an open Caribbean environment and taking place before the events of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

The game featured moral choices to dictate if players became a "legendary" or "dreaded" (read: good or evil) pirate. Skill trees and the physical appearance of the character changed depending on how the choices panned out. The game was cancelled in October 2010 following a restructuring of Propaganda Games teams.

#2 LMNO Spielberg

Getting one of Hollywood’s greatest film producers onboard with a video game is a pretty big deal, which is why LMNO was so high on so many “Most Anticipated Games” lists. It was an action adventure and RPG hybrid that sought to bring a real sense of emotional depth to videogames.

EA began developing a game about the relationship between the player and a mysterious female alien named Eve. Although primarily an action game where the pair had to stay one step ahead of shadowy FBI agents, there were also moments where the central relationship came to the fore, and the way the player behaved towards Eve defined how she reacted as the story progressed.

Alas, even with the weight of Steven Spielberg behind the project, EA cancelled the game in late 2009. LMNO was rumored to bring advanced AI to the game’s characters.

#1 StarCraft: Ghost

StrarCraft: Ghost was supposed to be this sci-fi console title that uprooted the StarCraft franchise from its RTS stylings and grafted it to something a bit more third-person shootery. Those of us who are familiar with the series’ Ghost units were expecting some stealth elements too. And if the current StarCraft titles are any indication, we suspect this one would have had an extremely addictive multiplayer component.

But our hearts were smashed to pieces when we were told that Ghost was on “indefinite hold.”

Then again, Nihilistic Software was working on this one, and considering they ruined both the Resistance and Black Ops franchises last year, perhaps it’s best that they weren’t allowed to ruin StarCraft too.