Games that are completely changed during development

It’s hard to find a game that goes from concept to completion without any changes. And most of the time, players don’t get to see prototypes, faulty designs or test screens. But every once in a while, we’re given a glimpse into the process, and realize the games everyone knows today should have been very different. And here are a few that stand out among them, including games that, if they hadn’t changed, might not have found the success they are now.

Splinter Cell Conviction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ70T5SPhRY

The original version of this game was supposed to have a melee-heavy gameplay set in big cities, and it didn’t look like Splinter Cell at all. It’s really nothing, just an old low quality third-person game with someone’s father as the main character. Conviction was a fairly straightforward stealth action game when it was released, and fans of the series have been eagerly awaiting the sequel’s release.

Beyond Good & Evil 2

The game isn’t even out yet, but it has at least one version in development – ​​and it’s not a co-op space adventure, more like a regular third-person game. , developed during the successful period of the Gears of War series. But this project was discontinued in 2009, when Michel Ancel and his team turned to focus on Rayman: Origins. At least it gets a little bit of sunlight when Ubisoft shares videos of the game with the public.

Diablo

Diablo spawned the PC action-RPG genre we all love, but it was originally designed with turn-based combat in mind – and designer David Brevik didn’t want to change that. When Blizzard expressed interest in a change, he said, “What are you guys talking about? Real-time gameplay? No, no, never, this is not that kind of strategy game,” Brevik said in a 2016 interview with GDC. This change was decided by a vote, Brevik voted “no”, but only he did. And everything was settled: Diablo became a real-time action role-playing game.

And how did Brevik change from turn-based to real-time play? This is surprisingly simple. “I just had to tune it up to 20 turns per second, or something like that, and miraculously, everything worked pretty smoothly,” he says. “I remember when I was holding the mouse, I clicked the mouse and the warrior came and smashed the skeleton. And I was like ‘Oh my gosh!.. That’s amazing!’ And it was as if the sunlight illuminated my heart, I felt like I was visited by God, and the angels were dancing and singing for joy, and that was the moment the ARPG genre was born. And I was so lucky to be a part of that moment, it was a very, very wonderful moment that I will definitely never forget.”

Borderlands

Borderlands’ unique comic book graphic style is not its original design. This change is now widely known, but it is still one of the best examples (that we know of) of a change in art, a change that makes it stand out from the game. other shooters like Fallout 3 or Rage. It worked, of course, and it’s hard to imagine what Borderlands is like now other than the colorful and quirky series it has become. The bad side of the story is that according to Gearbox’s top trio, the original art director left the profession and the industry when all her hard work was thrown away.

Resident Evil 4

Before becoming one of the greatest action games ever, Resident Evil 4 looked very different and changed a lot. In 2001 to 2004, many modified versions of RE4 were released at the Tokyo Game Show during the E3 event. The video above is probably the best-known version, dating from E3 2003. The graphics and camera angles are similar to what we see in Resident Evil 4 today, but Leon’s shirt is different, it transitions. The movement was more realistic as he moved, and the light was darker. The biggest difference, however, is that this version of RE4 has a psychological horror theme, with a blue filter appearing on the screen when something scary is about to happen.

This video is an “evolved” version from 2002, sometimes called “Castle” and was released in a trailer a year before the game was officially released. Neither revision can be considered a success – you can find out more in Capcom’s Yasuhisa Kawamura profile, and problems with GameCube hardware eventually led to Shinji Mikami becoming director. the final version of Resident Evil 4. The best part of this story is that RE4 was once an action game directed by Hideki Kamiya. But as it diverged more and more from the survival horror genre that characterized the Resident Evil series, the project finally got a new name: Devil May Cry.

Halo

Developer Bungie’s beloved shooter series was actually originally a real-time strategy game. This is perhaps one of the most famous production changes in gaming history, when Microsoft bought Bungie in 2000 and eventually produced the Xbox. In 1998, Halo looked more like the video above, evolving from a strategy genre prototype into the third-person shooter we see it today.

In addition, Halo 2’s campaign mode has also undergone a major overhaul in the middle of development, for a limited time.

Fortnite

Rather, Fortnite changes after development is over, and its original design remains intact and playable. Fortnite is now a shortened name from Fortnite Battle Royale, still using the shooting and building system from the original, but completely revamped to take advantage of the rise and popularity of the single-player battle royale genre. win from PUBG. If it weren’t for that sudden change, we wouldn’t know Fortnite by now.

Duke Nukem Forever

Duke Nukem Forever is the epitome of a nightmare development. The first video of the game was released at E3 1998. At the time, it was run on the Quake 2 engine, but that same year, 3D publisher Realms also switched to the Unreal Engine, and so a epic begins. Duke Nukem Forever continued to be changed over the following years, switching to a different version of Unreal in the process and later and a new physics engine, and licensing rights that flew around before landing. Take-Two.

Fast-forwarding to the late 2000s, it seemed like DNF would finally be released when a new trailer was released in 2007, but in 2009, development was halted when a heated debate arose. between 3D Realms and Take-Two on funding issues. The development team was fired, Take-Two and 3D Realms took each other to court. Although DNF will continue to be developed, everyone thinks it will never see the light of day.

In 2010, a surprise announcement was made by Gearbox Software, which helped spark the development and eventual purchase of IP and partnership with 2P publishers. And so Duke Nukem Forever was released, but it didn’t run the Quake 2 engine.

Had he followed the original development plan, DNF would have been released in 1998 or 1999, and perhaps the PC gaming industry is very different now.

By PC Gamer