Agent
Vaporware is a term used for software and games that are announced, but never released or cancelled. Essentially stuck in limbo due to development hell, lack of communication to the public, or pushed aside for other, more lucrative projects. Here are five long-awaited games we would like to see released this year.
During E3 2007, Sony announced that Grand Theft Auto publisher Rockstar Games would be developing a PlayStation 3 exclusive title with no details other than it was not L.A. Noire. The game would soon become Agent, formally announced at Sony’s E3 2009 press conference.
“Agent takes players on a paranoid journey into the world of counter-intelligence, espionage and political assassinations during the height of the Cold War at the end of the 1970s,” Rockstar said in a 2009 press release.
Not much else has been officially revealed about the single-player stealth action game. Concept art and images from the game have leaked from various artist portfolios since, with the biggest dump happening in 2015. Despite almost a decade passing since the formal announcement, the game has not been cancelled and still appears on Rockstar’s website with its own info page.
An original spy game from the makers of Grand Theft Auto would be interesting to see, though it seems an impossibility due to the continued financial success of Grand Theft Auto Online and the mammoth Red Dead Redemption 2 still scheduled to release later this year.
Marc Ecko’s Getting Up 2
Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC in 2006. It was a third-person action game following the exploits of Trane, voiced by hip-hop artist Talib Kweli, to become a legendary graffiti artist and fight back against rival gangs and the gentrification of New Radius. The game received middling reviews for unwieldy controls and lack of polish, but the concept was praised which could be further explored with a sequel.
Atari, the game’s publisher, has since merged with Enter The Matrix publisher Infogrames Entertainment, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2013, and is currently developing a Linux-based Atari console with classic and new games. The rights of Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure were bought by Devolver Digital in 2013, and re-released for PC.
The only proof of a sequel is this tweet reply by urban fashion brand Ecko Unlimited, which licensed itself for the original game, in February 2013. There has been no information of gameplay, images, or a developer for the game. Simply that it is “currently in the works” and that a release date could possibly exist.
Routine
While Routine is not a title from a high-profile studio, it bears mentioning as it’s been in some form of development since 2012. According to developer Lunar Software’s website, Routine is “a first person Survival Horror set on an abandoned Moon Base designed around a 70′s vision of the future. Unsure of the situation you have been thrown into, will you search for help or explore to find answers.”
Waypoint Vice did a deep dive on the history of the game’s coverage and sparse updates on its progress. Since the game’s initial gameplay trailer in 2013, Lunar Software would provide an update every six months to a year stating that development is fine and give out some details on what needs improving. Routine did receive a release trailer with a proposed date, March 2017, but was delayed again to rework one of the game’s multiple endings.
“We are indeed still working on Routine but things have been a bit rough on the personal side, the team is good and well though and we are going very strong!” the developer said in a statement for the article. Going silent again after missing a release date is not a great look, but they want the game 99% done before committing to another release date. Let’s hope they can pull through with an actual launch this year.
Beyond Good and Evil 2
Beyond Good and Evil 2 has been in development hell since 2007-2008, depending on who you ask. Michel Ancel, creator of the first game and Rayman, told a French magazine in 2008 that his team had been working on it for a year, but Ubisoft did not give the green light yet. A trailer dropped later that month showing characters that looked like Jade and Pey’j from the first game, but with no title attached. Another trailer leaked in 2009, only showing Jade running through the streets of a city.
The status of the game became unknown after that, whether it had been cancelled or postponed for other projects. Ancel said in 2016 the team did shelve the title for a while to work on Rayman Legends and other games, but was difficult to tell if the game was still coming out. That is, until E3 2017 when the game was officially announced with a four-minute trailer.
While it would be a nice surprise for this prequel to Beyond Good and Evil to finally launch in 2018 after years of uncertainty, it seems to be on a much better path than before with developer livestreams and more information.
Half-Life 2: Episode Three
Half-Life 2: Episode Three became the holy grail of vaporware once the 14-year-old development journey of Duke Nukem Forever ended in 2011. For a quick history on the supposed trilogy, Half-Life 2 released in 2004, six years after the original Half-Life. Valve would then announce a trilogy of Half-Life episodes, with each episode considerably shorter than a full game but released in a shorter time than a full title.
So Half-Life 2: Episode One released in 2006, two years after Half-Life 2, then Half-Life 2: Episode Two released a year after that. Then nothing.
Valve has since launched seven games after Episode Two and The Orange Box collection: Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Alien Swarm, Portal 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, and The Lab. Also, Steam became a juggernaut of a platform for digital game distribution.
Cue a full decade of “Valve can’t count to three” jokes and here we are. Not much is officially known about the future of Half-Life, but the history of leaked images and information has been extensively collected. Even an ex-Valve writer wrote a possible outline for the next episode, describing it as “fanfic” and “a genderswapped snapshot of a dream I had many years ago.”
Though Episode Two ended on a cliffhanger that left its fanbase rabid for more, people would forgive and still buy it after all this time. It all depends on when Valve is ready.
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