Game development is a heck of a task. Taking anywhere from months to years (or in the case of Duke Nukem Forever, decades), it’s a job that involves countless people and many many man hours of work. It’s no wonder then, that sometimes everything that’s developed doesn’t make the cut into the final game. Precious few people outside of modders and the developers themselves really know about what was cut, and that’s what this article is about. In this list, I’m going to lift film off the cutting room floor and hold it to the light. I’m going to show you what might have been.
The bigger goal of this piece is to show you what SHOULD have been included, but wasn’t. Great content, that for one reason or another, never made it. Some of them are too outlandish, some of them are holdovers from the previous game in the franchise, and others just couldn’t get finished in time. And that’s a real shame, because as we shall see, these would have made these already great games even more hilarious, fun, or interesting. Whether it’s a gun in Call of Duty that shoots rifle grenades, hidden games for your Animal avatars to enjoy, or whole levels, there’s going to be something in here that’ll make you say “aw man.” We don’t like to disappoint, but sometimes, you’ve just gotta know the bitter truth. Know of any others that I’ve not included? Let us know on Facebook!
15 Gojiras, Infected Brahmin Meat, And Mayhem, Oh My!
Fallout: New Vegas has a lot of strange stuff in it, but there’s even weirder stuff that we never got to play with. In the game’s code, there’s a quest that would have given you the option to drop “infected” brahmin meat into a stew, which I’m certain wouldn’t have resulted in good karma. Mad cow disease was bad enough, imagine mad brahmin disease. There’s also an unused Gojira model: a Fire Gecko that’s three times its normal size, apparently created by a developer who wanted something to terrorize Camp McCarran with. There’s also a cut quest called "Run Goodsprings Run," which seems like it would have involved you causing chaos in the town, with the option to release the bighorners to cause some agricultural chaos.
14 The Czar’s Downfall
Final Fantasy VI is easily my favorite Final Fantasy. There’s something about its mix of good combat, great writing, and actual heartfelt (if very anime) story, that I don’t think has ever been hit since. There are a couple of enemies that ended up not getting into the game that would’ve been difficult challenges. One is the CzarDragon, probably planned to be an ultra-tough endgame boss in the mold of Shinryu from Final Fantasy V. There’s also the Colossus, a big old enemy which uses the palette of the Hades Gigas which probably would’ve been used early in the game, but which also has a HUGE amount of HP. Lastly, there’s a different version of Umaro, which would probably have been fought early in the game, as it only has 1000 hp.
13 A True Ending
Knights of the Old Republic 2 is, in my opinion, far and away the best Star Wars game, but its ending does leave a little to be desired. Before, I go on, I’m gonna put up a spoiler signal. Among other content cut from the very ending of the game, there are scenes which would have shown the Exile bringing Mandalore (and other party members) to Malachor V, more (still tragic) scenes between Hanharr and Mira, HK-47 interfering in the interaction between Goto and Remote, and a powerful lightsaber crystal on the corpse of a dead Jedi. There would be another appearance of Atris in dark robes at the core, Kreia putting the force chokehold on to Sion, and a confession of love from Atton to the female exile.
12 Less Police Brutality
The wanted system in GTA games has always been a little out of whack. While it’s gotten better in GTA V, with you now able to actually, you know, hide from cops rather than them just having weird cop radar, it’s still a bit weird. You know how you can commit an incredibly mild crime, like tapping a police car when you’re in bumper to bumper traffic, and they’ll pump you full of shots if you flee? GTA V was originally going to have a less-than-lethal mode for the cops, which would have seen them trying to stop you with their billy clubs and tasers, before moving on to guns when that didn’t slow you down. It would’ve made a lot more sense, and would also allow for some epic foot chases longer than the time it takes to line up a shot on you.
11 More Than 64 Cuts Were Made
Super Mario 64 basically set the template for future Mario games. Huge, ambitious, and involving a huge amount of work, a lot of content had to be cut. Take the Boo Key, for example, to be earned by beating a Big Boo, which may have been used to unlock another area in Princess Peach’s Castle. There’s also the unused trampoline block, featuring a garish black and white chequerboard design. In some levels, there are coins that are unreachable by conventional means, requiring you to use your noodle, and some funky physics, to grab them. They’re probably a holdover from development, which developers just forgot to remove. Other strange features include the Blargg, an enemy from Super Mario World, which wasn’t included, and small versions of the Chill Bully.
10 Hidden Technologies
Bioshock’s plasmids added a new dimension to the game’s combat. Likely inspired by the implants of System Shock, but more active, they allow you to freeze enemies, summon swarms of insects, or essentially cast fire. There are three that didn’t make the cut though, and which I think would have been pretty interesting. The first is the teleportation plasmid. Pretty obviously, this allows for teleportation, but imagine how cool that would have been in combat? Ducking back and forth in the blink of an eye, you could’ve used them to lure enemies into traps extremely easily. There’s also the “Parasitic Healing” plasmid, which you could use to steal enemy’s health. Lastly, there’s a simple speed boost plasmid, which would’ve let you zip about in the blink of an eye.
9 There Goes Seventh Avenue
You know how in Metal Gear Solid 2’s ending you go from being on the platform to being in New York for some reason? You seemingly blink from being aboard Arsenal Gear to Federal Hall, dueling Solidus, with no memory of how you really got there. Well, there’s a reason for that. Following the 9/11 attacks, Konami pretty reasonably decided that they shouldn’t show New York experiencing massive destruction so soon after, but that’s what the original was going to entail. Before it got changed, Arsenal Gear was set to go smashing into Manhattan, with a very visible trail of destruction in its wake. Honestly, Metal Gear Solid 2 is so bizarre by this point that the jump cut doesn’t really matter, but it’s nice to know it wasn’t just sloppy craftsmanship, something we’d definitely not expect from Kojima.
8 Bearing Fire From The Gaming Gods
This is an interesting one. According to Whatculture, it seems that there were originally plans to include Prometheus in Batman: Arkham Knight. The rumor was that he’d even been tested, and was to be DLC, but he never came. Now for those of you who are unaware of the Batman storylines, Prometheus is an interesting one because he’s basically a dark Batman. He was raised by criminals who were killed by police in front of him. Like Batman he traveled the world, gaining education in martial arts, as well as traditional academia. In short, he is Batman turned on his head. Just think how cool that would be to fight. Batman’s dark brother, thrown at you like the mirror you in Prince of Persia. Hopefully, he’ll make an appearance in another Batman game soon.
7 The Civil War Goes On
The Civil War storyline in Skyrim is cool and all, but originally, it was going to be so much more. The campaign was originally envisioned to be something of a mix of strategy and RPG; a freeform series of campaigns for areas and cities, with each hold requiring the completion of twelve radiant quests to take. You could burn down mills, try and get soldiers to defect to your side from the other (may be more difficult for the Stormcloaks,) recruit Giants, and so much more. The strangest thing? This wasn’t some up-in-the-air idea that never had any work done to it. There’s code there already, and dialogue and scripts were written, recordings made, all the hallmarks of modern gaming storytelling. Why we didn’t get it? Most likely time constraints, but there have been suggestions made about a mod that would restore the lost content.
6 An Actual Conclusion
Halo 2’s ending was a gigantic slap in the face (actually it was more than that, but the language I want to use isn’t all that family-friendly). A massive cliffhanger that wouldn’t be resolved for three more years, the ending of Halo 2 is straight up...well, not an ending. You fight your way through Covenant and Flood aplenty, but then get told you’ll “finish the fight” later. Okay then. The game wasn’t always like this. The original ending would have seen the Arbiter and Chief team up on Earth, where the Ark of the Covenant was located. So essentially, we would’ve actually got some closure. Just like in Skyrim’s case, this had got off the ground. The dialogue was recorded before it got cut out again, and we got a nod and a wink and, they got peeved fans.
5 A Change Of Destiny
As far as video games go, Destiny is quite average. Sure, you can have some fun in it, but the hidden mechanisms behind it soon come to the front, and once you’ve seen behind the curtain the puppet show never really has the same magic. That’s not the developers’ fault though. After years of work, the original plot was allegedly deemed too campy by Bungie execs, and it had to be scrapped and restarted. Characters and graphical elements (including the whole planet of Saturn, which is pretty hard to lose), just disappeared. The rescue of Rasputin, to whom sod all happens in the game, was to be the game’s final act. Each of the missions was to have a long set-up, with NPCs setting up every mission for 30-45 seconds. In short, it was to be extremely story-driven, instead of the bland and badly-written game we got. Don’t blame the writers, blame the leadership.
4 These Legendary Games Within A Game
Let’s talk about Animal Crossing, everyone’s favorite snuggly-wuggly bestial life sim. More specifically, let’s talk about the retro games featured in the Gamecube version. This version featured a selection of classic NES games, such as Balloon Fight and Excitebike. But, I hear you cry, what if I want to play some other, more famous titles? Well, there are the “big four” games that weren’t included by default: Mario Bros., Ice Climbers, Super Mario Bros., and The Legend of Zelda. They were present in the game code, but could only ever be obtained legitimately by going through some really obscure methods: getting a rare e-reader card or transferring save data from the original (which you can no longer do.) The Legend of Zelda was never legitimately available, in any region, but is hidden in the game’s code. If you’re not averse to a bit of hacking, feel free to dig in!
3 Ridiculous Weaponry For The Less-Discerning
Call of Duty: Black Ops’ zombie mode is strange and wonderful, but did you know that there’s cut content that would have made it even weirder? There’s a wide selection of weapons that are buried deep in the game code that would’ve made the mode somewhat more...interesting. Two, in particular, stand out: one is the Dirty Harry, a Colt 1911 that fires RIFLE GRENADES (I imagine the “six shots or only five” speech wouldn’t work so well if he was standing outside blast radius.) This gun is actually a holdover from World at War. There’s also the Sabertooth: a huge chainsaw, for when you want to get your rip and tear on, because every game could do with more Doom. That’s not to mention the beautifully-named THUNDERGUN, for which only a handful of sound effects remain, but I can only imagine would’ve been incredibly destructive.
2 Armor, Weapons, And Unused Level Content
Perfect Dark on the N64 is remembered extremely fondly, but its one of the most cut-heavy games I’ve ever seen. Alongside a whole ream of messages that are left over from Goldeneye, there’s a lot of original content that got the chop too. For example, the N-Bomb, essentially nerve gas on steroids, was originally going to be a Maian weapon, with an accompanying launcher. There was also going to be a flash grenade, an option for the Cyclone gun to empty half the magazine in a shot. There was also set to be alternate blue body armour in the game, protecting Joanna from objects, while keeping her stylish, The biggest cuts though, are the unused levels. There was set to be one based around retaking the Institute from the Skedar, as well as a rooftop map for the combat simulator. The ambition that went into this game really shines through.
1 The City Of Lights And Sick Ramps
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 has embedded some of my favorite gaming memories into my neurons. From grinding the baggage carousel in the Airport to starting an earthquake in Los Angeles, there was a lot of really cool stuff in the game. In the Gamecube version, there was also originally going to be a huge Paris map. It was cut for some unknown reason, but the unfinished assets were left on the game’s disc. It’s a shame, as the level looks really cool, with huge expansive areas and a view of the Eiffel Tower. Players would have been able to traverse the Trocadero, a favorite spot of Parisian skaters, take in the Louvre’s pyramid, skate by the Arc de Triomphe and dive into the catacombs. Maybe they’ll take another shot at it one day, if the Tony Hawk series can get a reboot that doesn’t suck.