Every year, we as gamers are practically flooded for choice, with games of all genres knocking on our consoles, provided that we can afford them all of course.
But while a ton of games hit the market every month, even more get cancelled and thrown into the oblivion bin, never to see the light of day.
There’s quite a few such titles that don’t make the cut every year, games which sound fantastic, but will be thrown away quicker than a new years resolution.
Today, we’re going to take a look at the Highlander game that never was, a game that would have been a current-gen tale of the immortals, told over thousands of years.
But in the end, there could be only none.
Featuring a new Macleod, Highlander the Game was supposed to tell the story of Owen, a gladiator fighting in the bloody coliseums of Rome. After dying and then resurrecting, Owen would have run into fellow immortal Methos, who trains and guides him in the ways of the Immortals, teaching him that the only thing that can permanently stop an Immortal is decapitation.
Around this time, Owen would have encountered his main adversary, a warrior who is far too powerful for him to defeat. Realising that he is absolutely outmatched, Owen would have then embarked on a quest spanning centuries as he attempted to locate mystical fragments of a broken stone, that when assembled, would give him the power necessary to defeat his nemesis, who was always on the hunt for Owen.
HTG sounded like a dream come true for long-time fans of the films (Well, only the first film really) and the TV series, especially when the story itself was written by head writer on the TV show, David Abramowitz, who was handling quickening duties on the game.
As an ancestor to both Duncan and Connor Macleod, Owen would have encountered them amongst dozens of other faces, while the game itself would use a third-person combat system in order to tell the story.
Owen would be able to utilise basic sword attacks and various sword-styles, alongside magical abilities such as stone armour and elemental blades, in order to complement his resurrecting abilities.
Owen would also have access to various swords, but these blades were only available after he could defeat their wielders, which would have made up the boss battles for the game. An official teaser trailer was released on January 14, 2008 for HTG, but beyond that, further details were rarer than hens teeth, with HTG being officially cancelled by Square Enix in December 2010, as French developer Wide Screen Games ceased all work on it.
No actual reason was given, and it still remains a mystery as to why it was scuppered, but from the screens present, HTG looked like it could have been an enjoyable romp in the world of swords and sorcery, not game of the year material, but still fun nonetheless.
Last Updated: March 26, 2012
