Canned Star Wars Game Filled with Darth Maul Villainy

[IanDavis]

Canned Star Wars Game Filled with Darth Maul Villainy

The iconic one-and-done Sith almost got the staring role in his own video game.

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Say what you want about The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul was pretty kickass. The horns, the double-bladed lightsaber, the demonic colors, they all ranked up there with Darth Vader's intimidating death mask. Then he had to go and get chopped in half and pushed down a reactor shaft. According to [a href=http://www.gameinformer.com/mag/default.aspx]Game Informer[/a], Darth Maul was about to get his own game until it was canceled eight months into development.

According to the report, the project would have been made by [a href=http://redflygames.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=7&Itemid=101]Red Fly Studios[/a], the developer behind the Wii port of The Force Unleashed 2. It was described as a "buddy cop-like experience" between Darth Maul and Sith Lady Darth Talon. The leaked footage shows a variety of lightsaber and force attacks similar to The Force Unleashed.

Reportedly, the only thing Red Fly was told was that Darth Maul survived being cut in half. He'd later reappear in The Clone Wars, but it's unclear if this conflict lead to the cancellation. From Red Fly's point of view, LucasArts stopped communicating with the developer and eventually killed the project in 2011, after only eight months of development.

While I know what they meant by the phrasing, I can't help but imagine what a real buddy cop movie would look like with two Sith masters. Oh, and Sith Lady is a totally underused title.

Andrea and Escapist News Now also chimed in [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escapist-news-now/9036-Darth-Maul-Star-Wars-Game-Leaked]:

[video=9036 autoplay=0]

Source: [a href=http://www.gameinformer.com/mag/default.aspx]Game Informer[/a] via [a href=http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/8/5595156/report-lucasarts-canceled-darth-maul-game-star-wars-red-fly-studio]Polygon[/a]

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[anthony87]

Maybe it's just a case of wanting what I can't have but that footage looks sick!

 

[MCerberus]

So, add another name to the list of Lucasarts closure casualties?

 

[Trishbot]

In a better, ideal world, Lucas would've kept Darth Maul around until the final movie, as a constant threat, until Anakin kills him... and replaces him. Sadly, that would've been far too cool.

 

[Falterfire]

Just the idea of anything that combines 'buddy cop' and 'Sith lords' sounds like fun. I would have been more than happy to buy such a game provided the writing wasn't abysmal just for the ridiculousness of the premise.

 

[josemlopes]

Nothing reacts like it was actually being hit with a lightsaber, in fact there is barely any game that does that well (Jedy Knight with mods does but then its just so easy since everyone dies with one hit).

Jedis are usually boring to play as since they are so overpowered and fights between jedis are just a cluster fuck of moves. I think the combat style of a jedi could work well with a similar gameplay to Ninja Gaiden rather then what most Star Wars games do.

 

[Scentedwiind]

In a better, ideal world, Lucas would've kept Darth Maul around until the final movie, as a constant threat, until Anakin kills him... and replaces him. Sadly, that would've been far too cool.

To be fair, Darth Tyrannus is a pretty cool character. Well maybe not a great character but it is certainly great to see Christopher Lee playing a villain again. He does it just so well, if only he was the dark lord of the sith and then Senator Palpatine, who was secretly gathering forces to overtake Lord Tyrannus and establish the Empire. While becoming the dark lord of the sith was just an added benefit, but he needed Annakin Tyrannus together because Obi Wan, who defeated Maul before, could not be corrupted. I think I came up with an awesome plot to the prequels in my head just now.

 

[omega 616]

The horns, the double-bladed lightsaber, the demonic colors, they all ranked up there with Darth Vader's intimidating death mask.

Up there with? Darth Maul made Vader look like a WWE wrestler! Maul looks like some satanic deamon, Vader looks like an asthmatic kid dressed up for Halloween!

Vader went for stoic intimidation, Maul went for just an evil presence.

As for the actual films, that maul vs Qui gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi is shite! I am comparing it to modern films but still, it looks so stilted and slow.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Canceled? Why? Because there's no market for a game about a badass Sith lord? I'm kinda pissed right now.

In a better, ideal world, Lucas would've kept Darth Maul around until the final movie, as a constant threat, until Anakin kills him... and replaces him. Sadly, that would've been far too cool.

That would be a world where George Lucas isn't an absolutely terrible director.

 

[RealRT]

We keep learning of kickass Star Wars games getting canceled while fuckness like The Old Republic gets released? WHY?

 

[swiftax]

Oh well. At least I still have my zabrak Sith assassin is Swtor...he'll never leave me ;-(

 

[Loop Stricken]

I revel in this new knowledge that I am not alone in thinking Darth Maul was badass and criminally underused.

 

[wolf thing]

it looked like death watch Mandalorians he was fighting, make me wonder if this was going to be set during the clone wars, which wouldnt be surprising seeing as he is in the show.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Darth Talon? She didn't show up for nearly a hundred and forty years into the future from the point where Maul was a live.

 

[silver wolf009]

Oh well. At least I still have my zabrak Sith assassin is Swtor...he'll never leave me ;-(

Until they shut down the servers, because it's a loss of money. Then he'll be gone forever.

OT: This looks cool, but the implied fact that you could play as Spider-Centaur-Cyborg-Darth Maul would be even cooler. Even if it's basically just more Force Unleashed, that's not necessarily bad, is it?

 

[Something Amyss]

We keep learning of kickass Star Wars games getting canceled while fuckness like The Old Republic gets released? WHY?

Because EA secretly hates Star Wars. >.>

Nah. I'd guess the reason is supposed "mass appeal." Hey, wonder how that's working out.

 

[weirdee]

"I CUT YOU IN HALF!!!"

"I got better."

 

[hermes]

Maybe it's just a case of wanting what I can't have but that footage looks sick!

Yeah. That seems likely.
Its not like Star Wars games don't often look sick until we actually get to... play them.

 

[hermes]

In a better, ideal world, Lucas would've kept Darth Maul around until the final movie, as a constant threat, until Anakin kills him... and replaces him. Sadly, that would've been far too cool.

That would be a world where George Lucas isn't an absolutely terrible director.

Really? There is some love out there for Maul? I think he was cool because it was the first time lightsaber duels looked like movie choreography instead of two people poking with sticks, but I couldn't care less about the character.
He only grunts; he never speaks; he has no personality; he is threatening only because he looks pissed all the time. And to visually design an evil character as "wears black, is red skinned with red eyes, forked teeth and pointy horns" is so unimaginative that I first thought it was parody. At least Christopher Lee is a lot more interesting as a character.

 

[silver wolf009]

In a better, ideal world, Lucas would've kept Darth Maul around until the final movie, as a constant threat, until Anakin kills him... and replaces him. Sadly, that would've been far too cool.

That would be a world where George Lucas isn't an absolutely terrible director.

Really? There is some love out there for Maul? I think he was cool because it was the first time lightsaber duels looked like movie choreography instead of two people poking with sticks, but I couldn't care less about the character.
He only grunts; he never speaks; he has no personality; he is threatening only because he looks pissed all the time. And to visually design an evil character as "wears black, is red skinned with red eyes, forked teeth and pointy horns" is so unimaginative that I first thought it was parody. At least Christopher Lee is a lot more interesting as a character.

He doesn't really speak in the movie, yeah, but you can only rarely judge a Star Wars character without the Extended Universe. And, yes, there's a lot of cool stuff about Maul from the EU. Like this little phase:

I'd pay to see that in a movie.