In the May 2014 issue of Game Informer, Executive Editor Andrew Reiner retraces the development steps and ultimately cancellation of an ambitious Darth Maul game from Red Fly Studios.
The seed of an idea for a Darth Maul game originally began at the tail end of development for The Force Unleashed II, which may be the reason the leaked footage looks similar to the animations found in that game. Being disappointed with the quality of the Wii version of the first Force Unleashed, which Krome Studios handled, LucasArts searched elsewhere. Looking at Red Fly’s previous work, LucasArts contracted them to work on the Wii version of the sequel, completing it in just nine months.
After plans for The Force Unleashed III fell through, Red Fly CEO Dan Borth received a call from then LucasArts president Paul Meegan asking if they were interested in developing a Darth Maul game. Red Fly signed on to start work on ideas and demos, but LucasArts gave them little direction.
Red Fly began work on what they envisioned to be an origin story for Darth Maul. As they worked, Lucasfilm kept them in the dark about their plans for Darth Maul in the television series The Clone Wars save for a few things: He survived his encounter with Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace, he had robotic legs, and he had a brother named Savage Opress.
With what little information they had, Red Fly began prototyping a stealth-action game in the vein of Batman: Arkham Asylum. Maul was designed to be a glass cannon; a powerful combatant, but one or two hits would take him out. Red Fly designed a fear system, allowing the player to generate fear in enemies, allowing Maul to build up his Force, execute stealth kills, and control the environment.
After working on significant gameplay systems and mechanics, Red Fly finally got a chance to sit down with George Lucas, whom they heard had an interest in the project, to create a cohesive idea for it. But after the meeting, Red Fly felt like they had even less of a direction to follow. Lucas wanted them to incorporate Darth Talon, a red-skinned Twi’lek Sith from the Star Wars Legacy comic series. The problem was Darth Maul and Darth Talon were separated by 170 years of Star Wars canon: Darth Maul lived during the prequel era, while Darth Talon lives during the legacy era more than 130 years after Return of the Jedi.
Red Fly came away stunned by the new direction, but incorporated it into the project creating a narrative around it where Maul’s heir is trained in the ways of the Sith by Darth Maul’s ghost. The heir would team up with Darth Talon to take down Darth Krayt, the most powerful Sith Lord at the time, for corrupting the Rule of Two, master teaching apprentice, with his own dictatorial version, the One Sith.
The change in narrative sparked an enthusiasm among the team, creating classic Star Wars backdrops such as fully loaded hangar bays and desert planets similar to those of Tatooine, but also dynamic and unstable environments in the same vein as God of War. One of the environments was an ocean-based city pulled across the surface of the water by giant eels. Another concept piece showed a city on the back of giant lizard not unlike the World of Warcraft island of Pandaria. These locales were ambitious for a team whose résumé included Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars, Food Network: Cook or be Cooked, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
However, the new direction and enthusiasm didn’t last long. On June 24, 2011, executives at Red Fly Studio received an email with the subject, “Maul Termination Letter.” LucasArts cancelled the project. Red Fly remains open and continues to work on projects today, but their workforce dwindled significantly. Ex-Red Fly staff members chock up the cancellation not as an indication of the game’s quality, but due to the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney. Game Informer released several images showing the direction and exoticness Red Fly had planned for their Darth Maul game.
SOURCE Game Informer May 2014
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery gallery_type=”thumbnails” theme_id=”1″ gallery_id=”1″ sort_by=”order” order_by=”asc” image_column_number=”5″ images_per_page=”30″ image_title=”none” image_enable_page=”1″ thumb_width=”180″ thumb_height=”90″ popup_fullscreen=”0″ popup_autoplay=”0″ popup_width=”800″ popup_height=”500″ popup_effect=”none” popup_interval=”5″ popup_enable_filmstrip=”1″ popup_filmstrip_height=”70″ popup_enable_ctrl_btn=”1″ popup_enable_fullscreen=”1″ popup_enable_comment=”1″ popup_enable_facebook=”1″ popup_enable_twitter=”1″ popup_enable_google=”1″ watermark_type=”none” watermark_link=”http://web-dorado.com”%5D
The Trench Run 
Leave a comment