Where has Daredevil, Delta Force, Evil Prophecy, Nightmare Creatures 3, Shoot to Kill, Star Wars Galaxies, Tremors, and Trigun been hinding?
Getting information on Encore's Daredevil title has proven to be quite the laborious task. As the "Man without fear" has turned into "the game without a release date". Originally, Daredevil was slated to launch simultaneously with the theatrical debut of the Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner's motion picture of the same name. One year after its planned shipping date, however, we have yet to see another build of the game since it was first shown at E3 2002.
As of press time, the most we were able to pry out of our contacts at Encore is that the game is still being worked on for the Xbox (and PlayStation 2 pending Sony approval) and has not been cancelled despite the various rumors alluding to it. "We have very high expectations for Daredevil: The Man Without Fear," said the Encore representative we spoke with. "The game will be ready to go when we meet those expectations"
Unfortunately Encore had nothing to say regarding the mechanics of the gameplay, the engine specifications, or any other meaty stuff that could tell us how Daredevil is similar or different from the build we saw nearly two years ago. With an appearance on store shelves still planned, however, we'll assume that we'll get that answer sometime soon.
But the question still remains: why weren't those expectations met by the original release date to begin with? Sadly nobody at Encore is talking; but based on various conversations we've had with people previously associated with the title, IGN has learned that Daredevil's number one enemy was time -- as production started too late in the cycle to produce an "A-Level" game in the few months provided to match the movie's release. Once the principals involved realized that they wouldn't make their target, however, the decision to focus on making The Man Without Fear into a premiere comic book title was made; regardless of product development time.
Expect to see Daredevil: The Man Without Fear finally come to store shelves just in time for the holidays.
Simultaneously announced at the same time as the PC version, Delta Force seemed to be a strong contender for first-person shooter of the year when it surfaced in 2002. And though the Windows iteration never quite lived up to industry expectations when it was unveiled in 2003, hope still remained for the PlayStation 2 version expected to arrive shortly thereafter. But we have yet to see it.
To be truthful, NovaLogic never actually gave an exact release date for the PS2 version at all -- only for the PC; and while most gamers expected to see it sometime in the 2003 season, an official announcement concerning its console appearance was never truly solidified. When we had the opportunity to speak with NovaLogic reps earlier this week, they reiterated that fact by stating that "Black Hawk Down is still on the radar for the PlayStation 2 but we have no official announcement regarding its eventual release just yet."
So why has Black Hawk Down been so late to the party in comparison to its PC brother? The answer, quite simply, is its knowledge of the PS2 architecture. As PC-centric developers, NovaLogic wants to ensure that it creates a high-level FPS that utilizes the strengths of the console while appropriately handing its weaknesses. Currently, the company is still finalizing an outside developer with expertise in the field to helm the conversion process; and it's a matter that NovaLogic is taking quite seriously.
It's hard to say what will become of Black Hawk Down. Though it's still something that could be coming eventually, don't expect it in 2004.