Games That Weren't^®

2008 BigBig Studios

Platform: Sony PlayStation 2

Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice was released back in late 2007/early 2008 on the Sony PlayStation Portable to mixed reviews. However, also in production was a PS2 edition which would sadly never see the light of day.

Research carried out by Francesco Vujicevic revealed that the PS2 edition was postponed several times with the last release date being set as the 10th September 2008. According to an unnamed artist who worked on the project, a PS2 edition was started after significant progress had been made on the PSP edition.

There were a number of features which were unique to the PS2 edition, including a local split-screen multiplayer mode for up to two players. There were also two exclusive car modes, including “Car Jackers” (steal as many cars as possible) and “Finders Keepers” (find as many gems as you can from enemy vehicles). It was also possible to save data between the PS2 and PSP editions.

Francesco suggests that the game may have been shown at the 2007 Games Convention in Germany. The German rating system (Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle – USK) had given the game a rating of 16 just two weeks before the event.

Information on the game was found on a set of PlayStation Network Monthly Artwork press discs. The multiplayer screenshots below are from a press disc from February 2007, and the higher res single player mode screens from July 2007.

Francesco contacted USK support, who had interestingly confirmed that they were still in possession of the demo build that was rated for the Games Convention on 2007. It is unlikely that this will be shared any time soon for preservation, so other routes will need to be examined to see anything of the PS2 version preserved.

It is currently unknown why the game was cancelled, and there is much to learn about the development and what happened exactly. If you know anything more about this particular development, please do get in touch.

With thanks to Francesco Vujicevic for flagging up and for allowing us to use information that he contributed at Lost Media Wiki to help produce this write up and spread the word to try and find something of the game.

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