A build of the cancelled third-person shooter StarCraft: Ghost has leaked online, 14 years after it was originally cancelled.
Announced in 2002 by Blizzard Entertainment, StarCraft: Ghost would have been a third-person shooter (unlike the StarCraft series’ usual real-time strategy genre) starring Nova. It was developed by Nihilistic Software, and later Swingin’ Ape Studios.
While originally in development for GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox- it was delayed time and again before being put on “indefinite postponement“ in 2006.
Despite its cancellation, the accompanying novel StarCraft Ghost: Nova by Keith R. A. DeCandido was still released. The character would later appear in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, and StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops.
Now, footage of the Xbox version of the game has appeared online [1, 2, 3], though some uploaded videos are being taken down. According to Kotaku, the original video that was taken down showed that the game’s first two missions did not work. One video claims to show levels two through six.
The gameplay shows a somewhat standard third-person shooter for the time, with the addition of Nova being able to cloak herself to be invisible to enemies. The player also fights of hordes of Zergs and the Koprulu Liberation Front (KLF). Players could even drag KLF Marine bodies out of sight, so as not to alert others.
Later, Kotaku reported that Twitter user “DaysAfterRodeo” contacted them, with a link to where people are downloading the build. This build was allegedly from a development kit.
This is the second time a cancelled Blizzard game has leaked to the public. Point and click adventure Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans had a prerelease version leaked 18 years after its cancellation.
Could the sudden resurgence of interest for the game cause Blizzard Entertainment to have another go? What would StarCraft: Ghost look like if it was developed today? Would the game have succeeded if it launched back in 2006?
What do you think? Sound off in the comments below!
