In December 2006, Sega announced Aliens: Crucible, an RPG that was to be set in the Alien universe and was being developed by Obsidian Entertainment, the studio behind popular titles like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 and Fallout: New Vegas. Then, in 2009, the project was cancelled, but a recent interview gives fans a little more insight into what exactly the Obsidian Entertainment game might have been.

The celebrated video game designer and writer Chris Avellone recently shared a comparison that is certain to have many players further mourning the cancellation of Obsidian Entertainment's Aliens: Crucible. Specifically, Avellone stated that this cancelled RPG would have been "basically Mass Effect but more terrifying."

The idea of introducing additional horror elements into BioWare's acclaimed Mass Effect franchise would likely be a compelling prospect to a great number of fans. Unfortunately, it was simply not to be, and Avellone attributes the cancellation to a strained relationship between the developer and publisher, which he says "had gotten to a point where [Sega was] just tired of dealing with [Obsidian]."

That said, there is at least some information on Aliens: Crucible to fuel the fantasies of those that are still dreaming of its release. As indicated in a recent report, the game would have seen players land on an alien planet where they would discover a ship similar to what is seen in the 2012 film Prometheus.

Avellone himself commented on the similarities between what Obsidian was working on and Prometheus, stating that the film ultimately featured some characters comparable to those that were to be in Aliens: Crucible. That said, he does indicate that the world and setup would have been different, saying:

The entire world was more violent and there were a lot more Aliens running around. It was more a question of survival, and "how do we recover all the supplies, and desperately try to make a base?"

It certainly seems that horror and violence were to be the name of the game in Aliens: Crucible, and it is indicated that this sensibility would have been pervasive in many aspects of the title, including interactions with NPCs. While fans will unfortunately have to let this exciting cocktail of horror and RPG go, they can at least look forward to the release of Obsidian's The Outer Worlds in the not so distant future.

Obsidian Entertainment's The Outer Worlds is currently in development for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, but lacks an exact launch date.

Source: VG247