A playable prototype of a canceled 2004 Daredevil game for PS2, titled Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, has emerged online almost 2 decades after its development period.
Details regarding a playable prototype of the canceled Daredevil: The Man Without Fear for PS2 have appeared on Hidden Palace. According to the site, Daredevil: The Man Without Fear (originally known as Daredevil: The Video Game during early development) was a third-person beat ‘em up action game based on the Frank Miller Marvel superhero comic of the same name. The game was said to be published by Encore Inc. and developed by 5,000 Ft. studios for the PS2, Xbox, and PC platforms.
As per the source, Daredevil: The Man Without Fear told an original story that was based on the Elektra Lives Again comic. The plot begins with the supposed assassination of Daredevil’s arch-enemy, The Kingpin, which starts a war among the rival gangs that occupied Hell’s Kitchen. The gang warfare for control over the entire city eventually leads to a resurrected Elektra.
Players assume control of Matt Murdock’s alter ego, Daredevil. According to the source, the game plays similar to the PS2 Spider-Man games, giving you the ability to grapple up walls and cliffs while taking advantage of a ‘spidey-sense’ like “Shadow World” that allows you to view heat sources and other forms of life around you. The game is divided into individual chapters with additional side missions.
The source claims that the game had been going through a rough development period due to budget limitations and departure of several people who had been working on it. However, the final nail in the coffin came when Sony demanded several changes that would eventually drain more of the developer’s limited resources. Sony would suggest things such as adding the beat ‘em up style combat system and adding a grinding mechanic that was inspired by Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series. To make matters worse, Sony’s demands were at odds with Marvel’s agreements with the developers, which strained the relationship between all parties involved.
