Video shows unreleased Mad Max-esque Metallica game

A video has surfaced online showing gameplay footage of an early version of a Metallica game, which was being worked on in 2003. Even before the announcement, the project was scrapped. The images show a Mad Max-like world.

The game would be called Damage Inc.: Metallica and featured “music and inspiration” from the famous rock band. The video, posted to YouTube by PtoPOnline, features gameplay footage from an early build of the PS2 version, the lead platform the game was made for. No music is available yet, but Metallica songs should have been the soundtrack. The game should have been released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC.

The makers are said to have taken inspiration for the gameplay from games such as Twisted Metal and Vigilante 8 and to create the world they looked to films such as Mad Max, Blade Runner and Waterworld. The game revolves around vehicle combat and players can also get out and get another vehicle.

According to PtoPOnline, the game was never released by Vivendi due to licensing issues. Attempts were said to have been made to revive the project for the PlayStation Portable, but to no avail. The Metallica game was made by development studio Black Rock, which at the time was still called Climax Brighton. After the project was scrapped, the studio still made the racing games Pure and Split/Second.

The existence of the Metallica game was discovered by Kotaku in 2011, after a game artist posted concept images of the game online. It is now the first time that images from the game have actually come out.