5 Cancelled Fallout Video Games You Never Knew Existed

5. Fallout 3 Van Buren - PC (2003)

Fallout 3 was originally being developed by Black Isle Studios back in 2003, but was cancelled by publisher Titus Software so that the development team could focus on console games (big mistake, given their shoddy console output). Frustratingly, development on Fallout 'Van Buren' was about 75% complete by the time it was cancelled. It ran on the fully 3D Jefferson Engine, and was played from an adjustable isometric perspective. Players had a choice between playing in turn-based and real-time modes, and - get this - it was to include a multiplayer co-op mode! The game saw you wake up as a prisoner, whose actual guilt or innocence you got to decide during character creation. Pursued by mysterious attackers, you head out into the Wasteland, running into familiar organisations like the Brotherhood of Steel and New Californian Republic, and deciding whose side you wanted to take. The main plot would've entailed you trying to stop a crazy NCR doctor from creating a second Nuclear holocaust. Ultimately, the player would fail to stop him, and - in a classically bleak example of Fallout decision-making - would've had to decide where in the world the Nuclear missiles should drop. Thankfully, it was not all doom and irradiated gloom for Van Buren's developers, and many members of the team went on to work on Fallout: New Vegas. Because of this, several parts of the Van Buren storyline - such as the war between the Brotherhood of Steel and NCR - were incorporated into New Vegas. Fancy playing this piece of unconsummated Fallout history? You can download the tech demo of Van Buren right here.