This artwork will make you wish Maul had been completed.
[dropcap size=small]B[/dropcap]ack in 2014, Game Informer uncovered a cancelled Darth Maul Star Wars game LucasArts had been working on with Red Fly Studio in 2011. Players were to take control of everyone’s favourite red and black Sith Lord from Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, in what was to be a “dark, coming-of-age story” of a younger Maul. Development eventually came to a standstill thanks to business issues related to Disney’s acquisition of the franchise, which led LucasArts to can the project altogether.
Maul was apparently set to be a gritty departure from the Force Unleashed series, and would have undoubtedly fulfilled all of our fantasies of filling the shoes of a future Sith Lord who happens to wield a bad-ass, double-bladed Lightsaber.
The game that could have been will probably never see the light of day, sadly [insert Dark Side joke here]. But if you – like us – find yourself wondering just what this game would have turned out like, then some very awesome concept art (courtesy of the very talented designer Thomas A. Szakolczays via IGN) should give you a better idea.
Szakolczay – who worked on the project back in the day – unveiled the concept art on ArtStation, and briefly wrote about their experience and what they had intended to deliver:
Back in 2011, I was fortunate enough to work with Lucas Arts and Redfly Studios to help develop the look direction for a new Star Wars IP that centered around Darth Maul. It took place in a future time line sometime after Return of the Jedi and was meant to have a darker, grittier tone. Unfortunately the project was conceived around the same time as the Disney acquisition. [I]t was cancelled after 1 year of development. Definitely dream of getting the opportunity to work on another Star Wars related project, so much fun!
Check out Szakolczay’s amazing concept art below:
Szakolczay: “Maul had many different gear and armor combinations in the design, here was one of them. The lower half of his body in cybernetic as a result of his encounter in Episode 1.”
How cool does it all look!? The neat artwork certainly doesn’t make mending our broken hearts any easier, but it is great to see nonetheless.
Given how awesome this artwork is, we really do hope Szakolczay gets another shot at a Star Wars game in future! If you want to hear more about the cancelled game, you can check out this video of game footage with Game Informer’s Andrew Reiner and Joe Juba.
As with anything that doesn’t come to fruition, we have no idea how good this game would have been, but it’s about time Darth Maul got his own game. He was undoubtedly one of the best things about Episode 1, but his appearance was quite literally cut short. We’d happily welcome seeing more of the spiky villain.
For now, though, we’ll just have to console ourselves with the new Marvel comic mini-series following the Sith Lord’s adventures, due to hit shelves February 1.
