''Dirty Harry'' is a canceled video game that was in development by The Collective for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

, and Sensory Sweep Studios for its other versions, intended to be published by Warner Bros. Interactive. The game was to continue the story of the 1971 film of the same name starring

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

as Harry Callahan, the protagonist. Eastwood was intended to reprise his role, lending his voice and likeness as well as consulting and creative input. The game was to follow the same storyline of the film, with the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

detective tracking down a serial killer named Scorpio.

Gene Hackman Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – ) was an American actor. Hackman made his credited film debut in the drama ''Lilith (film), Lilith'' (1964). He later won two Academy Awards, his first for Academy Award for Best Actor, Best Actor for ...

Lucy Liu Lucy Alexis Liu (; born December 2, 1968) is an American actress, producer, and artist. Widely regarded as a trailblazer for Asian Americans in arts and entertainment, Asian American representation in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, she is t ...

, and

Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has gained recognition for his roles on stage and screen as militant and authoritative characters. List of awards and nominations received by Laur ...

were also set to provide their likenesses and voices for roles in the game's cast. Versions were planned for the

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Nintendo Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, ...

and

consoles, the

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and

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handhelds, and

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, with a planned release date of 2007.

Story

The game was to take place between ''

Dirty Harry ''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American action-thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry (film series), ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first appearance as San Francisco Polic ...

'' and ''

Magnum Force ''Magnum Force'' is a 1973 American action-thriller film and the second to feature Clint Eastwood as maverick cop Harry Callahan after the 1971 film '' Dirty Harry''. Ted Post, who had previously worked with Eastwood on '' Rawhide'' and '' H ...

'', with the aim being to give more depth to the character.

Development

Loose Cannon Studios, a game development company based in Seattle, proposed the concept of a video game based on the Dirty Harry IP to Warner Brothers Interactive as early as April 2006. The game's development was handed over to The Collective, who took over the game's development. A trailer for the game has been the only example given of the game's gameplay or engine capabilities. It is neither a computer generated cutscene nor actual gameplay. Instead,

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

gave its models and engine schematics to an animation house to produce a simulation of the gameplay. The trailer ends with the classic scene from ''Dirty Harry''. The "Do I feel lucky?" line was pulled straight from the film as Clint Eastwood never recorded a voice over for the video game. Warner Bros. was reluctant to release details on the gameplay, but offered a few hints. An early concept for the game featured a free-roaming

. However, after the game was put into full development in February 2006, this idea was dropped in favor of a "mission-based" structure. One key aspect of gameplay was discussed in slight detail. As in the films, Harry Callahan walks the line between bad cop and psychopath. Players were also to walk that line. The game was to feature reactive AI, both for crooks and cops. While there was no further explanation, it appeared that if the player was soft on crooks, they may not take Harry Callahan seriously. On the other end, excessive force will put you in trouble with the police chief. Before its cancellation, Eastwood was set to reprise his role in the game saying he accepted because: ''“I get to be me as a young guy again ��Revisit my youth.”''

Promotion

According to official press releases by Warner Bros., "''Dirty Harry'' helped define a genre and introduced the world to a character who has since become a

cultural icon A cultural icon is a person or an cultural artifact, artifact that is identified by members of a culture as representative of that culture. The process of identification is subjective, and "icons" are judged by the extent to which they can be seen ...

, so bringing Clint Eastwood's authentic Dirty Harry character to this next generation of consoles provides exciting promise for game playing audiences everywhere", said Jason Hall, senior vice president of

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Warner Bros. Games (formerly Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment) is an American video game publisher based in Burbank, California. The publisher was founded as a division of Warner Bros. on January 14, 2004, as well as the WB Games brand. ...

. "Our work with The Collective is aimed at culminating in a game with an all-new story that allows players to experience the action and suspense of the legendary franchise firsthand." "Working with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Clint Eastwood to create a compelling,

state-of-the-art The state of the art (SOTA or SotA, sometimes cutting edge, leading edge, or bleeding edge) refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time. However, in some contex ...

game that brings Dirty Harry Callahan to life on next generation consoles is very exciting", said Doug Hare, co-founder and Vice President of Production for The Collective. "We are focused on creating genre defining story-telling gameplay, along with next generation graphics depicting action-packed sequences that are consistent with the renowned films."

Cancelation

The game was canceled in 2007 due to reported "trouble" at The Collective, which was later revealed to be budgetary issues and a rushed schedule—along with their then-recent merger with

Shiny Entertainment Shiny Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, California. Founded in October 1993 by David Perry, Shiny was the creator of video games such as ''Earthworm Jim'', '' MDK'' and ''Enter the Matrix''. Perry ...

to form

Double Helix Games Double Helix Games was an American video game developer based in Irvine, California, founded in October 2007 through the merger of The Collective and Shiny Entertainment, two studios owned by Foundation 9 Entertainment. Double Helix was acqu ...

References

External links