Open world where we would throw rocks at dinosaurs. BC from Lionhead Studios was too ambitious to happen

The first project of Lionhead Studios, Black & White, stormed the charts, achieving both artistic and commercial success. This title enabled Peter Molyneux's company to expand and acquire three satellite companies.

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One of them was Intrepid Computer Entertainment, which was set to tackle the action-adventure game genre with a prehistoric theme. In this way, the BC project was born, which, although it looked like a sure hit "on paper," didn't survive the development process. Let's check what this idea had to offer and try to answer the question of why it never hit the stores.

Prehistoric challenges

Just like Fable, developed by Lionhead Studios, BC was meant to be an exclusive for the Xbox console. Even though the Intrepid Computer Entertainment team took a lot from (pre)history textbooks, they didn't take it too seriously, mixing it together and exaggerating what they deemed appropriate.

During the gameplay, we would embody people whose task was to populate several vast regions. This would require them to reach the very top of the food chain, which wouldn't be easy at all, as they would have to compete for this position not only with prehistoric animals (like saber-toothed tigers) but also with ape-like creatures known as "simians" and... dinosaurs. The vision of cavemen throwing stones at prehistoric reptiles had a chance to come true... at least on screens.

Ambitious goals

I'm not mentioning the food chain by accident, as it was supposed to be a key gameplay mechanic in BC. Every creature in the game was supposed to be part of a living ecosystem, which means they could hunt weaker creatures and also be eaten by something bigger (not literally). This is not the end, as the "life" of this ecosystem was also intended to reveal itself through various interactions among the particular creatures. All of this wouldn't just be background noise, because we were supposed to have the opportunity to influence the balance of nature and even cause certain species to become extinct.

Fight for a place

Animals would provide us with both food and in battle. The game was supposed to allow us to catch and tame some specimens, and then sic them on enemies. The clashes were supposed to be brutal; blood would flow thickly, and limbs and heads would fly across the battlefield. Apart from using primitive melee and ranged weapons to kill opponents, we also needed to use the environment. The devs were thinking about letting us poison enemies with plants or drop avalanches on their heads.

Of course, we wouldn't do all of this alone or only in the company of an animal following us. BC was supposed to give us a chance to lead a tribe made up of characters varied in of personality and profession, and consequently, skills and combat potential. Among them, we would find hunters, shamans, and warriors. Each of them could contribute to our tribe in a specific way. After we populate the given map, we would continue our journey, taking a few of the most deserving tribe with us to help do the same in a new place.

Apart from opponents, weather conditions could also cause us problems. We'd go on an adventure through a bunch of open locations, like a rainforest, a sun-drenched desert, or snow-covered mountain peaks. Each of these places could cause us trouble in different ways - there would be blizzards in the mountains, and scorching heat in the desert.

This couldn't have worked out

The icing on the cake of the attractions waiting for us in BC was supposed to be the graphics, which, from today's perspective, don't look particularly impressive, but made an incredible impression at the time of the game's announcement. BC caught attention with its impressive draw distance, detailed character, enemy models (comprised of an impressive 6 to 10 thousand polygons at the time), and realistic shadows.

It was pretty obvious that BC would run into problems during production, especially considering the big announcement of Peter Molyneux and the company. A game of this caliber would still be problematic to do today, requiring a gigantic amount of work. Over two decades ago, hardware limitations of early platforms also caused issues. However, Molyneux, who is known for speaking his mind, seemed to believe in the project. At the same time, he didn't hide the fact that due to the ambitious nature of the game and the high standards the creators were aiming for, the release of the title was uncertain.

At the end of 2004, just half a year after the official announcement of BC, a decision was made to suspend work on this project. As Molyneux stated, it was a "very difficult" decision for him, as BC was a "game with potential." At the same time, the head of Lionhead Studios didn't rule out the possibility of his team returning to this topic in the future.

Unfortunately, the fate had different plans for both BC and Lionhead Studios. The project never got a second chance for implementation, and the company behind it was closed in 2016. However, quite a lot of materials remained after BC. Screenshots illustrating this article are the most popular among them; there is also a trailer that you can watch below.

Games similar to BC

Since there's not much chance of the BC project happening, what should we play to get a vague picture of what kind of experiences would accompany playing this title? The obvious choice is Far Cry Primal, where we won't experience dinosaurs. Still, Ubisoft's creation takes us back to prehistoric times and allows us to experience the charms of tribal life alongside saber-toothed tigers or mammoths.

Another option is Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, a survival action game in which players play as early human ancestors and shape their evolution.

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• Overview

• Lionhead Studios
• Peter Molyneux
• cancelled games
• Necro Gaming
• XBOX