I like bad games. Or rather, I don't mind them. I can take repetition, poor controls, bad story and so on. However, even I have my limits.
Phoenix Games is known as one of the worst game developers of all time. They live and breathe the very definition of shovelware. And while I have one of the highest tolerances for bad games, even I will admit that their catalogue is not the greatest.
I myself have not played any of their games but I have seen enough gameplay and reviews to pass judgement.
They had a lightning-fast release schedule, constantly pumping out crap. They specialized in games that appealed to the general audience. Plenty of sports games, kids games with unlicensed characters, and just generic slop. Their most infamous game is 'Snow White and the 7 Clever Boys' which was the subject of a Johntron review where he thoroughly trounced the game.
They formed in 2002 and started dumping PSX and PS2 games, never stopping or having a moment without something coming out. This continued nonstop until 2008 when they decided to also add NDS games to their catalogue. When 2011 rolled around the company shut down, declaring bankruptcy in August of that year. One of their founders, Paul Share, passed away in 2011, likely factoring into the company's demise. May he rest in peace.
They had other offices in the UK and Asia, but it is highly likely they suffered the same fate. When a company like that dies, they just sort of fizzle out. Nobody is getting paid to release obituaries and the only ones really in the know are friends and family.
Had the company lived to see Android era I think they would have been just fine pumping out garbage ad-ridden crap for the Google Play Store.
In the ensuing bankruptcy a few companies picked up the pieces and finished their games though being what they were the resulting products weren't that good.
In the final of days of Phoenix Games they had a lot of projects on the table. After all, they had gotten obtained NDS software development kit! They could start pumping out games for that console too! It was in these final days does the game I am searching for finally get mentioned.
War of Heaven.
I actually first heard of it while looking for a completely different game. Found the attached picture interesting and planned to conduct a full search later. I have since completed the investigation and this is what I have dug up.
There were two versions of the game being made. A PS2 version and a NDS version.
War of Heaven was a planned PS2 puzzle game where you (I guess) move balls around to create rows of them and clear the board. I'm assuming it's a bit like Bejeweled. There's an arcade game it's very close to but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was called.
The game was set to release November 28, 2008, for the retail price of £6.99. Around the time that was the Wayback Machine's snapshot taken. Later, the page was taken down and a new War of Heaven page was made. This time it was for an NDS game with a release date 'to be announced'. It's clearly the same game as evident by the logo. It would have retailed for £12.99.
One would think that the PS2 version was cancelled, and assets moved to a NDS game of the same idea. After all, these guys did see the NDS as the future.
This is where things get a bit uncertain. Take a look at the Wayback Machine dates for the games. The PS2 page was last recorded on November 19, 2008. The box art for the NDS game was last recorded on November 18, 2008. Naturally this would lead one to think that the NDS games re-tooled into the PS2 game. After all, the PS2 game was recorded later. It's also possible both pages were up at the same time. I mean, I doubt these guys had that much of a web developer team. They probably just kept both pages up and just removed links to the PS2 version. Either way I cannot say confidently which game came first.
No screenshots exist for the NDS version other than the cover. Screenshots however do exist for the PS2 version. Assuming they weren't mock-ups the game was in a much farther development state.
The PS2 version sees you playing as some unnamed cell-shaded angelic character. Using the crystal balls he does battle against some cartoony-looking creatures, having to fight each one in an 'epic puzzle-battle'. No details about the plot exist. I'm just guessing based on the screenshots. My guess is you are some angel battling for control of heaven against fallen angels. Idk. Basically the same plot as El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron.
The NDS version has a different protagonist though. It depicts some cyber-elf looking dude with spiky blue hair and yellow goggles, reminiscent of the cyberpunk style at the time. His opponents look to be a bug made out of purple ooze, a clown-snowman fusion and a rook. It's a bit of reach but it reminds me of Code Lyoko.
But now the title doesn't make sense. This dude clearly isn't an angel. The setting looks to be all cybernetic and internet-like. Maybe Heaven refers to some cyber-realm or some matrix-type world that is supposedly perfect? Basically then the same plot as Immercenary.
The game was supposedly being developed by their UK contingent but that shut down in 2010. No Wayback machine shots exist from 2009 onwards for the site. We have no idea if any further details were revealed. With no further announcements from the company and the shutdown in 2010 nothing else is known. With their main company finally shutting down in 2011 that was the end.
I am unable to find any mention of the games on their site past 2008. This leads us to the next question. Where these games even released? The answer is probably no but let's lay it out here.
I could not find any mention of these games in No-Intro or Redump. While those groups have the most comprehensive list it is possible, they themselves are unaware of this game. Phoenix was pumping out games at an alarming rate. Doesn't prove they were cancelled, just that if they were released it was to little fanfare.
Misty's Internet, a fellow writer, believes the games were never actually released. Only promotional images and mock-ups were made. She is conducting her own search for other missing Phoenix games. I will link her blog below.
I haven't found any definitive proof they were released, or have I found any announcements of cancellations. Things got messy at the end of that company's lifespan. It's hard to say conclusively.
With a name like 'War in Heaven' it just triggers my curiosity. Plus, look at those guys on the cover! It's so strange and very much unlike the usual stuff Phoenix made.
I could try and reach out to the developers and former employees but at this time I will not be doing that. As interested as I am in the game, I am not so that I would bug these people yet. Perhaps in the future when I am a little more organized.
If we do manage to find and dump them, are they playable? I think at best they are unfinished but even then, emulating them on PCSX2 or a NDS emulator would be trivial. I highly doubt that these games made use of some undocumented technology that would stop them from being played.
PCSX2 has been making insane progress as of late easily becoming one of the most actively developed emulators out there. Even Play! has been getting better at emulating the PS2. As for NDS there are plenty of emulators many of which have strong compatibility.
If these games are found, I do believe they will be playable off the bat.
Whether or not they were released or currently residing in some abandoned computer is not known. I hope that one day they are found, just to satisfy my morbid curiosity as to what exactly the 'War of Heaven' was.
