Revealed: Sega's cancelled Shenmue HD remake - with fully updated graphics
Shenmue - a game of discovery and adventure. It's a timeless classic and one with a deep and fascinating history - which becomes even more compelling today. As we know, Sega tasked UK developer d3t with remastering Shenmue and its sequel for the current generation consoles and PC. What we received was a good game that brought classic Shenmue to today's machines, albeit with visuals based almost exclusively on the original AM2 assets. But what we now know is that prior to completing this work, plans were afoot for something considerably more ambitious - a comprehensive remake with completely revamped artwork more in step with the capabilities of the host platforms. We've seen it and today, you will too.
So, what's the story here? Well, the details are murky but as we understand it, this more in-depth remaster/remake was in development for quite some time before the plug was pulled due to budget constraints and development delays - and perhaps owing to concerns with the nature of some of the changes being made. We only have a rough idea of what happened and we can't presume to understand all of the business reasons behind Sega's change in direction, but the bottom line is that in common with other unfinished and cancelled projects, the work-in-progress video we received adds a further dimension to the history of one of gaming's most celebrated franchises.
Based on the video, there are a number of things we can tell about the ambitions behind the cancelled work. For starters, there's the suggestion of significant improvements to the rendering. Proper shadow maps are implemented, textures and foliage are of a much higher resolution while the complexity in geometry is increased: flat textured roof tiles and fence post become full 3D objects - it's the same game, the same environment, but substantially reworked. Foliage, trees and stone work benefits from all of the same improvements, light shafts are added in one location showcased in the video, while ambient occlusion - not a feature of the original game - is also added to the mix. NPCs are also upgraded, with increased geometry and new normal maps designed to increase the perception of detail. Compared to the original, there is a boost in detail but it feels less significant in this area. We'd say that there was still work to be done here.
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