Acclaim Entertainment was once a major name in the games industry. From the 1980s to the early 2000s, it published a vast array of games – most notably, titles in the Turok series, as well as a range of classic WWF/WWE wrestling games. While it enjoyed strong success early on, Acclaim’s financial fortunes were not sustainable, and in 2004, it declared bankruptcy. This led to the cancellation of many projects, including one that has only now resurfaced: The Last Job.
As revealed by Frank Gasking of Games That Weren’t, Acclaim’s Cheltenham studio was working on a major heist-themed game before the company’s bankruptcy led to the project being abandoned. Per new details, The Last Job was heavily inspired by classic Michael Mann film Heat, which follows a group of professional thieves facing down the law.
The Last Job followed a similar premise: players would have taken the roles of professional thieves – each with their own unique ability – as they attempted various heists. These would have involved robbing banks, stealing from warehouses and race tracks (presumably on race day), infiltrating yachts, and more.
Players would have been confronted by “security guards, police, SWAT teams – all via a 3rd person viewpoint where you can dive over desks, take cover behind objects to avoid gun fire, before unleashing your own and taking out people along the way.” There would even have been a “heat” metre to monitor response from these forces.
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According to Games That Weren’t, there was “a lot of time and research” put into the overall design of the game, with its development team even speaking to ex-SAS member John McAleese to learn more about the thinking patterns and behaviours of special forces.
It’s believed the game was about 40% complete before Acclaim Entertainment shut down. While it was never able to hit planned goalposts, Games That Weren’t has been able to obtain a vertical slice of the prototype from a level designer, with anyone now able to jump in and play a virtual “demo” that shows the potential of The Last Job.
This is largely incomplete, but most of the “Old Bank” heist level is intact, giving a glimpse at how Heat inspired the action, and how the game could have evolved in future.
Games That Weren’t has done an excellent job preserving the prototype of this game, alongside new details about its development plan. We don’t often get a good look at cancelled games, but they present fascinating insight into the trends and ideas of game development across the eras.
While The Last Job never quite made it to fruition, it’s an intriguing glimpse at what could’ve been, in a future where Acclaim Entertainment survived its bankruptcy.
