The UnHoly

The UnHoly is a cancelled PC and then Xbox game by OtherWorlds Interactive. It was to be an action horror first-person adventure game.

Plot
Famed archaeologist Shannon Currie has found the true island of Patmos. She and her party have gone mysteriously missing. It is up to you, her husband and partner Jesse Logan, to find her.

Gameplay
You would primarily play as Jesse, with a few levels to be played as his wife Shannon. Locations would have included a spooky castle, Egyptian pyramids, and Hell itself. You could switch between first and third person, though it will be primarily third person.

There was to be over 26 levels set across eerie locations. Magic would be obtained through religious artefacts. Weapons would range from handguns and axes.

Development
The UnHoly got its start as a concept for a haunted house. Otherworlds founder and CEO Kenneth Deel thought of creating a virtual haunted house. From there it blossomed from a sci-fi story Ken was working on.

Development was shifted to the Xbox in Q4 2000 due to the ever-shifting PC market. Also changed were the levels and the ability to let you choose which character to play as each level. The game was renamed to just 'Unholy'. The plot would have remained the same.

Development got slow by that point. A release date would not be given until a demo was released. Their announced release date was basically "when it's done."

In mid-2004 Unholy was put on hold to do special effects for the movie Out of Darkness. The movie either never came out or was retitled.

In 2005 the game name was changed to Unholy: The Demonologist. The promotional material given used the same screenshots they'd used before.

Cancellation
By 2006 Unholy was cancelled for unknown reasons. The release of the Xbox 360 might have played a part in the game's abandonment.

Timeline:
 * 1997: game is conceived
 * 1998: development begins
 * 1999: development seriously begins, uses Genesis3D game engine
 * 2000: development shifts from the PC to the Xbox
 * 2001: game is renamed to simple 'Unholy', LithTech 3.1 is the game engine
 * 2003: new engine Jet3D is implemented, development on hold
 * 2004: game delayed and temporarily cancelled
 * 2005: game is renamed to 'Unholy: The Demonologist'
 * 2006: game fully cancelled

Video
Tech demo.