The International House of Mojo - Full Throttle: Payback

Full Throttle: Payback

Developer: LucasArts Publisher: LucasArts
Released: Unreleased/Cancelled

Available for: PC CD-ROM (Win 95/98), PlayStation 2

We say: Before Full Throttle: Hell on Wheels was ever announced, Full Throttle: Payback was being designed for a time at LucasArts.

This game was originally believed to be a true adventure-style sequel to the original Full Throttle, but in actuality it was a hybrid action/adventure game intended for console releases in addition to the PC. Its project leader was Larry Ahern (of The Curse of Monkey Island), and Bill Tiller was the lead artist. After the game had been in the conceptual phase for about six months, however, this design was shelved, and was later replaced by the even more action-heavy Hell on Wheels. Reasons for the failure of Payback include the graphic adventure director Ahern's unfamiliarity with both 3D action game design as well as a lot of internal company politics. It is debatable whether or not the resultant Hell on Wheels was a separate project altogether or an evolution of this one, though apparently the teams were different.

Bill Tiller had intended to post some of the art he did for Payback on his website, but the LucasArts legal department forbid his doing so. Apparently they want to keep this cancellation secret, and after the uproar over the death of Sam and Max Freelance Police, it's easy to see that they don't want a similar brouhaha.

Here's what Bill Tiller wrote about the concept art image which appears below:

Coyote Spit, Abandoned Mining Town

Coyote Spit is a town I designed for an earlier version of Full Throttle 2, while at LucasArts. It is a mining town that gets its power needs from the Coyote Spit -- the waterfall that pours through the "ears" of Coyote Mountain. I used this image to get myself up to speed on the whole Full Throttle image style that was first developed by Peter Chan and Larry Ahern. Surrealist architect Lebbeus Woods and noir comic book artist Mike Mignola inspired the first Full Throttle team but the Hildebrandt brothers also inspired me. This was all painted in Photoshop over a pencil sketch I scanned in.

You can read a lot about the history of Full Throttle: Payback, including some story and gameplay details, in this splendid article.

They say: Nothing to see here. I repeat, there is nothing to see here. These aren't the droids you're looking for. Move along.

This game has no hints or game guide. If you're interested in writing a walkthrough or guide, let us know.

No screenshots available.

Concept Art
3 Images

No in-jokes available.

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