Prototype (video game)

[PROTOTYPE]
File:PROTOTYPE.jpg
Developer(s)	Radical Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Sierra Entertainment Activision
Engine	Titanium
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Genre(s)	Action (Sandbox)
Mode(s)	Single-player

Prototype (stylised as "[PROTOTYPE]") is an upcoming action game in development by Radical Entertainment and based on an original IP developed in-house. The game is slated for release in North America on June 9, 2009, in Oceania on June 10, 2009 and in Europe on June 12, 2009 for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 platforms.

A key aspect of Prototype is the 'deceive or destroy' concept which is tied to the protagonist's enemy-absorbing and shapeshifting powers. Alex Mercer, the player character, is able to absorb the bodies of those he has defeated, giving him access to their memories, their experiences, their biomass and their physical forms. Alex can also shapeshift into more specialized forms for attack, defense or sensory enhancement. All of these together are intended to give players multiple ways to complete their objectives.

Characters

• Alex Mercer

The protagonist antihero. Alex has the ability to modify his genetic code on the fly to produce amazing powers of attack, defense, and perception. He can also easily perform superhuman feats of strength, endurance, speed and agility. Alex was an employee at GENTEK, a corporation centered on biotechnology, before the "incident" which took place 3 weeks before the start of the game.

• Dana Mercer

Alex's younger sister. She followed in her brother's footsteps and ran away from home at a young age to fulfill her dreams. She helps Alex by performing research, aided by her studies in journalism.

• Karen Parker

A GENTEK researcher and Alex's previous love interest from before the incident.

• Dr. Bradley Ragland

The doctor who examined Alex before he first awoke with his powers. He is one of Alex's allies against the infection and an accomplished pathologist. His involvement with the virus, and the entire incident, goes deeper than the surface suggests.

• Dr. Raymond McMullen

The head of research at GENTEK. Little else is currently known about this character.

• The Specialist

Blackwatch's finest. He has dealt with Alex's kind before. Nothing surprises him in biological war. He's seen it all, and is totally merciless. He is well equipped to deal with various forms of the infection, including the player's character. In a recent trailer, he has been referred to as a Captain Cross.

• Elizabeth Greene

A name that appears in a document recovered from Alex's laptop. She is currently in isolation at the GENTEK facility in New York City. It is assumed that she has abilities that are similar in nature to Alex's. She appears to be a young girl and a recent trailer on IGN shows her stating "The time for waiting is over." to Alex before attacking him.

Powers

Alex's primary power is that of shapeshifting: He can control his body mass, transforming his form into an arsenal of deadly weapons, like a six foot long blade-arm which releases a flurry of swift attacks, being able to cut through steel; a pair of razor sharp claws, which can be charged up for a "ground spike" attack, in which Alex can send his claws tunneling underground and spray out into deadly spikes; and a sharp bio-whip that can stretch up to 50 feet and defeat enemies from afar and is also useful in hijacking military vehicles. He can also concentrate his bio-mass into his arms which increases his strength and makes him capable of lifting objects heavier than a car, and can concentrate up to 700 pounds of bio-mass into his arms and hands, transforming them into huge rock-hard clubs that are able to crush concrete and powder bone. Alex can also shapeshift his biomass into defensive forms, like a large rudimentary shield made of hardened biomass which can cover up to three quarters of his body, protecting him from incoming attacks. He also has an armored form, which covers his whole body with thick layers of hardened bullet-proof biomass, giving him a compact, tank-like humanoid form; while he is slower in this form and cannot employ his signature parkour, he is dense enough to simply plow through most obstacles.

The fuel for these transformations is the biomass of fallen enemies that Alex absorbs in quick cutscenes. After defeating a foe, the distinctive red-black tentacle mass that accompanies all of Alex's powers will emerge from his body and drag the victim's form into his, absorbing their memories, skills, and appearance along with his biomass. After absorbing a foe, Alex can shapeshift to copy their appearance, allowing him to perfectly impersonate them. His powers can also adjust his senses to allow him to see infection or traces of infected, but prolonged use starts draining his health. He can use thermal vision to see heat sources through obscuring smoke and other debris, however, it is dificult to see very far while using it.

In addition to these shapeshifting powers, Alex is extraordinarily fast, agile and strong. Later in the game, as his powers mutate, he will be capable of running at over 100 miles per hour, running up and across the sides of buildings, and jumping hundreds of meters, and move in a style reminiscent of parkour. Alex is also capable of gliding. He is strong enough to easily grab and throw a car as a projectile. He is also very durable and heavy, deforming the ground upon landing from great heights. While small firearms appear to do minimal damage to his body, heavier weapons such as mounted machine guns, rockets and tank shells can cause serious damage to him. His body heals at a slow rate, but he can quickly gain a large amount of health by aborbing foes. However, he can only retain a certain amount of biomass; if he absorbs too much he must release it by using a Devastator attack. Even without shapeshifting, Alex still possesses superhuman strength and agility. He can use a variety of close combat attacks, as well as more spectacular, gymnastic moves such as multiple "bouncing" tombstone drops, air combos, or sliding along the ground using an enemy's body as a surfboard.

Alex's most powerful moves are devastator attacks: attacks that use large amounts of biomass and can destroy large amounts of enemies. Two Devastators have been seen in preview videos - one is an attack similar to the whipfist that sends dozens of razor-sharp tendrils shooting in every direction from Alex's body to absorb or destroy all nearby foes, the second is a variation of the ground-spike attack, in which Alex shoves his biomass into the ground, causing many large spikes to erupt from the ground in an expanding circle around him, sending foes flying.

Plot

The plot of Prototype centers on a large conspiracy regarding an unnamed mutagenic virus currently infecting New York City. The effects of the virus have been witnessed before in the town of Hope, Idaho in 1969. After being released in Penn Station in New York, the virus spreads through the city, necessitating at first subtle government actions to combat it, then martial law and evacuation. Alex wakes up with amnesia in a morgue under the scalpels of two HAZMAT-suited scientists and escapes dazed into the city. He then begins to come to terms with his powers (including the ability to absorb memories - which is crucial to piecing together his own), and makes contact with his sister, Dana Mercer. Dana assists him in finding members of the conspiracy, which include government officials, military personnel and employees of bio-engineering firm GENTEK, where it is revealed Alex was previously employed.

Alex encounters several characters, not all of which have currently been revealed. His primary opponent is Captain Cross (The Specialist), leader of the Blackwatch special forces branch of the US military. Other characters include Karen Parker, a researcher at GENTEK and Alex's former girlfriend, Dr. McMullen, head of GENTEK, and Dr Ragland, a pathologist that assists Alex and studies the infected.

As Alex adds more and more nodes to the Web of Intrigue (by absorbing people's minds), the virus begins to spread further and further through New York, and the military is forced to step up operations in order to prevent spreading further. The city is evacuated, quarantined and placed under martial law as the military moves in with a full-scale lockdown with tanks, infantry and air support. The virus grows stronger and stronger, mutating citizens of New York into various forms. As the conflict begins to consume the city Alex's actions will play a part in deciding the course of the battle and perhaps the ultimate victor. As the game features non-linear sandbox play, the player is free to explore the city with Alex's superhuman agility through the course of the game.

Factions

• US Military

US Marine Forces are deployed upon a quarantined Manhattan Island. Martial law is declared, and the city itself is occupied when the virus takes on epidemic proportions. The US military possesses battle tanks, armoured personnel carriers and attack helicopters such as the AH64 Apache, in addition to infantry armed with various weapons such as assault rifles, grenade launchers and missile launchers. The Marines set up fortified areas within New York, deploying turrets, guards and barricades on the streets. The player will often have to enter (either subtly or overtly) these areas in order to gain access to military targets in the Web of Intrigue.

The Military deployment also unofficially includes the "Blackwatch" Special Forces. A secret sub-branch of the US Military's special forces, the Blackwatch is a ruthless and deadly force of highly-trained soldiers that have previous experience in dealing with the effects of the virus (possibly in Hope, Idaho). In the field they are led by the Specialist, an utterly merciless soldier armed with a high-tech grenade launcher and a high-voltage stun baton. Blackwatch will stop at nothing to halt the infection, even going so far as to kill humans who are not visibly infected, though they may be afflicted. Blackwatch is also apparently using genetic experiments to fight the infected, fielding massive, incredibly strong "supersoldiers" that seem to be able to go toe-to-toe with Hunters and even Alex.

• The Infected

The virus spreading through New York mutates its hosts into a variety of powerful creatures, which share a reddish-black color scheme similar to Alex's powers. There seem to be multiple variants of the virus; what effects the different viral strains is unknown. Low-level infections cause zombie-like symptoms, inducing horrible skeletal, muscular and skin deformities in victims, regressing their mentality to that of savage beasts. These infected become widespread throughout the city and are extremely numerous but easily defeated by both Alex and the military. There are also larger, bloated infected with sharp blades for arms. Larger, more powerful forms of the virus include the Hunter creatures, which are massive (more than twelve feet tall and appearing to weigh around a ton), extremely strong and very durable (capable of withstanding a tank shell and several strikes from Alex's blade attack before falling). Early video previews of the game showed Hunters with spikes, long claws, elongated heads and tails (this variety called the "Hunter Brawler"), but more recent videos depict them as huge mutated humanoids with reddish, hairless skin, and bulging muscles. A larger, more powerful and physically twisted Hunter called the "Leader Hunter" abducts Dana during the course of the game, initiating a high speed chase through the city by Alex with the military tailing behind.

A larger infected monster seen in video previews are Hydras, huge subterranean creatures that resemble giant muscular tentacles erupting from beneath the ground. The Hydras use teeth-like appendages to throw cars and other objects at enemies and retreat underground when damaged.

By far the largest monster so far features is codenamed "Mother" and is revealed in the Brutal Bosses trailer. Quick flashes of something gigantic - around the size of a building - rising from the ground of New York City are seen at the end of the trailer, along with the sound of its distincive roar. Rumors say that Mother is the source of the infection; it is said in the Brutal Bosses trailer that Mother has yielded at least fourteen different strains of the virus.

Another mutated individual in addition to Alex is Elizabeth Greene, a woman being held at the Gentek building. She possesses powers similar to Alex's, but her sanity is on a strained hold at best. It is unknown if she will battle Mercer.

• Alex Mercer

With the appearance and intelligence of a human combined with the preternatural abilities of the Infected, Alex is the best of both worlds. He is primarily concerned with discovering how he came to have his powers and recovering his memories, leading him to clash with both the military and the infected, though it is implied in various developer videos that he can ultimately choose to aid one side over the other. The voiceover in a recent trailer from Radical Entertainment regarding the Hope outbreak implies that Alex is the product of the entire event and is "something new". This may be why he retains his sanity to any degree, whereas most individuals infected with the virus lose their personality and sanity as the infection spreads throughout their bodies.

Development

During the development of the game, Radical Entertainment took over 20,000 pictures of New York City to try and capture the feel of New York City; however, much of this research had to be edited as it just could not be done. However, the rest were used to major effect, helping create the realistic look and feel of the city.

Reviews

The game has so far received positive reviews, earning a 9 from PSW UK Magazine, the website www.gamingfront.net and a 9.5 from The Only Honest Critic.

External links

• Prototype Official Website