(804 Views)

Sandbox games, what’s there not to like? You know, other than nagging politicians and concerned parents. That’s right, a lot. Canadian-based developer Radical Entertainment (known greatly for their work on Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and The Simpsons Hit & Run) have been busy waxing off PROTOTYPE - a multi-platformed title which some are coining as an “open-world thriller”. The basic gist is: You’re a science-fair project gone wrong, and can make your body do freaky things like lob peoples’ heads off or consume their bodies while taking their form and memories. Sounds thriller-y enough, we thinks. We spoke to Executive Producer Tim Bennison about the various aspects uniquely found in PROTOTYPE, as well as dabble in the topics of GTAIV, possible inclusion of multiplayer modes, and console-specific development.

More after the jump.

—

Hi there! Can you please introduce yourself to our readers out there?
Certainly, my name is Tim Bennison and I am the Executive Producer for PROTOTYPE, our next-gen open world game being developed here at Radical Entertainment.

We know that Alex Mercer, the game’s main protagonist, will be a force to reckon with thanks to his assortment of unique powers. But is he really all that indestructible? Won’t using his abilities be drained in some form or manner (for example, a stamina bar), or that’s not necessarily the case here?
We designed Alex Mercer as a shapeshifter who essentially lets you become a human ‘swiss army knife’. Yes he has incredible powers and becomes a potent force to reckon with, although it’s key to our game mechanics that we match those powers to the challenges posed by your enemies. As Alex grows in knowledge, understanding of his predicament and as his range of abilities grows, so too will the technology of the military forces and the size of the Infected minions. It’s critical that we match fire versus fire in order to present a fun challenge to the player. As for a stamina bar, no that’s not a direction we will be taking for PROTOTYPE since Alex will need access to all of his powers ALL of the time in order to give player greater combat options during encounters.

What kind of boss battles can we expect? We’ve heard that having a place as big as Manhattan would be needed to have these nasties in the game…
We’re very excited about using up a lot of space in New York City to enact some exciting chases sequences with our boss fight encounters. Alex is going to need to use all of his abilities, including the ability to run and jump over any surface in order to survive some of these battles.

Can you give us bit more of an idea on how the “Web of Intrigue” works? How does it affect or tie-in to your progress in the game?
The story is delivered through a series of memory flashbacks that Alex experiences when consuming particular people in the city itself. The memories are effectively the building blocks to a ‘web of intrigue’ inside Alex’s mind – something only he can understand which ultimately lets the player solve the conspiracy unfolding around him. PROTOTYPE’s story will have a pre-set arc that has been written to maximize the impact of the conspiracy as it unfolds. The way the player chooses to enrich and deepen that key story-arc is based on how much they wish to explore the web of intrigue. We will have a large number of web of intrigue ‘targets’ for the player to track down, and by doing so, get a more complete understanding of all the factions, individuals and events involved in the origins of Alex Mercer. The web of intrigue is the central ‘device’ by which the player can start connecting the ‘dots’ of the conspiracy and it’s accessible at any time during gameplay.

Marketing Director Chris Hansell has said that PROTOTYPE was heavily influenced by the story of the classic Korean movie, Old Boy. What other sources of entertainment did the team draw upon?
A lot of the team members at Radical really do love comics, though to be honest we also love graphic novels, movies, and games. It’s a pretty common site at any development studio to see lots of action figures, dioramas and toys decorating the work stations and it’s no different at Radical. We’re massive culture junkies and if it’s got huge monsters, zombies, battle scenes, martial arts in it – you can bet we’ve probably watched it at least ten times. Hopefully when the game is done we can add something new to the medium of open-world gaming.

Grand Theft Auto IV has been applauded for it’s incredible, yet satirical depiction of New York City to it’s own Liberty City. But it’s also been criticized by NY officials for being too close to the real thing – Mayor Bloomberg bluntly says that he doesn’t support “any video game where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers.” Yet PROTOTYPE hasn’t provoked such a reaction. Why do you think that is?
I think at this stage we’ve been focused on Alex Mercer and intense shapeshifting action… obviously this is not something replicable in reality and hence the lack of media concern to date. We also don’t deal in issues such as drugs, alcoholism or anything of a sexual nature that the media traditionally jump on. When making a game intended for older audiences though I think it’s natural that some elements of the media traditionally try and find any angle they can to make a sensationalist headline.

Is Radical still considering to implement multiplayer options, especially now that the game has been pushed back to a 2009 date? If so, what sort of online features would you like to see in the final product? A co-op experience similar to Crackdown, or something more?
Right now the focus is on the core single player experience. Open world development is a vast undertaking so our attention has to be on making the game as balanced and fun as possible. Once we get to a position where we’re happy with the overall flow then we’ll review our timeline to launch. We certainly have some strong ideas for PROTOTYPE and an online experience.

PROTOTYPE will be one of the first (if not the first) game ever to support Neural THX 7.1 Surround Sound. How will this help in creating ambiance and setting the tone for what will unfold in the game’s plot? Does gameplay factor into that as well?
We’re really excited to be working closely with THX on the implementation of Neural THX 7.1. New York City really is a sonic landscape like no other so it’s a perfect marriage when considering the best way to use audio in the telling of both action and narrative. We recorded hours of street-level and skyscraper-high audio from teams who traveled to New York last year – right now we’re integrating that into the missions and the general environment to hopefully create a unique experience for gamers equipped with both low and high-end speaker setups. It also will help in gameplay since having at least surround sound speakers can assist in giving gamers a split second heads-up as to where an Infected Brawler or Apache attack chopper is coming at you from.

Without sparking off another battle in the console wars, which platform, if you don’t mind saying, is more friendly and versatile – the Playstation 3 or the Xbox 360?
I could answer that but then I’d have to order the Specialist after you. We develop our own engine in-house so thankfully it’s been a project where development on both systems is of equal workload.

—

Special thanks to Maria Ruiz-Isaac and Chris Hansell for coordinating with us over email.

TRANSLATE

Translate this post into your favorite language. Click on any of the flags below to view the translated version. NOTE: Translations use the AltaVista Babel Fish Translation Service and may not be 100% accurate.

By N2H

You may be the one to comment first. Please leave your message below.

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website