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.

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While Niko Bellic has been out and about Liberty City, busy mopping up the 10/10 reviews, another fan favorite sandbox game has slipped in quietly, unnoticed on our radars. After an understated but brilliant debut on the PC followed by PS2 and Xbox, Mafia is set to make a comeback with another gritty tale based in the 1950’s underworld of the fictional Empire City. Just one trailer is what it took for the fans of the original Mafia to start rubbing their hands in glee in anticipation of another chance at exploring the post-WWII underworld of America. Since then, we have seen a constant trickle of screenshots that have kept the anticipation high while avoiding overexposure.

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Producer and Walking Tower of Totally Fine Jade Raymond was seen in a video interview posted on GameTrailers, discussing a myriad of subjects. Beyond Good and Evil 2? It’s just a little airborne. It’s still good, it’s still good! But what probably sticked out the most for those looking forward to the Prince of Persia team’s next project, is that they won’t be getting to sample a public demo of Assassin’s Creed. Raymond clearly mentions:

No, we’re not making a demo. This game is more like a sandbox style game where there’s a lot of things, so it’s not a linear mission where you can say, OK, we’re making a demo and we’re giving you this mission… there’s no way to say, OK, we’re going to cut up this square of the city and give that to you in a demo because then you can’t run around or do the gameplay. There’s no way to really make a demo and I think that’s the same reason game’s like GTA don’t have a demo…

Funny, that! Crackdown and Saint’s Row? I mean, I’m no game designer/programmer/artist/helpful-person, ya know. But they’re both sandbox games, aren’t they? Surely the specifics are yet to be ironed out and that Ms. Raymond is merely baiting the super-anxious with a tad foreplay hither and thither.

Surely!

(Source: Kotaku)