GDC 2008: Partaking of Prototype

Vancouver’s Radical Entertainment is working on a new video game that promises to reinvent open-world or sandbox games.

Producer Tim Bennison and lead designer Eric Holmes (pictured here at the promotional party for Prototype on Thursday night) took an hour to show off not only the key features of their new game, but also give attendees a glimpse at how they’ve gone about creating a completely new intellectual property.

Prototype is set in New York, and Holmes has made the city a character of sorts. This is a New York that we will all recognize, and Holmes said it was important for this story to be grounded and real. “There’s something disturbing about setting it in a real setting,” he explained. “It’s real but fantastic at the same time.”

Bennison talked about how so many games these days are doing a good job of making the same games better or by giving us more of what we’ve already seen. He’s trying to get his Prototype team to give gamers more and better.

You’ll be playing as Alex Mercer, a man with no memories but the incredible ability to be able to shape-shift and to absorb biomass, including people. As Alex absorbs people he gains all their memories and skills, as well as the ability to mimic the appearance of that person.

Did I mention that New York has been infected with a virus? Bad news.

Alex - and you - learn the story by absorbing the memories of people who have knowledge of your past. At the same time, you’ll be roaming through a New York that is familiar and horrific at the same time.