PROTOTYPE First Look

Vancouver-based development studio Radical Entertainment, responsible for titles like The Hulk, Crash of the Titans, Simpsons: Hit and Run, are now working on Prototype, a free-roam action-oriented game heading towards PC, X360 and PS3 platforms. In short, this one seems to offer several neat ideas that could make a welcomed improvement over the typical gameplay formula noted in most games today.

Prototype puts you in the role of a hooded shape-shifter named Alex Mercer, a dark anti-hero who awakes one day in New York City, without any knowledge about his origins (ah, the old "amnesia" bit, my favorite). All he knows is that he was genetically modified and bestowed with incredible super-powers. One of his primary abilities is to "consume" human victims, which, in turn, allows him to gain their identity. Alex soon realizes that he's caught in the middle of a city where the so-called Black Watch Special Forces are preparing to declare martial law. At the same time, hideous mutants were spotted wandering through city streets. Alex begins to see that his special powers are somehow connected to all this chaos that has engulfed the city. (He is a perceptive young man. - 2Lions)

Being a genetically engineered bad-ass, Alex frequently needs to kill in order to feed his powers. With his huge, razor-sharp, monster-like claws, he executes foes by ripping their throats out, impaling or dismembering them. Next to using his claws as weapons, he can also form objects like a shield to protect himself from enemy gunfire. Incidentally, our anti-hero can be quite merciless. Most of his victims might be civilians and bystanders who are simply engulfed in the abrupt chaos of a war-torn city. Of course, if you wish you can just stick to taking out bad guys to satisfy your hunger.

Essentially, when Alex kills someone, he absorbs their DNA, memories and even their appearance. The more people he "devours," the more he'll increase his body mass and become even stronger.

"Consuming" people plays an important part in the story-telling, too, so it isn't just about dashing through the city and going on a senseless killing spree. By taking out certain characters, you harness their thoughts and memories, thereby piecing together key segments of the plot. Also, when he gains the appearance of some of these characters, Alex will be able to use them in order to blend in and sneak into particular areas without attracting attention.

In terms of movement, the developers are seasoning the standard GTA-style free-roam formula, with the presence of Free Running, or Parkour, if you will. This means your character explores the streets with great speed and agility, dynamically reacting to the environment, bouncing from car to car, running up walls, leaping down from great heights and so on.

The developers recently specified though, that the open-ended approach is implemented in such a way so that players aren't distracted from their main tasks with tons of pointless side missions or mini-games (like jumping through hoops or having to reach a location in 30 seconds - you know, the kind of thing we've seen in titles like Spider-Man 3).

Not all travels have to be taken on foot, mind you. When Alex sees an opportunity to hijack a transport, he'll most likely take it. That depends on your preference, of course. Several types of vehicles were promised to be on offer in the full game. At this early stage, it's been revealed that Alex is capable of jumping on an Apache helicopter, taking out the pilots, and then using the aircraft to fly around.

When surveying the area, other things will also have to be taken into account. The whole of New York is divided into zones. Some sections of the city are controlled by the army, others by mutants; then again, there are places teeming with both - such locations are referred to as war zones. But there are also neutral zones, free of both mutants and military presence. For now, it's not entirely clear how this aspect of zones is going to work, though it was mentioned players will be able to influence the conflict between the mutants and the military, to suit their needs.

Various additional elements should make this game an exciting ride. Your character can easily change from a hunter to being the hunted, at which point gruesome looking mutants will be on your tale, determined to take you out. These monsters run hastily after you and as they make their way through the city, they'll send cars flying every which way. This should make for an intense atmosphere and rather cool block-buster movie moments.