Prototype Q&A Feature

First unveiled at the 2007 Game Convention in Leipzig, Prototype is one of several titles 'saved' following the merger between Activision and Vivendi Games.  Developed by Radical Entertainment, the open-world game introduces a shape-shifting protagonist as he tries to uncover his past in a New York that's becoming increasingly under threat from 'The Infected' and the military.

TVG recently caught up with Steve Fuller, Associate Producer at Activision, to chat about what gamers can expect later in 2009...

Note:The interview was conducted ahead of the launch of GTA IV: The Lost and Damned on Xbox 360, and its 'The Lost and Damned Biker Bundle' Avatar clothing pack.

TVG: Prototype is one of the games 'saved' following the merger between Activision and Vivendi; you yourself survived the merger, so what do you think are the game's strengths that enabled it to be carried over post-merge?

Well it's hard for me to say since I'm not one of the big-wigs at Activision, but I feel like Prototype is a pretty compelling proposition for any publisher.  The open-world genre can be pretty profitable, there are definitely some big players in it already, but I really do believe that Prototype brings something new.

It's not a crime-simulator, it's shape-shifting, it's about consuming people and using their form as a disguise.  I think it brings a lot of compelling gameplay that hasn't really been done in that genre before, and it kinda helps to – and forgive the pun – evolve the genre a little bit.  I think that they [Activision] saw an opportunity there to provide something compelling and something that breaks out from the expected.

TVG: Alex, the protagonist, is such a superhuman that you wouldn't put yourself into the same box as GTA or Saints Row – you're competing against the likes of Activision's other sandbox games like Spider-Man...

Yeah, I'm definitely not going to down-play the experience that both Vivendi Games and Activision had in terms of publishing super-hero-based games like Hulk: Ultimate Destruction from Vivendi and Spider-Man from Activision.  But you know what, we never really intended to make Prototype to be a comic book game.  I'm sure through the powers, the story design, and the character design it will appeal to the comic book crowd, but Alex Mercer isn't a super-hero.  He doesn't have clear-cut morality; he's not with the 'good guys' or the 'bad guys', he's on his own side.  Terrible things have happened to him, they've taken his memory from him and everything that he had – he's very angry and he's going to do whatever it takes to make those responsible pay.

Whilst we don't want to deny that we have experience with games with these kind of powers, it was never really intended to be that way.  It was intended to appeal to a broader audience as well.  You mention GTA, obviously it's different, but at the same time, we looked at what they [Rockstar Games] have done because they're the most successful player in the genre.

TVG: What do you think is the appeal for developers to base open-world titles in New York City?  Prototype is the latest to be set there, following the Spider-Man games, The Godfather game, True Crime, and not forgetting GTA IV's Liberty City, so what does NYC have that other cities don't?

You know what, and this is my own personal opinion, I feel that New York City gives [developers] lots of different types of areas and people, and emotions, and feelings, in a really compact space.  So in terms of gameplay it's great, because there are tons of variety and its all on one island.  The other thing is its verticality; there are tons of huge skyscrapers, it's a really tall and dense city.  If you put Prototype in Los Angeles, it's so spread out that you'd be running around forever, and you wouldn't be able to run up all these skyscrapers and body-slam some soldiers fifty storeys below.

TVG: The merger of Activision and Vivendi has allowed for a longer development time on the game; aside from some extra polish, have there been any changes or additions to Prototype in that time?

There has been functionality added, which is nice.  The gliding mechanic, which we've shown in demos and trailers, was added.  There's also an ability called 'sky-jacking' that makes it a little more intuitive to hijack helicopters now; it's basically using the whip-fist power which turns Alex's arm into a giant fist, and you can use it as a grappling hook to pull yourself up to a helicopter, hijacking it in mid-air.  We've also been able to go in and polish up all the cinematics and all of the 'Web of Intrigue' videos, which are key because they tell our story.

TVG: Recent demos of Prototype have really started to show exactly how much stuff is going on during gameplay, raising expectations for the game.  Has that also been raised for Prototype within Activision, with addition sales expectations?

You know, we've always had pressure ever since we announced the title and showing concept art and initial builds.  I can see that expectations have been raised.  Having to go dark and having more time means that some people will say 'You've had extra time, so it must be extra good!' whilst others will say 'The game has been delayed, that must mean it's broken!'   There definitely is pressure, but I think the guys at Radical Entertainment are talented enough to meet or even exceed people's expectations.

TVG: There's a hell of a lot of content in Prototype, and a lot going on: it's open-world, there's the Infected as 'zombies-like' creatures, the military, the Blackwatch secret agency, the protagonist with special abilities and parkour skills.  Does the game run the risk that there's actually too much content, and that it actually becomes overwhelming?

I'd rather run the risk that if people are going to put down $60 for a game, I would hope that they're getting their money's worth.  You forgot to mention that we have loads of side-quests that unlock achievements and give you points to customise your character; we have over 200 different landmark collectibles in the game.  We really feel that there are multiple types of gamers; there's the hardcore action gamer who will like the shape-shifting powers and the fluidity of the combat; there's also the RPG-style gamers who like to customisers who'll want to upgrade and customise the character; then there's the 'completionist' achievement hounds, and we have tons of stuff for them too – we have 130 'Web of Intrigue' targets, though only 30 are mandatory; we have 200 landmark icons to hunt down; we also have all those extra side-events for people to hunt down too.  I really feel like we're providing a product that will appeal to a lot of people.

TVG: Downloadable Content is practically expected from today's games, so what form would Prototype DLC take?

It's hard to say.  Officially, we haven't made any announcements about downloadable content.  I feel like we've made fans wait long enough; we need to get the game out – we need to get it into people's hands.

It's hard to say what sort of content I would want from DLC, because we don't know what people think of Prototype yet.  You mentioned that there's a ton of content [already] in Prototype, so what more do people want?  I think it'll be interesting to see what the retail reaction from people is once it's been released, and then, who knows?

TVG: The Xbox 360 had an overhaul last year and launched the Avatars, yet publishers haven't really taken advantage of them to push game-related clothing onto the system, or reward gamers with game-tailored clothing as progress is made through a campaign.  Is this something that you've looked at for Prototype?

I don't want to say too much because I could anger our first-party partners, but I can say that we've definitely looked into it.  However, we've been told that the infrastructure for supporting that stuff may not be there yet with the New Xbox Experience, so it's kinda let's wait and see.  But it's definitely something that we really want to do, because we think it would be really cool if people could rock the Alex Mercer hoodie, leather jacket, and claws.  The desire is definitely there, so maybe if the fans want it bad enough maybe we can get Microsoft to make it happen.

TVG: Can you talk about the triangular relationship between Alex Mercer, the Blackwatch, and the military, and how that fits into the gameplay?

I can talk about it a little bit, but the problem is that because it's a conspiracy I can't say too much without ruining it.  However, the Infected – this virus – has been around for a very long time.  It has a definite leader and a definite objective, it's not just a mindless entity.  The Blackwatch themselves are very cold, very calculating; they're very familiar with this virus and the implication is that they've dealt with the virus before.  They seem to have weapons that work well against this virus and things like that.

So there's definitely a familiarity between those two sides; it's up to the player to figure what that is, and how Alex fits in there - why the military is hunting him, aside from that he's running around New York City with giant swords on his arms, but why in particular they're worried about Alex, why the Infected are hunting Alex.  There's a lot of really juicy information that the player can discover in the game.

TVG: Why go through the hassle of creating an engine specifically for Prototype?

When people see screenshots or trailers of Prototype and they see how many people there are, how many vehicles there are, how many things there are flying through the air, the first thing they think is “Oh, the frame rate is going to stink.”  If you're working with a licensed engine you have to waste a lot of time figuring out how to get it to do what you want it to do.

Radical are open-world experts; they've made The Simpsons Hit & Run, Hulk Ultimate Destruction, Scarface – they understand open-world.  So they already have proprietary technology, and it's just a matter of evolving that technology to do what they needed it to do.  It makes much more sense, and gives them bragging rights [by not] using Unreal Engine 3 like everybody else.

TVG: For me, Prototype comes across as a mix between the likes of Crackdown and Hulk.  Those titles have their distinct audiences, so who are you aiming the game at?

We feel it's a hardcore game, that with the depth of the story and the violence, we're never going to get the Wii-playing audience.  We're never going to get the soccer moms or the social gamers.  [However] we don't feel like we're in a niche, we feel like we can get the hardcore and also those 'blockbuster' gamers; the ones that only buy five games a year; the ones that only buy the best of the best.  We definitely feel like we can get those gamers too.

So we don't feel like we're pegging ourselves into a hole, but we're not going to be a Guitar Hero either.

TVG: Multiplayer was one of the original features of Prototype when it was first announced, but has now been dropped.  With the extra development time allowed to the game as a result of the merger, do you feel that was perhaps a mistake?

You know, that was one of the toughest decisions we had to make.  At the end of the day, we're trying to do a lot of things new in this game like the shape-shifting powers and the Web of Intrigue.  There's a lot of content in the game, and we needed to make sure we had enough resources to make sure they worked really, really well.  Also, because Prototype is a new IP we have to deliver something great or people are not going to trust it again.

Rather than put in a multiplayer mode 'because we can', we knew honestly that we couldn't put one in that would be great enough to get people excited about it, to make sure it felt like a worthwhile decision.  We didn't want to sacrifice from that single-player experience, and if people love it enough, then there's always the next game in mind.

TVG: Activision as a publisher isn't perhaps known for its regular release of original IP.  How much pressure is there on Radical to show that original IP is still relevant in this current economic climate?

I think that regardless of whether it's Activision or another publisher, new IP is risky – especially in this current climate.  But you know what, if people didn't take a chance on original IP there would be no Bioshock or games like that.  There's always going to be pressure, and we're definitely feeling the pressure to bring something that shows Activision can have some original IP and make it success.  Who knows, perhaps we can build it into a worthwhile franchise.

TVG would like to thank Steve Fuller from Activision for taking our questions.  Prototype is due this summer on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.