Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/1161
h+: And as you understand Alex better, he doesn't necessarily become more sympathetic. DD: As he learns what the government's doing, he also learns that they're not the worst [laughs]. There are worse things out there, and he's part of that. He's not entirely clear of all blame. h+: between the government and Alex and the monsters, Prototype seems bleak. how do you draw players into that environment? DD: All of our references are dark. None of them are happy-go-lucky. At the same time, we also wanted to apply transhumanism as a power fantasy — and a power fantasy to a degree never seen in a video game before. That was very important. We basically just said, "Why limit a character?" Why do you pay $70 to buy a game that tells you, "You can't do that"? That's what life is all about. You spend your entire life being told you can't do things. When you're playing a video game, the goal of the game is to transcend your normal limitations and it should let you do what you want to do. We built a game that was the realization of every dark power fantasy you've ever had, and we just kind of put it in the controller and let the player do what they want with that. And they won't be judged. That's the important distinction. many other games will allow you to do dark things and then impose some sort of penalty on you or judge you. I've always thought that was really foolish. h+: You're giving players the experience of being an enhanced human set loose among ordinary people. how does Prototype encourage players to refl ect on that experience? DD: What we didn't want to do was make the moral choice for you and we didn't want to make the moral judgment for you. We wanted to put you in a situation where you couldn't help but notice that you'd made a moral choice and that moral judgment is coming from you, nowhere else. It's "Oh my God! I just killed a bunch of marines! They were just trying to stop the attacking Thing!" The game doesn't stop you. The game doesn't punish you, but the reactions and the dialogue might give you pause. As you see the game play out, you start to learn more about what the marines are doing there. You might start to feel bad about what you're doing. It's up to you. Prototype will appear for Xbox360, Playstation 3, and PC in late June. ray Huling is a freelance journalist living in Boston. He is working on a book about shellfi shing in rhode Island. resOurCes radical entertainment http://www.radical.ca