Radical Entertainment’s Tim Bennison confirmed that the upcoming Prototype would be focused entirely on the singleplayer experience.
Bennison, who is the executive producer for Prototype, told VG247 that “Prototype is 100 percent focused on a great single-player experience,” and hence would not include any sort of multiplayer, whether online or offline.
“The game is an origin story that weaves a government conspiracy around the main character of Alex Mercer, and we really need to get those elements perfect,” Bennison elaborated. Naturally, in a multiplayer game where players have to contend not just with the AI and level design – as how the creators originally envisioned it – but with the actions of at least one other human being, these things are harder to control.
Nor does the Radical team have to worry about balancing Alex Mercer’s abilities for a multiplayer setting: “The biggest benefit of focusing purely on single-player is the team’s ability to really maximize the over-the-top powers and abilities of Alex’s shape-shifting and combat skills … The first time a player throws a corrupt Blackwatch soldier into the blades of an attack chopper, we think they’ll have a big smile on their face.”
I can see Bennison’s point, and to be honest, it makes sense. The very premise of Prototype – in the title itself – is that Alex is a … well, he’s a prototype. He’s the only one of his kind. Balance issues aside, it’d be an odd break in immersion to have two prototypes running around wreaking havoc.
On the other hand, multiplayer – whether competitive or co-op – is being increasingly more crucial to how games are received these days. Might Prototype‘s lack of multiplayer hurt it in the eyes of the masses?
Prototype is scheduled for release on June 12th for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.
