a shapeshifting game

[Amethyst Wind]

What about Kameo? Not animals per-se, but the concept is similar to what you're looking for.

 

[Daedalus1942]

wouldnt it be cool if their was a game where you played as a shapeshifter. none of this prototype shit. it should be a freeroam environment where anything or anyones "life force" can be absorbed by touching it/them. you are then given missions which you can approach in anyway you want, you could change into a squirel and infiltrate a base, you could change into a rhino and charge in or even tranform into a tree when the enemy comes looking for you.
larger things would attract more attention from authority

two decent shape shifting games (not exactly your idea but still fun) are Kameo: Elements of Power and Primal for the Ps2. i reccomend Primal highly to anyone who enjoys some great puzle solving elements.

 

[Blemontea]

something like this has existed and i think i played it (not dr muto) it was for something either Dreamcast n64 PSX but i remember playing something of the like.

 

[Sirpipple]

this reminds me of an old game i think it was for the 64 (not sure though) where you play as a tick and you mind control diferent animals to get through the levels...good times....good times

Close, it was a robot's computer chip, not a tick.

OT: This would be a very cool game idea, and I would really like to have it become a reality. Being able to transform into many different things to solve puzzle and defeat baddies would be a fresh take on free-roaming games as a whole.

I was 5 and had a small tv so I'll always remeber it as a tick

OT: awesome game idea, I aprove and when i aprove something it must be good ^_^

 

[NeutralDrow]

Aww...and here I was gonna recommend Shadowcaster, but you shapeshift between predetermined forms. And it's FPS-style, not a sandbox.

 

[shootthebandit]

i agree with the arkham combat system, i disagree with limited transformations, the whole point should be freedom. possible you have a list of all your changes in a menu and you can only equip 4 or 5 at once

I think freedom is great, but people will only end up using a few transformations that more suit their style of play, so why not have those archetpyes and refine and develop them according to how you want to play it? That way, if you want to do a stealth run through of the game, your more stealth oriented forms get really fucking good because you used them so much. It means that people are going to come out with much different experiences depending on how they like to play, and there's still a good sense of progression throughout the game.

Freedom is nice for the player, but a ***** for the developer. The more control a developer has over what the player can do, the less there is to go wrong, and they can create a tighter, more refined experience. Use the best of both worlds and things get amazing.

a good idea would be if transformations fell into different catagories and you can only have a limited number of transformations so you might want to unlock one of the best flying animals and one of the strongest animals but have one of the worst 'sneaky' animals so you can mix it up alittle, also certain interactions may require you to be a human

 

[shootthebandit]

OT: This would be a very cool game idea, and I would really like to have it become a reality. Being able to transform into many different things to solve puzzle and defeat baddies would be a fresh take on free-roaming games as a whole.

i think the freeroam idea would be good showcase for the game mechanics more than anything, allowing the player to simply "mess about" and annoy pedestrains as a mouse and when someone tries to kill the 'mouse' turn into a bear and maul their ass.

also freeroam would be cool because i can imagine a really linear game like this to be boring, you approach a small vent you only really have one option but if it freeroam and you need to break into a compound to find the guy who experimented on you and turned you into the shapeshifter, then you could take the form of a pidgeon and just fly in thier and talk to him or you could turn into a rhino and charge through all the guards