Prototype's Story Holes
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
They did approach him to write the new Duke Nukem game, but turned his proposal down because he wanted to portray the guy in a more ironic style.Yopaz said:
Even if he did write for a game, there is no guarantee that they would actually use what he wrote in production. A friend of mine met Ms. Pratchett, the writer who produced the Mirror's Edge story. She was (reportedly) very jaded over them discarding most of her input.
People send Yahtzee reviews? Are these people masochists looking for some sort of illicit thrill?
(* If you move outside of survival horror, I think it was predated by a boss battle in the Battletoads games that was done in second person. Because it uses the same sprites as 3rd person!)
The story, as told to me: A long time ago, Yahtzee was one of the writers asked to write a plot treatment for Duke Nukem Forever. It was apparently a self-aware comedic take on Duke that everyone loved except the decision maker, who didn't like the angle it took and claimed "Duke wouldn't say this!"Shannon Spencer Fox said:
Nor do I. I remember he discussed the "Sightjack" thing in the Siren games as being a rare example of 2nd person gameplay*, and IIRC he ruminated on how it wasn't being used to full effect, but I don't think a game idea came out of it.Shannon Spencer Fox said:
(* If you move outside of survival horror, I think it was predated by a boss battle in the Battletoads games that was done in second person. Because it uses the same sprites as 3rd person!)
Yes, The 3rd Birthday... but, perhaps unfortunately, you can add one person to that, although I've yet to play it longer than 10 minutes. Almost wish I'd waited for a demo first, or even knew of the magic world of custom firmware before buying it, but maybe I just need to give it a better shot.Micalas said:
But hey, don't knock the PSP; it did give us Kingdom Hearts: BBS, after all. Unless you look at it as another KH game NOT being made on the PS3... heh.
Thanks! I rather like it myself, of course.Ragsnstitches said:
Oh, I liked it too, but the game "The 3rd Birthday" got some pretty middle of the road reviews, and allegedly there was supposed to be another game that came out in Japan and never got a US release for the PS-2 which was set in the same universe. Hence why I said it was a mediocre game franchise.Micalas said:Whaaaa? I loved Parasite Eve. Especially PE2.Therumancer said:That said what we need is a crossover between two currently mediocre game franchises in hopes of reviving them both. Find some way to have Aya Brea from "Parasite Eve" go up against the surviving virus from Prototype, it's kind of what she does. For some reason Prototype always made me think of PE anyway.... of course it's doubtful this crossover will ever happen, but it would be fun if it did....
Wasn't there a PE3 that came out on PSP recently that no one played because no one give a shit about PSP?
As far as nobody caring, the PSP wasn't a huge platform compared to some others but still had (and still has) decent numbers of users (including me). Plenty of RPGs and such found a home on that handheld, and really it's the game system of choice for a lot of hardcore RPG players like me, we just happen to be fairly outnumbered. Not to mention it being bigger in Japan, and apparently 3rd Birthday didn't do all that well over there either.
I just thought it would be an amusing crossover since Aya is pretty much the living incarnation of an antibody to kill super viruses, and develops all kinds of crazy powers herself at times. While she wouldn't share the same lore as the Prototype storyline, you could see an analogy to an adaptive super vaccine fighting an adaptive super infection, and which was going to triumph in the end.
My favorite thing about Prototype 1 story was exactly the fact that we played as this virus entity that considered itself Mercer, while Mercer was dead before the game even began.
Right now, I'm disappointed and not sure I will even try Prototype 2... Plus, I don't want to play as black protagonist to be honest, especially so cliched one...
Right now, I'm disappointed and not sure I will even try Prototype 2... Plus, I don't want to play as black protagonist to be honest, especially so cliched one...
I like Yahtzee's premise, I really do but the problem here is I think some people would get lost with that much information being thrown at them. It would be too much to take in at once.
While I can honestly say that I still want to play this game, having enjoyed the first one, this article may allow me to enjoy the plot more. I'll probably have my own opinion of it after experiencing the story, but I can at least say that I had fun with (if at all). In my opinion, "reading too much into the game" shows that there is potential for a good story, despite being poorly executed. And it also proves that not all gamers are brain-dead, dude-bros.
Which, incidentally, would have made the game much better than it ended up being, what with trying to be tongue-in-cheek about everything except the Duke, while simultaneously having functional but bland gameplay and terrible level design.maninahat said:
Oh! Yes, Duke Nukem Forever... now I remember that EP column. This is the problem with acronyms, though...Formica Archonis said:
Ahh, yes, the first boss in that game, as it happens... and now I feel old. But hey, at least it was before the soul-crushing rocket-sled portion of the game!Formica Archonis said:
Anyway, as for the second-person thing, I suppose you *could* argue that the old Sega CD game Night Trap did it as well... maybe. Depends on your definition of 'second-person perspective', perhaps. Either way, it'd probably be rather tricky to pull off, in my opinion. But it could be interesting to see!
Well, my personal experience with T3B was somewhat marred by the fact that it was pretty darn tricky, even from the start... but maybe I just suck at playing it, or didn't do something right. Either way. That said, the idea of a PE/Prototype crossover *does* sound interesting... and now I have another Rule 42 check to do.Therumancer said:Oh, I liked it too, but the game "The 3rd Birthday" got some pretty middle of the road reviews, and allegedly there was supposed to be another game that came out in Japan and never got a US release for the PS-2 which was set in the same universe. Hence why I said it was a mediocre game franchise.
As far as nobody caring, the PSP wasn't a huge platform compared to some others but still had (and still has) decent numbers of users (including me). Plenty of RPGs and such found a home on that handheld, and really it's the game system of choice for a lot of hardcore RPG players like me, we just happen to be fairly outnumbered. Not to mention it being bigger in Japan, and apparently 3rd Birthday didn't do all that well over there either.
I just thought it would be an amusing crossover since Aya is pretty much the living incarnation of an antibody to kill super viruses, and develops all kinds of crazy powers herself at times. While she wouldn't share the same lore as the Prototype storyline, you could see an analogy to an adaptive super vaccine fighting an adaptive super infection, and which was going to triumph in the end.
Shannon Spencer Fox said:Huh. What's this 'DNF script' and 2nd-person perspective horror game you're referring to? I don't recall those... although, arguably, the second one's been done before, if you want to get *super*-technical.Raiyan 1.0 said:
(Unless you meant a current, and arguably *good* game... ^_^)
Well, the <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/9002-Yahtzee-Could-Have-Written-Duke-Nukem-Forever>DNF script has already been accounted for. As for the 2nd person perspective horror game, I was talking about this: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/9423-Survival-Horror-on-a-Cruise-ShipFormica Archonis said:
You don't see through your own eyes, but the eyes of surrounding CCTVs.
I like the mock-up for what an interesting story for Prototype 2 would be, even if it didn't pan out. But you know very well why you don't get to write for a AAA game and I'll remind everybody else. To quote futurama:
"Clever things make people feel stupid, and unexpected things make them feel scared." You will never be able to write for a big game because you do not disrespect the intelligence and emotional stability of your audience sufficiently.
"Clever things make people feel stupid, and unexpected things make them feel scared." You will never be able to write for a big game because you do not disrespect the intelligence and emotional stability of your audience sufficiently.
... And it's times like this that keep me wondering why Yahtzee hasn't made more games. I mean, Poacher was awesome. The ideas he brings forward like this are pretty awesome. I would buy the games. WHO'S WITH ME?!
Ah, yes. I'd forgotten about that, thanks! Funny, when he described that I tended to think of Suspended [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspended]. Completely different game, but it had that idea of being trapped and only experiencing the world through mechanical senses that didn't necessarily work the same as the eyes in one's own head.Raiyan 1.0 said:Well, the <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/9002-Yahtzee-Could-Have-Written-Duke-Nukem-Forever>DNF script has already been accounted for. As for the 2nd person perspective horror game, I was talking about this: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/9423-Survival-Horror-on-a-Cruise-Ship
You don't see through your own eyes, but the eyes of surrounding CCTVs.
It really bothered me in Prototype 1 how we don't see much of a reaction from Mercer upon finding out he's the virus. In fact, if memory serves, it was just bought up nonchalantly in a cutscene. This series has a few interesting ideas but unfortunately seems let the story fall by the wayside.
By the way what happens to Mercer's sister? Does Prototype 2 even bring her up?
By the way what happens to Mercer's sister? Does Prototype 2 even bring her up?
In the "you're the virus" scene Mercer responds with inner monologue: "At that moment part of me died but another part of me felt relieved" or something like that. His sister gets brushed off in one of the later cutscenes with the woman-monster saying "she has become part of us".
Too bad Scourge Project was a failure, the plot was a bit similar to what you describe:
A hive-minded blob species that assumes human forms has made the mistake of assimilating a highly psychic human that was able to subjugate any part of the hivemind within range. The hivemind's plan was to create sectioned-off entities that are no longer connected via those psychic channels and thus not succeptible to the mind control, give them human shape and persuade those humans to kill the psychic human. The sectioned-off entities are your player characters, the real ones died to the blob stuff long ago and the ones you play are just copies that believe they are these particular people. However since the game was just a C-grade Gears of War clone and got completely panned (didn't help that it was buggy and had bad checkpointing) I don't think we'll ever see the second half of the story (where the player characters go and fight the hivemind).
http://www.schlockmercenary.com/ has a lot of amorphous blobs and nanomachine-induced memories and whatnot. The lead character is such a blob, he can devour power-armored soldiers in one bite but he also wields heavy weapons of the kind that can destroy a small starship. He isn't one for subtlety or guilt though, this is the webcomic that brought you "There is no 'overkill', there is only 'open fire' and 'I have to reload'".
Too bad Scourge Project was a failure, the plot was a bit similar to what you describe:
A hive-minded blob species that assumes human forms has made the mistake of assimilating a highly psychic human that was able to subjugate any part of the hivemind within range. The hivemind's plan was to create sectioned-off entities that are no longer connected via those psychic channels and thus not succeptible to the mind control, give them human shape and persuade those humans to kill the psychic human. The sectioned-off entities are your player characters, the real ones died to the blob stuff long ago and the ones you play are just copies that believe they are these particular people. However since the game was just a C-grade Gears of War clone and got completely panned (didn't help that it was buggy and had bad checkpointing) I don't think we'll ever see the second half of the story (where the player characters go and fight the hivemind).
http://www.schlockmercenary.com/ has a lot of amorphous blobs and nanomachine-induced memories and whatnot. The lead character is such a blob, he can devour power-armored soldiers in one bite but he also wields heavy weapons of the kind that can destroy a small starship. He isn't one for subtlety or guilt though, this is the webcomic that brought you "There is no 'overkill', there is only 'open fire' and 'I have to reload'".