Alex Mercer - gaming's 'darkest' anti-hero?

GR: When he's standing on the edge of a rooftop with his white hood pulled over his head, Alex has a definite air of Assassins Creed's Altair about him...

Max: Yeah, people have mentioned that in the past, but our intention definitely isn't to copy anyone and our concepts had been started way before Assassins was actually revealed. But we're not doing the same game at all. It just so happens that he has a hoody. We thought 'how do we define our character?' - he's a certain age, New York city is influenced by certain cultures and fashion, and how do we tie all these things together to make it believable? Well, hip hop is really strong in the US still, the way people dress - there's a lot of people with hoodies - it all makes sense.

I think we've captured the essence of what we'd like him to be. From a story standpoint there is a reason for the hoody - it serves a purpose of concealing his identity. He's a mysterious guy. We want to use it as a way of concealing part of his identity.

GR: He's not going to have alien antenna or anything like that?

Max: No. We're not hiding anything like that.

GR: Will we see him with is hood down at some point?

Max: Probably. I don't know. You'll see.

GR: And will Alex be customisable at any stage?

Max: [shrugs with a knowing smile]

GR: So maybe we'll be able to do some shopping and get Alex some new clothes?

Max: Perhaps. [laughs]

To catch up with the Prototype hype, check out ourpreviewandreasons why the game might best GTA IV. Yes, we said that.

Matt Cundy
I don't have the energy to really hate anything properly. Most things I think are OK or inoffensively average. I do love quite a lot of stuff as well, though.