Prototype (stylized as [PROTOTYPE]) is a 2009 action-adventure open world video game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Activision. The game was released in North America on June 9, 2009, and in southwestern parts of North America as well as Oceania on June 10, and was released in Europe on June 12.
The game is set in New York City, where a virulent plague known as Blacklight is spreading through Manhattan. Those infected are mutated into hideous monsters of varying form, with an uncontrollable rage to kill all uninfected life-forms and a military black operations force called Blackwatch has been deployed to keep the infection from spreading. At the center of it is the protagonist, Alex Mercer, an incredibly powerful shapeshifter with no memory of his past. Parallel to the game's storyline is the ability to play the game as a sandbox-style video game giving the player freedom to roam Manhattan.