Story Elements
[Synopsis - Characters - Villians - Story] - [Download Word File]
Project Awakening:
The player takes control in a small chamber with two exits, one behind him and one in front of him – over the radio crackles Professor Anuwy’s voice. The Professor tells the player that it’s time to test his sensitivity and control to the Awakening. They begin with a few basic tests, such as dexterity and weapons handling. Then the player moves to a simulator that allows him to test out his various powers (the character can be built from several archetypes and can mix and match power usage). The various power capabilities that the player will have access to are shown to him by Erik and Alyssa. Then the player is given the opportunity to play around with his character and understand precisely the benefits and weaknesses of each potential power. Finally, he is brought into a meeting room with Erik and Alyssa and named team leader by Christov, where they receive their first assignment.
The Chase:
After their first few assignments, the Player will find himself chasing after a shadow being, known as “The Walker”. This elusive character leads the player and his party through incredibly dangerous areas, infested with Awakened – yet the beasts only seem to attack him and his party, and ignore the Walker, which Erik will make a point to address to the player, rather angrily. Eventually the Walker evades them, splitting his position with theirs by destroying their only means of continuing to chase him. Upset, and disappointed by failing to apprehend this mysterious figure, the team is quickly called back to base for an important mission.
Capturing the World-Bridge:
The game begins in Middle Europe – but it is not limited to this place by design. The team must go and secure the World Bridge – the large construction, which was used as an efficient mode of travel between the continents without pollutants or fuel consumption. This will require the team to infiltrate the World-Bridge compound, exterminate the Awakened within the area, and activate the World-Bridge compounds lockdown, which was put in place while there was still danger to the World-Bridge from people who believed in Anarchy and refused to take ExO. However, when the player attempts to activate the Lockdown, the team finds that the power generators were never connected to this system. So they must delve deep into the inner workings of the World-Bridge, fighting off Awakened along the way, in order to reroute the power of the compound. Once they do this, the lockdown engages, permitting this place to become a sort of base of operations for the entire world theater and opening travel to the other continents.
The Cleansing:
Professor Anuwy informs the player and his team that before the success of their unit, many had failed to convert properly from being normal humans to being part of Project Awakening. Until these rogue “agents” are dealt with, there is no identifying what sort of danger they might pose to the team. One such agent has been located in an old castle – once a museum of some renown in the Mountains of Japan, it is now a shell of a past long forgotten, and apparently the rogue agent is gathering Awakened there, somehow able to retain a true intelligence but still just as insane as any other Awakened. It is believed she will mount an assault from that location and attempt to eradicate the remaining humans. This is the first time that the player is introduced to “the Betrayed” – a group of sentient Awakened who can rally other Awakened to their numbers and who actively attempt to thwart the Players progress. It is discovered after the World-Bridge is secured, that several of the “Betrayed” may have used it to access other areas of the world.
Securing New Washington:
The World-Bridge back online, the characters move to different continents. In the United States, they find New Washington – a once startling location of sights revolving around the history of the USA, this place is now little more than a skeleton of what it was. Monuments are crumbled like in many places around the world, and the remaining “Utopia” has fallen under the military rule of Colonel Drake. Colonel Drake makes it very clear that these members of Project Awakening are not welcome in what he refers to as “his” city. People live miserably here, even though its supposed to be one of the few “Utopia” left in the states. The players are faced with the moral dilemma of whether they help the people overthrow Colonel Drake, in a sort of coup, or if they try to work the situation from the inside and convince Colonel Drake to retire. Many innocent lives hang in the balance of the decision, as open battle in the Utopia itself will lead to civilian casualties, as well as military casualties. If pushed the wrong way, Drake may even destroy New Washington, just to prove his point.
Betrayal:
A mission goes horribly wrong in every way possible, the players’ team members end up captured by one of the Betrayed, and the player is hurt, badly. Barely clinging to life, he is saved by the Walker, who tells the player of his past. He was the first subject in Project: Awakening, the first to be given an opportunity to test the power that could be unlocked by harnessing emotions, rather than succumbing to them like the Awakened. He was, by all rights, a total success; however, when the Walker, who is identified now as Christov’s brother Trevor Artori, discovered what really happened with the True Awakening, he was given a lethal dose of “Special” ExO by his brother and dumped for dead in the wastes – but while he changed to an Awakened at first, he was quickly able to recover using the ability he had unlocked through Project Awakening. He found that the Awakened ignored his presence provided that he did nothing to disturb them, and decided to remain in hiding out in the wastes until he could properly strike back at Christov and reveal what really happened during the True Awakening. He requests the help of the player for accomplishing this task.
Pitched Battle:
The player recovers his lost comrades and, together again, he reveals the truth of what happened during the “True” awakening. Together, he and his team lay siege to the labs that Professor Anuwy and Christov have taken over, fighting against a number of new “Project: Awakening” subjects. More intelligent, tactical, and unit-oriented, these enemies provide a unique challenge that’s difficult to compare to other parts of the game. Eventually, they find the Professor dead, and Christov is planning to release an airborne version of the “Special” ExO that will change the remaining population or several major Utopia into Awakened. His “Perfect” world nearly realized, Christov fights the player and his team in a pitched battle, as Christov reveals that his brother was not the only one who was a recipient of the first test for Project Awakening, and shows his masterful capabilities with each of the powers that the Player has worked towards mastering (and all the ones he hasn’t). Fighting alongside Trevor, the player begins a battle against Christov. In the midst of the battle, Christov knocks Trevor out of the room. He then attempts to convince the player that it was he who discovered what happened during the “True” awakening, and that he tried to Kill Trevor because the man was directly involved, but Trevor disappeared before he could, and through Professor Anuwy, Trevor has been trying to develop an Airborne version of the “Special” ExO – Christov was trying to disable the launching mechanisms. Trevor returns to the room and the player must now choose who he sides with.
Possible Ending 1:
If the player decides to side with Christov, he turns on Trevor. Trevor, betrayed now, fights against the Player and Christov to attempt to defeat them. Once the battle is over, Christov shuts down the countdown to release the ExO into the air and much of the population is saved. The player gets to choose whether to kill Trevor, or attempt to study him for a cure to the Awakening.
Possible Ending 2:
The player sides with Trevor, not believing Christov. Together, they defeat Christov with some ease. Then, suddenly, Trevor turns on the group – he disables the mechanics to stop the release of the Airborne ExO and the group has to fight him. Despite that they win, the game ends with a glance at several of the “Utopia” that the player had visited, including several of the characters they had met and interacted with…all of whom are beginning to go mad and give in to the drug they are breathing. It is a sense of defeat and hopelessness.
