Prototype Review

Players: 1

Developer: Radical Entertainment

Publisher: Activision

Engine: Titanium

Platforms: Xbox 360, PC, PS3

Release Date: June 9th, 2009 NA

In a city where everyone is turning into mutant freaks, Alex Mercer has been there and done that, and now he wants revenge.  Everything was taken from him, his girlfriend, his life, his livelihood…everything.  Now the military, who made Alex who he is today and while battling the mutants wandering the city streets, wants him back…at any cost.  He is the key.  You vs. The Government vs. Mutants = pandemonium.

Prototype is a wide-open sandbox type game that really feels like inFamous on crack.  It’s non-stop action, your abilities are really almost endless and you can fly.  Cool, right?  The point behind the game is to find out who turned you into this super mutant and why, and exact revenge.   We’ll break this review up into sections; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.  Fair enough?  But what type of reviewer would I be if I started with the good and ended with the bad?  Posh.

The Bad

First things first, the story is extremely lacking.  The game seriously lacks cut scenes, I’m not talking about in-game cut scenes either.  I’m talking cinematic cut scenes that actually explain and show us some background to the story or at least what’s going on.  Nothing.  We get loading scenes where we see pictures and get voices talking but no moving scenes.

Secondly, it can get extremely repetitive.  Doing the same missions over and over, while stealing the same tanks over and over.  It just gets pretty boring after a couple of hours of gameplay.  Why couldn’t the developers put in different military vehicles?  Some humvees or cargo trucks, something, anything.  Nope, just the same missions stealing the same tank.

The Ugly

The side quests, which aren’t really side quests at all, are virtually non-existent.  They are these different colored blips on your HUD and when you finally get to them all they turn out to be are horde minigames.  Try to beat as many mutant zombies as you can before dying.  Lame.  If I wanted to play Horde mode in a zombie/mutant game I’d bust out my copy of Left 4 Dead.

The city is repetitive as hell.  Building after building, and it’s not like they try to make all the buildings look different either.  Yes, there are a few buildings that are unique and you frequent these buildings throughout the game.  But…couldn’t they have made it to where you could go through a building?  I mean you can do just about everything else under the sun (jump over it, run up it, fly over it, shoot it), why not run through it?

No multiplayer.  Probably the game’s biggest downfall, in my opinion of course.  This game would be downright sick with a multiplayer mode.  You could have a “cops vs. robbers” type multiplayer option, much like GTA IV’s offering.  One side would be the military and the other side would be different variations of “Mercer’s”.  Those would be good times.  You could also have capture the flag within the different parts of the city.  One side tries to get a tank or a vehicle from one side of the map to the other.  I think they really could have done it big time had they wanted to.  Huge letdown for me.

The Good

Now that we got all that nastiness out of the way.  This game will undoubtedly always be compared to inFamous, another sandbox game that features a protagonist with abnormal powers, trying to exact revenge.  In that regards, and after playing both, I can happily say that as far as total satsifaction goes, I’d rather play Prototype.  It’s faster paced, more action, and it’s just cool as hell to rip people to shreds and see their body parts go flying.

The leveling up system in the game is pretty unique.  You level points based on how much destruction you cause on your missions throughout the game.  How many civilians you kill, how many military personnel you kill, and how many “infected” you destroy.  All total up your points.  You then in turn use these points to buy ability upgrades.  Such as claws, hammer fists, elbow drops.  You can also buy health upgrades, armor upgrades, the abiility to stay in flight longer, how fast you run.  Everything you do to your character throughout the game is controlled by the leveling system.  As the game progresses, so do the abilities you can purchase.  Of course you can cap out on an ability, but there are plenty other abilities that are down right destructive when used, that you’ll have to save up for a while to get.

The ability to consume people is one of the most unique things I’ve seen in a video game in quite some time.  Half of the missions you will do will revolve around you consuming some military personnel or some mutant boss.  Consuming these people will give you health if you’re low and you’ll also be able to read their thoughts and see their memories.  Which will aide you in your quest for answers.  Probably my favorite part of the whole “consuming” process is that once you do consume someone and you’re running around, their body is still attached to you until you’re down consuming them, which takes several seconds.  Pretty priceless when you consume some infected woman on the street and after you do so you’re running down the boulevard and her right arm and leg are sticking out of your back.  Nice touch.

The boss battles, while difficult, are fun.  Perhaps through the middle of the game you have to fight this military boss man who is armed with a rocket launcher that launches five missles at a time.  He’s strong, fast, and has good aim.  This is where your abilities to run, jump, and fly will serve you well.  The controls are as simple as they get, and the super abilities are combo-buttoned controlled, so you’ll likely have to memorize some button mashing techniques.  Defeating this military boss was no easy task as he was being reinforced by his own people, all the while you’re trying to defeat him while fending off his peons.  Good times.

Don’t let my “Bad” and “Ugly” sections discourage you from playing this game, it’s huge fun and it’s a good way to pass one of these non-existent games summer months.  Replay ability is not very high on it, unless you’re playing it strictly for achievements, as we’ve discussed before, it has no multiplayer.  All in all, it’s a good filler for this time of year.  I’d say buy it, because you might not beat it in the time you have if you rent it, so buy it and trade it back in.

Score:

Gameplay: 9

Controls: 9

Graphics: 8.5

Sound: 8.5

Replay Value: 3

Average Score: 8.3