Reviews Xbox 360 Reviews Prototype

Prototype

		4.1
		0.0 (0)

Written by alienstout June 17, 2009 Favorites

Game Reviews

Publisher	Activision
Studio	Radical Entertainment
Genre	Action/Adventure
ESRB	Mature (17+)
Co-op	No
Multiplayer	No
Game Type Reviewed	Single Player

You are the PROTOTYPE, Alex Mercer, hiding in human form. You step out onto the streets of New York with no memory, but limitless power. As a terrifying viral epidemic sweeps across Manhattan, top-secret Black Watch Special Forces move in, transforming it into a war zone. Delve into the mysteries of your origin, the true nature of your power and your part in a conspiracy 40 years in the making.

Editor review

Prototype is bloody good game

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Game Reviews

Leet-sauce	Alex Mercer is just a bad ass Blood, lots and lots of blood Great assortment of power upgrades Storyline is intriguing and can keep your attention Good representation of NYC (Manhattan) Additive gameplay keeps you in your seat
4-noobs	Story pacing and plot holes irritating Graphics could be better at times Default camera has some issues with trees NYC has no street signs No co-op or online (after indicating it might be getting it...) Powers and combos can be difficult to use at times
Review	Alex Mercer is a bad ass; let's get that out of the way up front. This guy has superhero powers like super strength, speed, vision, health and he also can morph into anyone he takes over with their memories. That's pretty much as bad ass as you can get. From slicing through tanks to jumping up a building - this is one guy you don't want to run into on the streets of NYC. Their is no shortage of powers and abilities for Alex as you go through the game - there might in fact be too many. Now that we have talked a bit about the main character from Prototype we should get into how he fits in the game, in its storyline. Unfortunately, this is where we run into some problems. To start with, the game is played in a flashback manner. Things have already happened and were at a later date at the start and we rewind to play through the events. Of course Alex has very little memories at the beginning so that's how the game designers make this work. For the most part, it does work on the surface - enough that you can let it slide and move on. Problem is the pacing of the game's story is choppy to say the least. The first and end parts of the storyline are thrown at you fast and there are plotholes and missing info big enough for Alex to throw a couple of tanks through. To be clear, the story is good and engaging...once you get going. Until you're about an hour into the game, it seems very poorly written and disjointed. Once you have a couple of missions under your belt the story improves and becomes less obtuse and more detailed. This continues for most the game until the end where they just wrap things up very quickly - too quickly. The payoff you get from beating the last boss compensates (he's not easy...) but the story just seems to sit there without a definitive end or really explaining the big boss very well - some might say at all. In between the main plot, you can bounce around the city doing side missions that range from the standard time-trial types to more elaborate survival or bodycount missions. The game also has missions that fit into the Web of Intrigue. The deal here is that there are people all over Manhattan that know pieces of the puzzle and by absorbing them you will get a nugget of info. Once you have them all (over 50) then you'll have the whole story - at least as much as they'll say is the whole story. It's an interesting concept and it actually works well and helps break things up from being too monotonous and same-old-same-old. As Alex romps through the city you'll quickly learn there is no good or bad, there is just death - mostly by Alex. Unlike inFamous, Alex is not bound, nor are you given a choice, by any ethics at all. Kill who you want, when you want. Also unlike inFamous (there are similarities hence the association here), there is blood and gore in Prototype. Lots of blood and gore. Pick someone up and smash them into a wall and you'll see what I mean. You can also chuck cars or helicopters or anything actually and get the bloody payoff. Of course the military in the game gets in on the act too and does a fair amount of dealing abuse to Alex and the population of innocents and infected. In the story you fight two forces - the military and the infected. Alex is caught in the middle so there are times when both forces are smacking you around and it seems as if you can't do anything without getting knocked on your ass. It's actually quite frustrating to be setting up to use a power then right before it executes you get nailed by a shell from a tank. Fortunately, Alex regenerates and can suck life from people around him. Both the opposing forces and Alex's powers make for some interesting gameplay that can actually be challenging. While you will get a lot of powers, some work better for certain things than others. The key is choosing the right one for the mission. You gain new powers with mission points and points you get by destroying people, machinery and mutants. If you are not wise in choosing which power to use, the game's difficulty will seem to bounce wildly around but the fact is you're just not using the right tool for the job. I found the game well balanced if I took my stupid decisions out of the mix. One of the gripes I have, aside from the using powers without getting interupted, is the populace of NYC. You see the atmosphere of the city is ridiculous; there are things blowing up and cars on fire but people and more cars just keep coming down the road. Nobody is trying to escape the island even though the military and mutants are killing everything in site. Just not realistic at all. On the positive side, it is a pretty good rendering of Manhattan although they have taken some liberties; Battery Park is a little different but close enough and you have the major buildings like the Empire State, Chrysler, AIG, Woolworth, MSG, Grand Central Terminal, etc. Good enough and better than GTA IV's Liberty City. Another gripe, just like inFamous (again), this game does not have any online or co-op play. It's a single player sandbox game and that's all well and good but when the game was delayed, there was specific mention of adding some multiplayer components. Fail. The game works without it and frankly I'm not sure it would work with it but don't talk about it and not deliver. The graphics were good enough although I think if I was to compare it to inFamous again Prototype would not win. Still, pretty good and sharper than GTA IV where you had some fuzziness to it (Xbox 360 versions). I wouldn't say the colors were vibrant but it's a dark storyline so I can deal with muted colors. Blood is red and the tanks are green - OK. The game does seem to have a problem with draw distance at times but it's a minor gripe that doesn't happen too often. The default camera works great in most cases but if you go under a tree you will see nothing but leaves. While other games will give you a wire view of the object, Prototype just keeps it solid and you can't see a damn thing. Prototype is a solid game and while it can border on the macabre depending on how homicidal you are, the storyline holds together well enough to keep you intrigued. It's a blast to run for fly around Manhattan with it's fate in my hands and it's a game you'll likely play through more than once (they even let you play again with all of your powers unlocked once you've finished it once) or continue in free roam because it's fun breaking things and when it's done well it's addictive.