Prototype

     It seems that the open world superpowers sandbox game is starting to make a return. Since Spider Man 2 got it down back in 2004, games have tried to get a similar style. With Spider Man 3 and Infamous being two of the more recent entries into this genre, how does the other contender, Prototype, hold up?

    Prototype puts you in the roll of Alex Mercer, who wakes up to find himself in a morgue about to be dissected, which is never a good thing. After escaping the army, he also learns he has the ability to consume and take the role of any body he wants, and he also gains their memories in the process. Since he seems to have forgotten his own somewhere along the way, he scrambles to try and find out just what happened to get him where he is, and how to get out of this mess. Along the way he has to deal with two opposing forces: The military, who wants him dead for being infected with the virus, and the infected which are blood crazy monsters infected with said virus. His only allies are his sister, Dana Mercer, his ex-girlfriend, Karen Parker, and a pathologist named Dr. Ragland. On the other hand, the military have both Captain Cross and General Randall hunting him down. Finally there’s Elizabeth Greene who is the mysterious leader of the infected.

    The story is interesting, though it’s a bit hard to decipher. Because you get most of the back story in bits and peaces all over the place, you really need to make sure you’re paying attention. If you want info on the characters then you need to consume targets on the web of intrigue. This does mean you can move the back story at your own pace, but it also means you’ll likely get it all out of order. For those that do keep up and enjoy this kind of thing then they will find a plot full of government conspiracies, mysterious viruses and what started this entire mess.

    Prototype is an open world game, giving you the option to go around and do whatever you want whenever you want. Alex has access to five different mutant powers ranging from a whip, to claws and eventually a huge blade. Each of these powers has it’s own strengths and weaknesses, though I did notice that the whipfist is a little to over powered and can easily be used as a kill all weapon. On the other side of the spectrum, I found the musclemass power, pretty much an extension of your hand-to-hand fighting abilities, to be weak and pretty much worthless. Besides these powers you also have the ability to change your form to look like any person that you consume, which can be used for stealth segments or for getting out of the line of fire. You can pick up weapons the enemies drop as well, and even hijack their vehicles. Overall, there is a lot at play in Prototype, and I’m sure I’m leaving something or another out. Heck, I haven’t even gone over the wall jumping, gliding and general parkour moves yet.

    All this manages to hold up pretty well which is surprising considering how much is at play. Sadly, there is a flaw here or there. With so much at play it’s possible to forget how to do certain things. Some of the requirements to do certain abilities can come off as ridiculous from time to time. When it requires you to do these in the middle of the battle you’re more likely to fall back to pounding the attack button then using the special moves. There are also some problems with things getting to hectic. Some of the boss battles, notably the later ones, often have to much at play to keep up with. One boss in particular takes place in the middle of Times Square with the military, infected and normal civilians running around in bunches. You can and will not get a break during these fights which is usually more then a normal player can handle. Still, the combat is fun overall and these hectic boss fights only take place once in a blue moon.

    Besides the story levels, there are a few extra side missions that you can do for more points. Most of these missions fall in two categories: killing and racing. The killing ones usually make you kill enemies with a specific power or using a specific vehicle or gun. The racing ones are usually jumping from building to building hitting waypoints along the way and trying to beat the clock. These can be fun if you don’t do to many in a row otherwise you may get bored of having to repeat the same tasks. There are a few exceptions that may have you track down and consume specific targets, or skydive off a building onto a certain point but these are few and far in between.

    Graphic wise, Prototype looks pretty good and everything manages to hold up. There is quite a bit of detail in Alex’s animations and the game does manage to throw an impressive number of characters on screen at once. New York City is brought to life pretty well and everything in the game looks great overall. The voice work sits between alright and not to good, with some characters feeling alive and others just being annoying. The soundtrack is pretty good though and has a lot of mood setting tunes. Overall, the presentation is generally good.

    I was actually a bit surprised by Prototype. It does a lot of things, and while it stumbles on a few it manages to get more right the wrong. As far as open world superhero games go, this one manages to rank among the higher group. I’m sure some more polishing would have done a bit of good, but overall what Prototype has manages to impress.