Prototype In every sense of the word.
Radical Entertainments last open world outing with The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction was quite a fun deviation from your normal open world experiences. Prototype is no different. In fact it’s pretty much the same game with a fresh coat of paint and original storyline. With its shotgun approach to game design, Prototype tries to do a lot of different things and strikes home with a few, but mildly fails in others. Nevertheless, Prototype does enough right to keep fans of over the top, action oriented open world adventures inside for at least one summer week.
Prototype kicks off the craziness with its main character Alex Mercer waking up on a morgue slab with no recollection of who he is or what he’s doing there, only to find that he’s been somehow gifted with supernatural shape shifting abilities. He then begins his quest of revenge to find out who did this to him and why, all the while New York City spirals into a seemingly unstoppable viral outbreak. The storyline in Prototype has potential but is hindered by bland, seemingly unfinished cut scenes and little to no character development. My attempt to understand the games backdrop and the history of the shallow characters living in it was only aided by the web of intrigue. An interesting feature that essentially has you pursue various characters across the city and consume them to attain their memories and the knowledge they have of Alex’s past. Even still, the story manages to keep you interested enough to continue to plow through the games 30 plus story missions.
The visuals in Prototype aren’t any better than its weak narrative. With all the emphasis Radical put on movement in this game they sure failed to deliver an interesting environment to navigate in. New York City is rife with detail to explore as each area is different in culture and style, yet every single building looks exactly the same, generic and boring. The populace didn’t fare any better as it seems that the whole city is inhabited by 5 different character models copied and pasted thousands of times. This would have been fine if this game was released two years ago, but in a post GTA IV world, there is no excuse to for the NYC to be this bland.
Gameplays a whole different matter though, as the game will have you running, jumping, vaulting, gliding and fighting your way through the entirety of Manhattan with parkour grace. Movement is a highlight in Prototypes varied gameplay features, as you’ll be able to climb entire skyscrapers with ease and run from one end of the city to the other within minutes. It’s not only fun but essential to master Alex’s agility in order reach the many collectibles scattered across the city skyline or escape from a heated battle when things get a little rough.
Combat is diverse and engaging as you can dispose of your enemies using various methods that include the use of tanks, helicopters, guns and Alex’s own massive repertoire of shape shifting abilities. In fact, Alex has so many abilities available to him that it’s sometimes hard to choose how to slay your enemies. Each skill has its specific use, but in general its better if you choose a select few and stick to those as you will only have so many evolution points to upgrade your skills with. In the end it’s really up to player preference as Alex is so overly powerful that any skill you choose to deal death to your foes will work just fine. Aside from that, Alex can also unleash devastator moves that will allow him (if positioned correctly) to eradicate entire city blocks at a time. This is both gratifying and necessary as the game will ramp up in difficulty quite quickly having you face massive hordes of infected monsters and their military opponents all at the same.
Aside from that you can partake in multiple side missions that have you doing everything from vanquishing a certain amount of enemies within a given time limit, to free running from one point to another in an attempt score the best time. The game ranks you from bronze to gold and rewards you with an appropriate amount of evolutionary points with each rank. These side missions are of course optional, but become essential if you want to max out the slew of abilities Alex has at his disposal.
In the end Prototype is all about providing the player with an insane amount of power to crush your foes with and in that respect the game succeeds greatly. What it lacks in narrative and visuals it more than makes up for in pure fun factor. If you’re a fan of the superhero styled games or are just in need of a therapeutic stress reliever, this game is definitely worth taking a look at.
