Just Plain Fun
A review By TheAcidSkull
Despite the fact that most people kind bashed on prototype due to it's competitor Infamous( You should see what happens on youtube), I always enjoyed Prototype more due to the sheer destruction and fun, plus The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is one of my favorite games so it's not really surprising that I'd be drawn by a game with similar mechanics. (They were created by the same developers after all). So the announcement of prototype 2 had me really excited, but the shift in character really set me off considering that I really liked Alex Mercer. Still, I assumed that since they did switch the main character maybe they had other plans for Mercer, and they did, however it's not the decision I would have gone with, I also didn't like their portrayal of Heller. Long story short, I was both displeased and pleased with Prototype 2, and here is why:
Visuals and etc.
While I did enjoy the first game, it severely lacked in terms of visuals, especially when it came to the environment itself. Now whilst this did not hinder my enjoyment of the overall experience, I still felt that it was too lackluster and could have been done better. The second one however, not only gives us detailed environments and buildings, but also creates suitable atmospheres in each ZONE created within the game. The red zone has a setting of utter destruction and blood and it really gives you the feeling that the that part of the city has truly gone to sh*t, it even exceeds the first one in terms of creating a suitable outlook for the infection. The Yellow Zone, is vastly different, multiple areas can be found where people are wondering around to find protection because of the already spreading sickness, which gives you a feeling of friction and the death of hope. And last but not least, the green Zone maintains the presence of the virus but yet at the same time still continuous on with life as well as every day activities. I think the developers really did a good job on capturing the setting of the game.
The designs don't fall back either, helicopters and tanks, as well as other forms of weaponry look absolutely spectacular and amazing. The characters looks great as well, especially Mercer and heller, i like the addition of the more tentacle fractured version of the virus's design, it makes it look more like a radioactive infection to be quite honest. Speaking of character looks and design, the game really exceeds the first installment in terms of variety, because while the first one had some engaging fights and boss battles, there were only a few types of mutant breeds: The Hydra, the hunters, and the normal infected people, where as the Prototype 2 had multiple versions of the monster, ranging from the Behemoth to he brawlers and Juggernauts. However at times the game can be all over the place , especially when you're using the claws or any other mutation ability, the structures/frames seem to go through each other and it's really frustrating after some time.
Gameplay
Gameplay as you expected is probably the strongest aspect of the entire game, in fact I'd go far as to say that it makes the GAME itself. Now if you've played the first game you'll probably see a lot of similarities between the two installments, however, I have to remark that the second one really improves the structure and the flow of combat with certain much needed tweaks. In the first one, there were cases where you'd find yourself in the midst of a huge battle and the Game was so chaotic that you wouldn't be able to understand where your enemies were attacking from, they just kept knocking you off your feet and it was very, very frustrating. Here though, while the same situation can still come up, you at least have a defense mechanism which allows you to evade or escape from such circumstances.
The game also gives you a verity of enemies, as mentioned before, along with new as well as old abilities which broadens your arsenal, thereby improving your gaming experience. There isn's more to say in all honesty, the gameplay is a lot like that if it's predecessor, only it's more polished and less annoying, that's the shortest way I could sum it up.
Story
Now here is the real led down of the game, up until this point i've been bashing on the first prototype despite the fact that I like it in order to praise the second one, but now this is where we switch the tables. While prototype DID have graphic and gameplay problems, it was still fun and it had an interesting story of a man seeking his identity as well as trying to due the right thing through harsh means. As I said in the beginning of my review, I immensely disliked the idea of them switching the main character, because I believe that when something like that happens, there should be a logical reason to it, like in Darksiders II. But, seeing as how the decision was made, I still jumped on board because despite it's flaws I believed that prototype was vastly underrated. Prototype 2 kept advertising heller as a sympathetic character, yet for some odd reason any sympathy you might have for the character fades away in about 30 minutes into the game, because Heller becomes a bland, angry asshat who is f*ck sh*t up. I understand why he's angry, but justified anger and just utter destruction and cruelty kind of diminishes my respect of the character. That's not to say that we haven't had any characters who are angry, but guys like Kratos for example are put in different settings and are not advertised as someone who they are not.
Also, why did Mercer suddenly become evil? He was a maniac who wanted to destroy the world and spread the infection even though he put a lot of effort into stopping it? Huh? Wouldn't it make much more sense to try to redeem his actions by trying to chase his PREVIOUS goal of stopping the infection? Should't the fact that he caused it in the first place put some guilt over him? Honestly, some of the decisions the developers take are very lack luster and illogical to me. Also the ending to the game sucked and was not at all satisfying. Suddenly Hellers Daughter becomes the key to everything at the last very moment which JUST HAD TO HAPPEN because heller needed to be even more pissed than he already was in order to fight Mercer?! How F*cking convenient. By the way,how the hell did Heller manage to beat Mercer? He didn't have enough time to become as skilled as him in terms of using the virus. Sure his military training should have come in handy, but mercer absorbed more power right before he fought Heller and he still lost. what the hell?
Conclusion
Now that that's out of the way, I can say that despite the problems this game has with it's story, it improves the prototype franchise in terms of gameplay and design. The game is genuinely really, really fun because it gives you the chance to be absolutely indestructible as you progress though the story, which kind of makes me sad because, overall, this could have been a really great game if the plot and characterization had been any good, sadly however, they just about make every wrong choice I can think of, and they don't even stick with what they tell us, which again is a damn shame. I would still recommend this, because overall, if you just let the story be, it's an absolute blast.
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