Prototype

"A bloody thing of beauty"

Here is one of those games which seems SO much like a game you know but differs so greatly that you're not sure exactly how to pin it and while this works on some incredible levels it gives up a little bit of originality in place for constant action.


Gameplay:

It was actually fairly fun, at first. In the first parts of the game you're given a fair challenge(on the more difficult settings) but it slowly progresses into something that seems more cheap and rather than encouraging you to be the "bad ace" you're forced into a more hit-and-run style of gameplay or forced to use cheap tactic's.

Don't misunderstand, I loved games like Ninja Gaiden that were difficult to a T but they presented themselves in a way that didn't make you feel like the game was working against you(at least for me), this game unfortunately doesn't accomplish that in It's later parts, it drifts into the realm of cheapness and forces you into very specific styles of play.


Controls:

Usually when I try and self-evaluate a game I try not to focus on the controls as much but I felt like this one was necessary. This one was quite interesting, evolving with your growing understanding as you get further into the game until it feels CLOSE to a fighting game, it is only unfortunate still that the targeting system often makes it even MORE difficult in the latter parts when there are more on-screen enemies. And goodness gracious, good luck with hi-jacking helis with that camera.


Sound/Music:

To be honest I felt it was a little underscored. It played on key moments, sure but it really didn't feel like there had been enough variety and the repeating melodies just ended up as being forgettable. I'm sure by itself it's all fun and well but for how dark the story is meant to be it just didn't feel like enough effort was poured into it.


Story:

Now to the real meat of the game. Short and sweet though very very interesting. We're often presented with a story more edged on being some hero, grizzled or naive it's almost always a Hero.

How refreshing then that from the outset you're pretty much told you're not a hero and encouraged(with little drawback) to be as bad as you truly want to be, a story of true vengeance...and yet...where's the reward for it all?

I can understand that there is no morality but with a story this dark, where is the feeling for our Anti-Hero? We are thrown into one idea after another and though the Web fleshes it out I just never felt as if I was really fighting for vengeance, I felt like we were just following one circumstance after another with few to tie everything in. I wasn't left confused I was just...left.

I do however praise the style within which the Webs had been presented. Voices overlaying imaged that invoke the emotion of the speaker, an impressive and bold move on their part.


Overall: 7/10

This was a great and fun game in the same style as Hulk and Spider-Man, a free-roam type game that ebbs on the mindless brutality serving as a release for our frustrations, yet because it tries to play itself so seriously it almost has to LOSE points because the game's story just doesn't "flow" it's just one event after another with very little reason behind what happens in those "lost" days between each one(some explained if you collect all of the web)

Overall I enjoyed this game when it's played with a more "fun" frame of mind than one seeking a deep story. Is it there? Yeah, just not as much that leaves you full.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/09

Game Release: Prototype (US, 06/09/09)