Prototype

"[Prototype] - A city wide killing spree. What more could you ask for?"

A game developed by Radical Entertainment, Prototype is a open world based adventure/fighting game. The story behind Prototype is a interesting story, bringing in the elements of a classical zombie invasion, and throwing in new and amazing elements to keep things interesting. You play as Alex Mercer, a man who wakes up in a Morgue with no memory of his past, or how he ended up there. After escaping, he slowly begins to learn he has unusual powers, including but not limited to the ability to transform completely into a nearby victim by absorbing them into yourself.

The game starts off quickly as you are constantly pursued by the Military and a group of mercenaries known as Blackwatch, both wanting you dead. The games best features are the fast paced travelling and parkour under Alex's command, making the City nothing more then a giant playground for you to explore and enjoy.

Well, Let's get on with the grading, shall we?

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics are fairly good throughout the entire game, and there are many amazing effects that will leave you dumbstruck when you first see it. Now, I don't play games for the graphics, so I don't judge something because it doesn't have the best and unbeatable graphics ever made. Which I've seen some people judge by. Now, the cutscenes are great in themselves, and play out certain parts of the story where needed. As for the actual graphics during gameplay, to me, it felt like it was pulled right out of Spiderman: Web of Shadows, but with slightly better graphics and some different buildings. This isn't a bad thing, but it just made me feel like I had done it all before.

The attacks of Alex Mercer were surprisingly well done, and always made me grin when I unleashed some of the powerful Devastators. The Infected looked like average zombies, slowly trodding along with no destination in sight. Some of the stronger Infected were nicely made and though intended, looked rather disgusting at times. I have a weak stomach, so don't mind these comments. Anyway, on to the Military and Blackwatch. The graphics used for this group was rather simple. It felt almost like I was fighting against the cops and Military in GTA4, except that when reinforcements were called in, they actually dropped in from helicopters instead of just running onto the scene. I loved that. The tanks looked like average tanks, as well did the Helicopters.

Controls: 9/10
The controls are excellent. Whether I was attacking the Military or Infected head on, or just travelling from one side of the city to the other, the controls never failed me. My only problem with the controls were within the Lock-on System. I found that when fighting in a serious battle, with both Blackwatch and Infected trying to kill me, that locking onto specific targets was frustrating at best. I usually found myself jumping around like crazy, until I got the correct target before continuing.

Some of the attacks were easy to use at first, but became intricate and unique as you learned new ways of taking down enemies later in the game. From getting into a Tank and/or Helicopter to crush your enemy with their own weapons, or destroying an entire area and killing everything in it in a single attack. Things were easy.

Gameplay: 8/10
The gameplay is simple, yet in certain situations, and get extremely difficult for some reasons. As with most open world games of this nature, there were many things to do other then the story, from collecting Landmark and Hint Tokens(Ugh. Spiderman 2 Moment) down to doing events scattered around the city. Some of the events involved you working with the infected to destroy the military, or the complete opposite and working with the military to kill the infected.

The Web of Intrigue within the game was a great addition, allowing you to search out specific people, and absorb them to learn more about the background story of the current outbreak and the conspiracy that lead up to the moment Alex woke up in the morgue. About half or so of the Web is completed by doing the story alone, and the rest have to be hunted down in the streets, or found in the Military bases to get them. Altogether, it led to some fun when a target showed up while I was fighting something.

As for weapons at your disposal, you won't be disappointed. With 5 devastating weapons at your command, and two defensive abilities, you will be tearing up the enemy in no time. Many skills and abilities can be learned and used when using different weapons, that many battle fluid, but simple at times. The only time I had alot of difficulty during battle was during boss fights, and even then it just took more persistance then anything else. One thing that did annoy me was how easily Tanks and Helicopters could hit a speedy man, zigzaging up the side of a building. I constantly found myself being hit and knocked down some before I could recover and continue on.

Another problem I found was with the Elites. During intense moments like the boss fights, the Elites were EVERYWHERE. I could run around the area during a boss fight, running up buildings and leaping around, and they would still find me again within a few seconds, before even I could get my bearings. It led to some moments where I just had to keep my Lock On set on the boss so I would know where he was, and just run randomly without the camera telling me what was ahead, hoping I wouldn't run head first into an Elite anyway. He Elites best purpose other then annoying you to no end, was for a huge amount of healing when you need it.

Sound: 9/10
There isn't much for me to say about the sound of this game, though I'll try my best. Many enemies had their own distinct sounds associated with them, and if listening carefully, you could hear them coming, even if it was only the pounding feet of the Elites, or the sluggish noises of the fat zombie infected. Explosions sounded like Explosions, helicopters like helicopters, and guns like guns. The only thing I did like was that I could hear someone calling in a Air Raid, which gave me either a few seconds to flee the area or time to prepare for a air battle. Out of everything in the game, I loved the voice acting. The voices fit nicely with the characters they were associated with and during cutscenes made me feel like I was watching a movie. Which was good. I like movies.

Story: 7/10
The story wasn't anything special. Let's just get that out of the way right away. At first, it was just a basic zombie apocalypse within the confines of the city. Though, I liked the idea that the infected started off small in small breakouts, then got worse as the story progressed, until nearly the entire city was infected. Alex obviously being the one who has to handle both the infected and the military. Though, as to be expected, there is a large conspiracy behind how and why this outbreak happened, and leads you into completely the Web of Intrigue to learn exactly how this attack went down, one person at a time.

Overall: 8/10
Anyway. Prototype was a good play, and I enjoyed it alot. I has some replay value in which you can replay the game with everything you unlocked in your first playthrough, in New Game +. If I were going to suggest whether to rent or buy it, I would say that if you liked games like Spiderman: Web of Shadows or The Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, then buy this game and give it a go, otherwise Rent it to see how much you enjoy it and go from there. Well. Stay classy, everyone.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/09

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