Game Rating: M
Game Publisher: Activision/Blizzard
Platform: Xbox 360 (also available for PS3 and PC)
Release Date: June 9. 2009
Buy this at: Amazon for $49.99

Before having read a single review by other gamers on “Prototype” I have to tell you about my own experience with the game. Typically, I’ll read other reviews to compare my thoughts to those of other reviewers, but I have such strong opinions about this game. I loved playing “Prototype.” It combines a Sci-Fi style of storyline with elements of superhero. The game is wicked and playing as Alex Mercer is the shit. There really is no way to put it other than that.

I’ve been pretty excited about “Prototype” for a while. Seeing previews of the game at E3 just helped to emphasize my excitement. Luckily, gamers didn’t have to wait too long for this to be released proceeding the E3 conference. I tend to get games for review a little after the game has been released, but ultimately that depends on when the reviewer shipments are sent out. I like to play the games I receive as far through as I can, to the end, before writing the review. Since “Prototype” has been out nearly a month, you’re bound to find a plethora of reviews out there from a wide range of gamers.

I really haven’t found a game exactly like “Prototype.” It obviously takes elements of gaming from a selection of genres. Alex Mercer is a fun, powerful character to play. You learn to fly, can climb walls and scale buildings like Spiderman, morph into NPCs to blend in, take over military vehicles (including tanks) and some other pretty cool things. That’s what makes “Prototype” fun. I enjoyed being a one man army taking on a slew of freakish, lab-created aberrations and military men.

You’ll be exploring New York City in this sandbox style, first person title. More specifically, your playground is Manhattan. You travel the city by foot (you have the ability to use super speed) or by flight once you learn how to fly and glide. You can also hop from building to building, and steal copters and tanks from the military. You also have these wicked claws that remind me of Wolverine’s claws. Alex has the ability to shapeshift into a clawed (later bladed), evolved form, which is just wicked when you are taking on a selection of enemies. The best part of the game is playing Alex Mercer and all the things you can do with the character.

“Prototype’s” story revolves around your character, Alex Mercer. In the beginning, all you know is that you’ve woke up in the morgue, believed to be dead. Of course, you’re not, but your miraculous resurrection is unexplained. Alex is in the basement morgue for the genetic engineering company, GENTEK, and it soon becomes clear this is where Alex once worked. As you (Alex) try to escape you are detained by members of the military who seem intent on hunting Alex down and killing him. Alex’s only benefit is that he’s developed mutated powers that allow him to escape.

After Alex escapes, the story is slowly revealed in flashback, as Alex heads back 20 or so days prior to his impending death. He soon discovers that Manhattan has been hit by a virus. The island has been quarantined and the military are out in full force to control the masses of affected citizens. Those inflicted with the virus are ‘changing’ though Alex has mutated far beyond the average citizen, able to use his mutations in a controlled environment, as a weapon.

Alex is, essentially, the strongest, most savvy person on Manhattan island. This gives you free run of Manhattan, which is pretty cool, especially since this goes between a mission-based and a sandbox-style game. Alex’s goal is to get his memory back, discover the truth about the virus, and what the connection is between his new abilities, GENTEK, and the spreading virus.

One of the things that helps Alex the most is his ability to consume the memories of GENTEK employees and military higher ups, which he later can shapeshift into to gain access into highly restricted areas. Alex is able to put together the pieces of the puzzle through the people he encounters, the memories he consumes and his own, fuzzily returning thought processes.

The two main forces you fight against as Alex are Blackwatch and the infected citizens with what appear to be virus created monsters, the Hunters. Blackwatch may seem, at first, to be the most dangerous. It is a high-level, covert, black ops, Marines based, military unit. The purpose of the unit is to combat biological threats. With Alex’s new abilities, you have become a major, biological threat. Their leader, Captain Cross, has one mission: take out Alex Mercer. While the military is a consistently annoying threat, the true threat is the Hunters.

The Hunters are hard to kill, revive themselves, and flock to Alex like white on rice. These ruthless, disgusting beings lead back to GENTEK and Elizabeth Greene, a woman trapped in a containment area of the GENTEK building. It isn’t hard to realize that Greene isn’t a friend of Alex Mercers. It’s hard to even consider her a woman, at this point.

Along the way, Alex has help from a variety of people including his estranged sister, Dana, his ex-girlfriend, Karen, and Dr. Ragland, whom he meets through Dana. The ensuing story, conspiracy and cover up provide for an engaging, unfolding plot line. This plot is enough to keep you going and interested throughout the proceeding missions.

Enjoyment/Fun Factor:

The features of the game are what make “Prototype” worth playing. The most apparent features deal with Alex Mercer and his newly acquired abilities. Alex has the ability to fall from massively tall buildings without getting hurt. He can shapeshift into a variety of forms and he can consume humans, taking in their memories and their essence. This allows him to shapeshift into these humans, which is incredibly helpful when attempting to blend in on an average street.

Alex has super speed and strength. He can run whole city blocks like nothing, stomp the ground and dent cars with his steps. He can scale buildings a la Spidey-style, and eventually learns how to leap and fly. This is more like gliding, allowing him to travel from high spots across the city in little time. Alex has heightened senses. His greatest gift though is his evolved form.

Alex can shapeshift into an evolved ‘monster’ of sorts. He grows in height, width, and has blade/claws on his hands that can rip apart humans and monsters alike. These blades can eventually be upgraded into a variety of lethal weapons. The more you play as Alex, the stronger you get. Moving with super speed and doing things like jumping at the same time from high buildings creates quite the effect, with the ground being dented by the force of your descent. Just running allows Alex to knock over passerbys with his shoulders and arms, creating quite the uproar with the crowd.

From there, Alex can confiscate and use weapons, take over helicopters, tanks and other military vehicles, and there are a variety of combination moves. I don’t want to list them all here, because I like there to be at least a little element of surprise for gamers when they pop this game into their Xbox 360. Just know the combos ARE awesome.

Alex’s upgrades occur naturally as you complete missions, but also you can purchase select upgrades by earning Evolve Points (EP). It doesn’t take a lot to earn EPs. You mainly earn EPs through side missions, though completing main missions also helps you to upgrade Alex. This is what keeps “Prototype” interesting. It seems like you’re constantly upgrading Alex with wicked moves.

Features
-Ability to regain health overtime or by consuming biomass from monsters or other dead enemies
-Shapeshifting abilities (shapeshift into evolved forms or consumed individuals)
-Ability to consume humans and take on their memories
-Evolved shapeshifted form includes wicked claws, a defensive shield, extensive defensive outer core, more power, blades, ground spiking abilities, the whipfist, hammerfists, body armor etc.
-Super speed
-Super strength
-Learn to Fly/Glide
-Jump hundreds of yards at a time
-Scale buildings by walking up the side of them
-Purchase and earn upgrades making your evolved form more powerful
-Multiple vision modes including Thermal and Infected
-Devastators attacks including the Groundspike Graveyard, Tnedril Barrage, and Critical Pain.
-Morph into innocent civilians to blend into the crowd or consume them to gain health
-Over 30 linear style missions
-Ability to explore Manhattan on your own (sandbox style)
-A selection of side missions to earn EP (Evolve Points)
-Excessive blood and gore
-Find up to 250 orbs scattered across the city
-Ability to throw humans hundreds of feet just for fun or better yet, throw cars at tanks or helicopters!
-In mission/in game consume targets to help reveal the history of the virus

Replayability: [rating:]

The controls, for the most part, are relatively easy to use, on the Xbox 360. You really shouldn’t have any problems playing this game. It is easy to figure out how to do certain moves, and there are also on the screen prompts that tell exactly what buttons to press to complete certain combat missions or perform certain movements.

As you upgrade, you’ll begin to run into problems. Combination moves can be tricky to master as you attempt to press multiple buttons at the same time or consecutively. Hitting any of the buttons on the main Xbox 360 pad at the same time is not the easiest thing to do, so while “Prototype” shines in its ease of use of basic controls, it struggles, falters, and sometimes fails the more intensive gameplay becomes.

Ease of Use:

The visual quality for “Prototype” goes one of two ways. Some of the graphics are stunningly detailed, high tech looking, and pretty much all around awesome. Other animations are messy, blurry and contrast with the spot on animation. Try gliding/flying over Central Park, for example. The blur of trees starts to show some pixelation. The colors blend in to one another. Then stop yourself and the detailed environment appears again.

Visually, this game is filled with so much blood and gore its not hard to establish why it received a Mature rating. The blood and guts look somewhat realistic, too. The nasty virus ooze is bright and disgusting. You’ll know when you’re coming to an infected area just by its orange gooey, nastiness. Alex looks pretty sweet when he’s leaping through buildings, morphing into other people, and evolving into the various upgrades you’ll purchase from him. His blade hand shines, and the blood spurts from his victims with every single slash.

While some aspects of the game, visually, are magnificent, others leave much to be desired. The environment, the endless barrage of brownstone style buildings, is tedious, with very few identifiable aspects of New York City. Other than Central Park, you are limited to a bland, indistinguishable city. Your inability to do anything to restructure New York, is a downside to the game both aesthetically and from an entertainment standpoint.

Visual:

The best part of the sound for “Prototype” is to the credit of the voice actors who help to bring the game alive. There are many familiar voices from both film and television. The most notable is Barry Pepper who voices Alex Mercer, himself. Other notable voices are that of Lake Bell (Dana Mercer), Vanessa Marshall (Karen Parker), David Andriole, Gordon Clapp, Paul Guilfoyle, Yuri Lowenthal, and Troy Baker. Pepper owns it as Alex, enhancing this character to something awesome, even more than he already is.

Explosions, gunfire, slashing, and even the screams of Alex’s victims sound decent, but aren’t standout. The same is true with the somewhat repetitious soundtrack that accompanies the game. As you approach an enemy situation, menacing music appears, and as you leave the location, you can hear nothing but simple street noises. The menacing music has faded. While not exceptional, the soundtrack is fitting for this game. Just don’t expect it to win any awards.

Audio:

While hardcore gamers can really get into “Prototype,” casual gamers might want to pass this up. There is way too much action, too much gore, and too many missions for the casual gamer. The entire game experience would be rather frustrating for those who aren’t used to playing a fast paced game. For those who are really into the superhero, sci-fi, first person action style game, “Prototype” is sick! Sure, there are some issues that could have (should have) been worked out before Activision released this game. However, the sheer awesomeness of Alex Mercer as a gaming character pushes all the negatives to the side, making this one game worth owning.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: Prototype, Video Game, Activision, Blizzard, Xbox 360, Alex Mercer, superhero powers, superhuman, virus, Gentek, video game review