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Prototype Reviewed
Less is more. Or so the old adage goes. The developers at Radical Entertainment don’t agree. That’s because more is more. At least, that’s what they believe. With Prototype the studio takes the template from their popular 2005 game “Hulk: Ultimate Destruction” and turns the dial as far as it’ll go. The result is an incredibly violent, brash, raucous game that’s incredibly good in some areas but lacking in others.
Prototype opens with an impressive cinematic that sets up a fractured story. You play as Alex Mercer and, at this point in time, New York City appears to be in the grip of a mutagenic virus. Alex is linked to the outbreak somehow and he’s on the war path, intent on finding out who is responsible and what is happening to him.
This sequence leads into a massive showdown in Times Square that functions as a mini tutorial. Alex has been turned into a combat monster. He’s super strong, super agile, he can run up the side of buildings, toss cars around, turn his hands into massive claws, turn his arm into a giant cutting saw, he can even grab onto other living things, like innocent civilians, and absorb them into himself for a health boost.
It’s an epic confrontation that involves Alex, the military, black ops, monsters and infected zombie pedestrians. This is Prototype at its very best and then, in true Metroid style, something happens that forces you to relive the weeks leading up to this awesome encounter. You’re stripped of your powers and wake up in a morgue.
Even this early on, Alex is no slouch. He’s still super strong and super agile but he doesn’t have access to the good stuff. It takes a few hours before you’re back in business, and those hours are spent following linear missions. As with any open world game, key missions unlock as others are completed and side challenges are made available the more missions you complete.
Missions are generally varied and enjoyable and make the most of Alex’s ability to utterly kill and destroy things. The story is a little clichéd but it’s presented nicely through post mission cinematics. Further plot can be sought out via the “Web of Intrigue.” As you take on missions you’ll come across people with markings hovering above their heads. Consume these people and you’ll obtain their memories and another piece of the puzzle.
Prototype's visual quality is let down by poor character models and bland cityscapes.
There are over 100 Web of Intrique targets wandering the city, and whilst the things you learn aren't integral the overall story they do offer various perspectives. All of them use voice over coupled with stylised photos and artwork that shed light on past events. Hunting down these fragments of information is one of the few meaningful things you'll do outside of the main missions.
Consumption is a big deal in Prototype. You consume to gain plot points, regain health and even learn new abilities. If you want to fly a chopper you’ll need to consume a guy who can fly one. If you want better weapons accuracy you need to consume a guy who can shoot well. Consumption is a violent business too, and every power has its own twisted animations to go along with it. Smashed skulls, ripped torsos. It’s all in a day’s work.
"Infamous" was recently released on Playstation 3 and offered players a choice between good and evil. Prototype offers no such choice and seemingly has no moral constraints, if that's something that bothers you. Alex's mission of revenge doesn't convince. He's been given all these fantastic powers but feels the need to hunt down and kill those responsible. He has no care for human life and innocent people are regularly torn to pieces, either caught in the crossfire or consumed to regain health. Alex isn't all that likable.
The list of unlockable abilities is vast and you’ll be spending a good chunk of your time in menus buying new powers and improving old ones. As you slaughter your way through New York you earn “Evolution Points” for destroying or evading strike teams, completing missions and tackling side challenges. This focus on raw, relentless action is the game’s biggest strength and weakness. It’s sometimes too chaotic.
It doesn’t take the completion of many missions for the military response to improve. Soldiers are coupled with APCs and choppers. It’s not long before choppers are replaced with attack chopper variants. By the time tanks arrive, half the city is crawling with infected civilians and completing simple tasks becomes an intense, three way fight that the camera can rarely keep track of.
The visual quality also fluctuates regularly. Character models aren’t that detailed and despite the number of enemies and NPCs milling around the city it feels static. The draw distance is often short and buildings regularly repeat. Obviously corners had to be cut somewhere to facilitate the vast amounts of carnage but the graphics are a bit of a letdown. On the other hand, the voice acting is decent and the sound of heads cracking against concrete is suitably nasty.
There’s very little to do here aside from complete the main story. There are 30 missions but blasting through these won’t take more than 6 or 7 hours. The side challenges are uniformly boring also, unlike those in Radical’s Hulk game, which were imaginative takes on core gameplay mechanics. Here you’re limited to races and timed fights with set enemies. Considering the arrary of powers and potential applications, Prototype stills plays in a very linear, controlled fashion.
Prototype comes only a few weeks after the fantastic Red Faction: Guerrilla and whilst it isn’t without its charms, it’s not in the same league. Prototype is fun but the technology is lacking, the life span isn’t there and it sometimes feels overraught. Perhaps less really is more? But then this is the Prototype. There’s always next time.
Prototype opens with an impressive cinematic that sets up a fractured story. You play as Alex Mercer and, at this point in time, New York City appears to be in the grip of a mutagenic virus. Alex is linked to the outbreak somehow and he’s on the war path, intent on finding out who is responsible and what is happening to him.
This sequence leads into a massive showdown in Times Square that functions as a mini tutorial. Alex has been turned into a combat monster. He’s super strong, super agile, he can run up the side of buildings, toss cars around, turn his hands into massive claws, turn his arm into a giant cutting saw, he can even grab onto other living things, like innocent civilians, and absorb them into himself for a health boost.
It’s an epic confrontation that involves Alex, the military, black ops, monsters and infected zombie pedestrians. This is Prototype at its very best and then, in true Metroid style, something happens that forces you to relive the weeks leading up to this awesome encounter. You’re stripped of your powers and wake up in a morgue.
Even this early on, Alex is no slouch. He’s still super strong and super agile but he doesn’t have access to the good stuff. It takes a few hours before you’re back in business, and those hours are spent following linear missions. As with any open world game, key missions unlock as others are completed and side challenges are made available the more missions you complete.
Missions are generally varied and enjoyable and make the most of Alex’s ability to utterly kill and destroy things. The story is a little clichéd but it’s presented nicely through post mission cinematics. Further plot can be sought out via the “Web of Intrigue.” As you take on missions you’ll come across people with markings hovering above their heads. Consume these people and you’ll obtain their memories and another piece of the puzzle.
Prototype's visual quality is let down by poor character models and bland cityscapes.
There are over 100 Web of Intrique targets wandering the city, and whilst the things you learn aren't integral the overall story they do offer various perspectives. All of them use voice over coupled with stylised photos and artwork that shed light on past events. Hunting down these fragments of information is one of the few meaningful things you'll do outside of the main missions.
Consumption is a big deal in Prototype. You consume to gain plot points, regain health and even learn new abilities. If you want to fly a chopper you’ll need to consume a guy who can fly one. If you want better weapons accuracy you need to consume a guy who can shoot well. Consumption is a violent business too, and every power has its own twisted animations to go along with it. Smashed skulls, ripped torsos. It’s all in a day’s work.
"Infamous" was recently released on Playstation 3 and offered players a choice between good and evil. Prototype offers no such choice and seemingly has no moral constraints, if that's something that bothers you. Alex's mission of revenge doesn't convince. He's been given all these fantastic powers but feels the need to hunt down and kill those responsible. He has no care for human life and innocent people are regularly torn to pieces, either caught in the crossfire or consumed to regain health. Alex isn't all that likable.
The list of unlockable abilities is vast and you’ll be spending a good chunk of your time in menus buying new powers and improving old ones. As you slaughter your way through New York you earn “Evolution Points” for destroying or evading strike teams, completing missions and tackling side challenges. This focus on raw, relentless action is the game’s biggest strength and weakness. It’s sometimes too chaotic.
It doesn’t take the completion of many missions for the military response to improve. Soldiers are coupled with APCs and choppers. It’s not long before choppers are replaced with attack chopper variants. By the time tanks arrive, half the city is crawling with infected civilians and completing simple tasks becomes an intense, three way fight that the camera can rarely keep track of.
The visual quality also fluctuates regularly. Character models aren’t that detailed and despite the number of enemies and NPCs milling around the city it feels static. The draw distance is often short and buildings regularly repeat. Obviously corners had to be cut somewhere to facilitate the vast amounts of carnage but the graphics are a bit of a letdown. On the other hand, the voice acting is decent and the sound of heads cracking against concrete is suitably nasty.
There’s very little to do here aside from complete the main story. There are 30 missions but blasting through these won’t take more than 6 or 7 hours. The side challenges are uniformly boring also, unlike those in Radical’s Hulk game, which were imaginative takes on core gameplay mechanics. Here you’re limited to races and timed fights with set enemies. Considering the arrary of powers and potential applications, Prototype stills plays in a very linear, controlled fashion.
Prototype comes only a few weeks after the fantastic Red Faction: Guerrilla and whilst it isn’t without its charms, it’s not in the same league. Prototype is fun but the technology is lacking, the life span isn’t there and it sometimes feels overraught. Perhaps less really is more? But then this is the Prototype. There’s always next time.
