Alright, to be quite honest, I wasn't even aware of this game until a gamestop employee suggested it to me by pre-order, and it made me very suspicious. I am glad to say that my pre-conceptions of this game were totally wrong.
Prototype is a fast paced comic book styled sand box game, I say comic book styled instead of just "Super Hero" because you aren't really a hero. You play as Alex Mercer, an amnesiac super human in the city of new york, you set out to find out who you are, revenge, yadda yadda yadda, you've all seen this before. But with story it isn't about originality (even though that helps) its about presentation, and the story is presented well enough so that you really don't care how unoriginal it is.
Lets move onto the most important part of any game the gameplay. After the tutorial all you have to fight with is your shapeshifting, your consuming, your parkour, and your fists. All of your special abilities and weapons are unlocked later. I think this is where the game shines, the first bit of actual free roaming you get to do sucks you in. Alex Mercer has abilities that Spiderman would gush over, such as running straight up walls, leaping farther then the old Spider ever could, and the ability to glide. Some of the little activities they give you in free roam mode will remind you of a certain Spiderman Movie game. Its insanely fun to run through these races, or even to just enjoy the city through a beautifully violent rampage, followed by a tense parkour chase through the city.
The combat however, reminded me more of God of War, which is a very good thing as God of War had one of the most satisfying combat systems. As you progress you get the ability to buy certain shapeshifting abilities. Such as the ability to change your hands into giant boulders, a sword, a whip, giant claws, and the ability to wrap biomass around your arms to make yourself stronger. You can also transform into defensive forms, such as transforming your arm into a giant shield, or covering your entire body in armor.
But sometimes, your super powers won't be enough, in later portions of the game, this is where the enemies own weapons come into play. Picking up guns, tanks, and helicopters all come in handy, but to be honest, the only gun I ever picked up was the Rocket Launcher. Hijacking tanks are one perplexingly difficult quicktime event away. Its difficult not because of the speed of the button presses required, but because everyone is still shooting you while your pressing them so if a helicopter rocket, or a rocket launcher is fired at you, you are interrupted. Helicopters can be quite easily hijacked on the reverse, its a simple matter of using your biowhip, lock on, and grab. The quicktime event is made easier by the fact that you are at such an odd angle on the helicopter that enemies cant fire at you.
One of the more interesting features in the game is the "consume" feature, which enables you to grab an enemy, and then cosume them into your body. Consuming is quite easily done and nets you back a good amount of health, an amount which can be upgraded. Consuming someone also allows you to transform into them. In certain cases, consuming even gives you abilities, such as early in the game you are required to consume a tank pilot to learn how to pilot a tank, same with Helicopter. There are also people you can consume to get air strikes, upgrade weapon damage, and recover their memories to piece together the puzzle of the story.
In closing, the game was quite fun, if a little frustratingly difficult at times. I would suggest that you buy it. No, the graphics are not that amazing but if graphics mean that much to you then rent it, but you should at least give the game a chance.
Prototype is a fast paced comic book styled sand box game, I say comic book styled instead of just "Super Hero" because you aren't really a hero. You play as Alex Mercer, an amnesiac super human in the city of new york, you set out to find out who you are, revenge, yadda yadda yadda, you've all seen this before. But with story it isn't about originality (even though that helps) its about presentation, and the story is presented well enough so that you really don't care how unoriginal it is.
Lets move onto the most important part of any game the gameplay. After the tutorial all you have to fight with is your shapeshifting, your consuming, your parkour, and your fists. All of your special abilities and weapons are unlocked later. I think this is where the game shines, the first bit of actual free roaming you get to do sucks you in. Alex Mercer has abilities that Spiderman would gush over, such as running straight up walls, leaping farther then the old Spider ever could, and the ability to glide. Some of the little activities they give you in free roam mode will remind you of a certain Spiderman Movie game. Its insanely fun to run through these races, or even to just enjoy the city through a beautifully violent rampage, followed by a tense parkour chase through the city.
The combat however, reminded me more of God of War, which is a very good thing as God of War had one of the most satisfying combat systems. As you progress you get the ability to buy certain shapeshifting abilities. Such as the ability to change your hands into giant boulders, a sword, a whip, giant claws, and the ability to wrap biomass around your arms to make yourself stronger. You can also transform into defensive forms, such as transforming your arm into a giant shield, or covering your entire body in armor.
But sometimes, your super powers won't be enough, in later portions of the game, this is where the enemies own weapons come into play. Picking up guns, tanks, and helicopters all come in handy, but to be honest, the only gun I ever picked up was the Rocket Launcher. Hijacking tanks are one perplexingly difficult quicktime event away. Its difficult not because of the speed of the button presses required, but because everyone is still shooting you while your pressing them so if a helicopter rocket, or a rocket launcher is fired at you, you are interrupted. Helicopters can be quite easily hijacked on the reverse, its a simple matter of using your biowhip, lock on, and grab. The quicktime event is made easier by the fact that you are at such an odd angle on the helicopter that enemies cant fire at you.
One of the more interesting features in the game is the "consume" feature, which enables you to grab an enemy, and then cosume them into your body. Consuming is quite easily done and nets you back a good amount of health, an amount which can be upgraded. Consuming someone also allows you to transform into them. In certain cases, consuming even gives you abilities, such as early in the game you are required to consume a tank pilot to learn how to pilot a tank, same with Helicopter. There are also people you can consume to get air strikes, upgrade weapon damage, and recover their memories to piece together the puzzle of the story.
In closing, the game was quite fun, if a little frustratingly difficult at times. I would suggest that you buy it. No, the graphics are not that amazing but if graphics mean that much to you then rent it, but you should at least give the game a chance.
