Prototype Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 17th June 2009

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Prototype is put the test in this review.

Prototype Details:

	Third Person Shooter
	PC/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360
	Radical
	Activision

18+

Out Now

Disease ridden cities cut-off from the rest of the world, seem to be the setting of choice for open world action games at present. At the end of last month we had the PlayStation 3 exclusive inFamous. Now we have the shape shifting multiplatform Prototype, from Activision. Both games share many similarities, and inFamous has proved to be a hit. But can this new offering live up to the standards laid down by its forerunner?

Prototype places you in the role of Alex Mercer a genetically mutated man with shape shifting abilities. Alex has no memory of why he has this ability, what has happened to him or who is responsible. So in typical anti hero fashion, Alex goes on the hunt to find out and exact revenge. Things however, have been complicated as a virus outbreak has left New York cut-off and under tight quarantine with a large military presence in place. The military are under the supervision of a secretive government organisation, known only as Black Light and they have declared open war on the ever increasing number of zombie-like infected civilians.

So with all hell breaking loose in New York how are you suppose to get to the bottom of things? Well as you would expect Alex’s shape shifting abilities allow him to take on the appearance of any character in the game, they have also granted him extraordinary strength, speed and agility. Alex is also able to generate various weapons with his body, such as claws, blades, and whip like projectiles. He can even generate armour and a shield. Each power has to be unlocked in the way we have become accustomed to – by completing missions, defeating specific enemies, or just by buying the ability via the games upgrade screen. You can also improve on many of your powers and abilities, as well as unlock new combos to perform. Prototype also gives you a glimpse, of how powerful you can become in the first few minutes of starting. However, as is such the case these days, the game soon flashes back to “how it all began” and you consequently lose all your powers!

Being set in New York, the distance you need to cover when playing is pretty extensive, and despite being able to run at a considerable speed Radical Entertainment has made getting around easy. This is thanks, to Alex’s ability to jump very high, run up the side of buildings and even glide through the air superman style. This of course makes exploring the game environment considerably more fun than most open world action games and also cuts out the seemingly now, passé need to drive every where.

Despite the excellent abilities the game offers to get around, it can also be quite hindered by the awkward control system that videogame employs. For the most part the controls are good and responsive. However, most buttons are used to control various abilities and powers. This can lead to some considerable confusion, none more so then during combat. However, this isn’t the only area the game falls short. Many of your abilities are quite ineffective against certain enemies and you often have to experiment to find a successful formula. But changing between powers seems to take a very long time and this leaves you exposed to enemy attacks and can frustratingly result in your untimely demise!

AI in Prototype is spot on, military units are as you would expect good shots and will pursue you with armoured vehicles and gun ships. All of which can be hijacked and used against them which adds some variation to the game, and most importantly allows you to blast anything in sight! The infected come in a number of forms, some pose little threat whilst others are quite formidable. However, despite the good Ai most enemies you encounter will be easily dealt with! This is due to the fact that Alex is so powerful which gives the game an unbalanced feel, especially during the early missions. Despite your power though, the game does come up with a few ways to frustrate you. Firstly many key fights take place in confined areas. This renders some of your abilities ineffective, and combined with the fact you’re fighting two factions in greater numbers means more often than not you’ll see the Alex is Dead message scrawled across the screen much to your annoyance.

Prototype’s campaign consists of 31 missions, which obviously progress the games story forward. Missions are what you would expect from an open world action game. These consist of travelling around the game world killing specific enemies, infiltrating strongholds and collecting various items. Most missions involve some intensive form of combat, whether it’s against the military or infected. This sadly makes the campaign feel a little repetitive and as the structure of Prototype’s missions also doesn’t really serve up anything new or exciting. It all feels like any number games you’ve played plenty of times already. Apart from the campaign missions Prototype also features a substantial number of events to take part in. But whilst these have no real bearing on the games story, they do offer the chance to earn large amounts of evolution points which are used to buy the various power upgrades and new abilities. These events consist of things such as checkpoints races up the side of buildings, having to kill a set number of enemies within a time limit and gliding to a target on the ground after jumping off the top of a building. These events can be a welcome distraction from the repetition of the games story, however that’s all they are and nothing more, and I can’t help but feel they were included as nothing more than filler. As they simply seem to have been an after thought. As with other recent open world action games, Prototype too lacks a multiplayer component, which will disappoint gamers who like a good blast online with friends. This also detracts from the games longevity as after completing the story there’s very little in Prototype to hold your attention.

Graphics wise the game is very good, the developers have animated Alex’s agility brilliantly. New York has also been recreated well with many of the famous landmarks present. The developers have also done a brilliant job of creating a living atmosphere. The streets are absolutely packed with people and traffic and the way it develops as the infection spreads is brilliantly. Buildings can be seen burning, landmarks become trashed and the streets are littered with debris, corpses, overturned cars and even flesh like pools of ooze. The games audio is also done to a high standard, the ambient sounds of the city are brilliant and again this evolves and changes as the virus spreads to new areas. All you can hear around you are screams, panic and the groans of the zombie like infected. The only area of the games audio which is a let down is the soundtrack! This is highly repetitive and overly intense even when things are calm in the game world.

Prototype promised a lot, but sadly it hasn’t quite managed to deliver. The shape shifting abilities of the games protagonist are fun to experiment with but the story campaign has an all too familiar feel to it. The game is still worth playing, especially for fans of open world action games, but don’t expect Prototype to hold your attention for long, especially due to the lack of a multiplayer component.