Prototype
A hulking success?
Waking on a cold mortuary slab, shape-shifting biological weapon Alex Mercer escapes the shackles of death to stagger, confused and angry, into an infection-ravaged New York City on the verge of self-destruction. With the military's elite Project BLACKWATCH struggling to contain the spread of a deadly virus initially unleashed at Penn Station, Alex sets about attempting to use his plethora of superhuman abilities to help clear his clouded memory, uncover his shadowy past, and exact a growing desire for revenge.
Prototype is, first and foremost, a straight-out action game. Granted, it may hide within a generous sandbox environment and behind a fragmented storyline told through snatches of character memory, but it's an experience built on allowing players to enjoy frantic battle encounters while wielding a staggering range of upgradeable powers. It's also all-too obvious from the get-go that, through Prototype, developer Radical Entertainment has merely created a fresh canvas of chaos for its widely unappreciated last-gen title The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction - which is no bad thing.
Initial player reaction to Prototype is likely to mirror the sensation felt by Alex at the top of the game as he evades the clutches of nefarious genetics company Gentek with little idea of where to find answers to his questions amid a familiar cityscape rendered suddenly alien and unrecognisable. However, from the player's perspective, an overwhelming arsenal of powers and a guiding mission map screen quickly combine to outline that point-to-point travel, efficient event completion and continual ability evolution are the keys to survival and progression.
More pointedly, the gathering and trading of Evolution Points (EP) is central to almost every action in Prototype and is a prerequisite to unlocking and honing the array of destructive attacks and superhuman abilities that make Alex an all-but unstoppable genetic weapon. Whether simply wreaking havoc across New York, retrieving environmental and hint orbs scattered about the world, tackling mini-challenges focused on specific powers and skills, or moving through the story missions, the constant attainment and careful allocation of EP via the game's Upgrade screen is absolutely essential.
And when the player isn't using EP to cultivate Alex's ability to jump, air-dash and glide great distances, fire-off a wealth of truly devastating attacks, or hurl all manner of heavy objects at enemies, the game's other core mechanic revolves around the somewhat disturbing process of consuming information - where 'consuming' is the operative word. As a shape shifter, Alex is not only able to replenish health by physically absorbing both human and mutant NPCs, he's also able to consume and assume the form of select human characters in order to gain stealthy access to restricted areas and secure snippets of vital memory that contribute towards uncovering a terrible plan some 40 years in the making.
Some may accuse Prototype and its astounding range of player abilities as being an exercise in gameplay overkill that disguises fairly shallow narrative (and they'd be right), but there's no denying the endless enjoyment to be had from battling multiple waves of reactionary military Strike Forces, beating back hordes of the infected and their accompanying Hunter abominations, and generally jumping into the middle of raging encounters between the two opposing factions. And, much more than another open-world superhero game presently doing the rounds, Prototype offers more clear-cut challenge and difficultly through its missions whereby correctly executing the right power combination at the right time can often be the difference between success and failure. Yes, the arsenal at Alex's disposal can be intimidating, but every move and attack, whether it's skyjacking helicopters, or elbow dropping from skyscrapers onto tanks, serves a purpose and has been included by Radical to give the player genuine choice on how they approach unfolding situations.
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