Review: Prototype

Throw in an incredibly downsized and watered-down version of Grand Theft Auto IV with The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, and you roughly have Prototype, Radical Entertainment’s latest title for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It’s an open-world adventure with a lot of destruction and killing as you play Prototype‘s antihero Alex Mercer, who needs answers and will stop at nothing to get them. Luckily for him, he has superhuman abilities that allow him to destroy tanks and helicopters, scale and climb buildings and transform into the very people he kills. Unlike the recent trend in open-world games that require you to make choices in morality, Prototype encourages you to relentlessly use your powers and unleash hell on anyone in your path.

While a virus has turned most residents of New York City into mutants, Alex Mercer simply has amnesia and strange powers that basically exceed what a normal human can do with his or her body. These powers include the typical physical enhancements of faster running speed and greater strength and the ability to change his appearance into anyone he sees and the ability to transform his hands into weapons for slaughtering civilians and soldiers alike. Using these powers, you’ll lead Mercer in finding out the truth about yourself as well as the virus. Although the method of delivering the plot to the player is interesting, it’s not a mind-blowing story, and the voice acting is a bit frustrating at times, but the game does a decent job of moving the story along so that you can pulverize more of your enemies.

The controls of the game are decent at best, suffering from impreciseness. The combat’s lock-on targeting system actually functions quite well, despite the number of enemies that may be on the screen. It targets the most threatening enemy in the area. Targeting only becomes a hassle in small areas when the camera also becomes wonky, and when you consider the inaccurate controls, fighting is sometimes more work than it should be. Directing Mercer to a specific location can become a lot of work as the game tries to work with your movements and the environment, resulting in Mercer possibly moving in a completely different direction or suddenly jumping off the building you were climbing.

Did I mention you have a lot of powers? You could say Alex Mercer is a combination of Samus Aran, Tommy Vercetti, Sonic, and Edward Elric. You won’t take damage from falls, you can use nearly every weapon you find and drive tanks and helicopters, you’re unreasonably fast and agile, and you can change his hands into four different weapons including a blade and claws. These abilities are only enhanced by the sheer ridiculous amount of upgrades available for Mercer. Prototype awards evolutions points that can be used to purchase new upgrades. There are dozens upon dozens of powers, and you probably will not ever unlock or use them all. And even though it may start to feel like there are just an overabundance of them, earning all these powers definitely feels rewarding and satisfying. Of course, it’s also satisfying to use them too.

Although it’s nice that Prototype offers so much in terms of combat, there comes a point at which you may ask yourself, “How am I supposed to press this combination of buttons in the heat of battle?” Some moves are overly complicated or difficult to even pull off when you’re not even fighting, and it may have been better if the move list was shortened with only the essential ones intact. You may be amazed by what you kind of combos you can do (leap into the air, kick the helicopter toward the ground, and then cannonball into a tank), but you’ll end up relying on the most effective moves or button mashing as the game begins to throw more and more enemies toward the end of the game, when it becomes just too overwhelming to think your combos through. It’s worth going back though and trying out the different abilities you didn’t use, just to see what Mercer can do.

He is able to “eat” characters, which will add health and allow him to take on their forms. This adds an interesting element to the gameplay, allowing you to disguise yourself as soldiers or other pedestrians as well. As the game progressively gets harder, you will have to rely on this method to regain health when the regeneration just isn’t quick enough. This eating ability is also used to push the story along. Certain characters will provide you with knowledge either of your past or of the general situation at hand, adding bits and pieces of information to your “Web of Intrigue.” These will eventually connect to each other as you gather more memories, and everything will start to make sense. You can think of it like Metroid Prime‘s lore; you’re not required to get all of them (or in Prime‘s case, any at all), but they provide an insight to the backstory. It won’t force everything on you, but the option is there.

Navigating the city isn’t exactly fun. The world itself may not be New York City in its entirety, but it’s a decent size. It’s a complete thrill to glide across the city, do exaggerated parkour moves, and run across the sides of buildings, but the game all too frequently interrupts these moments when a soldier calls a strike team to take you down or the controls get in the way and throw you off course. The city also suffers from a lack of personality, suffering from blandness and repetition. You will see the same pedestrians and buildings repeated over and over again. Other than using characters, vehicles and certain objects on the ground as your weapons, you can’t really do much to interact with the environment. For the most part, the draw distance is trash. On the good side, the game offers a variety of side missions, although most of them feel uninspired and are just another way to earn more evolution points.

Prototype runs smoothly despite the number of enemies on screen and the explosions everywhere. It’s apparent that the developers may not have prioritized the game’s visuals beyond the animations and Mercer himself. After all, with all the chaos and as three huge monsters are about to kick your ass, who’s going to be looking at the side of a building and commenting on its textures? The game’s performance is no surprise considering how much the overall visuals need quite a bit of polish if it wants to match up to current-generation standards for triple A titles.

Even with these numerous problems, Prototype rarely ceases to be fun because bashing skulls and slicing a helicopter in half never get old. Radical has delivered an entertaining action game that throws away many of the restraints of past open-world titles and gives you the power to unleash hell upon enemies. In the midst of battle, all that matters is the combat, and it works wonderfully.

Doin’ It RIGHT: - Combat is often satisfying and just plain fun. - Performance is smooth even with dozens upon dozens of enemies onscreen. - Tons of possible ways to slaughter your foes.	Doin’ It RONG: - The world is boring; it needs style and personality. - Controls are imprecise, which may prove frustrating when simply moving to another place. - The graphics need a lot of work.
FINAL SCORE: 7 / 10