McGrath vs Mercer in Alex's Infamous vs Prototype Showdown!
What with the recent release of Infamous 2, and the expectations of playing the new Prototype game next year, we can expect the war between these two exceptional franchises to continue. Not only were the debut games’ release dates a month apart, but they’re both sandbox-style action titles giving you control over the abilities of a newly transformed, super-powered grunt in your hands!
Countless comparisons have been made between the first in each series (most humourously, Yahtzee’s Zero Punctuation video) and the dispute will never truly be settled, as it is an opinionated matter. However, there are facts that make one game superior to the other in different respects. It’s your choice to decide how important each of these ‘respects’ is! So I bring you, Cole McGrath vs. Alex Mercer, Sucker Punch vs. Radical Entertainment, high-voltage sphere-hunting delivery boy vs. body-morphing, mystified, hoodie-wearing death machine – the ultimate comparison!
Countless comparisons have been made between the first in each series (most humourously, Yahtzee’s Zero Punctuation video) and the dispute will never truly be settled, as it is an opinionated matter. However, there are facts that make one game superior to the other in different respects. It’s your choice to decide how important each of these ‘respects’ is! So I bring you, Cole McGrath vs. Alex Mercer, Sucker Punch vs. Radical Entertainment, high-voltage sphere-hunting delivery boy vs. body-morphing, mystified, hoodie-wearing death machine – the ultimate comparison!
Prototype on the left, Infamous on the right
Gameplay
Prototype’s gameplay is focused on pure carnage and destruction…Yeah! We all love throwing cars at shit all day!! And I personally love running up walls! (am I the only one??) Infamous differs on the basis that Cole is, admittedly, less juiced up than Alex power-wise. Infamous focuses on less action-packed, but more engaging gameplay, with a theme being decision making, as the game’s Karma system reflects, as well as the power meter which limits your usage of certain powers.
Prototype lets the player pick up and hurl stuff, as well as run amuck causing carnage, whereas infamous puts you in a role-playing sort of position, which you can run amuck in, but with more destructive boundaries. This category is largely opinionated as both have vastly different styles, so I say if you’d like to go nuts, then Prototype is for you. If you want more depth in your gameplay, then choose Infamous.
Prototype: 1
Infamous: 1
Prototype’s gameplay is focused on pure carnage and destruction…Yeah! We all love throwing cars at shit all day!! And I personally love running up walls! (am I the only one??) Infamous differs on the basis that Cole is, admittedly, less juiced up than Alex power-wise. Infamous focuses on less action-packed, but more engaging gameplay, with a theme being decision making, as the game’s Karma system reflects, as well as the power meter which limits your usage of certain powers.
Prototype lets the player pick up and hurl stuff, as well as run amuck causing carnage, whereas infamous puts you in a role-playing sort of position, which you can run amuck in, but with more destructive boundaries. This category is largely opinionated as both have vastly different styles, so I say if you’d like to go nuts, then Prototype is for you. If you want more depth in your gameplay, then choose Infamous.
Prototype: 1
Infamous: 1
Prototype on the left, Infamous on the right.
Story
Infamous’ plotline is told in comic book-like cutscenes, which are great at capturing the mood of the drama, and the story itself is told from Cole’s perspective on events. The ending also has a very nice twist and continuation. As I said in my review, Prototype is more like a conspiracy and isn’t easy to follow or fall in love with. And for those who do, you can expect an account of Alex Mercer suffering at the hands of a biological experiment which erases his memories and sends him on a killing spree.
It is mostly agreed Prototype’s storyline is an acquired taste, and Infamous’ is simple but very effective.
Prototype: 1
Infamous: 2
Infamous’ plotline is told in comic book-like cutscenes, which are great at capturing the mood of the drama, and the story itself is told from Cole’s perspective on events. The ending also has a very nice twist and continuation. As I said in my review, Prototype is more like a conspiracy and isn’t easy to follow or fall in love with. And for those who do, you can expect an account of Alex Mercer suffering at the hands of a biological experiment which erases his memories and sends him on a killing spree.
It is mostly agreed Prototype’s storyline is an acquired taste, and Infamous’ is simple but very effective.
Prototype: 1
Infamous: 2
Replayability
The issue of replayability is ambiguous for these games. Infamous, having played through the game following one Karmic path, you are likely to want to play it again following the opposite. However, Prototype is very pick up and play. While the story isn’t worth giving another shot, it’s more probable you’ll dust it off again to run about obliterating everything you see.
That’s important for a game, to want to take it off the heap and just have a fun time. After a couple of play-throughs, you would only really play Infamous again for the bonus collectables. There’s nothing much else to do. Prototype, however, you can keep coming back to it, angering the military, and fighting for your life, which is why it wins this one… just.
Prototype: 2
Infamous: 2
The issue of replayability is ambiguous for these games. Infamous, having played through the game following one Karmic path, you are likely to want to play it again following the opposite. However, Prototype is very pick up and play. While the story isn’t worth giving another shot, it’s more probable you’ll dust it off again to run about obliterating everything you see.
That’s important for a game, to want to take it off the heap and just have a fun time. After a couple of play-throughs, you would only really play Infamous again for the bonus collectables. There’s nothing much else to do. Prototype, however, you can keep coming back to it, angering the military, and fighting for your life, which is why it wins this one… just.
Prototype: 2
Infamous: 2
Prototype on left, Infamous on right
Arsenal
Infamous has a few different power attributes depending on what Karma you have, and the powers are easy to master. They’re flashy, and they get the job done. But Prototype just smashes Infamous here. There is a huge selection of weaponry which you can switch between with ease, and purchasing the different moves and upgrades is the real highlight of the game.
Some of the combinations and button commands are a bit difficult to carry out, but it doesn’t overshadow just the variety of awe-inspiring melee at your disposal, including a range of very stylish area attacks! Oh, and you can pick up a few guns from the army, as well. Ohhh yes!
Prototype: 3
Infamous: 2
Infamous has a few different power attributes depending on what Karma you have, and the powers are easy to master. They’re flashy, and they get the job done. But Prototype just smashes Infamous here. There is a huge selection of weaponry which you can switch between with ease, and purchasing the different moves and upgrades is the real highlight of the game.
Some of the combinations and button commands are a bit difficult to carry out, but it doesn’t overshadow just the variety of awe-inspiring melee at your disposal, including a range of very stylish area attacks! Oh, and you can pick up a few guns from the army, as well. Ohhh yes!
Prototype: 3
Infamous: 2
Looks
‘Oops!’ say Radical Entertainment. Yeah, Prototype’s graphics suck. If you remember back to my review, you’ll remember how I criticised the game’s grey and red unappealing auras which make you physically sick. The buildings are also cardboard boxes, seriously. Infamous, being exclusive, doesn’t tone down it’s graphics to compensate for the Xbox 360’s inferior processor, so there are advantages to being on one console. Regardless of the PS3’s capabilities, the fact it’s dedicated to a single console makes full use of what that console can do, and doesn’t need to alter graphics for another system.
Also, the Infamous graphics just…rock! Everything from the detailed structural landscape to the beautiful buzz of Cole’s lightning - simply heart warming.
Prototype: 3
Infamous: 3
‘Oops!’ say Radical Entertainment. Yeah, Prototype’s graphics suck. If you remember back to my review, you’ll remember how I criticised the game’s grey and red unappealing auras which make you physically sick. The buildings are also cardboard boxes, seriously. Infamous, being exclusive, doesn’t tone down it’s graphics to compensate for the Xbox 360’s inferior processor, so there are advantages to being on one console. Regardless of the PS3’s capabilities, the fact it’s dedicated to a single console makes full use of what that console can do, and doesn’t need to alter graphics for another system.
Also, the Infamous graphics just…rock! Everything from the detailed structural landscape to the beautiful buzz of Cole’s lightning - simply heart warming.
Prototype: 3
Infamous: 3
Infamous on left, Prototype on right.
Side missions
Only Yahtzee could put it better. Prototype’s side missions are redundant as hell. There’s no actual reason to do them, I mean, there’s no reason for them other than to wreck more havoc for points, which you do all the time throughout the game ANYWAY. Infamous, while having a greater variety of side missions as opposed to just killing and rampaging, you feel more useful doing them because Cole is trying to help and rebuild the city (Empire City, which has become rundown since the massive explosion which gave Cole his powers in the first place). Although they are mainly fixed, some quests are optional depending on what Karma you want. For example, there may be one where you’re escorting Reapers (one of the common enemies) down to the local nick (good), or zapping a crowd which is protesting against how evil you are (ironic, and most certainly evil).
Prototype: 3
Infamous: 4
Well, there you go! And perhaps you don’t give a damn about graphics or side missions? Then the opinion is down to you! However, you can either take my advice as a rough guideline to make your decision…or we can get REAL gritty on one last confrontation...
Only Yahtzee could put it better. Prototype’s side missions are redundant as hell. There’s no actual reason to do them, I mean, there’s no reason for them other than to wreck more havoc for points, which you do all the time throughout the game ANYWAY. Infamous, while having a greater variety of side missions as opposed to just killing and rampaging, you feel more useful doing them because Cole is trying to help and rebuild the city (Empire City, which has become rundown since the massive explosion which gave Cole his powers in the first place). Although they are mainly fixed, some quests are optional depending on what Karma you want. For example, there may be one where you’re escorting Reapers (one of the common enemies) down to the local nick (good), or zapping a crowd which is protesting against how evil you are (ironic, and most certainly evil).
Prototype: 3
Infamous: 4
Well, there you go! And perhaps you don’t give a damn about graphics or side missions? Then the opinion is down to you! However, you can either take my advice as a rough guideline to make your decision…or we can get REAL gritty on one last confrontation...
I didn’t want it to come to this, but, Metacritic, you know, the website which takes every major review and averages it out into the ULTIMATE score? I’m leaving it to Metacritic to toss over the final point.
Prototype:
Okay, the PC version is given a 79, as is the PS3 version. For the Xbox, on the other hand, we have 78. This gives it an average of 78.7 (to one decimal place). That’s gonna be tough to beat, let’s see how Infamous handles it…
Infamous:
Ah…85.
Prototype: 3
Infamous: 5
Okay, it didn’t end how I expected, but I’ve proved that Infamous is the better game by far, so avoid Prototype if your life depends on it. Just kidding, they’re both awesome. If you can, get both. If not, then choose wisely!
Prototype:
Okay, the PC version is given a 79, as is the PS3 version. For the Xbox, on the other hand, we have 78. This gives it an average of 78.7 (to one decimal place). That’s gonna be tough to beat, let’s see how Infamous handles it…
Infamous:
Ah…85.
Prototype: 3
Infamous: 5
Okay, it didn’t end how I expected, but I’ve proved that Infamous is the better game by far, so avoid Prototype if your life depends on it. Just kidding, they’re both awesome. If you can, get both. If not, then choose wisely!
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