If you’re a fan of pure ballistic action, or massive open world exploration, then you’ll be sure looking forward to Prototype 2! And to refresh your memory of this insane adrenaline-fuelled experience, let’s take a look back to what made the first game what it was.

We are taken through the story of Alex Mercer, a human biological experiment who wakes up with incredible superpowers that allow him to shape-shift, giving the ability for him to clobber his foes with a variety of unsightly arm mutations, and even allowing him to disguise himself by ‘consuming’ the person he wishes to imitate. Memory erased, Alex is awakened with the sole intent of finding and killing those responsible for his creation, by consuming people who would provide him with information. Meanwhile, a virus outbreak is in progress, creating toxic areas in the city ridden with hideous mutants.

The story plays out like a dark conspiracy, which makes for an interesting plotline…if you really want to follow it. Although some may be intrigued by it, I think most would find it tedious and nonessential. It follows a rather dull system of events which don’t truly reflect the nature of the gameplay. The gameplay, however, redeems it entirely.
It’s fun. Oh God, it’s fun. Think GTA with the ability to run up walls, assume the identity of anyone from a member of the general public to a high-ranking military official, and jack helicopters straight from the air! There is much potential carnage to cause in the streets – you know you’re causing trouble when you’re an old lady running up the walls of a building… while carrying a car…with the intention to hurl it at the nearest heli. If you want something that you can pick up and play to have a smashing time, then this is the ‘something’. You can also find an attractive upgrade system in-game which expands as you progress. Points you earn from everything you do can be used to purchase an incredible extensive range of powers, and these are the things you’ll probably want to try out the most. There are great varieties, one particularly useful one being a giant tentacle that can be used to throw people around and grapple air vehicles. Some devastating moves are really impressive, and previous weapons can be upgraded and improved. Overall, this feature is really what you’ll be playing for. The explosions, mayhem and action on-screen is immense, but can often be too much, both for the frame rate and sometimes just too hectic for your human senses to cope with.

But with a difficult plot to fall in love, comes an even harder story mode to fall in love with. You can expect to drag yourself from A to B to destroy something at B, only to discover there’s someone to kill at C, and it doesn’t take you long to realise how mundane it can be. There is the odd super mutated boss, but mostly you’ll be doing the story for the sake of it. Side missions are plentiful, but just as monotonous as the story, and the only real reason to do them is for points. Another thing is the colour scheme, textures and general look of the city the game takes place in has mostly unappealing textures and colour schemes. The buildings are really blocky, and any place you are at either has a repulsive grey undertone or a disgusting red aura (for the viral outbreak areas) and it can bring about a depressing atmosphere.

Prototype has its flaws concerning graphics and repetitiveness, but the package’s main aim was to give the player a fun game with loads of powers and an arsenal of weapons and abilities at their disposal to make the more ‘free roaming’ element more enjoyable. Did they succeed in this? I believe so. Although it could be painful on your first time through, it is perfect for picking off your shelf when there’s little else to do and have a blast! We very much look forward to the sequel…