[360] Prototype

Introduction:

Superhero sandbox games are nothing new. They have become a very popular sub-genre since Spider-Man 2: The Game was released in 2004. Superman and the Hulk soon followed and 2005's Hulk: Ultimate Destruction by Radical Entertainment was a huge success. Radical are back now with an original superhero in a sandbox city.



Story:

You play as Alex Mercer. You woke up in a morgue with no memory of who you are and worse then that (or better) you have a violent mutation. You have possessed incredible superhuman abilities. Your goal is to find out what happened to you and kill those responsible. Meanwhile, the city of Manhattan has been infected and the military and infected are fighting for control of the city. A fight which Alex keeps getting himself into.

While the plot sounds interesting, to put it bluntly...i didn't give a crap. With the exception of the opening cut-scene's and some near the end i honestly didn't care about anything that was happening. The characters were almost as bland as Twilight characters,the script was cliche and nothing interesting seems to happen. Sure the story sounds great on paper, but its not executed very well.



Design:

This is exactly how every sandbox game should be designed. You have a big city. You have the means to get around the big city very quickly. And you can do a large variety of things in that city. So far, so good. The city of Manhattan is your playground. Pretty much everything you do gives you EP (Evolution Points) which you can spend on upgrades such as new abilities and enhancement. The amount of moves is mind-bendingly huge. Some of the special moves can be upgraded in many ways and just remembering how to pull them all off is a game unto itself. You can choose the order of your unlockables and you can become the character that you want to be. You can be a juggernaut powerhouse with your huge stone fists, or you can give Link a run for his money with a huge blade for an arm. Its your choice and i greatly appreciate having the flexibility.

Missions come in a wide variety. You can blow up bases, infiltrate them or blend in with the soldiers to get more upgrades. You escort vehicles to locations, defend positions and race to objectives. While they seem great fun at first, they rarely change as the game goes on and they get pretty boring and don't make the most of your newly acquired abilities. Believe it or not, destroying the same things over and over again can become a chore after a while. Although there are a few great inventive set-pieces to try and keep things fresh. (A high point is when you have to lure an infected leader across the city, but you have to stay alive as he chases you. Its a great chase sequence and can get the pulse going) While these moments are great, there just isn't enough of them.



Almost everything is a weapon in [Prototype]. You can pick up cars, pieces of scenery and throw them. Or you could pick up weapons dropped by the military or use your own weapons, which consist of claws, a whip, clubs and a kick-ass blade. These four main weapons are pretty well balanced but you can choose your favourite and do pretty well in most situations as long as its been upgraded. Alex can also consume anyone (or creature) in the city and gain a health boost or take another human form to blend in.

You will get between 12-15 hours in the main story mode. But if you really like to get medals and all the upgrades, you will get a few hours more.

Gameplay:

[Prototype]'s gameplay can be summarized like this... "It's like a Michael Bay film. The action can look impressive, but you can barely tell what the hell is going on". I can't think of any other way to describe it. Like i said, anything is a weapon and it can be great fun running around the city with a car as a battering ram running through crowds and watching ragdoll civilians bounce off. But when the game calls upon you for actual combat it can be very frustrating at some point. There is a lock-on system but because there can be so many enemies on screen at once the camera tends to lock onto a completely irrelevant threat. Also, because the enemies are all around you it can be tough to see where the attacks are coming from. Rockets can be very annoying to fight against because if one explodes about 5 feet away from you, then you get knocked back. There are a lot of cheap moments and even more when you might get frustrated at the game and might want to call it quits.

You can hijack vehicles but the controls could be better. The combat moves on the other hand are pretty well executed considering there aren't enough buttons on the controller for them. The moves are incredibly satisfying and if you go 2 minutes without a massive explosion then you're not playing it right. The pace rarely lets up with almost non-stop action and constant combat. This can be great fun, but it can get pretty cheap at times.



Graphics/Sound:

The city is huge, but there isn't a lot of detail. Character models repeat constantly and there is some pop-in from a distance. Surprisingly though, the frame-rate remained rock-solid despite all the action. The model for Alex is highly impressive and his animations are fluid and beautiful. Explosions are great and there amount of carnage that can appear on screen is immense. The first cutscene is highly impressive but its a shame that the others are pretty boring.

Audio-wise there isn't a lot to say. The voice acting is average and the music is good but forgettable. Sound effects work really well with the action. Nuff said.



Closing Comments:

While the game can be great fun, it does have moments of controller throwing frustration. But the depth of the combat system and the promise of carnage will keep you coming back. Is it perfect? Hell no! But it can be a lot of fun to play. Is it worth your money? Probably. Its worth more then a rental, but its not an 'essential' purchase. But if you are someone who needs to unwind stress, then [Prototype] is the game for you.

+ Great Combat System
+ Constant Destruction
+ Wide-open City
- Lame Story
- Some Frustrating and Cheap Moments

7.2/10