[Prototype]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

To sum Prototype up into a sentence; Free roaming Spiderman meets mutating Bioshock, makes love, and has a child named Prototype. Now does this relationship between games lead to a happy ending, or does it end with an abusive husband and a hospitalized child? Read on.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Game:Prototype
Genre:Action
Developer:Radical Entertainment

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Your character Alex Mercer, has awoken from a coma with amnesia. He awakes in a morgue, where he hastily escapes, only to be apprehended. He is shot multiple times, only to learn that the bullets hardly affect him. Slowly your character begins to grasp his power. He is able to mutate into many forms, as well as evolve into entirely new forms. Your character also learns of a virus that is rampant throughout New York, and throughout the game you attempt to learn more and more about yourself and the origins of the virus.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]


OS: Windows XP SP3/Vista SP2
Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO E4700 (2.6 GHz)/AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Memory: 1 GB
Hard Drive: 8 GB Free
Video Memory: 256 MB (nVidia GeForce 7800/ATI Radeon X1800)
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 9.0c
Keyboard & Mouse
DVD Rom Drive

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
The graphics for the game are... well average. In all honesty, the graphics felt a tad bit dated to me. I am sure many will disagree with me on this, but I feel a better job could have been done. At the very least the eye candy could have looked better, however I found that the cut scenes weren't too impressive at all. However, the graphics weren't bad. I never found any instance where I was saying to myself "this is crap".



As far as effects go, well, again, perhaps I am hard to impress. The animation between transformations looks ridiculous. Rather then seeing cool bioflesh forming into blade limbs, I see a bunch of midnight black and red lines squirming about in a black mist. I don't even think they tried to texture said black and red lines, I mean they just look silly.



Most of the other textures don't really disappoint, but I again can't say I was impressed. The blood in air could have been cooler. I did have a lot of fun with the blood effects on the ground though. Mowing down a crowd in a tank rewarded the player with a river of blood. It would have been a bit cooler to see blood effects on Alex, but I guess he also has a self cleaning mutation to keep him looking stylish even during massacres.



The color of the sky in the infected areas set the mood. At first it felt like "Oh God, red sky, DOOM END OF WORLD AWESOME HURR WOO". However, after playing the whole game through, it became "Wait... why is the sky even red? It makes my eyes hurt." I must admit, however, the red filter made explosions that much cooler.



Last but not least, the vehicle graphics. I found the effects of the rockets to be, at the very least, fun to watch. The vehicle skins are not bad at all, however I did find that the civilian vehicles had textures that weren't too great. One thing implemented in the game is a visual damage system. That is, if your vehicle is about to blow up, it looks different then if it were freshly hijacked. However, the damaged texture on vehicles looks pretty ridiculous. It looks like the vehicle got hosed down in tar, with black splotches randomly appears along said vehicle. Often times it will look like your vehicle just needs a bath ;D

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

The sound, like most of the game, is good, but won't blow you away. Similarly to GTA, pedestrians will yell at you as you run buy. One thing I found cool (albeit very unrealistic) was the command radio that the soldiers used. It may have been made up military jargon, but at least it was good sounding XD. The sounds of some of your abilities (like your bullet dive) sounded cool. Voice acting was hit or miss. I would say the voice of Alex was absolutely terrible. I facepalmed every time he spoke. On the contrary, Captain Cross sounded bad ass.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Oh boy. I really don't understand why many people find this game addicting. I mean, I am sure 90% of people will disagree with me on this, but I found the game very very very repetitive. To begin with, the game feels and plays like every freeroaming Spiderman or Hulk game ever made. The game also features many frustrations in common with Spiderman.



To begin with, the game uses an ability system that involves the collection of Evolution... stuff... points.. er... Anyway, the player will spend said points to buy upgrades and new abilities. As mentioned 1,000 times already, if you played Spiderman, you will be familiar with this system. Most people are fine with this. I am not most people ;D. I feel like the game is forcing you to collect pointless points (hehe) to get even more pointless upgrades that should have been with the original ability.



One cool feature of the game is the ability to hijack. In my opinion, this ability really ruins the game. Is it cool? Yes. Is it easy? Yes. However, I think vehicles make you WAY too overpowered. All you have to do is lock and shoot, lock and shoot. When in an Bradley or M1A2, you are so heavily armored you seldom have to worry about taking hits. When flying the Apache, you are so damn high up almost nothing can reach you.

Not only that, but it seems silly that when you get into a vehicle it somehow becomes super strong. I mean maybe its your biomass reinforcing it, but if that was the case they should have implemented a texture or model to show you reinforcing it. I think it just is stupid that and enemy in the same tank as I am in must shoot me, say, 10 times to kill me, while I only have to shoot it once. I am sure this can be adjusted with difficulty, but cmon.



The combat system is pretty good. You can use abilities by pressing a button or combination of buttons. However I found that it was far easier just to press all of the buttons randomly, which ensured my victory. Combat is smooth, and enjoyable when in open spaces. However, whenever I found I was confined to an enclosed space (i.e. a military base), it just became frustrating (as in, wouldn't you know, Spiderman X.x). I found myself running in circles to avoid missiles and the like, only to inevitably run into a wall and corner myself.



As you advance in the game, you unlock some super moves. I must admit, I played the whole game without once doing a super move. I could never figure out how to do them. Go ahead, call me an idiot.

The player can make use of weapons such as the M4, Javelin, or M249. The only thing worth stealing is the Javelin, because with it you can launch homing missiles that rarely miss (Oh sweet, sweet, unrealistic gameplay ;D). These missles can also magically target air targets too... which... forget it.

Finally, Alex can absorb people and transform into them/read their thoughts. While this is a cool feature, I find quite a few things stupid about this. The cut scenes of their thoughts are pictures and some military jargon. Not exactly unimpressive..... but meh. Now when transforming into them, you take on their dis*****. This is the one thing that really made the game stupid. When in dis*****, you can run up buildings and fly about, but still rarely get detected. Subsequently all the stealth sequences were complete bullshit, because they still involved you using your powers, just in dis*****. I felt this really ruined any stealth aspect of the game AT ALL.

As far as replayability goes, well as previously mentioned, the game seems repetitive. Target, slash, kill. Hijack, target, shoot, kill. Repeat. The game adds mini-games for you to do, but my God, I found myself screaming trying to do them. This is where the game shines at failing. I mean Jesus, I would be trying to go from point to point in a time trial, but seriously, your character would inevitably run right past the point, or fall off something, or do something you didn't want to do. I mean these mini-games made me literally pull the plug on my Xbox they were so damn frustrating.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ][Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ][Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ][Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ][Only registered and activated users can see links. ]


[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
A game that had much potential, but, in the end, suffered from it's EXTREME AMOUNTS of over-hype. Worth renting, I would not suggest buying.