Review: Prototype [PC]
josh, 23-Sep-09 » Prototype review, by Josh
Imagine a game like Double Dragon, one of the original beat-em-up style games. Basically you had one mission to get from one end of the level to the other and defeat anything and everything in your path, be it human, animal, or something else. Now imagine putting that 2D beat em up into a 3D Sandbox with the same goals, the same fighting fun, and the same almost complete lack of story. That, my good friends, is Prototype in a nutshell.
Prototype allows you to explore all of Manhattan from the street level all the way to the very top of the highest building, all the while causing mayhem with your "superpowers".
Prototype, released by Activision in June 2009, tells the story of Alex Mercer, a man who literally wakes up dead in the city morgue only to find out he has somewhat gained the ability to alter his very form, but cannot remember how... because he has amnesia (how convenient). You control Alex as he makes his way through the city trying to unravel the mystery surrounding his missing memory and the reason why suddenly he can force his hands to turn into giant claws, can cover himself in a sturdy shield, and doesn’t seem to have any trouble lifting and throwing cars.
Hijacking helicopters is an alternative way of navigating through the city.
It’s a simple enough plot really, and can be summed up as such... Man wakes up. Man can transform hands into weapons. Man is angry and goes to search for the reason why he can do this. Virus spreads through city. Man fights police strike teams and infected monsters. Man finds small clue that leads to another small clue. Wash rinse repeat with the monsters and strike teams. End Game.
Sometimes the best way to deal with the strike team is to take one of their helecopters and fight fire with fire.
That’s the beauty of the game though is the simplicity of the story. Basically with the game’s story being forgettable (lol amnesia pun) you’re free to play and experiment with the really awesome part of the game, the action. The fighting in this game is really what keeps you coming back for more. Alex’s primary weapon can be any of 5 things, which you can switch via the in game menu. The weapons start off with a simple claw that you obtain straight away, but the other weapons (hammerfist, whipfist, muscle mass, and the super effective blade) are all upgrades you obtain by purchasing them with experience. You gain experience any time you kill a swat member, an infected, or take down a building, with it being used to buy upgrades for not only your weapons but your physical movement as well.
Consuming enemies allows you to take on their persona. Take the disguise of a commander and order air strikes? Most definitely!
As I mentioned at the start, the game is definitely a beat 'em up game at heart given a 3rd dimension. That third dimension is realized in the form of a massive replica of Manhattan that is completely open to Alex to explore. With a city as large as that, walking around would be a bit of a pain, so fortunately Alex has quite a few methods of moving around the city at his disposal. The parkour style of his movements means that you won’t end up walking into cars, you’ll end up bounding over them and jumping up to start wall running onto a building, only to jump off and glide onto the front of another, continue the wall running, and then start to run straight up the side of the building to the roof where you jump off and elbow drop right onto the head of the nearest infected monster thing. Honestly moving around the city and experimenting with all the different ways and approaches you can take to get a good perspective or attacking point is such a thrill in this game. The fighting is great fun, but the movement to get you there is sometimes the real joy in certain missions.
The map shows all the different regions. Blue is controlled by the police, Red is controlled by the virus, and at the heart of each is a heavily defended base or an infected building.
Speaking of missions, I’ll be honest there isn’t much variety. It always starts off with going to a location, then splits either into a mission where you have to consume a target person to add to your memory/kill a target creature (yeah... he literally consumes a person by absorbing them and taking their identity and memories), follow a target to a location, or destroy a building. The mission types are really standard and sometimes pointless, but they forward the story by adding to your “web of intrigue,” the main story telling mechanic in the game that helps you unravel the mystery of this virus that infects Alex. There are side missions that serve only to gain experience and don’t forward the story, but those are typically just variations on the old see how many people you can kill/consume in a certain time or see how far you can glide/dash off the top of this building. Not really necessary to progress in the game, but fun to pass the time in the event that you want to prolong the relatively short story missions.
Some civilians will have important information you can only get by consuming them. They are indicated by the orange head marker that floats above them.
The biggest gripe that I have about the game, and the thing that really ruined it for me was the fact that, even after following various solutions found on the net and reinstalling twice, I could not get the game’s sound to work. This was a TERRIBLE THING!!! I could only imagine what the voice acting sounded like... and reading the subtitles was terrible because it just makes you more aware of some of the terrible lines. Having sound would have helped immensely, because apparently the infected creatures make noises alerting you to their location, but without the sound you can’t actually hear them. This was as close as I have ever come to being deaf, and it was terrible. I couldn’t figure out where I was being hit from, and when I finally did and managed to take that thing out, another would start attacking me. Only when the enemies appeared in front of me did I have a hope of attacking them before they took off half my health. It was awful and I realize that some of this issue might be related back to my hardware, but honestly Activision... this is unforgivable. I met the criteria for your installation, and yet it didn’t work. Release a patch to fix this immediately so no one who reads this has to be subjected to the same gimped game experience.
Consuming people adds a small bit of health, and considering the amount of damage you will take, you'll need as much as you can. Your health also auto regens if you go long enough without damage.
In order to give my loyal readers a fair review, I have invited Jedi_Dude1 to give me a brief review of what the sound adds to the game.
Taking down buildings is great fun whether you use a tank, a rocket launcher, or an air strike. You're always rewarded with a nice cinematic of the building falling to pieces.
This game is very good. The attacks are suitably over the top, with the full on devastator attacks worth a look just for the chaos that ensues. The game looks really good no matter what your graphics settings (I had to play it on medium graphics details because I have a setup that is a couple of years old at this point). The gameplay is amazingly fun without having to worry too much about the storyline. I realize that some may consider the old amnesia story a bit of a cop out, but you end up finding out the story in the end through the various cutscenes, and really you’re going to end up buying and playing this game because of the brilliant action scenes, the over the top attacks, and the graceful and dramatic free running around the city anyway. Prototype is a very good game that I heartily recommend buying even despite my own issues with the sound not working. The pros (fantastic fighting system, brilliant parkour system) definitely outweigh the cons (sound not working, missions repetitive) enough that I feel confident if you give this game a shot, you will definitely not regret it.
Final rating: 4/5 Definitely worth a purchase, but after you go through the story mode it turns into just a sandbox mode which won't appeal to everyone.
Prototype is now available in most Video Game stores for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.
We reviewed the PC version.
It is also available through steam for $49.99US (http://store.steampowered.com/app/10150/)
Imagine a game like Double Dragon, one of the original beat-em-up style games. Basically you had one mission to get from one end of the level to the other and defeat anything and everything in your path, be it human, animal, or something else. Now imagine putting that 2D beat em up into a 3D Sandbox with the same goals, the same fighting fun, and the same almost complete lack of story. That, my good friends, is Prototype in a nutshell.
Prototype allows you to explore all of Manhattan from the street level all the way to the very top of the highest building, all the while causing mayhem with your "superpowers".
Prototype, released by Activision in June 2009, tells the story of Alex Mercer, a man who literally wakes up dead in the city morgue only to find out he has somewhat gained the ability to alter his very form, but cannot remember how... because he has amnesia (how convenient). You control Alex as he makes his way through the city trying to unravel the mystery surrounding his missing memory and the reason why suddenly he can force his hands to turn into giant claws, can cover himself in a sturdy shield, and doesn’t seem to have any trouble lifting and throwing cars.
Hijacking helicopters is an alternative way of navigating through the city.
It’s a simple enough plot really, and can be summed up as such... Man wakes up. Man can transform hands into weapons. Man is angry and goes to search for the reason why he can do this. Virus spreads through city. Man fights police strike teams and infected monsters. Man finds small clue that leads to another small clue. Wash rinse repeat with the monsters and strike teams. End Game.
Sometimes the best way to deal with the strike team is to take one of their helecopters and fight fire with fire.
That’s the beauty of the game though is the simplicity of the story. Basically with the game’s story being forgettable (lol amnesia pun) you’re free to play and experiment with the really awesome part of the game, the action. The fighting in this game is really what keeps you coming back for more. Alex’s primary weapon can be any of 5 things, which you can switch via the in game menu. The weapons start off with a simple claw that you obtain straight away, but the other weapons (hammerfist, whipfist, muscle mass, and the super effective blade) are all upgrades you obtain by purchasing them with experience. You gain experience any time you kill a swat member, an infected, or take down a building, with it being used to buy upgrades for not only your weapons but your physical movement as well.
Consuming enemies allows you to take on their persona. Take the disguise of a commander and order air strikes? Most definitely!
As I mentioned at the start, the game is definitely a beat 'em up game at heart given a 3rd dimension. That third dimension is realized in the form of a massive replica of Manhattan that is completely open to Alex to explore. With a city as large as that, walking around would be a bit of a pain, so fortunately Alex has quite a few methods of moving around the city at his disposal. The parkour style of his movements means that you won’t end up walking into cars, you’ll end up bounding over them and jumping up to start wall running onto a building, only to jump off and glide onto the front of another, continue the wall running, and then start to run straight up the side of the building to the roof where you jump off and elbow drop right onto the head of the nearest infected monster thing. Honestly moving around the city and experimenting with all the different ways and approaches you can take to get a good perspective or attacking point is such a thrill in this game. The fighting is great fun, but the movement to get you there is sometimes the real joy in certain missions.
The map shows all the different regions. Blue is controlled by the police, Red is controlled by the virus, and at the heart of each is a heavily defended base or an infected building.
Speaking of missions, I’ll be honest there isn’t much variety. It always starts off with going to a location, then splits either into a mission where you have to consume a target person to add to your memory/kill a target creature (yeah... he literally consumes a person by absorbing them and taking their identity and memories), follow a target to a location, or destroy a building. The mission types are really standard and sometimes pointless, but they forward the story by adding to your “web of intrigue,” the main story telling mechanic in the game that helps you unravel the mystery of this virus that infects Alex. There are side missions that serve only to gain experience and don’t forward the story, but those are typically just variations on the old see how many people you can kill/consume in a certain time or see how far you can glide/dash off the top of this building. Not really necessary to progress in the game, but fun to pass the time in the event that you want to prolong the relatively short story missions.
Some civilians will have important information you can only get by consuming them. They are indicated by the orange head marker that floats above them.
The biggest gripe that I have about the game, and the thing that really ruined it for me was the fact that, even after following various solutions found on the net and reinstalling twice, I could not get the game’s sound to work. This was a TERRIBLE THING!!! I could only imagine what the voice acting sounded like... and reading the subtitles was terrible because it just makes you more aware of some of the terrible lines. Having sound would have helped immensely, because apparently the infected creatures make noises alerting you to their location, but without the sound you can’t actually hear them. This was as close as I have ever come to being deaf, and it was terrible. I couldn’t figure out where I was being hit from, and when I finally did and managed to take that thing out, another would start attacking me. Only when the enemies appeared in front of me did I have a hope of attacking them before they took off half my health. It was awful and I realize that some of this issue might be related back to my hardware, but honestly Activision... this is unforgivable. I met the criteria for your installation, and yet it didn’t work. Release a patch to fix this immediately so no one who reads this has to be subjected to the same gimped game experience.
Consuming people adds a small bit of health, and considering the amount of damage you will take, you'll need as much as you can. Your health also auto regens if you go long enough without damage.
In order to give my loyal readers a fair review, I have invited Jedi_Dude1 to give me a brief review of what the sound adds to the game.
| Quote |
| Jedi_Dude1 » The prototype sound effects, music and ambient sound are one of the key parts of this game that makes it successful. The sound can fully immerse you in the game when at time when all you can hear is the cries of military soldiers being ripped apart by the virus or the almost deafening sound of three tanks firing at you while running at them full speed. The music in the game is good but not great and I found myself turning it down just so I could hear the ambient sounds and character sounds. The in game sound can also provide a great advantage for those with proper sound cards and headphones (Hint Josh). I used the G35 for this game it was great hearing a giant monster RAWR and all of a sudden I turn around and there he is charging me down. This can also help if you are taking on multiple enemies and someone called in an airstrike, although it shows up on the screen listening to where the sound is coming from gives you the chance to act quickly if you are not fading that person. Without sound this game would not have immersed me as much and it would not have been as enjoyable or immersive. |
Taking down buildings is great fun whether you use a tank, a rocket launcher, or an air strike. You're always rewarded with a nice cinematic of the building falling to pieces.
This game is very good. The attacks are suitably over the top, with the full on devastator attacks worth a look just for the chaos that ensues. The game looks really good no matter what your graphics settings (I had to play it on medium graphics details because I have a setup that is a couple of years old at this point). The gameplay is amazingly fun without having to worry too much about the storyline. I realize that some may consider the old amnesia story a bit of a cop out, but you end up finding out the story in the end through the various cutscenes, and really you’re going to end up buying and playing this game because of the brilliant action scenes, the over the top attacks, and the graceful and dramatic free running around the city anyway. Prototype is a very good game that I heartily recommend buying even despite my own issues with the sound not working. The pros (fantastic fighting system, brilliant parkour system) definitely outweigh the cons (sound not working, missions repetitive) enough that I feel confident if you give this game a shot, you will definitely not regret it.
Final rating: 4/5 Definitely worth a purchase, but after you go through the story mode it turns into just a sandbox mode which won't appeal to everyone.
Prototype is now available in most Video Game stores for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.
We reviewed the PC version.
It is also available through steam for $49.99US (http://store.steampowered.com/app/10150/)
Related Articles
Image unavailable
Want more of the same? Check out these articles:
Want more of the same? Check out these articles:
| 28-Nov | Review: Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 3 [PC] |
| 26-Nov | Review: Batman : Arkham City [PS3] |
| 23-Nov | Saints Row: The Third |
| 30-Aug | From Dust Review |
| 3-Aug | Review: Fear 3 [PC] |
Articles by Author
Want to read more of josh's articles? Check out these:
Article Stats
| Category: | Game Reviews |
| Posted: | 23-Sep-09 8:12:02 pm |
| Author: | josh |