Prototype 2 – Game Review for Xbox 360
After months of hype, it is finally time to murder your maker. Radical Entertainment has finally released Prototype 2, casting us as a super-power protagonist and turning us loose on a really messed up New York City. But even though it is really cool to
fly past sky scrapers and tear monsters in half, Prototype 2 turns out to be forgettable fun.
Presentation
Trailers leading to Prototype 2 made it out to be a touching tale. James Heller tells his family to put their trust in the government when a viral outbreak hits New York City, but returns to find his wife and daughter murdered by the zombies the sickness
creates. Alex blames Alex Mercer, the anti-hero from the previous game. Mercer gives Heller powers for some reason, which the latter begins to use for his super-powered revenge.
This motivation makes a lot of sense, but this all fades away once you start playing the game. It turns out that the guy you are controlling is just an angry guy with a vast vocabulary of curse words, something that he uses quite generously. It becomes hard
to believe that he ever had a family.
With the motivation soon becoming vague, Prototype 2 ends up becoming just another action game. Allies gives you missions, you kill a bunch of people and then you move on.
Visually, the game is working with blurred patches on the enemy arms and effects that seem to go through enemies as if they are air. Some animations seems like they were pulled right out of the original Prototype game, which already looked like they were
pulled out of the 2005 The Incredible Hulk game. Therefore, this does not look like a current generation block-buster.
Gameplay
The good news is that playing Prototype 2 is a lot of fun. Heller has five things that he can morph his hands into, all of which pretty much causes some serious damage to whatever is left of New York City and its inhabitants. Jumping through the air, falling
with massive force behind an enemy, grabbing them before devouring them to take their shape is great. The only problem is that the fun becomes a bit monotonous after a while.
Powers unlock slowly and you end up wasting too much time upgrading one power before you find yourself acquiring a new much-more devastating ability.
Most missions in the game feel the same in terms of strategy. You are meant to hunt a particular target in a building while disguised as one of their own men and then make it out of the building alive. However, these missions offer enough excitement to keep
you going through one mission after another.
With every milestone, Heller earns evolution points which help him in levelling up. You can pick how he involves by allocating these evolution points to a certain ability. You will be able to feel him becoming stronger and stronger with each upgrade. That
would definitely act as a motivation in itself as it can help you lay the annoying brutes that were once beating the h**l out of you to waste.
Each of New York City’s in-game zones are packed with black boxes, lairs and strike teams. These are the game’s new collectibles that reward Heller with special mutations. You may at times put the main mission aside to pursue the side missions in order to
acquire these special mutations.
The Verdict
Add all that up and Prototype 2 is left in a weird place. While the character of Heller and the overall storyline is not something that you will find hard to forget, you will enjoy playing through the game to level up and acquire the various mutations. The
combat is cool and there are a lot of achievements and collectibles to keep you immersed in the game.
I rate Prototype 2 a 7.5 and recommend it only those people who can enjoy a game that lacks a gripping storyline.
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