Take Crackdown and mix it with a bit of Infamous, sprinkle some X-Men Origins:Wolverine on top and then inject it with crack and adrenaline. You’d probably get something close to Prototype. Prototype is the latest from Radical and Activision, and the latest installment in the already flooded open world/sand box game genre. The question is, is Prototype fun and original enough to compete in the already cluttered market of open world/sand box games? Or is it just another hopeless clone?

I think it’s safe to say that Prototype does exceed expectations. It is by far the best in its genre. I think the closest comparison one can make would be to compare it to Crackdown, except it’s more like Crackdown on crack. No, I’m serious. If you thought Crackdown was hyper and high speed just play Prototype. I honestly think that Prototype is also a lot funner than Crackdown because the gameplay is way more fast paced. There is never a moment in Prototype where you are standing still.

In Prototype you play Alex Mercer, an individual who lives in New York City. The majority of the city’s population has been infected with a virus that was released into Penn Station. Alex awakes after being infected with the virus to learn that unlike the millions of others who were turned into mindless mutants, he is still human yet he also has powers.

Alex is super-human. He can jump incredibly high heights, he can fly, he can run up buildings, he is incredibly strong etc. One of Alex’s main powers though is that he can absorb other people/mutants. Once done, Alex can disguise himself as the last person that he absorbed. He also has access to that person’s memories. The main plot of the game follows Alex has he seeks revenge for whoever let out this virus as well as trying to find out the conspiracy behind it.

Much of the game’s story is told through absorbing people. Every time Alex absorbs a main character, we get a flash of memories spliced together that are from that character. There are also people in the city that are specially marked, that if you absorb them you can find out more about the story. These people you have to find on your own though and you won’t encounter them by doing story missions.

The game puts it all together by a system they called the Web of Intrigue. The Web of Intrigue can be accessed from the menu and it is where all the memories that Alex has absorbed are stored. You can re-watch them at any time. The neat thing about the Web though is it connects all the memories so you can see how everything is all connected.

With all that being said the story is still very confusing and hard to follow. The actual game jumps around a lot. Sometimes we are seeing Alex in the future, sometimes in the present and sometimes in the past. Couple that with the memories that we get from the main characters, it makes it confusing. Especially because the memories that we get are not full cut scenes, there almost like a music video, just a bunch of images and audio spliced together to create a sort of flashback. It’s kind of hard to understand but at least we can always re-watch any memory Alex has absorbed by going into the Web of Intrigue.

Story and narrative aside, just about everything else about Prototype is fucking awesome! Alex does not start off terribly powerful but as you go through the game he becomes a beast and turns into an incredibly powerful character. As you go through the game you do acquire some powers yet most of your powers and abilities will be purchased through the upgrade menu. Here, upgrades can be bought using XP, you gain XP from almost everything you do. Upgrades range from health upgrades, to agility upgrades to new fighting moves, to new super powers etc. There are tons and tons of upgrades to customize Alex with and once you gain enough XP you can turn Alex into a real killing machine. Just a tip, I recommend buying Alex all of the “air” upgrades ASAP, once he is fully equipped with all the “air” upgrades, Alex can essentially fly around the city which makes travel much faster since there is no warp system, it’s also very useful for evading enemies.

The game is similar to GTA IV in how it handles its open world aspect. At any time you can free roam New York City with Alex, collect collectibles, infiltrate army bases, and do side missions. The side missions aren’t really missions, they are kind of like events, you test your skills and compete for high scores and medals. At any time though you can activate the main story mission and continue on with the story. Once the mission is done you are free to roam again or continue on.

In regards to free roam, everything you can see, you can access. Nothing is off limits. The entire city is your playground. Considering Alex can fly, run at top speed, super jump, and run up walls/buildings, the city becomes a pretty big fucking playground.

That’s one of the things that I loved about the game, the whole movement aspect. If I had a mission on my map that started all the way at the top of the city, and I was at the bottom, it would take a while to travel there. In a game like GTA IV it would mean a long boring drive. In Prototype though it means a dazzling display of aerobics as you control Alex as he runs along buildings, soars through the air and flips off rooftops. It is really exhilarating. You know in GTA IV when you had to evade the cops by driving around? Well similar things happen in Prototype but this time it’s actually fun. I would draw the military onto me on purpose just so I could try to evade them. It’s an absolute blast running around the city.

The free roam in this game is so much better than any other game that has come out in the past. In games like GTA IV and Saints Row 2 I didn’t really care to free roam because, well, quite frankly it was boring. With Prototype though, no matter what you’re doing, it’s fun.

If you remember in Crackdown there were those orbs to collect? Well Prototype has them also but guess what? It’s actually fun to collect them. I actually enjoy roaming the city for them. How can you not like running up sides of buildings and soaring between rooftops?

Aside from his agility what makes Alex so powerful you ask? Well there are guns in the game but I wouldn’t recommend using them. Alex’s real powers come from the mutations in his body. He has a whole bunch of special powers you can buy in the upgrade menus. One power equips him with massive claws, the other equips him with a bionic arm of sorts, another gives him a huge spinning blade on his arm, while another one gives him a shield on his arm to deflect damage etc. There are a bunch of different powers. You can only use one offensive and one defensive power at once though. So if you have the claws out, you can’t use the bionic arm/whip thing. You equip powers through a radial menu. Eventually your powers become so powerful that you can take down tanks and helicopters with ease.

Now another power that is used extensively in the gameplay is your ability to disguise yourself. Need to sneak into a military base undetected? Not a problem, simply absorb a soldier and disguise yourself as him. A funny skill in the game is the patsy skill. If you are disguised as a soldier and people start getting suspicious (your disguise can be compromised if you are not careful) then you can use the patsy skill. Alex will accuse another soldier of being in disguise and being a traitor and that soldier will instantly be killed by his fellow soldiers. It’s pretty funny and an efficient trick for getting out of a bind.

Most of the main story missions are pretty similar. There’s only 31 and they usually consist of finding someone, so you can obtain their memory by absorbing them so you can find out more about the virus. While trying to find them you end up fighting the military, a strike attack ends up being called on you which you must evade or fight off and then finally you reach your target and absorb him. This is how many of the missions go. Yes there is repetitiveness but does it matter? Hell no! The game is so fun it honestly never gets boring. As you power up Alex more and more and unlock some of the really cool abilities he literally becomes a killing machine and it’s just awesome to watch.

Prototype is a fast paced, adrenaline fueled game. I honestly don’t think I ever put my feet on the ground unless it was to fight military. I traveled by flying and running on rooftops. Alex is just so agile it’s a blast to just run around the city.

There are vehicles you can control in the game such as tanks and helicopters. Quite frankly I don’t think they control all that well but it’s fine since they are not a huge part of the game. It is always fun though to fight helicopters with tanks and vice versa.

The graphics aren’t terribly pretty and there is a lot of problems with textures and popping in. GTA IV does create a far superior New York, but honestly you don’t even notice it in Prototype. The focus in Prototype is on the combat and the powers of Alex. In GTA IV you drive around so much that they needed to make it look good.

One other problem with Prototype is the weapons. The gun gameplay doesn’t work to well but clearly the game was not intended to be a shooter so honestly, you shouldn’t use guns at all. I mean why use guns when you have all these awesome powers.

When all is said and done Prototype is a roller coaster ride of a game. There is never a moment where I am not having fun. It makes things that are usually tedious and boring, fun. It is non stop action and Alex fully powered up is so incredibly awesome. The game has some issues but honestly, nothing to terrible. I highly recommend this game. I honestly think every one who considers themselves a gamer should go pick it up. I think it’s the most fun I have had with a game in a long time and there’s no reason you shouldn’t play it. So go out and grab Prototype now, you owe it to yourself.

8/10