Game #1077: [Prototype]

  So... less than a beta?

 Man, [Prototype] brings back some memories! While I never owned the game, I used to play it at a fiend's during one of the busiest and most fun summers of my life, where I was still unemployed and I'd go out pretty much every single day, be it weekly or the weekend, and I even had to choose between plans most days since I didn't want to mix friend groups. Fun times, fun times. Oh, and it counts as horror because the protagonist gets infected with a virus that lets him turn his body into fleshy weapons, and you must fight fully mutated monsters.

 [Prototype] released close to inFamous, which was interesting since both games were third-person open-world super-hero affairs, and both games are very different while sharing a similar premise. While inFamous 2 reigns supreme, I do believe this game is better than the first inFamous, as they get so much right...

 Namely, the game is built around freedom and fun. Alex Mercer is sort of like Venom in that he can turn his body into black, fleshy apendages, and thus you get various 'weapon' style. You have a whip like power, Gauntlet powers, increased-muscle mass power or the badass Sword power. Every power/weapon has its own combos, performed with Square and Triangle, as well as their own uses, so it pays to switch things up... at least until you get the Sword power, which is pretty much good at everything. Eventually you'll also be able to turn your powers into a coat of armor that looks badass and barely impacts your movement. There are two types of enemies: Military and other fleshy-mutants, and they'll fight each other too if they come into contact. Heck, you can steal Military weaponry, tanks and even airplanes to fight either. As you can see, when it comes to combat there's a lot you can do, and I didn't even delve into your Devastator attacks, extremely powerful super moves you can unlock. And this is what I mean by freedom, the game gives you a ton of options in how to lay havoc to your enemies. And while you have regenerative health, sometimes it's much quicker to just grab an enemy and CONSUME him for delicious health points.

 But combat is but one part of the Prototype equation, they also nailed movement. Holding R2 will make Alex dash and parkour over every obstacle that comes his way, and if the obstacle happens to be a building... he'll just climb it while running! You can jump incredible heights with the X button, or hold it down to perform even taller jumps. Double tap X while holding down R2 while on the air and you'll break into a swift glide, and if it's too slow, you can just press R2 to perform an air dash. Movement makes exploring the city SO much fun, I don't think I ever saw value in unlocking movement upgrades in a game before, but here it adds so much and makes the game even more fun. As per most Open-World game, there are hidden useless orbs spread throughout the city, and I spent so much time looking for them, because they gave an XP bonus, letting me get even more abilities, and I was having fun just moving around the city. And there are a LOT of upgrades to buy, so every XP point helps. That said, the one issue with movement... is that they made moving around so quick and efficient... that trying to move into an exact place or spot can be a pain in the butt, which will only be an issue on some race time missions.

 Side-Missions in the game are of the 'activity' variety, as every mission with any sort of dialogue is part of the main story. These activities range from races in which you must go from place to place, slaughtering X amount of enemies with X weapon, performing a jump trying to land on a certain spot, having to consume enemies, having to sneak into military bases(Since you can transform into enemies you consume), etc... Sadly, on the last third of the game the repetition set in and I started skipping these missions, since I was tired of doing the same things over and over again. Thankfully, they are optional.

 I loved my time with [Prototype], it's easy to see that the developers put 'fun' at the forefront of the game's design, as it's not the game with the deepest or most interesting narrative out there, or even the one with the deepest combat system, but instead, you are presented with a ton of different tools you can use to just lose yourself and live your anti-hero fantasies.

 9.0