PS3 Review: Prototype - Page 2

The action can be incredibly chaotic and destructive — especially once you throw in the super attacks (aka, Devastator powers) that can kill/destroy everything within 50-100 feet — and had Radical not nailed the control setup so well, things could get out of hand in a hurry.  Having played through the game three times now (once on each difficulty), I asked my oft-spectating girlfriend if it ever looked like I was frustrated with the movement, controls, or playability, only to hear a resounding, "Nope."  Flattening a tank, picking up an assault rifle, jumping into the air and taking down a dozen armed soldiers before you return to the earth, then sprinting up the side of a skyscraper only to come crashing back down with a Bullet Drop Dive and clearing out everything else in the intersection — all with the greatest of ease — is just another day at the office for virus-empowered Mercer.

Visually, the game is good but not great, but that's a worthy trade-off for me to keep the framerate solid and gameplay silky smooth.  Selective slow motion also kicks in when selecting abilities and switching targets, lending another layer of manageability to the frantic gameplay. If the heat gets to be too much, Whipfist-grab a soldier, sprint up the side of a building, glide through the air for a couple blocks, hide in an alley, and absorb the soldier, assuming his identity and throwing off your pursuers.

Oh, did I forget to mention you can shapeshift into anyone you grab and "consume"?  Yeah, just another game-changing ability, piled on top of everything else great about it.  Sometimes depending on whom you consume, you may be granted different options.  For example, consuming a civilian makes it hard for the army to track you.  Consuming a base commander allows you to walk right into military installations, and from there, consuming specialized soldiers increases your proficiency with different weapons and vehicles.  You also gain the memories of certain people you consume, providing clues to your recent past and how the city fell into chaos.

In addition to the story arc, the game remembers it needs to be a game (and thus, challenging and fun), and numerous side objectives are peppered across the city, from gliding long distances and trying to land as close as possible to a designated target to inciting a massacre to kill X number of enemies within a time limit.  From there, you have hint and landmark collectible orbs to track down.  If all that's not enough for you, beating the game on a particular difficulty opens up New Game + for that level, allowing you to start the story over, but with all the powers unlocked from the start.

Article Author: Mark Buckingham

Mark Buckingham is an avid freelancer, gamer, tech-head, reader, movie watcher, pianist, guitarist, and hockey player.

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