Brutal Gamer

Prototype (Xbox 360) Review

By Barry - July 14, 2009 - 23:33 UTC

Brutal Gamer’s review of Prototype for Microsofts’ Xbox 360.

Prototype is an open world action game from Radical Entertainment, the studio that brought us the excellent Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and in many ways this game is Hulk’s spiritual sequel. Throughout its protracted (and oft troubled) development cycle, Prototype rose to become one of the most hyped games of 2009, with promises of unrestricted freedom, unlimited choice and unparalleled high action combat. Now finally released, it’s time to see if Radical delivers on these promises.

Prototype’s mission statement was laid out like this: make the player the ultimate badass and let them loose in Manhattan to do as they saw fit. The main conceit here is that you play as a shape shifter who goes by the name of Alex Mercer; a character that we are told can “consume and become anyone”. He also has a number of abilities from vicious claws, to a defensive shield and later on, a vision mode that allows the player to see who has been infected by the virus that is spreading through the city. Alex can “hyper parkour” over any object, run over walls and even glide through the air… like a squirrel. Consuming particular soldiers even allows him to gain the ability to pilot helicopters and drive tanks. Beyond that taking the form of a soldier grants Mercer access to airstrikes and the very entertaining patsy. This particular action involves outing a nearby soldier as the chameleon and watching with grim satisfaction as his teammates gun him down. The combat continues this sadistic trend… a single claw sweep rending not just your target, but anyone unlucky enough to be caught within a five foot radius of your blades. However, the satisfaction comes not just from the bloody mess Mercer’s wrath leaves behind but also from how he controls. One of Ultimate Destruction’s main criticisms was that, when fights became particularly intense, it became a battle not just with your enemies, but with the camera as well as everything got lost in the chaos. In Prototype, every time you lock on or switch target and every time you call up the power select wheel, the game slows down. This gives you plenty of time to assess the situation dodge an incoming rocket and choose the power best suited to dealing with whatever is attacking. It also allows for some spectacular moments, though more by accident than design. For example while running down the street, I locked on to a tank in the distance, as the game slowed down, a rocket shot past me and hit a car- which exploded just as I flipped over it. It was a real wow moment and the beauty of it is that these moments are unique to each player as it’s completely unscripted and more down to chance than anything else. If there is one problem with the controls it is that, with a move list as diverse as Prototype’s, it was inevitable that some would end up with awkward combinations. Pressing X and B at the same time requires real manual dexterity and can be difficult to pull off in a pinch. However the majority of commands are relatively simple and after a few minutes getting to grips with the nuances in control, you’ll rarely find yourself doing something you didn’t intend.

Proof that Mercer is worse for your lungs than smoking

It would be very easy to write this review, focus solely on the action mark it a nine and call it a day. However, Radical have attempted to give us something more than simply just an open world and a character who can break apart tanks with his bare hands. While the story is your typical government conspiracy cover­-up + protagonist with amnesia, the game offers up an interesting mechanic in the form of the web of intrigue. At any point during the game, both on missions and in free roam, you may encounter a person marked with a symbol. Consuming these people allows the player to glimpse a stylishly rendered cut-scene which extends to plot and explains much of the back story all in all giving you a better understanding of what exactly is happening in Manhattan. These “web targets” often appear as you’re chasing down a mission specific enemy making the choice to pursue them or not something that really must be considered, adding an extra layer of depth to the proceedings. Also, it’s worth noting that should you accidentally kill (read rend asunder) these targets, they respawn at a later date avoiding the frustration of having to reload to your last save, should you choose to go after them. As previously mentioned, the story is interesting, but it’s not going to set the world on fire. Many of the traditional cut-scenes are bland (though the all to infrequent cinematics are among the best of this generation) and fail to inform the player exactly what is going on at that point in the story. I understand that the web of intrigue is there to help serve this purpose, however it can’t be used as an excuse for inconsistent story telling. In the end the admittedly average plot is saved by the incredibly clever Web of Intrigue and the non linear pacing, which will keep the player involved until the endgame. The only major problem is the inevitable twist, which appears from nowhere and who’s only obvious foreshadowing is a strange gameplay plot hole midway through the game.

Much is made at the moment about morality in games. So much so, in fact, that it would be fair to deem morality the bullet time of 2008/9. Prototype has no morality mechanic and it certainly never invites you to choose your way through the story. However that doesn’t mean that Prototype doesn’t feature an element of moral choice in the game. As Alex Mercer you can choose to consume anyone that crosses your path, but that doesn’t mean that you have to. In fact, there is an achievement for consuming less than 10 civilians throughout the course of the story. Now before you jump up and pull on your cape and tights remember this: the game doesn’t let you choose between being a hero or a villain. Instead you choose between being a sadistic mass murderer with a penchant for dismembering anyone who stands in his way, or a sadistic mass murderer who goes out of his way to dismember just about anyone. It’s refreshing not to have to worry if harming innocent people is going to damage your karma, instead accepting that sacrifices will have to be made if you are to achieve your aims. This attitude is in line with how Mercer is presented to us throughout the story and in fact it is whenever he decides to act magnanimously that the cracks in the plot show. His motivation for saving New York is never really explained and seems at odds with the ease in which he cuts through it’s inhabitants.

Visually, Prototype is a mixed bag. Alex Mercer himself is animated beautifully and it really is a joy to see him flip over obstacles or recoil from and explosion. Unfortunately the same can’t be said about the rest of the game. You will frequently encounter the same character skins to the point that you can be in disguise and consume an identical NPC. The art design is somewhat lack with the few infected enemies showing little in the way of flair in their design. Also moving from a military controlled area to an infected region involves a crossing a line which bathes everything in an ugly red mist. However Prototype’s greatest failing is it’s draw distance. It is safe to say that it has the worst draw distance since Superman Returns, and probably doesn’t even hold up to that… It is just as well that you’ll be too busy watching what’s happening just in front of you most of the time, as the moments where you stand and gaze over a Manhattan in the grip of chaos, moments which should really reward the player, are instead spent staring into a cloud. Again, the disparity in quality between the chaos at street level (which is remarkably well done) and those moments looking down from on high is very disappointing.

Devastating

There have been complaints of Prototype having almost too much choice with regard to power selection in that the player is never forced to use all the tools at Mercer’s disposal. This criticism is in fact one of the game’s greatest strengths. The number of choices on offer with regard to upgrades and new abilities allow the player to tailor Mercer to their own style of play. I chose to focus on movement and disguise abilities rather than the cataclysmic devastator attacks and upgraded the muscle mass ability to the detriment of the claws. Were someone else to play the game, no doubt the choices they made would alter the way the game panned out. For example some missions can be completed without raising a single alarm and thus can be played in a stealth like fashion. However, there is nothing stopping you from abandoning all subtlety and launching an all out attack instead. In the end Prototypes greatest strength is the freedom it offers: Freedom of movement, the freedom to “evolve” Mercer as you see fit, the freedom to play as an anti-hero, or an anti-Christ… all of these elements combine to offer a game with more depth than your average action game.

Final Thoughts

Prototype has a lot to recommend it. When it succeeds (for example in its controls and overall gameplay), it soars. However, it’s lead weight is squarely tied to it’s visuals. It is by no means a perfect game. It’s even difficult to title it an important game… but is it fun? One of the most fun titles I’ve played all year. Highly recommended.

Find more Prototype (Xbox 360) reviews over at Test Freaks!

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