Prototype Review

BY Nicholas Rego | POSTED: 02 July 2009

The city is your playground – where will you go?



Since the first teaser trailers hit the gaming scene, there’s been a lot of buzz about Prototype. The early gameplay footage looked frenzied and full of action, and we couldn’t wait to get our hand on the real thing. Having finally had a chance to give Prototype a spin on the Playstation 3, I have to come away with some mixed thoughts. On one hand, the game offers you complete freedom to explore and do as you wish, but on the flip side you’ve got a rather weak storyline trailing behind, and a few issue that could have easily been cleaned up before the game went to production.



You play as Alex Mercer, a man who suddenly wakes up in a government facility only to later discover he has shape shifting abilities and tremendous power. Working from that, you spend a majority of your time combing the city of Manhattan searching for answers and clues that will lead you to discover who or what is behind your mutation. And did I mention that there’s a virus spreading in the city turning people into bloodthirsty mutants? It’s sounds like a regular day in the city, really.

But where you’ll get the most satisfaction from is through honing Alex’s various mutations and tremendous powers. Alex has two primary skills – shapeshifting parts of his body into deadly weapons, or changing his entire body to assume the appearance of someone else. The weapons you can shapeshift into include a pair of razor sharp claws that can tear both people and cars apart, large boulder-like fists to pummel tanks into scrap metal, and a whip-like tentacle that can bring down helicopters. Should you be detected by the various military units on patrol, simply grab an unsuspecting civilian or soldier to instantly ‘absorb’ them to instantly change your appearance and shake them off your tail. This combination of brute force and stealth is forever at your disposal, and can be switched with a flick of the D-pad. In addition to giving you a health boost, absorbing people and enemies grants you access to their memories, which can sometimes give you valuable clues on your various missions.



The game’s ultimate beauty lies in the fact that the city truly is one giant playground. One of your uncanny powers is the ability to run up walls and buildings with zero effort. There is no invisible walls anywhere to hinder your exploration, so if you see a towering skyscraper, you can scale it until you reach the very top, ultimately giving you’re the sensation that you’re in control of a powerful being that is free to do and go wherever you please. It’s an immensely satisfying experience to stand poised on a rooftop looking at the bustling streets below.

Although you’re given the freedom to do and go as you please, you’ll eventually have to make your way around the city completing key missions to unlock more information about your mutation and who is responsible for it. While some of these missions offer you a bit of gameplay variety, most of them direct you to absorbing a particular military target to progress further, which soon begins to drag along as you inhale one person after the next. It would have been better if you could choose more than one way to end a mission, rather than sneaking up on someone and sucking the living daylights out of them. The other noticeable issue is there is a noticeable degree of clipping that occurs when you jump around certain buildings. This doesn’t happen too often, but I did get lodged in an air duct on one occasion, which thankfully ended up breaking off and freeing me. The game doesn’t offer any multiplayer support, but the single-player mission is more than enough to keep you going for a fair number of hours.



Prototype is good game to play if you’re looking for open-world gameplay and plenty of gore. Though the missions tend to be a bit on the dull side, there is still plenty to see and destroy, and perfecting Alex’s skills is an absolute treat. This is one game to play if you’re looking for an enjoyable action game with no limits to where you can go.