(I hope you're not gonna split on the tab when we go out dude)
PrototypeDeveloper: Radical Entertainment
Publisher: Activision
Year: 2009
Genre: Action
System: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
It's not easy trying to be original in videogames....for some perhaps. Whether your intentions are more for money or more for the gaming industry to be more variable, there may well always be a clone coming around the corner. And so we have Prototype, a game disturbingly similar apparently to Sucker Punch's Infamous which came out two weeks earlier. As I have and never will be able to play Infamous, I'm going to just have to judge this incorrectly named Prototype (because that would be a beta test of something, therefore the first) on its own merits.
Story - Alex Mercer is a dude apparently possessed with the voice of Michael Keaton as Batman, with his body able to change into all kinds of freakish forms like claws and scythes and fists like Fantastic Four's The Thing, discovering himself to be kidnapped by a pharmaceutical corporation (another one, you'd think Umbrella would show everyone how not to do this shady shit) and becoming some kind of monstrous gone-wrong experiment. So he escapes the place and is hunted down by the military forces and strike teams across Manhattan to be killed when he is found out to be the source of an infectious disease that could affect all of humanity.
(In Times Square, even the monsters are
fabulous)
- Like 80% of videogames today, the primary colours are grey and black. Here though it's grey and red, which is a bit nicer. The game world itself is literally Manhattan, all of the buildings being climbable to the very top of the city itself through the streets and crowds. It feels very impressive to be able to traverse Manhattan which feels certainly alive enough, moreso than the Spiderman games did (then again seeing it's the same publisher, that may not be surprising).
The fact that almost any object can be destroyed, glass and rock crunch under your deceptively powerful limbs and if you fall down hard enough you make impressive crater cracks in the street, is impressive enough, even if everyone only seems to know how to run and stumble, which is what New Yorkers seem to do in every single movie ever made about New York, just like Tokyo.
Gameplay - If you ever looked at the Spiderman games and thought "hey this'd be better if it had more violence and punching and missions only about them" well holy shit you are in luck because Prototype is nothing but that, to the point of turning rather dull. At least in the Spiderman games you had a variety of fighting attacks, while here you only have the punching combo and the kicking combo....okay maybe it's not that different at all.
There is more variety than that however in the form of dealing with the military.
Sometimes you have to be sneaky in order to get past them and you do this by consuming enemies, swallowing them into your corpse like the reverse effect of a tumour (and it looks as pretty as it sounds) so you can do two things. Taking on their identity and fooling everyone, or consuming those with important data inside their brain in order to progress to the next mission. Yes, you eat people's brains to gain knowledge.
(When I told you to spike the punch, I didn't mean THAT kind of punch!)
I'm surprised Resident Evil has never used such a mechanic ever, you never had Albert Wesker chewing on one of the researcher's brains in a seductive Dracula fashion with his lurid "if Alan Rickman was American" voice paralysing his victims with shock and awe. But I digress. There's an entire web of information you can complete in the game called "The Web Of Intrigue" which is done so by consuming important people. You also gain experience points with various mission completions, consuming or destroying enemies and finding special items.
The experience points can be used to upgrade your monstrous form with more health, more speed, a shield from your arm, claws, stealth consuming, instant Verizon bypass, and so on except that last one.
Aside from this and the main missions there are other things to do in the city of Manhattan like the sub-missions that fall into two categories.
Killing enemies.
Running up buildings then jumping off of them.
That's it. Admittedly the fact you can run and climb up of ANY GODDAMN BUILDING in Manhattan IS pretty cool and Mercer is pretty cool looking when he does since he is actually RUNNING up it and he doesn't take any fall damage at all, but only these two kinds of missions? It's gonna piss you off unless you're a completionist whore.
Although you can ride helicopters and tanks too, but only those, before you karate-kick them into the pavement.
(.....Okay now you're just showing off)
Let's face it, this is not a deep game, it's a game with a surface as thin as your skin and it's not going to pretend otherwise. Admittedly though, at least there's not one fucking balloon in sight. There are also hints and landmark collectibles to collect if, again you are a completionist whore, and DAMN that can get a lil addictive scaling every nook and cranny of the city for them. Just like in Spiderman 2 but with achievements!
I will say however the climbing controls get VERY pissy when you near the thinner parts of a building. If you're climbing something that is not larger in width than yourself, you're either forced off by Alan's confusion on where to go in his inability to comprehend climbing something his own body width, or you jump off automatically and believe me, you can maybe glide back to the building but the camera will not help you at all, in the sense that the camera is very lazy and barely tries to work with you at all, or even move at all. Other than the good layout of controls, I do like the fact that Alan will automatically leap over cars or fences or so.
(Either that's inspired by a shitty B-movie, or a high-school vid about STDs)
- The music itself you will barely notice for the shooting, screaming and explosions. Speaking of which, the shooting, screaming and explosions are pretty awesome. There is no other sound like the rushing whoosh of air as you leap off the Chrysler Building backwards and crash upon the streets of Manhattan like a fucking comet. That's actually one thing I never get tired of with this game, leaping off of buildings when i want to.
So again I say, if you thought Spiderman 2 would have been more fun with brutal violence, no balloons and simpler combat, hey you'll love this. If you prefer a game of more depth, PERHAPS you should have a lookout on what Infamous has to offer, out of respect because it was there first and all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go buy a new dictionary.
Fun and Innovation - 3
Replayability - 3
Gameplay - 4
Presentation - 3
Comments (2)
It's truly humbling to see a group of strangers band together to support a common goal. People from all walks of life ignoring their differences in a hope that the one thing that brings us all together remains active. Thank you.
We've passed our donation goal for this month. All it took was a desperate plea from me and the hordes united. We did it in a day. That was awesome. It is because of you and your generous donations that we were able to once again bring back the other two servers we were missing so very much. Everyone really came through for us this month and it is truly an honor to be apart of an online community where everyone really cares about each other and the playground they play on.
There were a number of extremely generous donations this time around. I won't name names, but I was blown away by the numbers I was seeing from individuals. I lied, I will mention one name. WarMachine. The dude can't even play right now and yet his donation was the reason we broke the goal barrier. He is the reason Tempest #2 and #3 returned in short order. While there might not be any alcohol where you are, know that we here at Pwnzord HQ raised our glasses to you. Thanks, buddy. Get home safe.
Most of you have already noticed that Tempests #1 #2 and #3 are all operational and almost exactly how they once were. The stats page is up at tempest.hlstatsx.com. Shit, even I've been playing a little.
I feel like now that we've scaled back and almost gotten our financials under control we can really move forward again. Sometimes you must step back in order to move forward.
You've all shown me the value of this community again. You've demonstrated to me that this place is worth saving. Most importantly, however, you've shown me why this place was so important to me before. You've helped me remember.
Thanks, everyone. You are truly awesome.
Side note: Your slots are coming, as are your admin powers. We're working out some details right now, but they will be up in short order. Thanks for your patience.
Comments (0)
We've been in a pretty serious financial rut lately. There's no question, the economy is in the toilet and we're all suffering as a result of it. As you all have noticed, we've had to scale back our operation pretty significantly to where we were at last year. This is due to a combination of issues, but mostly it comes down to all of us taking intense financial hits over the past few months. I know everyone is hurting and to those who have continued to support us each month, words cannot express my immense gratitude.
With that said, I feel I need to make something apparent to everyone. We need your donations more than ever right now. We're really trying to get back on our feet and jumpstart this place again, but without your support, I fear we're only going to squeeze by by the skin of our teeth. If there ever was a time when you had considered donating, but hadn't gotten around to it, now would be that time.
Your donations will be put towards saving this place. It's that simple. I've invested way too much money into this community and as a result I'm only just getting by myself now. This, by the way, is no one's fault but my own. However, my efforts to remedy the situation came too late and we're in a sort of spiral right now. While it is summer and work is beginning to pick up again for me, it's not coming fast enough and we're choking.
So, in less words, this is a plea for help. I know all of you want to see this place continue, and I do as well. For a long period of time there I was on the fence about my interests in regards to this place. However, recently I fired up TF2 for the first time in about a year and I really enjoyed myself. It was a great time hanging out with old friends, as well as introducing myself to some new faces. I had lost my way, but a simple round of killing Giller helped me find it.
So here it is, in addition to those already having donated to our cause, all new donations, $20 or more, will earn a permanent reserved slot in every single server we run now, as well as any server or game we run in the future. It will never expire. Those who have donated this month also receive that bonus. Donations of $5 will continue to receive monthly slots.
This, unfortunately is the only thing I can offer you... aside from one other benefit.
All donaters of $20 or more will be placed in what I am calling the "WDFNews.com Premium Member Server Council." Basically what this means is not only will you have direct discussion access to the administrators, but you'll also receive a few basic admin commands to help you enjoy the game more. These include map changing commands and kicking commands. You'll be able to help moderate the servers we run.
Please note, we reserve the right to revoke any commands we see fit if you fail to adhere to our basic admin code. Abuse of your abilities will result in the loss of your abilities.
I hope these small tokens of appreciation will help you feel like your money is going to a good cause, and you'll be able to see your money work through your new abilities.
As always, you have my eternal thanks.
Those members who cannot manage to donate for whatever reason, please know that we do not think any less of you. You'll still be treated equally. After all, at the end of the day it is the players who make our servers that much better.
Thank you, everyone.
-WDF
Comments (14)
Tempest 1 is now back online.... somewhat.
I can't make claims about its stability yet, but it is online and ready for testing.
207.210.252.108:27016
Also, you east folks might notice a substantial ping reduction. The server is now hosted in Dallas, TX.
Please post all feedback in the Tempest thread on the subject. I need feedback to fix the issues.
Comments (2)