It was delayed for an entire year, lost one of its biggest features (co-op), and was put under a review embargo in the week leading to its release. Before Prototype came out there was every reason to assume that the game was going to suck. But alas, it did not. In fact, it does the exact opposite. It blows minds. We are four years into the next generation of gaming and no game has produced the feelings of absolute desolation that this game does.
Story: Prototype is the story of a young man who is going through some changes. Changes in his body, his life, and his relationships with the people around him. He his having trouble coping with these changes, so he decides to lash out and find out what is going on with him. I think he's going through monster puberty.
I'm not going to lie, I didn't pay any attention to the story as I played through the game because I was striving to unlock all of the powers that awaited me, always promising myself that I'd watch every cut scene during my second time through, in the fabled 'New Game +'. Which hasn't happened yet, because I can't stop senselessly murdering people.
Graphics: A good majority of people have complained about the graphics of this game. "Why doesn't it look better?", "Oh these graphics are pretty shitty.", "Isn't this next gen?". All of those people can go fly a kite, because the graphics on this game are borderline phenomenal. Definitely not in the models of the characters, but in everything the engine puts out without the slightest sign of a chug.
You can stand on the roof of a sky scraper, chuck a person, and watch their body fall halfway across the city. Some parts of the city are calm and collected, whereas others are swarming with zombies, burning cars, couches and other household objects litter the streets, and the military is killing everyone in site. Pure pandemonium. But then you turn a corner and the only noise you hear is the sound of the battle going on behind you, because there is nothing on this street besides hundreds of corpses and overturned cars. Prototype brings to life a city in despair far better than any game to date.
Gameplay: In five minutes I destroyed a helicopter by chucking a person at it (with the most beautiful spiral I've ever seen. Alex Mercer must have been an All-American quarterback in high school), fell from one hundred stories only to land with a shock wave, sending everything around me flying away in a wave of destruction, tore a man in half with my bare hands, and picked up a car while doing a front flip and then proceeded to hurl it at a tank as I landed. All of this was done using only one of the powers (an upgrade to your bare hands that comes in the form of some burly ass buff arms.) you get over the course of the game. With four others to explore (a long 'whip' arm, a pair of claws, giant 'boulder' fists, and a single blade that takes the place of your right arm) you're bound to enjoy hours of mutilation. You also get the opportunity to jump about ninety feet in the air, cover your body in a black armor (a la the Guyver), produce a shield that reflects bullets and acts as a cow catcher when running, and glide for short distances.
If powers aren't your thing you can always take the form of a soldier, pick up a gun, and fight along side the military in their fight against zombies. With the chaos that takes place on the streets this is actually extremely fun.
Controls: You charge your attacks to make them more powerful and your jumps to send you higher into the sky by holding down the corresponding button. You free run (just like in Assassin's Creed) by holding down the right trigger. You make a bloody mess of things by pushing basically any button. These controls could not be any better.
What I didn't like: The difficulty spikes greatly about ten missions in, and for some reason *SPOILERS* the developers decided it would be a good choice to take away your powers (aside from the speed, strength, and mobility) for about a third of the game. *END SPOILERS*
I don't really like number reviews, but Prototype is the best game of 2009 thus far in my book.
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