Later, you will be able to use some of your charge/barge attacks and some of your short range attached weapons to bring them down. Biological enemies are particularly susceptible to blade attacks, and Alex's arms mutate into blades and spikes of various different kinds, the most impressive of which is the ground spike, which enables him to target an enemy, and then smash his hands down between his legs and, if the enemy is within range, an impressive set of huge spike comes out of the ground at their feet, impaling them dramatically. It's an impressive ranged attack, but it take a while to charge, and so is not effective in all situations. And that's the case with almost all of Alex' abilities, of which he has many.
Almost all of his abilities can be upgraded, and many more can be bought as you progress through the game. You buy and upgrade by spending EP, which is earned by completing missions, and by killing people or destroying vehicles. EP shows up as red glowing orbs which have to be collected by passing in close proximity to them. There are other pick-ups to be collected in the form of landscape artefacts and hints, which are light blue and purple respectively.
Choosing the right approach for the correct situation is, I'd imagine the developers believe, part of the game's appeal. But it's also a little frustrating, as is trying to remember which key combo instigates which attack. When compared to
inFamous' delightfully intuitive control method, that of
Prototype feels just a bit intimidating. And if you die during a mission, the last save point can be quite a long way back - whereas
inFamous has auto save-points during longer missions.
A final gripe is the camera, it's not elegant in enclosed spaces, and it auto centres when you look up, even if you want it to remain looking up. You are almost incapable of looking down, which makes finding pick-ups far trickier, nay more annoying, than it should be. Add these niggles to the pretty average graphics, which in one or two places are laughably bad, and the game fails to secure its place in the very top tier of modern gaming.
The model of New York city is impressive both in scale and accuracy - but it's only a veneer of accuracy. While a selection of important a recognisable buildings are there, as many others are missing. But it provides an excellent backdrop for the action.
Despite the problems,
Prototype is an engaging game that had me going back time after time. But when the review is over, I still have
inFamous to complete, and I'll be attending to that before I put
Prototype back in my 360.
SPOnG Score: 84%
Some niggling issues stop Prototype being the game we all wanted it to be, but it remains an involving action adventure. The gameplay is a little more linear than I might have hoped and the side missions can quickly become tedious. But the main missions are involved and challenging. Restart points can be a little harsh, which quickly forces you to learn to play strategically. The complex controls can be daunting, but once mastered, unveil a huge array of dramatic moves and impressive weapons.
