Written by: PlayDevil.com Staff

 

 

 

I barely played the first Prototype. It released around the same time as the PS3 exclusive InFamous and I sided with an electrically powered hero rather than the mutant claw hero.

 

But my hands off demo of Prototype 2 at Gamescom had me wondering if I had made the right choice.

 

Beginning the demo with a brief overview of Prototype and introduction to Prototype 2’s story I was instantly intrigued. A historical account of the fiction’s events took me through a variety of government secrets such as biological weapon testing and genetic mutations. It was clichéd, but fun and created a dystopian fiction of a fractured and ghettoised New York City, or New York Zero as it is now called.

 

This New York Zero has been segregated into three zones, each of which translates in to a different difficulty level. Green is a military held zone, basically safe. Yellow is a quarantine zone, where infected people are held making it slightly hostile. The final Red area is over taken by an infection, making it the most dangerous area and the home to the original game’s protagonist Alex Mercer.

 

Prototype 2’s new ‘hero’ is Sgt James Heller; a man who blames Mercer for the death of his family, but in an ironic twist of fate has gained the same morphing-mutant powers as his nemesis. To further complicated issues for Heller the military group, Black Watch, have not worked the rivalry between the two and are regarding the ex-Sergeant of as much as a threat as Mercer as he battles his way through NYZ to get to Mercer and the truth. 

 

While still a very early (the demo was pre-alpha) the game looks great. Watching Heller move through the crowds I was reminded of Assassins Creed as he sidestepped and edged his way through groups of people. Similarly memories were stirred as I watched non-player characters reactions change to Heller as he used his abilities to absorb and take the form of other characters in the world. Sometime doing this would result in gameplay benefits, allowing stealth and subterfuge to be conducted. Other times it would simply adjust how people reacted to him in the world; civilians cowering from him as military personnel or jostling him as a beggar. Taking the form of members of Black Watch also allowed access to their intranet, revealing access to side missions. These extra missions accessed more of the story, each with a multistage structure that is being designed provide a natural desire to progress through its narrative, along side the more traditional incentive of new abilities for Heller.

 

Stealth was always a factor in Prototype, but to help Heller a new awareness system has been implemented for this sequel. It is a system that indicates who is being watched at any given time, allowing Heller to plan his attack and route through hostile areas. Planning who to kill or ‘consume’ next will make it possible to move through areas unseen, slowly eliminating anyone who may be a threat with out fear of discovery (though there was no information about if the last guy alive will become suspicious once everyone else has disappeared).

 

Heller’s shape shifting abilities also contribute to his more entertaining powers. I was assured that these powers build still further on the over the top action of the original Prototype, but with no real frame of reference Prototype 2’s combat was simply over the top. Action was fast and fluid and the ability to rapidly switch between a number of powers make it all the more dramatic.

 

Dismemberment and violence was so over the top it bordered on comical but the appeal (as Heller’s creeping black body parts morphed from hammers, to shields to claws before pouncing across an arena) was hard to deny. The demonstrator proceeded to sprint up the side of a building before launching in to the air and gliding across the city towards two helicopters. Upper cutting one, Heller then jumped onto the other and was given the choice of hijacking it or weaponising parts of it. Ripping a rocket launcher from the crafts body and unleashed its contents on troops around him. Violent, gruesome and (I am kind of ashamed to say) entertaining the apparent responsiveness and speed of the action was thrilling to watch.

 

Prototype 2 (I am told) refines the original game and (while I can speak with no authority to the truth of this) I certainly believe it. Frenetic combat, interesting powers, stealth that may actually be fun and a story that may be slightly above what is usually expected in a third-person action game, make Prototype 2 a title I won’t overlook this time around when it releases on PS3 and 360 April next year.