The first Prototype game is one I share a passionate love/hate relationship with. It was simultaneously the most frustrating, and the most crazy fun game I've ever played. It was a game that gave you the most insane superpowers, but then seemed to revel in finding more and more ways to take them away from you. Now the sequel is here promising a fix to all the first game's problems. Does it deliver on that promise? In the words of Sergeant Heller: "Hell fucking yes!"
Right from the word go, you can tell Radical is really trying for something different with this game. The opening shows Alex Mercer, the anti-hero protagonist of the first, now fully cast in the antagonist role. Taking his place as protagonist is Sergeant James Heller, a loving father who returns home from the war to find his family murdered by Mercer's virus. Filled with a fury to rival Kratos's, he sets out to hunt down Mercer. After a really cool opening level, you come face to face with him, only to have Mercer infect you and send you out to do his bidding. Throughout the game, Heller will discover a web of deceit and lies, and eventually discover just what Mercer has planned for the world, and Heller himself. The story is stronger this time around, helped by better writing, stronger and much more likable characters, and great pacing. Potty mouth aside, Heller is a sympathetic protagonist, mostly because this time around Radical never try to paint him as a troubled hero. Like Kratos, Heller is driven only by pure rage, and God help anyone who gets in his way. His ensemble cast is strong, too, often in surprising places. Sabrina Galloway provides an interesting femme fatale role as Heller's contact within Blackwatch, and Father Guera presents a welcome humanity that tethers Heller to reality. A returning character from the first game was also a stand out for me, though they were also a stand out in the original. The writing is wonderfully over-the-top at times, especially the dialogue from the various Blackwatch soldiers and Gentek scientists. "Shut your fucking fuck hole, you fucking geek!" one perturbed commando shouts at a whining scientist, while 4 Gentek VIPs brag about a project to sterilize the lower classes and ethnics. This over-the-top villainy just makes it all the more satisfying when the get their bloody comeuppance. And God, is it bloody. This game could be one of the goriest, bloodiest and grossest games I've seen in some time. Limbs are severed, people are swallowed alive, the infected are twisted and mutated in horrific ways. It's truly a beautiful sight to behold.
And the game itself is beautiful. The graphics might not be cutting edge, but on the PC at least it still looks good. The city shines and sparkles, while night scenes are often accompanied by rainfall and moody lighting. The city looks amazing, and is varied as well; with three distinct zones. The Green Zone is all but free of infection, the Yellow Zone is under quarantine, and then the Red Zone, which has almost been entirely swallowed by the virus. This could be the best version of New York since Spider-man 2. The city feels alive, bustling with sound and sights, and helped by a much improved draw distance since the original. Aesthetically, Prototype 2 is very pleasing, too. The infections manifests in bright reds, reflections in the water and glass dance and sparkle, and the cinematics are rendered in a gorgeous black, white and red style. There's actually a very noir feel, not just to the visuals, but the story and character design as well. And I love noir. Some of the animations look a bit dated, ripped straight from the original, but for the most part the characters move beautifully. The scale of destruction has a lot of weight, with massive explosions and Heller's every step ripping up the environment.
It's the gameplay, though, that is improved so much over the original. Everything that the original hinted at is perfectly realized in the sequel. You see, the virus allows Heller to change his very body. This can be used in combat, with five different weapons at his disposal, or in stealth, by taking on the form of various people you consume. There's a much bigger focus on the powers this time around, with missions specifically designed to encourage greater use of your powers. There's also a surprisingly deep upgrade system. XP will level up Heller, allowing him to increase his attributes, while completing side missions and finding collectibles will net you Mutations, which are like perks. These are locked in once you've chosen them, lending a bit of weight to these decisions as the available mutation points are very rare. On top of that, specific consumable enemies will upgrade your powers and abilities. Combat is much more simplified and streamlined this time, and so much better for it. Two of your powers can be mapped to the X and Y buttons at any time, and they can be swapped out on the fly. A dodges and jumps, and B grabs. And that's all there is too it. Radical has managed to strike a balance between making you feel powerful, but still challenging you. Gone are the random huge difficulty spikes of the first game, as well as the awful boss fights. The boss fights this time around are really well designed, especially the final one, which requires you to rapidly adapt your fighting style and cycle through all your abilities. Completing the game unlocks a new game + mode, as well as the insane difficulty, which I'm currently playing through on. The gameplay still holds up, more than 20 hours in I'm still having a blast with it, which is more than I can say for the original. I keep finding more and more stuff to muck around with, and there's still a ton of collectibles, side missions and leveling up to do.
It's a shame that Radical is no more, because Prototype 2 is really the pinnacle of their vision. Building on what started with the Hulk game, they really went out on a high. I should also mention that the voice acting is of a much better quality this time around, too. For anyone looking for a great action game, I can't recommend Prototype 2 enough. I have heard some people complaining of issues with the PC version, but I've experienced not a single problem in my 20+ hours. Also, I played with an Xbox Controller, just because I don't like to play action games with mouse and keyboard, so I don't know what the mouse and keyboard support is like, but honestly, Xbox controllers are so cheap now I'd be surprised if there were still people who didn't have one. This game is badass, it's crazy fun, and it's my favourite action game of this year. I cannot recommend it enough.
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