In Prototype you controlled Alex Mercer. Waking up with no memory, he finds everything has gone to hell in New York City as he’s caught in the middle of a war against Blacklight. Mercer eventually learns the truth of a virus known as Blacklight, and he finds out he’s a carrier who can transform his body into weapons and consume enemies to gain new abilities or become them. In the end, we’re lead to believe that he wiped the virus from the face of the Earth.

Because the first Prototype came out two weeks after Sony had released Infamous, the two were constantly being compared to. I played Infamous first and Prototype afterwards. I found Prototype’s story not that interesting. Gameplay wise, some of the abilities and tools you get were better than Infamous. Now with Infamous 2 out last year, I find myself liking Prototype 2 more than Infamous 2. It had a pretty twisted story and the action is more in your face. While the game is very similar to the first Prototype, Radical Entertainment fixed many of the problems the first one had. The game no longer feels too repetitive, thanks to the abilities gained later in the game. Some abilities include the ability to control packs of wild infected monster, enemies and bosses.

In Prototype 2 it has been 14 months since the Alex Mercer incident. This time you control Sergeant James Heller, a soldier who received news that his wife and daughter were killed while he was in Iraq. The person involved in these incidents is Alex Mercer, who everyone believed was dead. Heller requests to be on a team that hunts and takes down Mercer. He gets more than he bargained for when his squad gets wiped out. The only one left, Heller attacks Mercer, but he’s no match for Mercer and his powers and is stabbed.

Heller soon awakens and is tied up and being studied by Blackwatch. He breaks free after awakening his power and meets Mercer again who tells him the truth about the virus and Blackwater. Heller goes to find out the truth himself about Blackwater, the virus, and Alex Mercer, and what he finds out will only take him deeper down the hole into revenge and destruction.

Let's take out those Zombies....Ummm......I mean Infected

Heller’s powers vastly resembles Alex Mercer’s from the first game. He can transform into whoever he consumes and blend in with the crowd. His body is also a living weapon that is able to transform into tendrils, blades, powerful hammers and more. A cool new ability is the “BioBomb”, which allows Heller to turn an unsuspecting victim into a bomb that takes out everything around them, perfect for distractions. Each weapon can be powered up either by completing missions, consuming specific targets, or gaining experience. When you want to get to places, you can have Heller glide across the city or run on buildings and skyscrapers and jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Tired of exercising around the city? You can hijack a tank or helicopter.

The game is mission based and has New York City separated into 3 different zones: Yellow, Red and Green. The different colors let us know how infected the area is. While the game has missions posted around the map, you are free to take a stroll around the city by walking among the terrified or infected. You can travel between zones to complete sidequests and Radnet events after certain points in the game.

If you enjoyed the first Prototype, you’ll definitely enjoy this with the updated graphics and a more graphic novel feel. It doesn’t bring anything majorly new to the table, but it’s a fun sequel that’s worth checking out.

Chris Del Castillo

Growing up Chris watched a lot of the original Saturday morning cartoons and developed a love for arts and animation. Growing up he tried his hand at animation and eventually script writing, but even more his love of video games, anime and technology grew.

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