Eye-Catching Cinematics
Prototype 2’s cinematics boast an appealing art style, one seen in the popular movie Sin City. Everything is colored in black and white with a few items breaking through with their original color, red and blue usually, to add some visual flair. In a cutscene, for example, you may see Heller walking and the inside of his hood is highlighted red while the eyes on the mask of a soldier give off a bright blue light. Prototype 2 may not have been the first media to implement this style, but that doesn’t mean the game doesn’t completely rock it. Gameplay utilizes a similar aesthetic when the player’s health drops into dangerous territory. This is a refreshing change of pace from the pulsating red ring that hinders the visibility of on-screen events.
NOT
Weak Narrative
During Activision’s campaign for Prototype 2, you may have noticed that the commercials depicted a game about the struggle of a father (Heller) fighting Mercer to avenge the death of his wife and daughter. During the entire set of missions in the first zone, this story is nowhere to be found. In fact, when the narrative poked its head out again in the second zone, I was reminded that there was, in fact, a story being told after all. Even though the narrative had come back from the dead, I realized it was barely alive. The whole thing revolved around GenTec, Blackwatch, Mercer and how all of their generic evil plans came together. It definitely wasn’t the emotional roller coaster that I had come to expect based on the marketing I had seen beforehand. Sure, there were some moments in the game where a tiny bit of emotion was evoked, but it was quickly forgotten. I was on a quest to become a mutant powerhouse. The game had taught me to continue progressing in the ways of mindless slaughter, and that’s exactly where my focus remained. I could not be bothered to pull away from amassing mutations, not even for the sake of settling the score for my family’s death. Prototype 2 is a sandbox filled with tools that tantalize the player and drive them to set the bar higher for bloodiest kill. A strong story about a father losing everything and the “murder your maker” plot could have been so much more, but as it stands, they administer just enough justification to continue raising the kill count, not like most of us needed any to begin with.
Lackluster Presentation
One of Prototype 2’s most disappointing aspects can be plainly seen in its presentation. The in-game graphics have only received a minor boost since the first Prototype came out in 2009. For starters, character models aren’t very detailed and look jagged. Then there’s the environment. While it has slightly expanded its color palette, it still doesn’t provide anything visually stimulating. The three zones – green, yellow and red – are only separated by the severity of infection present. The green zone shows more people going about their daily lives normally while people are nearly non-existent in the red zone where the infected have taken over and roam the streets in force. Although each zone distinguishes itself from the last area somewhat, they still fall short of showing off anything interesting. These flaws make Prototype 2’s visuals feel too outdated to be considered a current-gen game in some regards.
Repetitive Mission Structure
New York City awaits the countless gallons of blood that the player will inevitably spill and, to further entice players to continue slaughtering Blackwatch, the city contains both missions obtained from main characters as well as side missions to do between the aforementioned tasks. It is unfortunate that nearly every mission falls into the same structure. Heller will be informed of a corrupt individual, locate them and pummel them into the ground. It isn’t much more in-depth than that. The only depth to the missions comes in how creative players decide to get when hunting their prey. Occasionally, Heller will be asked to grab intel in an event that plays out like a timed checkpoint race. Trust me, while it may sound like a break from the norm, they aren’t all that memorable. This is a game that focuses on spilling blood and lots of it. The game just provides the template and it becomes the player’s job to fill the cloned missions with a new approach if they want variety.
Verdict
Prototype 2 boasts some severely addicting gameplay thanks to the wide range of overpowered mutant abilities available to Heller. These powers are the core of the game and upgrading them is the only real goal. The story takes a back seat to all of that and is more forgettable than your 500th kill. Sadly, the visuals do little to stimulate the player as well. So, with a poor narrative and outdated graphics, how did Prototype 2 still manage to be exceptionally good? Regardless of the “serious” story it tries to convince itself that it has, we all know what it really is; it is a game about mindless violence and limitless power. Sometimes a couple A-grade mechanics can easily overcome a few shortcomings that would have been able to ruin any other game. Prototype 2 is a rare breed and, while it has its flaws, it’s still an unbelievably entertaining free-roam bloodbath. For those driven by destruction, check out Prototype 2.
[Editor’s Note: Prototype 2 was reviewed on the PlayStation 3 console. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
