I was one of the few people I knew to pre-order the first Prototype, I was impressed by what I saw in the Xplay reveal back in January of 2009. The game showed promise and the story was complex at the same time interesting. While the first had it's technical flaws it delivered heavily on destruction and feeling like a complete over powered badass, while at the same time remaining challenging, throwing in continuous waves of military and creatures alike to stop you.
It's been about three years since I played the first Prototype. As an avid fan of both the game's delivery on fun and Alex Mercer as a character I was excited to find out that I would actually be fighting the very character I leveled up and made into a biological god in the previous game. While I do admit when I first saw the titles reveal at VGA 2010, I was a bit worried. It felt rather early revealing a sequel only a year after the game came out. Despite this I kept a follow up on any news relating to it and over time I was impressed. Radical was going all out for a sequel, I was couldn't wait to play the game in all it's awesome glory.
A rather large complaint I recall from the first was that the city didn't have any real sign of individuality, everything was the same, buildings lacked any real unique design, the AI felt lifeless. Radical Entertainment seems to have paid great attention to this particular piece of criticism and assigned a separate team to design the environments as well as the livelihood of the average NPC. Upon entering each zone I was welcome to a city oozing with life from all three of the title's zones. The Yellow zone which happens to be the first you encounter is a shelter for people who are sick, and or dying. Digging through trash cans for food, begging on the streets, having conversations with one another, being treated by the local scientists in the area, individuals living on roof tops, some even over looking the city, talking on their cell phones, some even falling from the top committing suicide, the list goes on. Never have I played an open world game with such diverse AI, especially in one where the main focus is destruction, an AAA quality effort to make the player feel immersed in the world they control.
In addition to the immersion is the dynamic environments, Yellow Zone shows signs of shanty towns, abandon stores, fortified makeshift military stations such as a stadium, protocol scanning areas, passing vehicle inspections by soldiers. The Green Zone is a military haven, the resident forces hold a strict law over it's citizens, casually fighting against in protest with the visiting troops stationed in their city, picket signs and angry bouts of slurs are heard well above a building over looking a military base. The Red Zone is an absolute hell and is regarded as the main area of New York where the first Prototype took place. Buildings collapsed into another, spore like organisms webbing them self in and out of structures still standing, large battles between the infected and military.
In Prototype 2 you play as James Heller, a solider who loses his family to a second infected attack, caused by the first protagonist, Alex Mercer. While fans of the first may dislike not playing as Mercer this time around, it's sad to say that despite Radical's desire to make the player hate Alex and turn him into their vision of a villain. James Heller simply doesn't develop well as a character. He's as generic as they come, every two or so sentences a slur somehow interjects with just about any statement or rebuttal. It's hard to feel emotional for a man when there's hardly any farther development besides a father who swears too often and never really gets his voice or opinion out there long enough for any real personality to develop.
One of the games many unique features is the inclusion of RADNET, a feature which allows for timely events between a three day period where players can complete challenges and events to win rewards, and ultimately for the original fans an Alex Mercer playable skin. The rewards also span from avatar clothes/props, dynamic themes, videos, extra points to upgrading Heller. It's a nice addition that keeps players playing to get those nice extra incentives, a welcoming replay value.
As a fan of the first I just had to splurge on the Collectors Edition. I'm proud to say that Radical Entertainment has improved on just about all of the original Prototype's flaws. With a development period of three years, it's quite easy to tell they poured their heart and soul into delivering a unique experience apart from any other open world title. I congratulate Radical on giving the Prototype franchise it's own ground to finally stand on.
To be noted.
*Beaten twice "Normal/Hard"
* 1000G'd
The rate things are going, every game from the past console generation will get remastered. These four games SHOULD be next, but they probably won't be.
Having a good PC and modding aren't options for everyone. I'm so sick of people saying "PC" and "Modding."
@lighter9 Exactly!
It takes a significant investment to get a gaming rig capable of all the great things PC gamers brag about.
Then you have to set it up and mess about with mods and techy stuff a lot of people don't know how to or don't have the time for it.
Console gaming is so accessible, Just sit down pick up a controller and away you go.
Maybe developer resources for Remasters should only go towards games that were part of the PS2/XB generation or earlier.
That being said, I did appreciate TLOU:Remastered though, so thank you :)
Forget a remaster of RFG, I just want to see a new open world game. Nordic Games that bought the Red Faction franchise is probably working on another Red Faction game now or in the very near future. They just updated Guerrilla to DX 11 in December, they are adding new Wrecking Crew maps soon and I got a message from them on Steam that says...
"We decided not to rush into RFG2 but rather do something good to RFG and collect community feedback. I hope at some point in 2015 or 2016 I can announce that a new Red Faction game is actually under development."
Link to that discussion.
http://steamcommunity.com/a...
Ever think about a game world you'd want to live in? After reading through this list, maybe reconsider that.
Or Gears of War.
That planet has hail storms that can kill you in a couple seconds.
Forgetting that Prototype 2 exists, living in a world where the government infects towns and afterwards nukes them, no thanks.
I would like the powers Alex Mercer has, though.
Check out this list of recommendations for more action-adventure games similar to the Prototype (series)
1000G'd
Achievement whore ;)
I'm looking forward to the visual changes. The game was quite bland, and it's good to know the environment is more lively this time around.
Totally loved this game. Managed to improve upon everything I loved in the first one and some.
Best addition; sticky tendrils and viral bombs.
Good review, but you don't need to brag about how many times you've beaten the game or how many achievements you got from the game. However, I'm glad to hear the game is worth getting.