[PROTOTYPE] Commentary
Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 6:43 pm
I would do a review of this game, but I've already read a number of articles by other parties about this game, so I'd have a baised opinion.
Anyway onto the revi--commentary.
In [PROTOTYPE] there are four involved parties:
Alex Mercer (you) - I have no memory, I'm an angry, dark, scary man, I can mutate my arms into blades, I kick helicopters and they fear me, I can fly by farting blood.
Black Watch/Military - We have guns. Fuck you. We have guns. Fuck you. We have guns. Fuck you.
Citizens of Manhattan - Oh God, don't kill us.
The Infected - I EAT PEOPLE.
Guess which one wins.
Gameplay:
For a sand box game, the game world is pretty small. They also box you in by surrounding the entire world with water (it is Manhattan) and the military keeps you from leaving by airstriking you repeatedly if you try to cross the only bridge leaving Manhattan. As it is a sandbox game you can pretty much run around and do whatever you want although most of what you do will be evil. You're Alex Mercer, angry amnesiac with mutated powers and a giant chip in your shoulder, so you're evil. Yeah that's right, the only way you're gonna be helping old ladies across the street is by throwing them. And they spiral like a football. That explodes when it hits things. The entire citizenry of Manhattan are your play things. Low on health? Pick up some poor sap by the scruff of the neck and suck them into your body. Just wanna see how far you can throw some guy? Want to see if you can puree someone in a rotating helicopter blade? Just wanna push people into traffic? After a while, you realize, this is a very weird modern day Manhattan. Certain laws do not apply to you. You can fly around shooting blood out your pores all day and make flying leaps and land right in front of the cops and the military.
"THAT WAS AMAZING!!!" *walks off*
You run by a tank patrol and even use the tank as a jump pad and shoot off into the sky.
"Was that a bird?!" *goes back to patrol*
You push a few people into oncoming traffic.
"What was that?" *watches body fly through the air*
You bump a some rifleman on patrol a few times.
"I'm gonna KILL your ass!" *The entire military force stationed in Manhattan comes down on your head*
The only time the military reacts is when you openly use your powers (which I'd hope would be an obvious reason to react) or when you start killing their own people. You can kill pedestrians all day as far as the cops and the military cares, but mutated blades and claws are BAD. This really isn't a (major) slight against the game, its just a rather strange occurence but I suppose it gives you more freedom to do what you want.
Besides the story missions, there are quiet a few side missions for you to do, falling into several categories ranging from light-stealth to racing to sky diving. Although, in the end, most of the side missions are just various ways of killing people and can get a bit old.
My only real complaint about the gameplay is that the three major boss battles were slow, and a bit unimaginative. They mostly required throwing things at the boss and running around like a madman avoiding their attacks. And timed boss battles are a pain...
Graphics:
They aren't the greatest, but the number of things going on at the same time, the explosions and all the gore all over the place, is awesome. There's some occasional slowdown when things get really really hectic, but overall everything runs smooth. The textures seem a bit muted and flat, nothing really pops off the screen at you, but they do their job. The only big problem I see, is the draw distance. its really, really short. You don't notice it much when you're down running about in the streets but once you get to the roof tops you start noticing it, you can visibly see where the draw distance ends.
Sound/Music:
Nothing special. High quality stuff but nothing really stands out. The music doesn't grate on the ears and the sound effects are cool. There is quite a lot of F-bombing and it can sometimes gt annoying or seem out of place, otherwise the dialogue is pretty well acted out. There's also a doppler effect if you throw someone while they're screaming at you to let them go.
Overall:
This game is pretty straight forward in what its giving you. Chaos, gore, over the top action, a skill upgrade system that works, and all in a sandbox world. While it dosen't have the deep storylines some other games have it makes due and is great for just sitting down and getting into the action for a while.
I would suggest rent it first if you're not sure, but if you feel like throwing cars, doing flying kicks at helicopters, while commandeering tanks and cutting up swaths of people in a gory mess, this is a game for you. Its a pretty simple game, but its interesting enough to keep you coming back.
This kinda turned into a review didn't it?
"I am Alex Mercer, I've killed thousands of people...and one bird."
Anyway onto the revi--commentary.
In [PROTOTYPE] there are four involved parties:
Alex Mercer (you) - I have no memory, I'm an angry, dark, scary man, I can mutate my arms into blades, I kick helicopters and they fear me, I can fly by farting blood.
Black Watch/Military - We have guns. Fuck you. We have guns. Fuck you. We have guns. Fuck you.
Citizens of Manhattan - Oh God, don't kill us.
The Infected - I EAT PEOPLE.
Guess which one wins.
Gameplay:
For a sand box game, the game world is pretty small. They also box you in by surrounding the entire world with water (it is Manhattan) and the military keeps you from leaving by airstriking you repeatedly if you try to cross the only bridge leaving Manhattan. As it is a sandbox game you can pretty much run around and do whatever you want although most of what you do will be evil. You're Alex Mercer, angry amnesiac with mutated powers and a giant chip in your shoulder, so you're evil. Yeah that's right, the only way you're gonna be helping old ladies across the street is by throwing them. And they spiral like a football. That explodes when it hits things. The entire citizenry of Manhattan are your play things. Low on health? Pick up some poor sap by the scruff of the neck and suck them into your body. Just wanna see how far you can throw some guy? Want to see if you can puree someone in a rotating helicopter blade? Just wanna push people into traffic? After a while, you realize, this is a very weird modern day Manhattan. Certain laws do not apply to you. You can fly around shooting blood out your pores all day and make flying leaps and land right in front of the cops and the military.
"THAT WAS AMAZING!!!" *walks off*
You run by a tank patrol and even use the tank as a jump pad and shoot off into the sky.
"Was that a bird?!" *goes back to patrol*
You push a few people into oncoming traffic.
"What was that?" *watches body fly through the air*
You bump a some rifleman on patrol a few times.
"I'm gonna KILL your ass!" *The entire military force stationed in Manhattan comes down on your head*
The only time the military reacts is when you openly use your powers (which I'd hope would be an obvious reason to react) or when you start killing their own people. You can kill pedestrians all day as far as the cops and the military cares, but mutated blades and claws are BAD. This really isn't a (major) slight against the game, its just a rather strange occurence but I suppose it gives you more freedom to do what you want.
Besides the story missions, there are quiet a few side missions for you to do, falling into several categories ranging from light-stealth to racing to sky diving. Although, in the end, most of the side missions are just various ways of killing people and can get a bit old.
My only real complaint about the gameplay is that the three major boss battles were slow, and a bit unimaginative. They mostly required throwing things at the boss and running around like a madman avoiding their attacks. And timed boss battles are a pain...
Graphics:
They aren't the greatest, but the number of things going on at the same time, the explosions and all the gore all over the place, is awesome. There's some occasional slowdown when things get really really hectic, but overall everything runs smooth. The textures seem a bit muted and flat, nothing really pops off the screen at you, but they do their job. The only big problem I see, is the draw distance. its really, really short. You don't notice it much when you're down running about in the streets but once you get to the roof tops you start noticing it, you can visibly see where the draw distance ends.
Sound/Music:
Nothing special. High quality stuff but nothing really stands out. The music doesn't grate on the ears and the sound effects are cool. There is quite a lot of F-bombing and it can sometimes gt annoying or seem out of place, otherwise the dialogue is pretty well acted out. There's also a doppler effect if you throw someone while they're screaming at you to let them go.
Overall:
This game is pretty straight forward in what its giving you. Chaos, gore, over the top action, a skill upgrade system that works, and all in a sandbox world. While it dosen't have the deep storylines some other games have it makes due and is great for just sitting down and getting into the action for a while.
I would suggest rent it first if you're not sure, but if you feel like throwing cars, doing flying kicks at helicopters, while commandeering tanks and cutting up swaths of people in a gory mess, this is a game for you. Its a pretty simple game, but its interesting enough to keep you coming back.
This kinda turned into a review didn't it?
"I am Alex Mercer, I've killed thousands of people...and one bird."
), running people over and making a mess. There really wasn't much else to do unless it was a side-mission (Ugh, don't remind me of the dating "missions", although the sewage truck missions were hilarious). Saints Row 2 really did a good job with all sorts of extra non-mission related stuff you could do. Car surfing, etc...