Prototye 2 Review | PS3Blog.co.za

Posted on 22. May, 2012 by Freak_c in Games, News, Reviews

The Alex Mercer virus is back and causing all sorts of chaos in New York City. The first prototype game introduced us to some serious powers of destruction making you feel like the ultimate bad ass. And that is exactly what you were a bad, arse. There were a few flaws of the previous game that only the die hard fans turned the other way, does Prototype 2 fix these and bring us something New to the table.

Before I even started this game I actually dusted off the first game and spent a weekend to finish it before I began the second game. Not that you need to its that I recently finished Mass Effect 2 and 3 one after the other and really enjoyed that, so I have decided to complete games to 100% and in series. Anyway enough blabbing on with the review.

This time round the story continues some just 14 months after the first game left off and you take control of a very angry special super cop, Sgt. James Heller. After a tragic accident which kills his wife and daughter you focus on work and is why you were assigned to go to NYC for blackwatch. You soon encounter Alex Mercer and try to kill, however Mercer has his own plans and lets you in on the plan by giving you his powers to join him in creating a super race. Well the story soon becomes very b-grade type predictable story with a lot of anger, swearing and yet honestly fun. After uncovering the predictable twists of the story your goal becomes to take down your maker.

Getting around NYC is easy

Thankfully you were given powers just like your maker only obviously there are some new ones and powers that have been upgraded from the first game. The developers have listened to the community and fixed a lot of the bugs and irritations from the first game, making Prototype 2 feel a hell of a lot better. Almost everything feels as though it has been improved from travelling, combat and the various powers. The city and game gives off a very similar feel to that of inFamous in the way that you interact with the city and surroundings.

Interestingly is that this time you will not battle that many infected monsters but the majority of your missions will take part over three islands where you will have to deal with the military forces of blackwatch by infiltrating bases. Every now and then you will run into some infected monsters though they seem to be a lot simpler to handle this time and not a pain when you do encounter one. Your main enemies and tougher ones are the new super soldiers and the evolved which are part of Mercers army.

The game still offers free roam where you can choose which missions you wish to partake in. The side missions are simpler and easier, more fun to do no more timed events. These missions also take a little deeper into the main story, the nice thing is that after each mission you complete you are rewarded towards one of your powers making you want to do them all.

Fighting the new Blackwatch super soldier

Around the city and on each island are various collectables scattered around. These are in the form of blackboxes audio recording from fallen sky divers, field operatives that you need to destroy and lairs that also require elimination. Completing the set number of them on each island also rewards you and boosts one of your abilities, again making you want to find them all. The good news is that they are simple to find on the map provided.

There seems like a whole lot more to upgrade this time round, from your various powers, abilities and Heller himself. As is the norm with game now a days every thing you do earns you experience points, but here it’s handled a little differently. These XP points simply allow you to level up Heller and at each time you level or evolve up you can select one upgrade, from increased health to your speed. Making getting around the city and encountering the various foes more manageable.

The new power wheel is a great addition as it allows you bind any two of your powers to the square or triangle buttons at any time, and making it easy to swap between the them. You will have the claws again, the whip, hammer-fists and the new string attack. You will need all the powers at your disposal if you want to progress through the game and defeat Alex Mercer. All have their standard three button mash combo and a power charge mode, making the combat system fairly involved for what seems like a simple system.

One of the infected in the city

Your devastator returns although you will only get two which are a lot simpler to use, I’m sure many will be pleased to hear. Also to acquire them is always possible due to the consist “mass” bar below your health bar which fills up with every thing you do, killing an enemy or consuming them. These are also look very cool as they cause so much destruction who wouldn’t love doing them in the middle of the street. Prototype 2 still shows a very gruesome side especially when consuming the main targets of the mission and you never get tired of watching them.

You are still able to take control of tanks and helicopters but there have be a few little tweaks on other choices of what you want to do Witt the vehicle. When jumping onto a vehicle you can now choose between, hijacking it to take control, finish which allows you to destroy it in one simple move, weaponise which you can rip off the tomahawk or rocket launcher to use to destroy it and others around.

The presentation of Prototype 2 has been upgraded and the city looks crisp and clean, animations are smooth and the destruction and blood are fun to watch. The various environments and surroundings of NYC look very real and add to the whole atmosphere of the game. The voice acting is passable, nothing spectacular and nothing bad, your character is a very angry chap though.

Conclusion
Prototype 2 is a really enjoyable game when you want to pass some time or switch your brain off after a hard days work. The game has also addressed all the problems from the first and improved others. If you are looking for a simple enjoyable game, don’t care too much about the story and want some very easy trophies, then Prototype 2 is just for you.