Even though there is a main story plot and a route to follow in the game, you can always stray for a few moments to a military base instead of going to your next mission, in order to become more versatile with various weapons or vehicles.

While these upgrades are just one way to approach a situation in Prototype, Alex can also change his body into a lethal weapon, quickly mutating his fists into claws similar to Wolverine form X-Men; transforming himself in a Predator-like creature for reduced mobility but enhanced armor, or just using a giant blade, stone fists or a whip, depending on the situation.

These abilities however come slowly, as you progress even further into the game. A quicker but less spectacular way to improve yourself is by spending experience points to buy from a list of hundreds of new abilities. These include enhancing your jump height, the ability to glide or blink over short distances, more ways to grab and thrash your enemies, or greater health benefits when consuming a victim.

Prototype "kind of" includes a stealth component to the game: assimilate a person and disguise yourself as it to infiltrate various facilities or accomplish objectives without sounding the alarm. But things are not as good as they sound, because practically you don't need it, and the cover is usually blown after you take down one guy - mostly because military personnel are so many that some of them are always near to see you.

Of course, if you get tracked, reinforcements will keep coming until you manage to hide somehow or take all of them out fast so that no one could radio for more help. It sounds rather boring and GTA alike, but somehow fights are dynamic and keep you on your toes, without being frustratingly hard. Plus, there's always that extra warm feeling when taking out five tanks and three helicopters with a yellow cab that was unlucky enough to be around when you got mad.

The parkour or free running added in the open sandbox world of Prototype insures this title's longevity. You don't have to follow the story and just do missions as instructed, but can opt-out of it at any time. Just spend a relaxing sunny afternoon chased by the military and causing millions of dollars expenses by destroying state property instead.

The city is sufficiently large, but sadly was cut down significantly to make it to the set release date. Who knows, maybe in a future downloadable contents pack we'll see more of the future New York.