If you get to play as many games as we do and for as long, you reach a certain point where you can kind of guess with a certain precision how a game will turn out to be just by watching the trailers, seeing some screenshots, or even by learning its name or developers. However, Prototype, or [PROTOTYPE] if you enjoy brackets on a daily basis, managed to throw me and a colleague of mine off-guard. Simply put, it is better than I expected it to be, and less than he expected. What does that mean, or how does this affect you? Let's find out together...

Prototype is the story of Alex Mercer, who has impressive shapeshifting abilities, a true superhero. Alex has one flaw however: he can't remember his past. His amnesia could be because of the transformations he suffered or because of the experiments he endured. Nevertheless, he finds himself on the morgue one day, from where he escapes and begins to explore and test his powers further.

Our hero soon finds out he can absorb an entire human body into his own. Feeding this way he regains a portion of his life but most impressively he learns the assimilated person's thoughts and feelings and can even transform into an exact replica of that person.

Gifted with all these powers, he decides to try to put an end to a ravaging virus that is spreading fast, turning population into living zombies. The army is also trying to contain the situation, which means you'll be having troubles from two fronts: them and the zombies, that aren't as chaotic and "brain seeking" as thought first. It appears they are organized by hive minds. Several central hives can be spotted on your city map as well as the most important army centers in New York City.

Alex soon finds out that by assimilating key persons he can learn whatever skill he wants and can infiltrate any facility. Everything military from machine guns and rocket launchers, to tanks and choppers can be obtained by assimilating specially trained pilots or soldiers.

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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.

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I was also able to try out the PC version of this game for a short bit. Not only that you can set a much higher resolution and have farther draw distance and prettier graphics, but somehow PC controls (keyboard and mouse) seemed a lot better to me. With so many combos and shape shifts learned, towards the end of the game you may have problems in switching between shapes fast or performing various cool looking combos. This problem is much alleviated when using a standard keyboard, and things like walking on a building, jumping on a helicopter and executing some fancy air move won't seem such an impossible thing to do anymore.

On the other hand, I've read somewhere the PS3 version is the "go to" product, because various debris and other dirt found on the ground are shadow mapped individually, making the game seem much more real than then versions on the other two platforms.

The repetitive battles against military are surprisingly fun and don't bore you at all. Probably because of all the possibilities to deal with it you are offered. The RPG element plays an important part of course, and the will to see your character evolved is as strong as ever. Not to mention every upgrade is visible - you won't find any of those "damage is increased by 3%" perks to buy. A new hit, a new escape move, some thermal vision, learning to pilot a helicopter, slashing enemies with a giant blade instead of two smaller ones... things like that will keep your interest up.

Animations play a key role here and luckily Prototype prides itself with some of the best animations around. Whether you're just jogging around, leaping over cars, gliding in the air, or getting knocked back from a giant missile you've just been hit between your teeth, everything looks cool and you want to do it again.

Exploring the city's darkest alleys can have its rewards, because collectible blue orbs can be found here and there. 250 landmark orbs can be collected for added experience points.

Story mode also contains sidequests, specifically "web of intrigue" targets. When you see on your minimap the specific icon, you should try to assimilate that person. He will have something to say - or rather to think about - the story of the game. Small portions of how this deadly virus was born, who was involved, how it got out, about you and other dangerous experiments. Of course, if you really don't care, no one forces you to pursue those targets.

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Conclusion

Bringing a mixture of gameplay elements from some of the most successful past video games like the free running and strong character image form Assassin's Creed, the sandbox mode where you can fight the whole city from GTA or the acrobatics and weapons from Spider Man and Wolverine, Prototype is a fun game to play and exactly what an avid action fan should spend the money into.

Gameplay: 83

I'm still a bit upset because I didn't choose to test the PC version, as it would have received a higher mark. Mostly because of better controls and graphics. But overall this was an enjoyable experience and is probably one of the few games I'd recommend in this crisis summer time.

Graphics: 82

As mentioned before, XBOX 360 may have picked the small straw out of the three major platforms, and graphics are the worst on it. Textures look blander and draw distance for some objects is really near. But animations and good looking character models make up for it in part...

Multiplayer: N/A

Sound: 84

I've noticed decently good voice acting, nice weapons, vehicles and fighting sounds, and a fairly dynamic music. I guess that's all you need to know.