Prototype 2: James Heller’s Revenge

Prototype 2 is the latest offering from Canadian game developer Radical Entertainment. Released three years after the initial Prototype game and remains largely unchanged.

Up to Speed:
Prototype 2 takes place 14 months after the ending of viral plaque Blacklight, which mutated and destroyed much of the inhabitants of New York City. The biggest gamer changer this time around is our series protagonist switches to the ex-marine, foul mouthed James Heller, who after returning from tour on Iraq to the death of his wife and daughter, decides to reenter the military and fight a new Blacklight outbreak in New York City. This leads Heller on a suicide mission that results in a meeting with Alex Mercer, the protagonist from the original Prototype, who for seemingly no reason infects Heller with the Blacklight virus giving Heller the superhuman strength and absorption abilities of Alex Mercer.

Gameplay:
Fans of the original Prototype will be glad to know that for the most part, combat has remained the same. The controls are stream-lined for ease of use, so expect your X and Y buttons to really take a pounding while playing the game. The biggest game changer is the new, tendril ability, that allows you to sprout long tentacles from your arms and destroy massive amounts of enemies at once. Another new addition is the hunting technique, that allows you to use bat-like sonar to hunt down and consume whoever you need. Other than that, the game is essentially Prototype.

Graphics:
The biggest let down this time around is the graphics. Prototype 2 looks just like Prototype, which even by 2009 standards, wasn’t the best looking game out there. Graphics have come a long way since 2009 and I’m surprised that Radical didn’t see it fit to upgrade Prototype 2. The black and white cut scenes found through out the game look the best, but even then a lot of the time it’s spliced together with actual footage, all the other cut scenes look a tad blocky and somewhat unappealing.

Content:
I would advise for parents to avoid letting children under the age of 17 play the game. The ‘M’ rating holds pretty true to the game, there is a lot of cursing and a lot of gore, which parents might not want their 10 year-old to see or hear.

Conclusion:
Though Prototype 2 is very similar to Prototype, it is every bit as satisfying. Jumping and gliding around while fighting helicopters and various other badies will still give you the same thrill it did the first time around. Exploring and figuring out new ways to use you abilities is still fun, heck, even just running around New York City and causing a general mess of things is still fun. Overall, the game is well worth a rent, maybe even a buy if you liked the first one.