In this day and age gamers want a good story as well as great gameplay, every now and again there comes a game that story alone can’t save, but the gameplay is so fun that you tend to give it a pass. Prototype 2 is that type of game. While the story line is weak at best, running around causing complete mayhem and carnage is tons of bloody fun.
James Heller, typical angry black man a la Samuel L. Jackson, return homes from an oversees mission to find his wife and daughter dead by Alex Mercer’s hand. Heller, hell bent on revenge, sets out to kill Mercer. However, Mercer decides to infect you and give you powers, telling you that not everything is as it appears to be and Heller sets out to kill everyone involved. If you feel your knees dry as a bone, that’s because this story isn’t very deep. The story isn’t bad; it’s just not very compelling or important. I also found myself having difficulty with deciding if I even Like James Heller or not. He’s just not likable as a character, he doesn’t seem to care about anything until the story calls for it, and his constant swearing get’s old really fast. The “angry black man” was fine at first but ultimately just turns into a bad stereotype, yes he’s upset at the lost of his family, but there is no other emotions that come through. None of the other characters are likable either; it’s hard to find sympathy for anyone. So more often than not you’ll just kill anyone who crosses your path and be glad to do so.
Speaking of killing, it’s very rare that I enjoy running down the street causing mayhem and destruction and killing every single person in my way so much. This is where Prototype 2 truly shines. Heller has five weapons and a shield you get access to throughout the story along with an assortment of movements and super attacks, and they are a blast to use. The upgrade system is pretty straightforward with level ups through missions and killing certain targets to become stronger. By the time you max out all your abilities the world is literally your play ground. Jumping from building to building or gliding across the city only to uppercut a helicopter and then pounce on an unsuspecting foe decapitating him never gets old. In fact, it’s so much fun that it disguises that most of the missions are the exact same. Go find person, kill him in gruesome way, sneak into base, destroy everything, rinse and repeat. It can get a little monotonous at times.
In my first playthrough I did just about everything there was to do and got almost all the trophies. It took about 10 – 14 hours to complete with doing all the side missions and collectables. While I had a blast, I can’t tell you to run out and buy it if you haven’t already. It’ll probably take only a weekend to finish and if you are a completionist you can beat the second play-through in about five hours. It’s a ton a fun so give it a try, but I’d say rent it.
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