Introduction

Prototype is a game that politely asks you to commit biological mayhem in a very stylish jacket. You play as Alexander J. "Alex" Mercer, an amnesiac shapeshifter who wakes up in a Gentek morgue and promptly decides to reacquaint himself with humanity by eating most of it. Set in a fairly faithful rendition of Manhattan, Radical Entertainment turned the city into a playground full of skyscrapers to climb, streets to sprint down at terrifying speed, and human faces to borrow for as long as you can keep your poker face. The story positions Alex between a military cleanup operation and an infection called Blacklight, with a cast of shadowy labs, Blackwatch operatives, and a woman called Elizabeth Greene who turns out to be the sort of viral plot device that deserves better dental hygiene. Narrative-wise, Prototype leans into superhero noir: a morally ambiguous protagonist, a government that keeps bad notebooks on human experimentation, and plot reveals that are delivered with the subtlety of a wrecking ball. Critics liked the intrigue and the pace; they also enjoyed how the game makes you feel both godlike and slightly like a public health violation. If this sounds like a textbook for "How to be a Compellingly Terrible Person," that is not an accident. The premise is intentionally cartoonish in volume but earnest in execution, and the game's charm is the confidence with which it asks you to sprint up an Empire State Building, then roll into a crowd and remodel them into spare parts. Prototype is not trying to be subtle. It is trying to be spectacular, and more often than not it succeeds.

Gameplay

Prototype's gameplay is built around two irresistible ideas: you are very strong, and you can become anyone who looks like they pay taxes. The third-person open-world design gives Alex a set of powers that read like a mutant wish list. He can consume people to heal and steal their appearance, scale any wall he touches, sprint indefinitely, jump absurd heights, and turn body parts into weapons. The "consume" mechanic is equal parts plot device and refueling system: devour a scientist, get a memory; devour a random soldier, get a convenient rifle. The disguise lasts only while you do not draw attention, which is a polite way for the game to say "you will not abuse this for long." Combat oscillates between gloriously chaotic and occasionally fiddly. Melee options include everything from fast Claws to a hulking Blade arm and the slow but satisfying Hammerfists. Then there are the Devastators, high-cost, high-flash attacks available when Alex is in Critical Mass - either because he is about to die or because he's hoarded biomass like a hoarder with a science degree. Tendril Barrage rips foes apart in all directions; Groundspike Graveyard makes the pavement regret its life choices; Critical Pain channels a focused beam for heavy targets. These moves are spectacular and let the game lean into blockbuster-level destruction without a hint of restraint. Movement is the true star. Sprinting turns Alex into a human bullet, automatically leaping over cars and obstacles without losing momentum. He can clear five-story buildings with a single jump and land in ways that create shockwaves - which the game politely calls "environmental feedback." Falls do not hurt you; they embarrass the city. The city reacts: small jumps crater sidewalks, large impacts send cars airborne, and the sheer joy of closing the distance on a helicopter feels like being paid to be dramatic. Enemy design splits into two principal categories: the Infected and the Military. The Infected are mostly cannon-fodder until you meet Hunters and Leaders, which are biological nightmare fuel and will remind you that your powers are not always the last word. The Military and Blackwatch bring guns, tactics, and increasingly specialized tools designed specifically to ruin your day (or at least your disguise). As the game progresses, Urban zones shift control between Blue (military) and Red (infection) and sometimes purple, which is not a fun color so much as a way of saying "both sides are throwing tantrums here." Your actions influence territorial control, which is a nice touch: punch a lot of soldiers, and you'll see the infection spread like a rumor in a small office. Upgrades and progression are handled by consuming genetic data or infiltrating military bases under disguise to snatch upgrades and items. You can take vehicles, absorb weapons from defeated foes, and occasionally set off alerts that force you to respond with either cunning or the more entertaining option: mass slaughter. The game also rewards experimentation - mixing powers in combat, using environment for crowd control, and learning which Hunter ability counters which military ordnance. Prototype's mission design mixes main-story objectives with side activities and the Web of Intrigue - a marketing-friendly name for the game's info-gathering and optional mission tree. Some missions are memorable set-pieces (boss battles and sequences where the game leans heavily on your gruesome toolkit), while others can feel like padding: fetch missions disguised as "collect genetic samples." Still, the pace seldom flags. Even mundane tasks are made tolerable by the speed at which you can approach and exit them. There are moments of frustration - the PS3 control scheme can be clumsy during the most rapid combinations - but when the systems sync correctly, there are few things more satisfying than creating a personal pile of trailing debris while sprinting down Broadway.

Graphics

The game's Manhattan is ambitious: it includes landmarks like the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and various downtown fixtures, all rendered in a way that makes the city look like it went to charm school but still punches people. Visuals lean toward the gritty and utilitarian rather than the photorealistic. This works in the game's favor when the set pieces are going off, because explosions, flesh-morphing effects, and the gore of consuming a crowd are given enough detail to be viscerally entertaining. Critics often pointed out that the scenery outside of combat can feel dull - a lot of neutral concrete and gray - which is fair. The world can be a touch samey when you're not busy leaping from rooftop to rooftop or watching the skyline admire the chaos you've created. Frame rate and pop-in can occasionally complain loudly on PS3 hardware, especially during widespread destruction. Still, the character animations for Alex's powers - the way limbs twist into blades or whipfists extend - are well realized, and the thermal/infected vision modes are useful and stylish in equal measure. Ultimately, Prototype's visual identity is less about pretty vistas and more about spectacle: it dresses up its violence with enough visual flair that you'll forgive its occasional architectural ennui.

Conclusion

Prototype is a game that does not ask for your forgiveness; it assumes you are here for spectacle and gives it to you in truckloads. It combines a solid open-world structure with an utterly intoxicating movement and combat system, anchored by a lead character whose moral ambiguity makes him more interesting than most polished noble-hero prototypes. The story is pulpy and sometimes all elbows, but it's sincere in its own trashy way, and the ability to "consume" narrative and currency at the same time is oddly poetic. The PS3 version shows its age in some fiddly controls and scenery that sometimes forgets to be interesting, but those problems rarely undermine the core thrill of turning Manhattan into your personal stress ball. Critics largely agreed: Prototype is original, engaging, and occasionally rough around the edges. If you like being fast, ridiculous, and a little monstrous - and if you enjoy feeling like an urban force of nature while the soundtrack reminds you you're still playing a game - Prototype delivers. It sold well, earned favorable reviews, and even spawned a sequel, which is what happens when people enjoy being given permission to be spectacularly imperfect. Score: 8/10 009 Radical Entertainment made a fever dream of a superhero sandbox, and it holds up as a gloriously untidy good time. If you want subtlety, don't play this. If you want to sprint up a landmark, punch a tank, then consume someone's memories on the walk home, well, you already knew that.

See Latest Prices for Prototype on PS3 on Amazon

See Prices for Prototype on PS3 on Ebay