The Good vs Bad when it comes down to Prototype 2.
As for the good things about Prototype 2: The game takes you in an interesting direction that I have never seen in the world of videogames, or anywhere actually. Remember that awesome character from the first game that you got to know, leveled up, unlocked new powers for and killed thousands or people with? Yeah, he's the antagonist this time around. Instead of playing the game as Alex Mercer (Prototype 1 protagonist) you play as new protagonist James Heller, a man whose family is killed by the "Mercer Virus". I'd go on if I could, but I'm not one to spoil things often so I will end it there. The idea of the protagonist being an enemy in the sequel blew my mind from the moment it was announced, and it actually managed to work out quite nicely.
When I'm given a sequel, I don't want too many changes to be made and nothing taken out for the majority of them. Prototype 2 does just that by leaving the gameplay just about the same at its core from controls, to objectives. However, they did end up changing a few things that made the game more fun and a lot less bothersome than the first. One of these things is the fact that the developers have dropped the games difficultly. Trust me when I say that I love a good challenge. I have the platinum in Prototype 1 and 44 other games (at the time this review was posted), but Prototype had some serious difficulty spikes for those who are just looking for a good time. Another significant change in the gameplay is the simplification of vehicular control and combat, especially in helicopters. James' powers are also a lot easier to access and level up, with a few returning powers from Prototype 1 and a couple new ones.
Unlike Prototype 1 (unless my memory serves me incorrectly), there are moments in Prototype 2 in which you must work with your enemy within your disguise. This means no powers and no consuming people around you when you're low on health (unless you aren't being watched). Not only does this add a bit of suspense to the game, but it encourages more of a use for military weapons in combat, which was fun to do before, but not really required.
Finally, I was actually quite intrigued by the way that the games menu is put together. Usually the menus for games are the same generic background, a selection of options to choose from, and/or just boring overall. In Prototype 2, the background for the menu changes based on your last position during an automatic save. The time and date for your given location in the real world can also be seen in the top right corner for those who are just too lazy to press your menu button or look at a clock nearby.
As for the bad things about Prototype 2: The games story may manage to sneak in through one ear and out of the other. Though interesting at its core and actually being able to bring up a couple moments of interest, the games story just doesn't hold up for the most part. Prototype 2's cast of characters are more variable, interesting, and slightly more in-depth than the ones in its predecessor, but for the majority of the ride I found myself disregarding the story as I mindlessly hacked and slashed at everything that moved.
Overall, this game is definitely worth picking up even if you haven't played Prototype 1 and is (to me anyways) one of the very few sequels that prove to be better than the games before them. 9.0 out of 10.
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(Review based on PS3 version)