Prototype is so far beyond expectation, that a score of 10 just cannot do it justice. This is a MUST BUY game.
Prototype begins with a short tutorial that allows you to get the feel for the game play and does a pretty good job of introducing our hero: Alex Mercer. The story is really good and fast paced. It is told through these broken memories that are really hard to follow until you have seen quite a few of them. Piecing together the story of just what is going on is a lot of the fun of this game. The game takes place in New York and chronicles the days leading up to the complete infection of the city with some new virus called Black Light. There are really 4 factions in the game: The Military, The Infected, Civilians, and Mercer. Different Missions find you allying with all sides of the battle. And Mercer, who can shape shift into ANYONE he consumes, plays the field evenly to achieve his goal of finding out who has done this to him and the city.
But enough of that, on to game play. The game plays very, very well. The controls feel funny at first but quickly, and I do mean quickly, become second nature. The way Mercer runs and jumps and climbs is just a blast to watch. Shortly into the game you will be allowed to upgrade your powers. Acquiring the Glide ability is crucial and allows Mercer to cover an amazing amount of ground with each jump. The upgrade system is very large and different upgrades are available at different points in the game.
If you have ever played Hulk Ultimate Destruction on the Xbox 1 then this game will slightly, only slightly remind you of that game. Especially when you use Mercer's Critical Mass moves, which are awesome, screen-filling moves that kill huge multitudes of enemies/civilians in one strike.
Now, we all know that this is an open world game and that no sandbox game can rise above the world it is set in. Well, Prototype's world is OUTSTANDING. The sheer number of cars and pedestrians will blow your mind. At any moment there will be hundreds of cars and people walking around the city all visible on screen with Mercer. Later, when the infection has spread to most of the city, the carnage is amazing as hundreds, and hundreds of infected civilians fill the screen along with military and infected enemies.
As Alex Mercer, you will feel INVINCIBLE! but.....only until you run into some enemies that will simply hand Mercer an arse-whoopin!! Mercer is bad, but the challenge in the game is that there are enemies just as strong and powerful as you are and these enemies will gang up on you 5 or 10 at a time. It is crazy fun to watch Alex in action when his back is against the wall. You will need to steal tanks and helicopters to defeat some of the enemies in the game.
I have searched for hours and hours and I cannot find any major fault with this game. Not textures, not clipping, not AI, nothing...it is all spot on. It does not seem to have any multiplayer options or online support as I have not seen an Xbox Live menu option. But I don't play on Live so that means nothing to me. You will have the time of your life running, gunning, shapeshifting, flying, driving, jumping, killing and consuming in this fast-paced, thrilling, and innovative game.
This game is PERFECT FUN. Stop reading and go get it now. As for me, I am on my way to the courthouse to have my name changed officially to Alex Mercer.