(If you want the full review with pictures, or to go to my website where more reviews may be put up soon, see the bottom.)
On with the review.
[Prototype]
Now, I'd been following a lot of the hype around Prototype. From the trailers, it seemed to be a good sandbox action adventure game, where you play as a very powerful being, obliterating everything that dares to stand in your path. Let me tell you that that is exactly what Prototype is. You control local amnesiac, Alex Mercer, who wakes up in a morgue, about to have an autopsy, only to find that he has some un-natural superpowers.
Now, these superpowers are probably some of the best that I've ever seen. You have a variety of agile, free running abilities, that consist of jumping incredibly high, and running up buildings. You can also change the shape of your fists, mainly, into many horrible yet awesome appendages. These can consist of the Whipfist, used for long ranged attacks, and 'skyjacking' helicopters, to the claws, which are agile weapons, and as the name states, claws.
So, as you might have guessed, the gameplay can be very satisfying. Nearly nothing can stand in your way, and you can jump through New York, gloriously slaughtering anything stupid enough to fight against you. Most of the time. It seems that while the basic military and infected, and even the tanks and helicopters are simple to take down or hijack, the main bother will be the Hunter infected. I'll explain why later. With the gameplay, the fact is that is actually gets really fun while you're running, using your agility. Sure, the combat can be entertainingly brutal, and you'll focus on it a lot, but running away from fights can often be more fun.
The graphics suit the setting well. New York is a very gritty area, with a lot of dark, and red areas, mainly when you're near an infected hive. However, there's something about it that just doesn't seem natural. Characters can seem to lack emotion, not helped by the just up to par voice acting, and it's not a very convincing immersive experience when you consume and individual, take thier identity, and see three more of you just across the street. Luckily, if you want to get away from the grit and harsh almost wastelandish area, in places where the military have control, it can be quite soothing, so long as they don't find you, which they most likely won't.
This is because the military is so incredibly thick it actually becomes annoying. A few examples of this, is when you consume a civillian on the street by punching through thier face with your bare hands. Okay, they chase you then, but doing the same to someone infected suddenly makes them think you're a normal person? If you're being chased, simply jump into one of the many shadowy areas atop the a building and change into the person you consumed, and you'll be scott free. The stealth consume is far too effective, which means you can break the neck of somebody five feet in front of another marine, and they won't notice. It makes the game lose some of the other parts arse kicking difficulty.
The main missions are entertaining, and whizzing through the story will probably last you around nine to ten hours on normal mode, but you'll probably do some of the side missions along the way. Now, the boss fights. Oh, the glorious boss fights. These annoy me for the same reason the hunters do. A lot of the bosses are just a single target, and Alex has obviously not been designed for single combat. Charging in will get you knocked over and pummeled, while running away or using special attacks are nowhere near effective. So really, most boss fights end up to you just running in a cricle, locked on to your enemy, jumping and whipfisting them for about ten minutes.
The plot is often confusing, with characters sometimes leaving the story with no explanation as to where they have gone. The web of intrigue allows you to consume specific targets, and see a small cutscene revealing a small section into explaining how you got the virus that changes you, what happened to New York, and generally solve the mystery. However, you are told that you've solved a mystery once you got all the people you need for a specific section, but there seems to be hardly any connection between the cutscenes, and unless you watch them together all over again, you probably won't understand what happened.
The verdict: Overall, Prototype is a fun experience, that makes you feel strong, and has a lot of fun times.
Gameplay: A lot of agility and brutality, which stays entertaining for quite a while.
Graphics: Seems a bit dated, but can work, and won't get in the way of the fun.
Length: Doing the story and side missions might last up to fifteen hours or so on hard mode, and there are lots of collectibles and fun roaming times to be had.
Story: Confusing at times, but understandable as well.
Full review with pictures, and possibly more reviews in the future: http://hazabaz1.webs.com/amateurgamereviews.htm
Please leave some feedback on how I could improve.
On with the review.
[Prototype]
Now, I'd been following a lot of the hype around Prototype. From the trailers, it seemed to be a good sandbox action adventure game, where you play as a very powerful being, obliterating everything that dares to stand in your path. Let me tell you that that is exactly what Prototype is. You control local amnesiac, Alex Mercer, who wakes up in a morgue, about to have an autopsy, only to find that he has some un-natural superpowers.
Now, these superpowers are probably some of the best that I've ever seen. You have a variety of agile, free running abilities, that consist of jumping incredibly high, and running up buildings. You can also change the shape of your fists, mainly, into many horrible yet awesome appendages. These can consist of the Whipfist, used for long ranged attacks, and 'skyjacking' helicopters, to the claws, which are agile weapons, and as the name states, claws.
So, as you might have guessed, the gameplay can be very satisfying. Nearly nothing can stand in your way, and you can jump through New York, gloriously slaughtering anything stupid enough to fight against you. Most of the time. It seems that while the basic military and infected, and even the tanks and helicopters are simple to take down or hijack, the main bother will be the Hunter infected. I'll explain why later. With the gameplay, the fact is that is actually gets really fun while you're running, using your agility. Sure, the combat can be entertainingly brutal, and you'll focus on it a lot, but running away from fights can often be more fun.
The graphics suit the setting well. New York is a very gritty area, with a lot of dark, and red areas, mainly when you're near an infected hive. However, there's something about it that just doesn't seem natural. Characters can seem to lack emotion, not helped by the just up to par voice acting, and it's not a very convincing immersive experience when you consume and individual, take thier identity, and see three more of you just across the street. Luckily, if you want to get away from the grit and harsh almost wastelandish area, in places where the military have control, it can be quite soothing, so long as they don't find you, which they most likely won't.
This is because the military is so incredibly thick it actually becomes annoying. A few examples of this, is when you consume a civillian on the street by punching through thier face with your bare hands. Okay, they chase you then, but doing the same to someone infected suddenly makes them think you're a normal person? If you're being chased, simply jump into one of the many shadowy areas atop the a building and change into the person you consumed, and you'll be scott free. The stealth consume is far too effective, which means you can break the neck of somebody five feet in front of another marine, and they won't notice. It makes the game lose some of the other parts arse kicking difficulty.
The main missions are entertaining, and whizzing through the story will probably last you around nine to ten hours on normal mode, but you'll probably do some of the side missions along the way. Now, the boss fights. Oh, the glorious boss fights. These annoy me for the same reason the hunters do. A lot of the bosses are just a single target, and Alex has obviously not been designed for single combat. Charging in will get you knocked over and pummeled, while running away or using special attacks are nowhere near effective. So really, most boss fights end up to you just running in a cricle, locked on to your enemy, jumping and whipfisting them for about ten minutes.
The plot is often confusing, with characters sometimes leaving the story with no explanation as to where they have gone. The web of intrigue allows you to consume specific targets, and see a small cutscene revealing a small section into explaining how you got the virus that changes you, what happened to New York, and generally solve the mystery. However, you are told that you've solved a mystery once you got all the people you need for a specific section, but there seems to be hardly any connection between the cutscenes, and unless you watch them together all over again, you probably won't understand what happened.
The verdict: Overall, Prototype is a fun experience, that makes you feel strong, and has a lot of fun times.
Gameplay: A lot of agility and brutality, which stays entertaining for quite a while.
Graphics: Seems a bit dated, but can work, and won't get in the way of the fun.
Length: Doing the story and side missions might last up to fifteen hours or so on hard mode, and there are lots of collectibles and fun roaming times to be had.
Story: Confusing at times, but understandable as well.
Full review with pictures, and possibly more reviews in the future: http://hazabaz1.webs.com/amateurgamereviews.htm
Please leave some feedback on how I could improve.
