My main problem with this game is to keep in check my enthusiasm for it because I could quite easily rave about this for pages and pages and it could quite easily be my game of the year and we still have another six months to go, with lots of spectacular titles still to come. In the game you play the part of Alex Mercer, although at first you haven’t got a clue exactly what that means because you have lost your memory completely and it is only as you visit different locations throughout the game that you piece together bits of these lost memories and find out exactly who you are and what has happened to you. Of course the lack of memory makes the discovery of the powers you suddenly find at your disposal to be even more disturbing. Even from the off you are super strong that you can pick cars up to throw at the tanks that come at you and you also have a shape shifting ability that comes at a price. That price is not to yourself but to those around you. Kill someone and absorb them into yourself and with a quick press of a couple of buttons you can morph into their double. This is especially handy to get past troops if you don’t fancy a scrap or to sneak up on someone before killing them instantly.
He also, quite literary, can leap up buildings in a couple of leaps and then drop back to the pavement without causing any harm to himself. Passer bys are not that lucky but they shouldn’t get in the way should they? Control wise the developers have given the game a lot of thought and made them as user-friendly as possible. To aid with this at times Alex will do things such as leap over low obstacles with no prompting from you. Now the purist of you may complain about that but actually it makes moving around the city a much more smooth and utterly satisfying experience. The combat in the game is also remarkably thought out with very few button presses resulting in a lot of gore and smashed up scenery. The game in general is a single player open world action game, very similar in style to the likes of CRACKDOWN and THE INCREDIBLE HULK ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION that has gone before but lots better. Initially there are a few things you must do including visiting your sister, however, once those have been done it is up to you which missions you decide to do in which offer. Whether these are missions important to the storyline or others that you can quite easily finish the game without attempting. However, if you do attempt and complete them then the points you earn for doing so are used to upgrade Alex’s powers RPG style. Because of this, very early on you will probably decide to complete as much as you can in order to make him as powerful as possible. The nature of the missions is probably the one slight disappointment of the game because they are very similar to one another. A lot of them being the usual smash and grab or escort type missions. Having said that they are all deeply satisfying to complete and very well paced whilst playing. Graphically the game is very well designed with graceful movement that is well animated. The characters found within the game are very well thought out and although there is a touch of lagging when there are lots on the screen at once it never ever irritates or spoil the game. The highlights of the game are definitely found in the memory flashbacks however. Sound wise the effects of the destruction are marvellous and the vocal acting especially that of Alex and the main characters are a joy to hear and help to move the game along. The music is also well suited to the type of game that it is and although it is repeated throughout you really are too busy most of the time to be notice. Overall there are going to be lots of comparisons made between this game and Infamous which also came out very recently (Although that is exclusive to the PS3). Both game feature normal human beings who suddenly find themselves blessed (or cursed) with superhero abilities that both repulse them to their fellow human beings and also enable them to endure what lies ahead. Both games also feature a lot of memory loss and the need to know what has happened. The differences between the two titles is while Infamous is probably more elegant and certainly more refined, Prototype concentrates on destruction and fun. There are far more choices in terms of powers for the lead character and the game is far more spectacular in terms of the deaths and destruction at your fingertips. It is not the longest game in the world although it is quite lengthy if you decide to complete every mission and unfortunately there is no multiplayer option. This is not detriment to the game however because what the developers have presented us with is an open world game that is nastier and better than anything that has gone before and I for one can only hope that this is the start of a new franchise and that another one is just around the corner. (Well a couple of years away anyway) EXCELLENT. | 
XBox 360 
