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Revision as of 17:30, 5 July 2009

Prototype
File:PROTOTYPE.jpg
Developer(s)Radical Entertainment[1]
Publisher(s)Activision[1]
EngineTitanium[3]
Platform(s)PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
Genre(s)Action (Sandbox)
Mode(s)Single-player

Prototype is a sandbox-style action game developed by Radical Entertainment. The game was released in North America on June 9, 2009, and in southwestern parts of North America and Oceania on June 10. The game was released in Europe on June 12. The game is available on Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 platforms.

The game is set in New York City as a virus infects people and the military attempts to put an end to it. The protagonist of the story is named Alex Mercer, who has enemy-absorbing and shapeshifting powers. He can take memories, experiences, biomass and physical forms of the enemies through absorption. Alex can also shapeshift into more specialized forms for attack, defense or sensory enhancement. All of these together are intended to give players multiple ways to complete their objectives. Parallel to the game's storyline is the ability to play the game as a sandbox-style video game giving the player free roam of Manhattan. New York evolves over time from a troubled city, to an all out war zone with BlackWatch fighting infected humans and Hunters. Alex can free-roam around troubled and war-torn New York free to do missions or just run around the city killing people or consuming them.

Gameplay

Among the agile feats Alex can perform are running up the surfaces of skyscrapers, jumping hundreds of meters at a time and gliding through the air using adaptive parkour. The game does not use falling damage; however, the ground is seen to deform as the player lands after falling from great heights. The player may use firearms in combat and can perform a variety of melee attacks without having to shapeshift, as well as more gymnastic moves such as multiple "bouncing" tombstone drops, air combos, or sliding along the ground using an enemy's body as a skateboard.

Alex's primary superpower is his ability to shapeshift, transforming parts of his human anatomy into a selection of deadly weapons genetically acquired by consuming enemies possessing these weapons. These include substituting his arms with either a six foot long blade which releases a flurry of swift attacks, a pair of razor sharp claws, which can be charged up for a "ground spike" attack in which Alex tunnels his claws underground to spray them out into deadly spikes under his target, a sharp bio-whip that can stretch up to 50 feet and hit enemies from afar, denser forearms and fists or rock-hard clubs that increase his strength as well as his damage to armored opponents. Alex's most powerful moves are "Devastator" attacks which allow him to instantaneously project large amounts of biomass from his body at an explosive speed; the resulting concussive impact and spikes of biomass would then eliminate all enemies in the immediate area.

Plot

The game follows the story of Alex Mercer, a man stricken with amnesia who wakes up on a morgue slab in the basement of GENTEK, a large and influential genetic engineering company. After an encounter with several armed soldiers, Alex escapes and sets out to recover his memory and find out exactly what has occurred. Along the way, he discovers that he now possesses powerful shapeshifting abilities that grant him tremendous strength, speed, weaponry, and the ability to "consume" people to gain their memories, skills and appearance. With no memory of his previous life, Alex is forced to track down those responsible for the situation and consume them in order to uncover the truth behind the conspiracy.

During his quest, Alex faces two factions. One is the military, composed primarily of Marines but also backed by a ruthless black operations unit known only as Blackwatch. Blackwatch consists of special forces units dedicated to combating biological warfare. Captain Cross, a Blackwatch officer, is specifically given orders to find and contain Alex. As Manhattan slowly begins to fall apart, Alex faces the Infected, consisting of civilians who have contracted a strange virus (that is in some way connected to Alex) in addition to powerful monsters known as Hunters.

Alex then makes contact with his sister, Dana. Dana assists Alex in tracking down targets who can shed light on his past, leading to the eventual infiltration of GENTEK headquarters. Alex releases a woman called Elizabeth Greene who was being contained in the upper levels of the building. She escapes GENTEK, and begins to take control of the infection. After continued work with Dana, Alex makes contact with his ex-girlfriend Karen Parker. Initially, Alex trusts her as she sends him to collect genetic material from Infected hives and Hunters. It quickly becomes apparent that Karen is working for Blackwatch; she uses the material to synthesize a parasitic cancer that suppresses Alex's shapeshifting abilities. In a confrontation with Captain Cross, Alex is injected with the cancer. With Dana's help Alex meets Dr. Ragland - a pathologist who has experience working with strange diseases. After several missions, Ragland formulates a cure for Alex, as well as an antibody to use against Greene herself.

When Alex next returns to Dana she is kidnapped by a massive "Leader Hunter" who escapes Alex due to military interference. He returns to Dr. Ragland for help, and eventually discovers the location where Dana is being held. He makes his way to the hive, where he finds and confronts Elizabeth Greene. He injects the antibody into Greene's neck, but she vomits the cancer onto the ground, where it forms into the Supreme Hunter, which Alex then defeats. After the battle, Alex discovers Dana is still alive. He runs out of the hive with her unconscious body in his arms, not noticing the clawed hand of the Supreme Hunter rising from a dark puddle on the ground - implying that it is still alive. He delivers Dana to Dr. Ragland for care; she is not seen again.

As the conspiracy unfolds, and with the assistance of an unidentified contact (known only as "CONTACT"), the origins of the virus and Elizabeth Greene are uncovered: in 1969 the government had tested a virus codenamed "Blacklight" in Hope, Idaho. This virus was designed as a biological warfare agent targeting those of a predetermined race. Elizabeth Greene (codename: "MOTHER") was the sole survivor of the incident; her body welcomed the virus instead of dying from it, and it rewrote her genetic code along with that of her son, who was taken from her by Blackwatch and codenamed "PARIAH". Hope, Idaho was then laid to waste by a nuclear bomb in a military operation named "Operation ALTRUISTIC". Greene and her son were kept in captivity, allowing the government to continue research on the virus in cooperation with the company GENTEK.

Soon after Alex discovers his own past: When GENTEK personnel with knowledge of the Blacklight Virus started to disappear, GENTEK employee Dr. Alex Mercer attempted to go underground and stole a sample of the virus Dx-1118 variant A as "life insurance". Eventually he was pinned down by Blackwatch in Penn Station and killed. As he was shot, Alex smashed the tube containing the virus, releasing it into the unsuspecting city. The virus entered the corpse, consuming his body while simultaneously reviving him. Upon his awakening in the morgue, Alex had essentially become a physical avatar of the virus, explaining his unusual abilities.

The contact and Alex assist the military in releasing a new biological agent called "Bloodtox" (cf. Agent Orange) underground in hopes of driving the virus to the surface, allowing Blackwatch to fight it directly. The plan works; Elizabeth Greene attacks the Bloodtox pump, rising from the ground as a towering monstrosity. She is defeated by Alex and Blackwatch after a grueling battle, and Alex consumes her. Alex and the contact plan an attack on the Bloodtox production facility with the intent of allowing Alex to be captured and taken to the secret Blackwatch base where McMullen is hiding. The plan succeeds; while in captivity, Alex manages to sneak his way into McMullen's office to interrogate him. Alex is unsuccessful, as McMullen commits suicide via a bullet to the head. It becomes apparent that General Randall, head of Blackwatch Command, is prepared to nuke Manhattan to destroy the virus. The contact is revealed to be Captain Cross, who guides Alex to consume Colonel Taggart as a means of getting onto the USS Ronald Reagan where the bomb is held. Once on the ship, Cross attacks Alex, and transforms into the Supreme Hunter - the same monster that Alex fought earlier. It battles Alex on the deck of the Reagan before Alex decapitates it. Mercer moves the nuclear bomb a safe distance away from the city with a helicopter and drops it into the Atlantic Ocean, where it detonates. Alex is caught in the ensuing blast. However, he manages to regenerate and thereafter muses on what he has become saying "I am something less than human, but also, something more'

Characters

Alex J. Mercer/ZEUS

The player controls Alex Mercer (voiced by Barry Pepper)[4], who possesses the ability to assimilate anyone's genetic code—including that of other mutated humans—into his biological makeup in addition to superhuman strength, agility, speed, and intellect (he gains the knowledge of anyone he consumes).

Dr. Alex Mercer died while carrying a small sample of the Blacklight virus he took from GENTEK for use as insurance should his life ever come under threat. He is soon cornered by Blackwatch in Penn Station and shot, but shatters the vial and released the virus into New York as a selfish act of revenge on the world. In doing so, Mercer started the very conflict around which the game centers.[5] The virus infected Alex's corpse, slowly reviving the cells in his body. Thinking Alex to be dead, the military took his body to a morgue in the basement of GENTEK, where the Blacklight virus awakens and flees. The military begins to hunt for Alex, assigning him the cryptonym ZEUS and referring to him as an "it". In the end, Alex regrets the actions of the real Mercer and undoes his work, but is caught in a nuclear blast from which it manages to regenerate from, leaving a cryptic message: "I am something less than human, but also something more"

Dana A. Mercer

Alex's younger sister. She followed in her brother's footsteps and ran away from home at a young age to fulfill her dreams. She helps Alex by performing research, aided by her studies in journalism, and acts as an informant during the earlier parts of the game. She is later captured by a Leader Hunter, and, after being rescued by Alex, is delivered unconscious to Dr. Ragland for care. Her final condition remains unknown; she is not seen again for the rest of the game.

Karen Parker

A GENTEK researcher and Alex's love interest prior to the incident at Penn Station. She assists Alex early in the game, but it is later revealed that she is working as a double agent for Blackwatch. She disappears soon after Alex becomes aware of this. If the player completes a set of missions involving the consumption of Blackwatch scientists, her location is revealed. Upon traveling there a cutscene plays wherein Alex, disguised as a Blackwatch trooper, tricks Karen into entering an elevator with him and then reveals his identity. The cutscene ends there. It can be presumed that Alex kills her.

Dr. Bradley Ragland

Dr. Ragland is one of Alex's allies against the infection and an accomplished pathologist. First encountered when Alex is infected with the HAMMER cancer virus, Ragland helps Alex to find and develop a cure. He later provides information on defeating Leader Hunters, and finally agrees to tend to Dana after Alex recovers her from a Leader Hunter. His involvement with the virus—and the entire incident—is much deeper than suggested. Through consuming specific targets, it is revealed that Ragland worked for GENTEK, but quit after being asked to work on the Blacklight virus; the only thing that is keeping him quiet is the leverage GENTEK holds on him, in that he is complicit in their research.

Dr. Raymond McMullen

The head of research at GENTEK. He is familiar with the events that happened at Hope, Idaho and is in charge of the scientific aspect of containing the virus. Blackwatch placed him in charge of researching everything about the virus. He is also the Blackwatch contact at GENTEK. McMullen is extremely knowledgeable in genetic engineering. Alex manages to locate and confront McMullen, but the doctor shoots himself in the head before he can be consumed.

Captain Robert Cross

Captain Robert Cross is known as the Specialist, and is an elite officer in Blackwatch. He and his men have been tasked with the finding and capturing of Alex. At one point during the campaign, Cross is given the task of injecting Alex with a parasite that will neutralize him, rendering him unconscious and stripping him of his powers. He first confronts Alex in an Infected Hive, its location revealed to Cross by Karen Parker, who was working with Blackwatch to trap Alex.

Although Alex wins the fight inside the hive, Captain Cross catches Alex off guard by reminding him of Penn Station, having been briefed earlier that Alex has some form of amnesia, and that recalling a lost memory can apparently cause him pain. This gives Cross enough time to inject him with the parasite, but fails to subdue Alex. Later on in the game, Alex is contacted by an anonymous source, who gives him details on the military's latest plans and how to stop them. This source is eventually revealed to be Cross himself. He finally confronts Alex a second time and the two come up with a plan to infiltrate the military's main base in order to consume Colonel Taggart, gain access to the aircraft carrier as Taggart, consume General Randall, and stop the military from detonating a nuclear weapon in the heart of New York City.

However, after Alex consumes Randall, Cross attacks Alex again, revealing that he is the Supreme Hunter which Alex had defeated earlier. Alex then defeats the Supreme Hunter for a second and final time. It Is suggested near the end of the game that at the time that General Randall retreats to an Aircraft carrier, that Cross gets into a fight with the original Supreme Hunter, loses, and is consumed (this is accomplished by showing the Supreme Hunter approaching Cross from it's own view, and that view is very similar when Cross approaches Alex in the cutscene before the final boss fight).

PARIAH

PARIAH (as the military deemed it) is the son of Elizabeth Greene, and was the second survivor of the incident at Hope, Idaho. Whereas all of the previous children born in the town died, having been mutated in some way, PARIAH was born showing no signs of mutation. Pariah has been described as being completely different from both Elizabeth and Alex Mercer, since Elizabeth is an "imperfect release of non-coded regions of the genome", Alex is "something more", while PARIAH would be the "final purpose of all life on earth". Specifically, Alex and PARIAH are compared, in that Alex is an artificial release of the non-coded regions of the genome, where as PARIAH is a natural expression of the same. In short, whereas the viral Alex Mercer was created, PARIAH possessed the same qualities at birth.

PARIAH was chosen as the prime test subject in Project Crusade and was responsible for five deaths by unknown means during his four years of captivity. He shows no sign of physical deformity from the Black Light virus, unlike his mother. Furthermore, he shows no signs of the virus in his system, also unlike his mother. Alex and PARIAH have been said to have much in common, and Dr. McMullen speculated during a Web of Intrigue cutscene that it would be "very bad" if the two of them ever met face-to-face.

Elizabeth Greene/MOTHER

The only official survivor of the incident at Hope, Idaho, Greene has been held captive by Blackwatch (and later GENTEK) since the incident. She was pregnant at the time of the incident and later gave birth to Codename PARIAH. As the most prominent vector of the Blacklight virus, she is GENTEK's greatest asset and an invaluable test subject. She is a carrier of 14 strains of the virus, and shows physical aberrations related to the virus, such as the fact that she does not age. Before being released by Alex early in the game, she is shown to have begun spreading the virus, having created hunters. When Alex releases her, not knowing who or what she is, she spreads the infection across the city and creates a "hive mind", with herself as the queen of the Infected. Alex encounters her a second time while searching for Dana and injects her with a parasite, causing her to unleash the Supreme Hunter. In their final encounter, Alex consumes her after he and Blackwatch defeats her, effectively crippling the infected population.

General Peter Randall

General Peter Randall is the commander of the Blackwatch Special Forces in Manhattan.

He is shown to be ruthless in his containment of the virus, to the point of personally executing Colonel Taggart (who is actually Alex in disguise; see below) for giving the order to fall back from Manhattan. As the infection becomes worse, Randall displays a willingness to inflict civilian casualties if it means the incident is covered up. Later in the game, it is revealed that he was responsible for containing the virus in Hope, Idaho by destroying the town, and that he intends to do the same to Manhattan. It was his actions in Hope that caused him to be promoted to general. He is also missing an arm, and through the Web of Intrigue it is revealed that when Greene was giving birth to PARIAH, Randall was there and took the child away from her, which then resulted in Greene biting his arm and infecting him. He subsequently amputated his arm with a nearby cleaver to prevent the virus from spreading through the rest of his body.

Colonel Ian Taggart

Colonel Taggart is the commander of Marine forces in the New York, operating under the command of General Randall.

Late in the game, as the virus spreads, Taggart gives the order for Marine forces to fall back to secured areas, essentially abandoning the city to the virus. Alex, with the help of Captain Cross, prevents Taggart from escaping the Manhattan quarantine, and then consumes him. Cross then returns Alex, disguised as Taggart, to the U.S.S. Reagan, where General Randall "executes" him by placing a bullet through his head for disobeying orders. Alex, who obviously did not feel a thing, reveals his identity, and consumes Randall, thereby starting the final scene of the game.

Reception

The game received a positive reception by critics, earning an 80 point average at Metacritic. Reviewers praised the open ended gameplay, solid platforming and good action. However, the game received some criticism for its sometimes clunky controls and an unexplained story which left gamers in the dark with regards to the plot. Many reviewers also compared Prototype to InFamous, which was released a few weeks before, as both games feature a main character with superpowers, open ended platforming, and a city as the setting. Prototype was released on Steam as well as in retail stores and topped the sales on the week of its release.[6]

Despite positive reception, certain gamers feel that the game was a remake of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. Both games involved a grotesque, biological substance over a super powered main hero running through an open version of Manhattan. It is possible that Spider-Man: Web of Shadows was made to garner funds after the acquisition of "Vivendi". Despite being developed by separate teams, Activision has been known to give other development teams access to game architecture created by other teams (As is the case with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: World at War).

System requirements

Supported Gamepads: Sony DualShock 3, Logitech Rumblepad 2 Cordless and Wired, Logitech ChillStream, Logitech Dual Action, and Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for Windows

System requirements
Requirements
Minimum Windows XP/Vista Requirements
Operating system Windows XP Service Pack 3 or Windows Vista Service Pack 1
CPU Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 1.86 GHz or AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 4000+ or better
Memory 1 GB (XP)
2GB (Vista)
Free space 8GB of uncompressed hard disk space (Plus 500MB for swap file.)
Graphics hardware DirectX 9.0c compliant card with 256 MB 3D hardware accelerator (NVIDIA 7800GT/ATI® Radeon™ X1800 256 MB or better) and support for Pixel Shader 3.0
Sound hardware 100% DirectX 9.0c compliant card

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Brudvig, Erik (2009-06-10). "Prototype Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  2. ^ Purchese, Robert (2009-04-08). "Activision sets firm Prototype date". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
  3. ^ Jeromin, Falk (2008-04-22). "PCGH interview with Radical Entertainment about Prototype". PCGamesHardware. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
  4. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1233574/
  5. ^ http://forum.activision.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=2330
  6. ^ http://store.steampowered.com/feeds/weeklytopsellers.xml
  7. ^ Lee, Garnett (2009-06-10). "Prototype Review". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  8. ^ "Prototype PS3 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  9. ^ "Prototype Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
  10. ^ "Prototype PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
  11. ^ "Prototype PS3 Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
  12. ^ "Prototype Xbox 360 Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
  13. ^ "Prototype PC Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
  14. ^ Costantino, Jesse (2009-06-15). "Prototype Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
  15. ^ Calvert, Justin (2009-06-11). "Prototype [[Xbox 360]] Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-06-20. {{cite news}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  16. ^ Orry, Tom (2009-06-15). "Prototype Xbox 360 Review". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  17. ^ Reiner, Andrew. "Prototype Review". Game Informer. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
  18. ^ "Prototype Review". Retrieved 2009-06-21.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prototype_(video_game)&oldid=300438907"