Ripclaw? What's a Ripclaw?
The Charge:
Become Anything… Change everything!
Opening Statement:
After a few less than stellar Crash Bandicoot titles, the developers at Radical Entertainment, the guys behind the critically acclaimed Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, have returned to the sandbox territory with Prototype, but does the game have what it takes to survive in today’s more sophisticated sandbox?
Facts of the Case:
A gravelly, brooding voice tells us that we are Alex Mercer (no relation to Pixel Verdict’s own resident superhero, Jon Mercer), and Alex Mercer is having a bad day. It would seem Alex has woken up dead, or more accurately, he’s woken up on an autopsy table, with no memory of who he is. Turns out there’s a virus loose in New York City that he may have something to do with, the GenTEK corporation is hunting his every move, his wardrobe looks like he mugged Avril Lavigne, and his sister just can’t stop compulsively dropping f-bombs, with extra enunciation on the “f” part. Luckily, Alex is also blessed with super mad crazy super powers, the kind that let him morph parts of his body into melee weapons, defy gravity by running sidelong up the surface of even the tallest buildings, and disguising himself as whomever he’s consumed in order to escape detection. It’s all up to Alex to piece together the fragments of his clouded past and hopefully save the Big Apple from certain doom. All in a day’s work for a super hero, right?
The Evidence:
Not having been the hugest of Hulk fans, I never spent a whole lot of time with Hulk: Ultimate Destruction when it was initially released, and yet Prototype gave me that feeling of deja-vu almost immediately. For a game that’s been in the works for so long (it was originally supposed to be released last fall), it feels an awful lot like a last-gen offering. It was a long time coming to shelves, initially being developed with Sierra before the whole Blizzavision/ActiBlizzard merger, and was the only Sierra property that Activision actually decided to keep from Sierra’s stable of IP’s. Why Activision would feel compelled to keep Prototype and ditch A-grade looking stuff like Ghostbusters and Brutal Legend boggles the mind, but keep it they did, evcen allowing nine extra months of development so the guys at Radical could polish it up and add some content.
BLOOD!
We’ll start with the sandbox, which is pretty damn huge, and gives you a good cross-section of NYC, but is almost entirely devoid of anything to do. You basically mash the trigger and run around grabbing missions that will either further the story or provide five minutes of distraction. Reminiscent of another Activision sandbox game from days gone by, Spider-Man 2, there are only a few mission types, and they get old incredibly fast. Sure you may get some enjoyment out of simply running around and tearing shit up, and that’s fine, but for substance, Prototype is ultimately an empty vessel.
Graphically, Prototype makes a solid first impression with a glossy opening cinematic and a sequence in Times Square with a ton of moving people on screen. Things settle down pretty fast though, and soon enough you’ll be noticing the bland buildings, low res textures, and lack of any significant lighting effects. To say that it looks last generation isn’t an accurate statement, but it’s a far cry from cutting edge. Thankfully, the framerate stays rock solid throughout, even when the screen is loaded with chaos. The animations don’t fare too well either, particularly when you gun the run trigger and start scooting up walls – it just looks silly. At least the art design is passable… no, wait… it isn’t. The art design is even more limp and plain than the building textures, with stock “G.I Joe” looking grunts that look like they’ve been struggling for work since Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy was finished, and generic “infected human” template #5 to take care of all the rest of the baddies. The major villains are guys in suits or guys in fatigues (except for one, who’s actually kind of cool), and I can’t stress enough how much I HATE Alex’s character design. He’s like A My Chemical Romance concert crossed with an Image Comics superhero rag from 1994. One final nagging issue; you can pick up goddamn cars, but why the hell do they turn transparent when you’re carrying them?
Sound is decent, but goddamn does the voice acting ever chomp and suck. Alex Mercer is your typical video game bad boy. No humor whatsoever. Combined with the extremely terrible script, laced with forced profanity and phony “edginess” that’s one part Spider-Man and one part 28 Days Later, the whole presentation just falls flat. It feels more like a generic afterthought than any kind of cohesive narrative.
Rebuttal Witness:
Yes, there is some good in Prototype, particularly for those of you who dig random insanity. The controls are pretty tight, and work rather effectively, particularly the aforementioned “run” mechanic. When Alex is zipping along, bouncing from car to car and generally making a scene of a cross-town stroll, the game feels pretty solid. It never reaches the level of Assassin’s Creed or InFamous, but the free-running vibe is there. Combat is also pretty solid, with a slew of options ranging from the ultra cool (giant blade) to the ridiculously silly (giant Hulk fists!) You can pick up machine guns and rocket launchers as well, and hey, you can elbow drop army tanks!
Crunchy on the outside, squishy on the inside!
The way Prototype handles your wanted level of sorts is also pretty ingenious. As you execute more “super-de-duper” maneuvers when soldiers are in close proximity, they will become aware, and will hunt your ass down with extreme prejudice. If you can break eyeline, you can then disguise yourself and ditch the pursuers. It’s simple, but it works quite well, and puts a little more emphasis on stealth gaming in particular situations.
The Web of Intrigue is also a cool concept, whereby you track down and consume specific targets in NYC in order to try and piece together your shattered memories. Sure it’s a collection sidequest, but it’s presented in a thoughtful manner, and actually answers some questions.
Closing Comments:
Honestly, I can’t in all good conscience recommend Prototype to anyone in a world in which InFamous is readily available. It doesn’t do anything particularly well, and while there are some solid gameplay concepts present, and the open world of NYC is huge indeed, there’s just nothing there to do that doesn’t get old extremely fast.
The Verdict:
Platform: Sony Playstation 3/Microsoft Xbox360/Windows PC (Xbox360 version reviewed)
Developer: Radical Entertainment
Publisher: Activision
Release Date: June 9th, 2009
Rated: M (17+) for Mature
You didn’t answer the most important question though Steve. Are his powers his curse?
They’re my curse… i can tell ya that much.
oy!
Whadda schmenkel!
Glad i waited for reviews before buying this, Heres to waiting for button configs on FNR4 and or good reviews on ghostbusters.
Ma Dio Cane, quanti ciecati
This review sux. Did you even play the game for real?
Such an awful game. I can’t believe how bad the graphics are.
Lulu – unfortunately, yes, yes i did.
Thanks for the feedback.
These reviewers seriously suck!! Prototype is one of the best games to come out this year. I hate when you compare it to infamous, cause ive played both and infamous is not even half of what prototype is, maybe the graphics are better, but the fun, the massive things you can do and the story im sorry but they all go to prototype. And i sugest people to go look all of the other reviews of prototype, and guess what, they all get a 4/5 or a 9/10. I think pixel verdict is having something personal with Prototypes developers hahaha.
Awesome!! Our first flames!
I called it.
inFamous>Prototype.
Btw Naughty dog which is a sony developer (Uncharted 1&2) makes Crash bandicoot, Radical makes the Crash series is a racing franchise. i would hope that you guys would at least get your facts straight before dumping on a game that improves upon the Hulk: Ultimate Destruction ideal with a score much lower than the game deserves : /
I’ve already picked up my infamous copy.Infamous is a great game with an high replayability.I’ve tried both and I can say that prototype is the most chaotic and mindless action game that I’ve played.grafically is even worse.disgusting!
Perhaps the worst kind of fanboy-turned-wanna-be-review I think I’ve yet read.
So many ways to show what a poor and pre-biased piece of trash this text was.
Why didn’t you just publish this in a forum somewhere? Desperate to look ‘cool’ by doing a non-review and get some hits via n4g?? It’s clear you didn’t even play the game since you fail to mention so many of the aspects of the game itself.
Just because you don’t like the publisher, doesn’t mean you have to be a 12 year old and needlessly slam the game dude.
You fail.
HAHAHAHAHA, oh you are serius… I’ve played both games and I can tell you…
Prototype>>>>Infamous
To Fumanchu:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/data/939007.html
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/data/945947.html
Copy and paste those… Neither of those looks like a racing game to me.
History lesson time: Crash Bandicoot was NEVER a Sony property. The first 3 games in the series (as well as CTR) on the PSone were developed by Naughty Dog for Universal Interactive Studios, who had a publishing deal with Sony, a deal which was picked up by Konami in the PS2 days. Later games were published by Vivendi Universal under the Sierra brand(owned by Universal’s parent company, Vivendi) until the Activision/Vivendi merger (Blizzard was a subsidiary of Vivendi), when Activision purged most of Sierra’s titles, retaining the rights to Spyro/Crash.
Just making sure you had your facts straight before you dumped on the guy who dumped on the game that improves upon Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.
To the rest of you: Thanks for the feedback.
lol @ this filth review.
You dont even attempt to act unbiased. From the very start of the review your taking the piss out of the game. If you’re trying to burn this game down just to further endorse Infamous its probably best that you dont add dumb shit like “Honestly, I can’t in all good conscience recommend Prototype to anyone in a world in which InFamous is readily available.” Makes it a bit too obvious.
I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU JOHNSON.
YEAH PIXL VRDIC SUX !!!1 YOU GUYS BLO
I’m having fun with inFamous, so I think Prototype will have to wait for me.
Anyway keep up the good work guys, I enjoy your site…
I got myself a promo copy of Prototype 2 days ago. It has been in my PS3 ever since. This game is absolute quality. I’m only on the 4th day of the infection and the story has me hooked. If I didn’t have to work I’d have a Prototype overdose!! I also have Infamous which is a good game but it doesn’t come close to the sheer enjoyment from playing Prototype. To Steve O..fair enough everyone is entitled to their opinions and reviews etc. on games but at least play the game for more than 5 mins before reviewing. No mention of hijacking tanks and helicopters which also adds to the fun.
Now that was a halfway intelligent rebuttal – until you threw the “play the game for more than 5 minutes” line in there.
Assume that if i’ve reviewed the game, that i’ve played the game. And no, i didn’t find the hijacking of tanks or helicopters fun.
I was looking forward to Prototype, I paid my coin like everyone else (no free review code here), and i was severely disappointed with the finished product, as reflected in my review.
TIP: If you want to be taken seriously when providing feedback, please type in a clear and understandable fashion, and leave attacks on my or any other of our staff’s ability to review a game out of it.
Take care all and thanks for the feedback.
So far I’ve really enjoyed my time with Prototype. I wouldn’t pay 70 bucks for it, but I wouldn’t pay that for ANY action game I can finish in a week.
The story is a bit lackluster (anyone else find the cutscenes EXTREMELY short and to the point with not much characterization), though I do like the sequences where he’s retelling his story, and the Web of Intrigue is a unique concept which kind of brings to life the story in a way I like. The supporting characters are so throwaway though. Though I have to disagree with you on the stealth elements – I think they’re not so good. It seems kind of broken to me: for the most part I would figure leaping around like a maniac even dressed as a soldier would even make the soldiers somewhat suspicious of me – instead they do their banter but the yellow meter BARELY moves. Only time they really freak out is if you do that stuff RIGHT in their base or change from disguise to Alex or vice versa in front of them. The game also seems to be lacking a little bit of polish – I notice a bit of glitching and the physics are a bit kooky.
The action in this game is very top notch, as you said Steve. I really enjoy the powers so far, and the sprint mechanic is probably one of the most easy ways to travel in a game I have EVER seen (barring Assassin’s Creed’s realistic approach to it). Being able to cause so much destruction is a LOT of fun. The comparisons to Spider-Man 2 and the Hulk games are pretty spot-on, but I always found those games an enjoyable rent (like I said, I generally don’t buy short action games). Gotta say though Steve – your review sounds more like a 3 than a 2, but I see where you’re coming from. While comparisons to inFAMOUS are pretty understandable, I think Radical did a good job with this one. I’d like to see a sequel with a bit more polish and a bit more emphasis on storytelling.
HA!
This is the funniest review site ever. I just went through your some other reviews and they were just like this. Complete garbage. Here’s my review for your site:
(1)-2-3-4-5
|
Turn around and run.
Don’t trust any of this crap and go to the real review sites.
(IGN, gamespot, etc.)
@Lawl
Thanks! I appreciate you giving us a 1 out of 5 when it could have been a 0.
Of course, if you’re looking for a real review of this review site you should probably go to one of the REAL review sites.
I really liked this game and enjoyed my time with it. Seeing as I don’t have a PS3 and haven’t played inFamous I think I can give an unbiased review.
Graphics 5/10
Lets all say it together, the graphics suck ****. But this never bothered me at all unless you looked closely at a NYC resident or were searching for infected water towers or landmarks/ hints.
Gameplay 10/10
This is where I believe the game shines. With so many powers, allowing for massive amounts of destruction there is unlimited fun. I have literlly not done anything other than go from base to hive to base using my vast variety of powers to eliminate enemies. The fact you are a walking tank, that can use tanks and helis makes it all the better. So many powers creates a great game.
Collectibles/ Events 6/10
I have this a 6 out of 10 since I grouped them together. Collectibles are horrible except for the web of intrigue as landmarks are jard to see due to them not rendering till you are pretty close, and theres no other way to see them. Events are alright but repetitive and lame.
Length and Replayability 9/10
Great length and lots of replay potential to get all the powers.
Sound 8.5 / 10
Never really heard any music but the sound fx are decent although dialogue is “meh” but the voice acting from Alex is pretty solid.
Fun Factor 10/10
Ripping untold numbers of NYC citizens apart has never been this fun. Powers make it better.
Story 7/10
Decent but to short and not enough twists, seems you already know how it will turn out as you are reliving Alex’s past experiences.
Overall 9/10
This is a great game worth every penny. Sure the graphics aren’t that great, but gameplay makes up for it. lmao and Steve-O if you don’t like Mercer’s look you can always disguise as someone else.
Never reviewed before so please comment Steve- O and Jon Mercer especially.