Green Room Review| Prototype

 

Image Credit: IMDB

Many people have asked for a straight up venom game where you don't have to abide by the rules of Spider-Man but alas we have never truly received a Venom game aside from tastes of it in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man for the PS2. That is where Radical Entertainment's Prototype come in an original IP that casts players in the role of Alex Mercer an amnesiac who is infected with a strange virus that allows him to morph his limbs to weapons, grants incredible strength, and increases his speed to superhuman levels. This game can often truly allow players to feel what a Venom or Carnage game would be like if we were to ever get a full one and it shares a lot of DNA with other games.

(Reviewed on Windows PC)

First a quick warning if you do not own this game already I highly recommend getting it on console as it goes on sale for less than $20 all the time. On PC there is myriad of issues that took a while for me to solve to get it running. On such issue is improper detection of modern video cards blocking you from going above 1280x720 and locking anti-aliasing to x4 or lower. Another issue is the sound card has to be set to 48000hz or else the audio will be distorted and you will have high pitched sped up dialog. Finally the game doesn't work well with modern CPUs so you have to limit the threads steam can use whenever you launch the game.

So with the warning out of the way lets look into the story. You play as Alex Mercer an amnesiac who wakes up in a morgue. After escaping from the morgue Alex witness Blackwatch gun down the scientists who about to dissect him and one of the soldiers notice him leading them all gunning him down, or so they think as he has a high regenerative factor and escapes by making a giant leap over the wall where a helicopter then pursues him blowing up a car, as it almost crushes him he catches it and throws it at the helicopter destroying it. From there he continues to flee and he finds out he can consume people absorbing their form, memories, and skills. He finds out he has a sister that the soldiers are all moving in to arrest as they want to lure him out. From there the story continues to pull you through many twists and major events leading to the eighteenth day of the outbreak where the game starts. Overall the story is pretty simple as it progresses and if you want more story you can seek all the web of of intrigue targets to get all the lore for the game.

The gameplay is the games selling point and at first starts out really well each power definitely fills the niches until you unlock the blade power which is just the jack of all trades and obliterates most enemies and armored units. The major thing that this game lacks in my opinion is defensive options as you only get an automatic shield or a armor that reduces your mobility and all incoming damage. Overall I found the gameplay to be fun but at times it was stiff and imprecise especially in the late game where there are major boss fights or certain challenges requiring precise jumps. Combat is where Prototype shines though as it is weighty and visceral one strike can decapitate several enemies and bystanders alike, heavy strikes from your hammer fists leave craters in the asphalt, the whipfist shreds everything within its reach, the claws feel like wolverine just slicing through armored soldiers like butter. The map is just a small recreation of Manhattan with several tall building to launch off of, recognizable landmarks, and that feeling that it might just have the same map as Spider-Man Web of Shadows. Overall this game is one of the titles where the gameplay is enough to keep you interested if the story isn't pulling you through and the side events are tons of fun to cut loose with your powers.

The sound design is very old school but understandable for the year the game came out. The soundtrack has no recognizable tracks, no licensed music, and honestly you probably won't realize it is there as it fades into the background most of the time. The sound design though is great for the combat explosions ring out, the impact of your weapons is weighty and tangible from the thud of the hammerfist, the slices of the blade and claws, and the squelch of the whipfist bisecting the groups of enemies. The voice acting is average no major notes on it. Overall the sound serves to enhance the major element of the game which is the power fantasy of being a living weapon.

This game is about the equivalent to a fast and furious or MCU movie nothing insane or groundbreaking but overall enjoyable. With its few frustrations it was worth it to play if you want to feel like Venom or just have an itch for a super hero game where you aren't really a hero but a villain who can destroy anyone and everything. This game is perfect in length and doesn't overstay its welcome as I put in about 15 hours. The powers are satisfying and the progression kept me going till I got every power maxed out to cause all the destruction I could. Overall this game gets a 3\5 as it pretty average in all ways possible but is enjoyable. What games had gameplay that pulled you through a messy story?

Thanks for reading!