More Details

Studio:Activision

Amazon.co.uk

Prototype is a single player, open-world action game where players take control of shape-shifter Alex Mercer. In this gameworld you literally are a genetic prototype hiding in human form. You step out onto the streets of New York with no memory, but limitless potential power. As a terrifying viral epidemic sweeps across Manhattan, top-secret Blackwatch Special Forces move in, transforming it into a war zone. Delve into the mysteries of your origin, the true nature of your power and your part in a conspiracy 40 years in the making.

Battle through an infected NYC. View larger.

Turn your body into a weapon. View larger.

Consume abilities, memories and physical form of others. View larger.

Combat or join special forces units. View larger.

Story
Alex Mercer was once a scientist for the prominent medical research corporation, Gentek, but one day he wakes up to find himself a shape-shifter with absolute mastery over his genetic structure, but no memory of how this came to be. Taking to the streets of New York City in search of answers, he quickly encounters a web of lies and vows to rip the truth from those who have hidden it from him and the world.

A few other things that Alex also learns quickly is that he is not alone in possessing amazing abilities, that there is a secret war brewing in New York City and he is on its front lines. A deadly infection has spilled out of control and the government has seized the media to stop the spread of information and has placed New York under quarantine as martial law is instated; igniting a firestorm of combat, carnage and death. As he roams the city, he faces an ever growing army of infected creatures warped and changed by the virus. As it spreads, the virus overwrites the genetics of those it infects, warping and changing their form into something else, something that seems to have been planned. The answers he seeks appear to be tied to the virus, so he rushes to discover the truth behind it, but standing against him and his goal is Project Blackwatch. An elite army specialist force, they are tasked with halting the spread of the virus at any cost and are eager to bring Alex in dead or alive to determine his connection to it. It would seem that they are potentially both enemy and ally to Alex's cause. Will Alex assist Blackwatch in its hunt, or join forces with the virus and subjugate humanity, pushing his powers to the limit as the genetic shackles of humanity fall by the wayside? That choice is up to the player in Prototype.

Gameplay
In Prototype players engage in 'Deceive or Destroy' gameplay. This allows gamers the choice to either blend in with the population and covertly progress through the story, or fully unleash Alex’s powers, and move through New York City like a walking slaughterhouse, taking control of military vehicles, and causing destruction at every turn.

Although Alex is literally strong enough to fling people and large objects around easily, his most intriguing power is his ability to 'consume' people. In doing this he acquires their memories, abilities, and their appearance. New memories help him to solve the mystery of how he got the way he is, while new appearances allow him to shape-shift into new useful forms at will and abilities allow him to manoeuvre in parts of the game requiring specific skills in specific situations. In addition, Alex's consumption of people also facilitates his ability to transform his physical body and manipulate his senses. Most weapons acquired in this way are outgrowths from his appendages like exaggerated blades, shields, whips and claws used for brutal close combat, but consumption also allows for powerful abilities like thermal vision, which provides for vision through smoke and obstacles, as well as 'infected vision' with which Alex can detect hotspots of viral infection throughout the city.

Key Features:

• Fast and Deadly Combat - Shape-shift your body to the situation at hand ... from claws to blades to hammers to whips, as you choose the right weapon for the situation. Change to shield or armour for defence or use advanced sensory powers (thermal vision, infected vision) to track your enemies.
• Over-the-top Locomotion - Seamlessly and fluidly bound from building to building, run up walls, bounce off cars and everything in your path. Adaptive parkour lets you move freely through the open-world environments of New York City.
• Unique Disguising Abilities - Consume anyone at anytime, take on their appearance and assume their memories and special abilities.
• Deep Conspiracy Driven Storyline - Wake up with no memory of the past ... just mysterious powers and a link to a town in Idaho. Delve into the mysteries of your origin, the true nature of your power and your part in a conspiracy 40 years in the making.
• Parkour Inspired In-game Movement - Alex Mercer's movements are inspired by Parkour, a mostly urban activity bordering on both art and martial arts that aims at moving the human body from one point to another as smoothly, efficiently and quickly as possible. Recent examples of it gained worldwide attention in chase scenes in the 2007 film "Casino Royale."
• Xbox LIVE Achievements - Collect a wealth of Xbox LIVE achievements and build your gamer score as you play.

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Accessories

• Saitek Cyborg 360 2-in-1 Rumble Pad (Xbox 360)
• Turtle Beach Wireless Headset Ear Force X41 (Xbox 360)

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Reviews

- An excellent game

Thoroughly enjoyable sandbox type game where you can explore the city of New York as it becomes increasingly overrun by infected zombies once a terrifying virus has been released. Discover who is behind it through a varied campaign mode with lots of different enemy types. Upgrade your mutant powers as you progress through the game, allowing you to tackle the various bosses etc. Lots of side missions and collectables to keep you occupied once you've finished the main campaign.

Surprising tough on normal mode although there is an easy mode option as well and 'hard' mode which unlocks once you've completed the game on normal.

Once you begin to power up I found the game totally engrossing. If you liked the freedom and playability of Crackdown or Mercenaries 2 then you'll enjoy this.

Thoroughly recommended.

- Quality game

so yeah ive just finished playing through the story mode on easy..and it was still pretty hard at points!

start off with nothing basicly, i didnt realy enjoy the game until maybe the 6th or 7th mission when i finnaly got the good "powers" and armor, now i have them its just amazing fun.

[POSSIBLE SPOILER] The powers i had unlocked by the end where giant fists, good for taking out tanks, a wierd kinda chain arm thing that reaches far and can slice a large amount of weaker enemies with one foul swoop, theres some wolverine type claws that are pretty weak, but they have a good special move that shoots spikes from under your enemy, works well with the weaker enemys and not so well on strong hunters and such, then, theres the nice big sword that you see on the cover of the game, wich is just epic, slices up tanks and take most big enemys out with 2 or 3 power attacks. All of the powers can be upgraded with EP that you earn for killing infected, military units and complete missions, all abililitys can be upgraded to make them more powerfull, you can also upgrade the usual stuff like max health and run speed.[POSSIBLE SPOILER]

Can drive tanks, helicopters and APC's. if you take a military disguise, then you can hop into these by just pressing B, or you can not take a diguise and hijack it by pressing B to mount, then rapidly pressing Y.

The main story is pretty average, taking me 9 hours to complete on easy. so maybe 10 or 11 on normal. 31 missions in all, some being too easy then others being pretty darn hard. all of the missions you are free to start whenever you want, can free roam and ignore if you prefer.

After you complete the main story you continue in free roam, killing infected people and military units. you can also complete tasks for bonus EP that include racing to checkpoints in the fastest time, a target game where you have to glide to a point, closer you get, higher your score also seeing how many helicopters you can shoot down in 50 seconds, and maybe 6 or 7 others, thers alot of the same ones but spread out over the whole map. these are all ranked from a bronze to gold medals, obviosly giving more EP for a better medal.

In free roam you can infiltrate military bases and destroy hives both for large amounts of EP. destoying military bases cripples there ability to send strike teams out. Blowing up hives stops hunters being unleashed.

so ye, very good game. and i think lots of replay value as when you start a new game, you keep all your upgrades.

Definetly one to buy. Enjoy.

- Great game

I love this game, I just got addicted and I can't stop playing it. :D

- Excellent free roaming/open world action/horror game

If you loved Crackdown but wanted MORE, more of an interesting story, more violence, more possibilities, then this is the game for you. You can quite literally TEAR New York apart!! The graphics are excellent for a 3d free roaming sandbox style game, normally the graphics take a hit (ala GTA San Andreas) but this one does not disapoint.

The only draw backs are that you get a taste of Alex Mercer at FULL POWER at the start and then they all get taken away lol, just like Assassins Creed and any other game of its Ilk. The other and most annoying problem for me, is that it doesn't have online multiplayer such as the likes of Crackdown. But then I guess you have to wonder how it would've played out had they tried to include it.

Overall I'd give it 8/10. Its the free roaming do what you like action/horror game I always hoped for and far exceeded my expectations!

Pro

- Amazing game, very original, well executed.

I think this is one of the best titles for 2009, so original, yet so well executed for the first time round. The title could be compared to that of crackdown, since you get these super human abilities and you can improve them from gaining experiance via missions, side-missions, or exploration. canr wait for another of these, i've been told its greatest competition is infamouz, the ps3 exclusive one, but since it isnt on xbox, it really is a must buy. can't honestly say a bad word about it