PROTOTYPE

Product Details

PROTOTYPE From ACTIVISION List Price: $29.99 Price: $15.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Ships from and sold by CdromUSA 63 new or used available from $3.77 Average customer review:

Product Description

You are the PROTOTYPE, Alex Mercer, hiding in human form. You step out onto the streets of New York with no memory, but limitless power. As a terrifying viral epidemic sweeps across Manhattan, top-secret Black Watch 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.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2635 in Video Games
• Brand: ACTIVISION
• Model: 33293
• Released on: 2009-06-09
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows XP
• Format: CD
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Features

• A deep, conspiracy driven storyline set in a realistic recreation of New York City that delve into the true nature of Alex Mercer's power and his part in a conspiracy 40 years in the making.
• Fast & deadly shape-shifting combat that allows players to reconfigure body parts into offensive and defensive items like claws, blades, hammers, whips, shields and armor.
• Use of advanced sensory powers like thermal vision and infected vision to track your enemies and keep the action going.
• Fluid, over-the-top locomotion & agility based on real-life Parkour movement styles that allows you to bound from building to building, run up walls, bounce off cars and everything in your path.
• Unique disguising abilities derived from Alex's ability to "consume" characters, and in doing so acquire their appearance, memories and special abilities.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Product Description

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 maneuver 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 armor for defense 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 inpired 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."

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Customer Reviews

Hitman, GTA and Wolverine all rolled into one... I'm guilty of writing long reviews so I'm going to try to keep it short as possible: What is that thing? In case you didn't read that long description above, the game is centered around Alex Mercer a guy with a shady past that wakes up a changed man. He has the ability to jump, run, climb, and kill way better than us. He also has the ability to absorb people to gain their memories and their identity. The game follows his story as he tries to protect loved ones and figure out what the hell happened to him. As you progress and gain "Evolution Points" from missions you can upgrade Alex with new abilities including some crazy attacks that just devastate everything around you. The setting is Manhattan (seems like everyone wants to ruin NYC) and you can literally run around and up anything. Once you get used to it (it's pretty simple to figure out how to run up buildings), it's pretty liberating. It's what I wished I could've done in GTA IV. You can climb the highest building and jump off of it. Traveling via rooftops gives you that Spidey feeling but without all that webbing. My only problem with it is that your ability to turn and fine tune your moves while sprinting is limited so you'll find yourself flying off rooftops once in a while. Still, nothing beats the almost animal running and leaping style Alex has...it's really fun. Did I mention Wolverine? At the core of the game is the combat and you get a taste of just how addictive it can get at the start of the game. You're introduced to Alex's abilities, Hollywood style, in the middle of a climactic battle. You've got access to nearly all of his abilities as you get used to navigating and the like. The story will then take you to the beginning and you start with minimal abilities that you'll have to unlock over time. Still, it's a great feeling when you can just jump into the middle of a huge battle (mutants, tanks, helos, etc.) and just devastate. It reminds me of Wolverine (the game) except on a much larger scale. And, this includes the blood, gore and violence. If you're not into that sort of stuff, stop reading and find another game. Why You'll Like This Game: - You feel really powerful once you've developed some of your powers - You'll get a kick out of leaping around the city, raining devastation on your enemies. - You liked Wolverine but thought there wasn't enough to do - You can save anywhere despite the checkpoint saves. - Learning the story through random bits of memories you grab off people is a pretty damned cool plot mechanic. - With a large city, there's plenty to do with side missions in the form of races, kill tasks (kill X soldiers in Y seconds), etc. and various markers to grab for EP. Why You Won't Like This Game: - Lots of gore, blood and body parts...c'mon, he's a mutant up against other mutants and military out to kill him. - The crowds and traffic are as generic as GTA's. - Graphics are solid but they aren't fancy. Lots of fog to ruin those potentially amazing vistas. - Like GTA, if you're not doing missions or other tasks, there's only so much fun to be derived from destroying cars and killing soldiers and mutants. Also, like GTA, you will end up killing civies so you'd better hope your moral compass doesn't get in your way. - While there's lots to do, I doubt you'll want to replay this game over and over once you've completed it. All in all, this is a fun game (it's hard to not say yes to "Just one more mission"). If you loved Wolverine or GTA, then you should definitely try this one out. Prototype-Hyped So I've been playing this game almost five hours now. I'm no where near done and nor do I hope to be. To be honest, I wasn't hyped about this game when I saw the trailers but now I am. I would say this game is the love child of Spiderman, the Hulk and Assassin's Creed. I'm not talking about rip offs, but the inpiration (and maybe even references) is clear. The GUI, the minimap markers, and design elements come very close to Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed. Much as I'm loving Prototype, there are of course, pros and cons about the game. I like to start with the cons. Technical Aspects: This game, impressive as the concept design is--and you'll see plenty during installation--the graphics aren't as up to par. You don't get to see the in-game graphics until a few sequences of cinematic cutscene, and the graphics used in the cutscenes are just mind blowing. But when it's time to start the game, it might come as a little bit of a slap to the face. Of course, this is highly subjective and depends on machine to machine. Be warned though, if you've played Left 4 Dead and your machine lags when the horde is on their way, this game isn't for you (or for your machine rather). There is a lot going on at all times in all parts of the world, so be kind to your graphics card and know how much it can handle. Not to mention you will be expected to provide some complicated moves in addition to the existing chaos of the world. Another frustrating part of this game is the audio. It's really low. Who would have thought that a game like this would have an audio issue of all problems. But there you have it. You might have to turn the volume all the way up, and yes, even if you have your headphones plugged in. It was frustrating but we'll have to live with it until a fix comes along. If it's still not good enough, there is the option to enable subtitles, but seriously.. poor audio? Gameplay: The gameplay I've been experiencing so far is pretty decent. I'm working this on a Intel Core 2 Quad with 2.4 GhZ and a GeForce 8400. I preferred to have everything on medium for the smoothness of this game but of course if your system specs are better than mine then you should experience no problems. I just wished that these graphics could have been a little more enhanced, but it's not a major setback. Also, I like how everything is treated as a quest/mission. Besides the main missions you'll be given (which relate to the plot of the game), there are these mini-events that test your the skills you have acquired and unlocked. This is an Assassin's Creed reference. You collect markers scattered over a small section of the city as fast you can. It's a good way of timing practicing complicated button-combos as you add new moves. However, there are other things you can optionally collect (but will add to your Evolution Points). Kind of pointless really. It's just a way of the game designers and developers to make the player look at (and appreciate, I'm sure) everything they had to put in the world, but it's a good distraction nevertheless. Perspective limitations: Call it a game that was meant for consoles or whatever, but maybe playing this in first perspective couldn't have harmed the game. Then again there's Mirror's Edge for that, lol :P Saving/Loading: The game will tell you that it saves and loads automatically but at certain checkpoints. You can manually save before you reach a checkpoint but the game saves your character progression like the Evolutions Points you achieved, and any upgrades that you purchased and so on. This means that any manual save will not save your location in the game but will rather revert you to the checkpoint that you came closest to the last time you played. So be prepared to repeat about 2 minutes worth of gameplay to progress to the next phase of the game. It's very misleading and redundant as this is, it's not painful. Alex Mercer: This could be just me, but the guy who voices Alex just mumbles most of the time. They need to hire a better voice actor. Strictly biased viewpoint here :P If it helps, he sounds like Tommy/Domasi from Prey. On to the pros: The City/World: The mini-map is your friend when it comes to navigating around the world. You are going to be all around Downtown NY. The world has been constructed flawlessly. I have yet to experience any bugs, but play this game and you won't ever feel the need to physically be in New York. The map is detailed in it's districts and every surface is climbable, much like Assassin's Creed. Now if only there was a way to be more subtle when passing through a crowd of people like Altair does. Also, day and night takes place throughout the game. It's a good concept which adds that extra tinge of reality. Thanks to Fallout 3 and Stalker for the idea, I suppose. Disguises and movements: Really nifty, these. Anyone can be consumed for health and can be used as a disguised. So long as they are alive, that is. You can also incorporate a little stealth into the game by choosing to maintain a low profile. Again with the Assassin's Creed concept of a yellow symbol indicating that people are observing you and red if you've alerted people. Also, you can throw almost anything at helicopters and at other people. Sprinting takes place at lighting speed (especially when you upgrade). Alex performs a whole lot of other combos. But be sure to practice these in safe areas first. You don't want to make a scene since military personnel are always on the lookout for you. And with Alex's strength it's easy to make a scene. Memories: Assassin's Creed reference again, but if you remember in the game just before Altair killed an antogonist there would be this out-of-body conversation that they have. While it's not exactly the same in Protoptype, when certain people are consumed (a memory victim, I call then and the game points them out to you) you get to see their memories as cutscenes. Throughout the game, you can connect memories through synapses as you collect more memories from more victims. It's a nice way of "putting the puzzle pieces together" since Alex seems to be a John Doe. Upgrading: I felt this was unnecessary but I guess there's no harm in trying to better your skills. You can upgrade movement, powers, survival skills and more. I have yet to look into all of this, but the option to upgrade helps. Upgrades can be purchased with Evolution Points. In a nutshell: These are the main factors that I saw when playing this game. I'm not even going to comment on the plot and other things. This game should be bought for the constant action and the adrenaline rush it gives you. By the time you're done with it, you'll be pretty hyper and crazed. I guess we'll be our own prototypes in a way ;) I hear a lot of people comparing this to Infamous or some game that was bound for the PS3. Much as I'll keep my hatred of console games (and gamers) to myself, just have fun with this game. Keep an open mind and go on the ride it offers you. In other words, treat it like an interactive movie and stop trying to predict what's coming next. Your opinions can get the better of you once you have actually completed the game. As mentioned, Prototype is the combined result of Spiderman, the Hulk and Assassin's Creed. Or maybe just a urbanized version of Assassin's Creed (with superhuman powers). Nevertheless, this is definitely worth a try so do this game the justice it deserves. Verdict: Highly recommended Open ended sandbox-style game done right Some important things to note about this game: - You can flying karate kick helicopters out of the sky - You can elbow drop tanks from the top of a nearby building - You can ride human enemies around like a surfboard then flip the body into the air and kick it at a nearby target And just in case that wasn't enough to sell you on the game, you might want to keep reading the rest of this review. No matter if you decide to run straight from one main plot mission to the next, spend time doing all the side missions/events, scour the city for collectibles, or just run around causing mayhem, there is plenty to do here and I didn't find it to get repetitive or boring in any way as often happens with open ended games such as this. And while straying from the main plot for the various side missions does help you power up, it isn't required at all to make it through the main story. Another pitfall which sandbox games such as this often fall into is that it becomes a chore to move around. Even if you have a lot of fun doing the various missions, if getting to them is a pain it can get old pretty fast. I'm happy to say that getting around the city in Prototype is a joy, in fact several times I found myself just exploring for the fun of it.