Imagine awaking in a morgue as your chest is about to be cut open, Heroes style, to then be chased by doctors and military for unknown reasons. Not even because they think you are a zombie. Then throw in the fact that you start to show signs of super human abilities and powers. When you try to figure out what is going on, you realize you have no memory of even how you got on the slab. How would you react?

Well that seems to be the question that Activision and Radical Entertainment want you to answer for yourself in their new game [Prototype]. Well at least to some extent. Unless you are into just senseless killing with guns and super powers. Then you can forget all of the insightfulness I was trying to bring up with this game at least.

Wait, what am I talking about? I was totally in it for the senseless killing. Well senseless only if you ignore the story. But I'll get to that in the following review. A review that has been specially separated for you to check out my thoughts on specific topics that you, and only you, might be interested in. So no more gilding the lilly. Let me get on with it.

Controls:

If you have played Grand Theft Auto, then you will be pretty familiar with the controls of this game. At least the basic controls for the game. But when the power and extra feats controls get mixed in, you will think "These would have made GTA so much better." I'm not talking about the attack powers here at all too. The parkour-like controls that become available shortly after the game begins, add a bit of extra fun and ease to moving around New York City. In fact, you will quickly be trying to see how fast you can get Alex moving across the island. Something that works very fluid and feels very natural for an open world game. Think of how Venom would move across to go after Spiderman, just no webbing.

The movement controls are not the only very fluid controls for the game. The attacks and powers, for the most part, are also very fluid. Part in partial because of a kind of auto aiming system that will move you from victim to victim to make for a perfect flow in combat. But don't worry, there is also a solid way to target and stay targeted as well. Something that comes in handy when using some of the powers of the game.

With all of the good here, there are two gripes I have with the controls. The primary being that grabbing onto small parts of buildings, like columns and poles, generally results in Alex taking a long fall. The collision on the fine grabbing and holding just seems very loose, especially when some of the collectibles are located at the top and the only way to get there is to climb. The second gripe is that there is no way to not target a victim in the game. More of an annoyance in general, but still something that would make sneaking and trophy collecting less of a pain.

Graphics:

I will say that the graphics for this game didn't break any grounds or pioneer anything. Not that they are bad, not in the least bit. What I am getting at is that they are at what would seem industry standard. Just nothing pushing the envelope here, but that wasn't what they were going for. The graphics used are perfect for this style of game.

One bit of praise on the graphics though is the dismemberment visuals. When eviscerating victims on the screen, you do get to see body parts flop and fly as they get ripped, cut, or pulled off. Something small, but very pleasing for me. It did have me clawing people quite a bit just to see piles of limbs.

Audio:

On the PS3 version of this game, there was also no real evolution for the industry. That actually was on the XBox side of things. 7.1 Dolby for the first time in any game there, but this wasn't the XBox version. But like the graphics of the game, they were just as you would expect. Well except it had some pretty good voice acting to go along with the cut scenes as well as retorts from the world NPCs on your actions.

It really does add something to the immersion of a game when you have good voice acting or realistic vocal reactions from people. The use of military chatter as well as the phrases some of the world NPCs would use adds that little something extra. I found myself wondering what they would say next so I would mess with pedestrians constantly to see if they would scream or fight back. I also have a hard time remembering hearing the same thing twice, at least from the civilians. Which is very cool.

Gameplay:

The game play is what I find to be its main selling point, outside of a very interesting story. The whole game is a very open world that plays like a System of a Down song. Short and sweet one moment, then without warning you have to run for your life or slaughter a plethora of people to survive. It keeps it switching up enough that the similar missions of "go here, kill this" don't get too repetitive and boring. I hate games like that, and this was not the case for me. But even if the mission get you bogged in repetition, that's not all to do.

As reported back in January, from CES 2009, the missions are truly only a third of the game. It is a very open world from the start and stays that way. There are so many other things to do that span 2/3 of the game outside of the missions. As an example, I enjoyed playing a rousing game of "How far can I throw someone into the Atlantic" for so long the game had to remind me that there were missions to complete. There is just so many little things to pick up and do throughout the game; you will find it a super powered mix of GTA.

Fun Factor:

I'll make this part short and sweet, because I could write way more than you want to read. From the start of the game, I found so many fun things to do in the world. The mini-game I made up above aside, there are so many little things to do as well as the overarching storyline of the game. It honestly shouldn't have taken me so long to play the game as it has because of this fact. From flying around to find clues to the story, to the mini-missions, to the new and creative things you can do to the world, to the actual story of the game, I found myself thoroughly entertained; only taking breaks because my PS3 controller needed charging or I had to step out for some food.

One more thing to add to the fun factor of the game is the fact that they leave it so replayable that you feel obligated to pick it up for a second go. Not to mention it is the only way to play it on Hard. Yes you have to beat it on Normal or Easy to get Hard mode. But even if that isn't your cup of tea, just smashing the city up after a long day at work is very relaxing.

Overview/Final Words:

At the end of it all, I would say this game is fully worth the new game price. Even though you can hammer through the story mode in about 9 hours, that is only a fraction of what you get to do in this game. Hence why it is not just a definite rent. I can see how Activision said you could easily rack up 60 hours of gameplay for this game. They added so many little features and events outside of the main storyline that you will be entertained for hours.

Outside of just trying to master all of the events in the game, it can really be used as a relaxation tool. If going around town slashing and maiming people happens to be one of the ways you like to relax.