Manhattan Island has suffered all manner of fates in movies over the years. It was attacked by monsters in Godzilla and Cloverfield, hit by tsunamis in The Day After Tomorrow and Deep Impact, and targeted by aliens in Independence Day and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. But though I am Legend comes close, the New York borough has never before been subjected to a disaster quite like that depicted in Prototype.
In this fast-paced open-world action game, the military is doing what it can to contain a viral outbreak that’s turning the island’s population into mutants. As amnesiac Alex Mercer, who’s trying to figure out what’s going on, you spend much of your time caught in the crossfire. Fortunately, what Mercer lacks in memories he more than makes up for in agility and superpowers, and as a result, he’s an incredibly fun character to play as in a game that also counts an intriguing story, varied missions, and some memorable boss battles among its features.
At the outset, Mercer is a much easier character to control than he is to understand. Making giant leaps, gliding through the air, and even running up the sides of skyscrapers are effortless actions. You could probably make it from one end of Manhattan to the other in a straight line using nothing more than the sprint button if you really wanted to, since it’s the only one you need to scale buildings, barge through crowds, and overcome obstacles like cars and rooftop air-conditioning units parkour-style.
No fall will ever hurt you, no obstacle is impassable, and there are very few enemies who can keep up with you when you’re at full clip. Combat is also relatively simple early on, but as you progress and learn more about who and what Mercer is, his repertoire of moves grows exponentially until remembering which button combinations trigger which moves in which of his five forms becomes something of a challenge. You certainly don’t need to remember how to use every single move you unlock with evolution points, which are earned by doing just about anything, but it’s unfortunate that even after picking favorites you might find yourself having to hold down up to three buttons (a trigger and two opposing face buttons) simultaneously to perform them.
