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Prototype (video game)
Encyclopedia
Prototype is an open world
action video game developed by Radical Entertainment
and published by Activision
. The game was released in North America on June 9, 2009, and in southwestern parts of North America as well as Oceania
on June 10, and was released in Europe on June 12.
The game is set in New York City
, where a virulent plague known as Blacklight is spreading through Manhattan
. Those infected are mutated into hideous monster
s of varying form, with an uncontrollable urge to kill all uninfected life-forms. At the center of it is the protagonist
, Alex Mercer, an incredibly powerful shapeshifter
with no memory
of his past. Parallel to the game's storyline is the ability to play the game as a sandbox-style video game giving the player freedom to roam Manhattan.
Many reviewers compared and contrasted it with Infamous, another open world action game released one month prior to Prototype, by Sucker Punch Productions
which features a superpowered protagonist with developing powers in an urban world. Many reviewers and gamers have compared it to be closely similar to the idea
s from John Carpenter
's 1982 science fiction
horror film
, The Thing. However, the gameplay of Prototype is very similar to The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
, also by Radical Entertainment
.
attacks without shapeshifting, as well as more gymnastic moves such as air combos, sliding along the ground using any humanoid enemy's body, and a high-speed rolling cannonball attack.
Alex can also transform parts of his body into a selection of martial implements acquired over the course of the game, either as purchased upgrades or being given them. Offensive powers include the large and powerful Blade, fast razor-sharp Claws (which can also erupt large spikes from the ground), the telescoping Whipfist, Musclemass that augments his strength, and the slow but powerful Hammerfists. Defensive options consist of a large shield for blocking ballistic attacks that needs to regenerate after excessive damage, and full body armor that exchanges agility and speed for toughness in hand to hand combat; both will allow Alex to plow through most obstacles when active. Vision modes include thermal
vision, which allows Alex to see enemies through smoke and other obstacles at the expense of a decreased vision range, and Infected vision, which highlights those infected with the BLACKLIGHT virus as well as military units. Both vision modes muffle all of Alex's other senses, such as hearing, in order to concentrate on his sight. One defensive and offensive power may be active at a time, and using either will negate Alex's current disguise. In addition to his own abilities, Alex can take the weapons from defeated or absorbed enemies. These include automatic rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and missile launchers. He can also seize control of military vehicles, such as tanks and helicopters.
Alex's most powerful attacks are the Devastators, which require Alex to be in Critical Mass - either a state of near-death or the exact opposite, having excess stored biomass and increased health. These include the Tendril Barrage, which fires impaling tendrils from his body in all directions, the Groundspike Graveyard, which erupts massive spikes from the ground all around Alex, and the Critical Pain, which fires a single beam of hardened biomass from his hands to severely damage a single target.
For movement around the city, the player uses extreme parkour
, enhanced heavily by Alex's increased physical abilities. When sprinting, he will automatically hop over cars, barriers and other obstacles without losing momentum. Alex will also scale any wall he comes into contact with and simply knock aside any humanoids that get in his way without stopping. He can jump great heights and distances, enough to clear five-story buildings, and can sprint at extreme speed indefinitely. Falls cause no damage to the player even from the greatest heights. Even small jumps are enough for Alex to dent the ground beneath him, and falls from sufficient heights will create shockwaves at the point of impact which will kill most humans nearby and send objects as large as cars flying. Falling height also factors into several of Alex's melee attacks.
) who wakes up in a morgue in the basement of Gentek, a genetic engineering
company based in Manhattan, sending a pair of scientists that were just about to perform an autopsy running. Alex escapes, and witnesses the scientists being gunned down by military operatives. Alex is discovered and attacked. He survives bullets being fired into his chest, and leaps over a wall to safety. He soon discovers he now possesses powerful shapeshifting
abilities, superhuman strength, speed, agility, durability, endurance, weaponry and the ability to "consume" people to gain their memories, skills and appearance. With no memory of his previous life, Alex decides to find and consume those related to the conspiracy in order to uncover the truth. During his quest, Alex faces two factions: the United States Marine Corps
and Blackwatch, a Fort Detrick
special forces
unit dedicated to combating biological warfare
; and the Infected, monsters created by a virus known as BLACKLIGHT that is overrunning Manhattan. Captain Robert Cross (voiced by Jeffrey Pierce
), a Blackwatch officer, is given orders to find and contain Alex.
Alex makes contact with his sister, Dana, who assists him in tracking down targets, leading to the infiltration of Gentek headquarters. He finds a young woman called Elizabeth Greene contained in the building and frees her. Greene is a host for BLACKLIGHT and upon her escape unleashes it upon Manhattan. Dana directs Alex to Karen Parker, his ex-girlfriend. She agrees to aid him in stopping the virus, but leads him into a trap where he is confronted by Cross. During their battle, Alex is injected with a parasite that threatens to kill him. Alex seeks help from Dr. Ragland, a pathologist
linked to Gentek. Ragland helps Alex remove the parasite and turn it into a weapon against Greene. However, using it on Greene only serves to create a monstrous being, the Supreme Hunter, which Alex kills.
The origins of the virus and Elizabeth Greene are uncovered through a contact: in 1969 the government tested the virus' predecessor in Hope, Idaho
, designed to target predetermined races
. The virus mutated into something far more deadly, and the whole population was infected. Elizabeth Greene was the sole survivor; an anomaly in her body's biology accepted the virus, rewriting her genetic code along with that of her unborn son, codenamed PARIAH. The remaining population of Hope, Idaho, was liquidated by Blackwatch. Greene and PARIAH were kept in captivity for further research.
Alex discovers his own past: Blackwatch shut down the Gentek project due to leaks
and ordered all project personnel eliminated. Dr. Alex Mercer took a sample of BLACKLIGHT as "insurance". Eventually pinned down by Blackwatch in Penn Station
, he decides to kill as many as he can, releasing the virus before being killed. The virus consumes Alex's corpse, using his cells to preserve its existence and creating a new entity with inhuman powers. Upon waking in the morgue at the beginning, the virus clone, codenamed ZEUS, believed itself to be Alex Mercer.
The contact and Alex pump a new "BLOODTOX" biological agent
underground in order to drive the virus above ground where it can be fought directly, causing Greene to emerge, encased in a towering monstrosity. Greene falls from the monster in human form once she is defeated, and is consumed by Alex. Through her memories, it becomes apparent that General Randall, head of Blackwatch, is prepared to destroy Manhattan with a nuclear weapon. The contact, revealed to be Cross, and Alex infiltrate the USS Ronald Reagan
to stop him. Once Alex consumes Randall, Cross is revealed to be a Supreme Hunter, who assumed Cross' identity after consuming him, and attacks Alex. He defeats the Supreme Hunter and moves the weapon out into the Atlantic Ocean
, where it detonates and catches him in the blast. His remains float back to the city and regenerate after consuming a crow.
During the credits, it is revealed that the public considers the military to have been the one who stopped the infection; a US Senator is heard telling the media that the events in Manhattan were a case of nuclear and biological terrorism, and promises retribution upon those responsible, Alex claims himself to be 'something less than human, but also something more'. After the credits, Manhattan is shown to be slowly recovering, the virus has been almost completely eradicated. Alex, standing on top of the Reuters Building in Times Square, comments that his work is almost done. He sets out on a quest to achieve his full potential, and eventually completes this task. From then on, Alex roams the city, dealing with Infected and military forces as needed.
Wildstorm
was released along with the game. It reveals more about Hope Idaho, Elizabeth Greene, and the viral outbreak. There are a total of 6 issues of the comic.
. The game received generally positive reviews, earning an aggregate score of 80% on Metacritic
. GameSpot
gave the game a 8.5/10, praising the game for its "intriguing storyline and protagonist" and "massive arsenal of moves and abilities", but criticized the game for its "occasionally fiddly controls" and "dull scenery". The Escapist
said the game was a perfect "summer fling," praising the combat and movement systems as well as the unique mechanic of the Web of Intrigue.
The Onion
A.V. Club gave the game an "A" ranking, calling the movement style "exhilarating" and saying it was a "mature, science-fiction superhero fantasy that somehow makes players feel simultaneously powerful and vulnerable." SPOnG.com's Marcus Dyson awarded the game 84%, stating that "The complex controls can be daunting, but once mastered, unveil a huge array of dramatic moves and impressive weapons."
Prototype was released two weeks after Sucker Punch Productions
' Infamous, a game with many similar concepts including a character with superpowers, and a large open world environment that can be traveled by climbing up buildings and gliding about the city. This led many game critics to compare and contrast the games. In his Zero Punctuation
review of Prototype, Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw compared the two games point for point, and determined that he could not tell which was the better game - Prototype won on open world gameplay and combat, while Infamous won on story and side missions. To decide which one was better, he jokingly stated that he'd award the best game to the team which created the best picture of the other main character wearing "a woman's bra". To his surprise, both development teams rose to the challenge, producing said images, and forcing Croshaw to call it a near-tie, edging out in favor of Infamous, though he still noted that, like their games, both images created independently were nearly equal in the themes that they included.
was revealed in the website www.murderyourmaker.com.
On July 20, 2011, a statement was released on Activision's website, stating that a sequel will indeed be released on April 24, 2012.
Open world
An open world is a type of video game level design where a player can roam freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how to approach objectives...
action video game developed by Radical Entertainment
Radical Entertainment
Radical Entertainment is a video game developer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1991 and previously developed games for game publishers such as THQ, Microsoft and Fox Interactive. It is now an entirely owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard after being acquired by...
and published by Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
. The game was released in North America on June 9, 2009, and in southwestern parts of North America as well as Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
on June 10, and was released in Europe on June 12.
The game is set in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where a virulent plague known as Blacklight is spreading through Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Those infected are mutated into hideous monster
Monster
A monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is somewhat hideous and may produce physical harm or mental fear by either its appearance or its actions...
s of varying form, with an uncontrollable urge to kill all uninfected life-forms. At the center of it is the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
, Alex Mercer, an incredibly powerful shapeshifter
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
with no memory
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
of his past. Parallel to the game's storyline is the ability to play the game as a sandbox-style video game giving the player freedom to roam Manhattan.
Many reviewers compared and contrasted it with Infamous, another open world action game released one month prior to Prototype, by Sucker Punch Productions
Sucker Punch Productions
Sucker Punch Productions is an American production company founded in 1997 and based in Bellevue, Washington. It was an independent company until August 2011, but had worked exclusively with Sony Computer Entertainment since 2000. Sony acquired Sucker Punch on August 2, 2011.-History:In late 1999,...
which features a superpowered protagonist with developing powers in an urban world. Many reviewers and gamers have compared it to be closely similar to the idea
Idea
In the most narrow sense, an idea is just whatever is before the mind when one thinks. Very often, ideas are construed as representational images; i.e. images of some object. In other contexts, ideas are taken to be concepts, although abstract concepts do not necessarily appear as images...
s from John Carpenter
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
's 1982 science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, The Thing. However, the gameplay of Prototype is very similar to The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is a video game developed by Radical Entertainment and based on Marvel Comics' Hulk. The game was released on August 24, 2005 in the United States and in September 2005 in Europe.-Gameplay:...
, also by Radical Entertainment
Radical Entertainment
Radical Entertainment is a video game developer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1991 and previously developed games for game publishers such as THQ, Microsoft and Fox Interactive. It is now an entirely owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard after being acquired by...
.
Gameplay
Alex's primary superpower is his ability to shapeshift, changing his body to suit his needs. Going hand in hand with this power is his ability to "consume" others, absorbing them entirely. This process allows Alex to quickly regain health by absorbing the biomass of his enemies. This also allows him to take on the forms of the enemies he absorbs, thereby allowing the player to move about the enemy as one of them. The disguise will only last as long as Alex remains inconspicuous. Alex has incredible physical strength, and will kill most humans in a single punch. He can perform various meleeMêlée
Melee , generally refers to disorganized close combat involving a group of fighters. A melee ensues when groups become locked together in combat with no regard to group tactics or fighting as an organized unit; each participant fights as an individual....
attacks without shapeshifting, as well as more gymnastic moves such as air combos, sliding along the ground using any humanoid enemy's body, and a high-speed rolling cannonball attack.
Alex can also transform parts of his body into a selection of martial implements acquired over the course of the game, either as purchased upgrades or being given them. Offensive powers include the large and powerful Blade, fast razor-sharp Claws (which can also erupt large spikes from the ground), the telescoping Whipfist, Musclemass that augments his strength, and the slow but powerful Hammerfists. Defensive options consist of a large shield for blocking ballistic attacks that needs to regenerate after excessive damage, and full body armor that exchanges agility and speed for toughness in hand to hand combat; both will allow Alex to plow through most obstacles when active. Vision modes include thermal
Thermography
Infrared thermography, thermal imaging, and thermal video are examples of infrared imaging science. Thermal imaging cameras detect radiation in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum and produce images of that radiation, called thermograms...
vision, which allows Alex to see enemies through smoke and other obstacles at the expense of a decreased vision range, and Infected vision, which highlights those infected with the BLACKLIGHT virus as well as military units. Both vision modes muffle all of Alex's other senses, such as hearing, in order to concentrate on his sight. One defensive and offensive power may be active at a time, and using either will negate Alex's current disguise. In addition to his own abilities, Alex can take the weapons from defeated or absorbed enemies. These include automatic rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and missile launchers. He can also seize control of military vehicles, such as tanks and helicopters.
Alex's most powerful attacks are the Devastators, which require Alex to be in Critical Mass - either a state of near-death or the exact opposite, having excess stored biomass and increased health. These include the Tendril Barrage, which fires impaling tendrils from his body in all directions, the Groundspike Graveyard, which erupts massive spikes from the ground all around Alex, and the Critical Pain, which fires a single beam of hardened biomass from his hands to severely damage a single target.
For movement around the city, the player uses extreme parkour
Parkour
Parkour is a method of movement focused on moving around obstacles with speed and efficiency. Originally developed in France, the main purpose of the discipline is to teach participants how to move through their environment by vaulting, rolling, running, climbing and jumping...
, enhanced heavily by Alex's increased physical abilities. When sprinting, he will automatically hop over cars, barriers and other obstacles without losing momentum. Alex will also scale any wall he comes into contact with and simply knock aside any humanoids that get in his way without stopping. He can jump great heights and distances, enough to clear five-story buildings, and can sprint at extreme speed indefinitely. Falls cause no damage to the player even from the greatest heights. Even small jumps are enough for Alex to dent the ground beneath him, and falls from sufficient heights will create shockwaves at the point of impact which will kill most humans nearby and send objects as large as cars flying. Falling height also factors into several of Alex's melee attacks.
Plot
The game follows Alex J. Mercer (voiced by Barry PepperBarry Pepper
Barry Robert Pepper is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing roles like Sergeant Michael Strank in the Clint Eastwood film, Flags of Our Fathers, Private Daniel Jackson in Saving Private Ryan, Roger Maris in 61*, Ned Pepper in True Grit and for his recent role as Robert F...
) who wakes up in a morgue in the basement of Gentek, a genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
company based in Manhattan, sending a pair of scientists that were just about to perform an autopsy running. Alex escapes, and witnesses the scientists being gunned down by military operatives. Alex is discovered and attacked. He survives bullets being fired into his chest, and leaps over a wall to safety. He soon discovers he now possesses powerful shapeshifting
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
abilities, superhuman strength, speed, agility, durability, endurance, weaponry and the ability to "consume" people to gain their memories, skills and appearance. With no memory of his previous life, Alex decides to find and consume those related to the conspiracy in order to uncover the truth. During his quest, Alex faces two factions: the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and Blackwatch, a Fort Detrick
Fort Detrick
Fort Detrick is a U.S. Army Medical Command installation located in Frederick, Maryland, USA. Historically, Fort Detrick was the center for the United States' biological weapons program ....
special forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
unit dedicated to combating biological warfare
Biological warfare
Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war...
; and the Infected, monsters created by a virus known as BLACKLIGHT that is overrunning Manhattan. Captain Robert Cross (voiced by Jeffrey Pierce
Jeffrey Pierce
Jeffrey Pierce is an American actor, film director and film producer. He is best known for portraying the titular character in the television series Charlie Jade. He got his start in acting at the Shakespeare and Company in Lennox, Massachusetts and at the Beverly Hills Playhouse...
), a Blackwatch officer, is given orders to find and contain Alex.
Alex makes contact with his sister, Dana, who assists him in tracking down targets, leading to the infiltration of Gentek headquarters. He finds a young woman called Elizabeth Greene contained in the building and frees her. Greene is a host for BLACKLIGHT and upon her escape unleashes it upon Manhattan. Dana directs Alex to Karen Parker, his ex-girlfriend. She agrees to aid him in stopping the virus, but leads him into a trap where he is confronted by Cross. During their battle, Alex is injected with a parasite that threatens to kill him. Alex seeks help from Dr. Ragland, a pathologist
Pathology
Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....
linked to Gentek. Ragland helps Alex remove the parasite and turn it into a weapon against Greene. However, using it on Greene only serves to create a monstrous being, the Supreme Hunter, which Alex kills.
The origins of the virus and Elizabeth Greene are uncovered through a contact: in 1969 the government tested the virus' predecessor in Hope, Idaho
Hope, Idaho
Hope is a city in Bonner County, Idaho, United States. The population was 86 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Hope is located at ....
, designed to target predetermined races
Race (biology)
In biology, races are distinct genetically divergent populations within the same species with relatively small morphological and genetic differences. The populations can be described as ecological races if they arise from adaptation to different local habitats or geographic races when they are...
. The virus mutated into something far more deadly, and the whole population was infected. Elizabeth Greene was the sole survivor; an anomaly in her body's biology accepted the virus, rewriting her genetic code along with that of her unborn son, codenamed PARIAH. The remaining population of Hope, Idaho, was liquidated by Blackwatch. Greene and PARIAH were kept in captivity for further research.
Alex discovers his own past: Blackwatch shut down the Gentek project due to leaks
News leak
A news leak is a disclosure of embargoed information in advance of its official release, or the unsanctioned release of confidential information.-Types of news leaks:...
and ordered all project personnel eliminated. Dr. Alex Mercer took a sample of BLACKLIGHT as "insurance". Eventually pinned down by Blackwatch in Penn Station
Pennsylvania Station (New York City)
Pennsylvania Station—commonly known as Penn Station—is the major intercity train station and a major commuter rail hub in New York City. It is one of the busiest rail stations in the world, and a hub for inbound and outbound railroad traffic in New York City. The New York City Subway system also...
, he decides to kill as many as he can, releasing the virus before being killed. The virus consumes Alex's corpse, using his cells to preserve its existence and creating a new entity with inhuman powers. Upon waking in the morgue at the beginning, the virus clone, codenamed ZEUS, believed itself to be Alex Mercer.
The contact and Alex pump a new "BLOODTOX" biological agent
Biological agent
A biological agent — also called bio-agent or biological threat agent — is a bacterium, virus, prion, or fungus which may cause infection, allergy, toxicity or otherwise create a hazard to human health. They can be used as a biological weapon in bioterrorism or biological warfare...
underground in order to drive the virus above ground where it can be fought directly, causing Greene to emerge, encased in a towering monstrosity. Greene falls from the monster in human form once she is defeated, and is consumed by Alex. Through her memories, it becomes apparent that General Randall, head of Blackwatch, is prepared to destroy Manhattan with a nuclear weapon. The contact, revealed to be Cross, and Alex infiltrate the USS Ronald Reagan
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)
USS Ronald Reagan is a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier in the service of the United States Navy. The ninth ship of her class, she is named in honor of former President Ronald Reagan, President of the United States from 1981 to 1989...
to stop him. Once Alex consumes Randall, Cross is revealed to be a Supreme Hunter, who assumed Cross' identity after consuming him, and attacks Alex. He defeats the Supreme Hunter and moves the weapon out into the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, where it detonates and catches him in the blast. His remains float back to the city and regenerate after consuming a crow.
During the credits, it is revealed that the public considers the military to have been the one who stopped the infection; a US Senator is heard telling the media that the events in Manhattan were a case of nuclear and biological terrorism, and promises retribution upon those responsible, Alex claims himself to be 'something less than human, but also something more'. After the credits, Manhattan is shown to be slowly recovering, the virus has been almost completely eradicated. Alex, standing on top of the Reuters Building in Times Square, comments that his work is almost done. He sets out on a quest to achieve his full potential, and eventually completes this task. From then on, Alex roams the city, dealing with Infected and military forces as needed.
Comic book
A comic book series made by DC ComicsDC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
Wildstorm
Wildstorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
was released along with the game. It reveals more about Hope Idaho, Elizabeth Greene, and the viral outbreak. There are a total of 6 issues of the comic.
Reception
Prototype was released on Steam as well as in retail stores and topped the Steam sales on the week of its release. The Xbox 360 version of Prototype was the top selling game of June 2009 in North America, with over 419,900 units sold. This made the game a Platinum HitPlatinum Hits
Platinum Hits is a term used to refer to a line of select Xbox games that were considered by Microsoft to have sold considerable units on the platform in the nine months after release, and have dropped in price from their original MSRP to a newer, lower price, generally that of US$19.99, although...
. The game received generally positive reviews, earning an aggregate score of 80% on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
gave the game a 8.5/10, praising the game for its "intriguing storyline and protagonist" and "massive arsenal of moves and abilities", but criticized the game for its "occasionally fiddly controls" and "dull scenery". The Escapist
The Escapist (magazine)
The Escapist is an online magazine covering video games, gamers, the gaming industry, and gaming culture. Published by the Themis Group, it was edited by Julianne Greer up to June 30, 2009, then by Russ Pitts through September 2011, and is currently edited by Steve Butts. The Escapist was first...
said the game was a perfect "summer fling," praising the combat and movement systems as well as the unique mechanic of the Web of Intrigue.
The Onion
The Onion
The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
A.V. Club gave the game an "A" ranking, calling the movement style "exhilarating" and saying it was a "mature, science-fiction superhero fantasy that somehow makes players feel simultaneously powerful and vulnerable." SPOnG.com's Marcus Dyson awarded the game 84%, stating that "The complex controls can be daunting, but once mastered, unveil a huge array of dramatic moves and impressive weapons."
Prototype was released two weeks after Sucker Punch Productions
Sucker Punch Productions
Sucker Punch Productions is an American production company founded in 1997 and based in Bellevue, Washington. It was an independent company until August 2011, but had worked exclusively with Sony Computer Entertainment since 2000. Sony acquired Sucker Punch on August 2, 2011.-History:In late 1999,...
' Infamous, a game with many similar concepts including a character with superpowers, and a large open world environment that can be traveled by climbing up buildings and gliding about the city. This led many game critics to compare and contrast the games. In his Zero Punctuation
Zero Punctuation
Zero Punctuation is an ongoing video game review series created by comedy writer and video game journalist Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw and published by the online magazine The Escapist.-Background:...
review of Prototype, Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw compared the two games point for point, and determined that he could not tell which was the better game - Prototype won on open world gameplay and combat, while Infamous won on story and side missions. To decide which one was better, he jokingly stated that he'd award the best game to the team which created the best picture of the other main character wearing "a woman's bra". To his surprise, both development teams rose to the challenge, producing said images, and forcing Croshaw to call it a near-tie, edging out in favor of Infamous, though he still noted that, like their games, both images created independently were nearly equal in the themes that they included.
Sequel
On December 6, 2010, a trailer of a sequel, Prototype 2Prototype 2
Prototype 2 is an upcoming video game set for release on April 24, 2012 in North America. It is currently under development by Canadian developer Radical Entertainment and is the sequel to 2009's Prototype. Like its original, the game is set to be published by Radical Entertainment's owner,...
was revealed in the website www.murderyourmaker.com.
On July 20, 2011, a statement was released on Activision's website, stating that a sequel will indeed be released on April 24, 2012.