Post by Death on Mar 25, 2011 9:39:54 GMT -5
Translation from French OXM magazine. (taken from the official Acti forums)
Quote:
PROTOTYPE 2 : Those that fight monsters must be careful not to become monsters themselves...but it works for us either way
Introduction :
Alex mercer must die. That's an easy thing to say. The last people who tried got dispersed real quick over Manhattan : an arm here, a leg over there, a torso there with the rest of the head squished inside...But that doesn't stop the vengeful feelings of the brave James Heller, veteran of the Middle East, who came back to see his family. But they're in a pityful state, as in killed by the infected. Saying farewell to his wife and child, Heller slowly develops good reasons to hate the one that everyone blames as the main reason for the Infection. But to the point of actually meeting head on the sharpened claws of the super Antihero of Prototype, he really missed an episode.
It's really touching that this soldier, without fear and nothing to lose, fought 1000 dangers in the Red Zone to get to his Nemesis with nothing but his bravery and a mere knife. Mercer himself thinks it's kind of cute, to the point of rewarding his act of foolishness with a big favor (you see, Mercer is MY kind of dude
). Rather than kill him quickly and swiftly, the good man gives him full superpowers. Lucky him. This same virus, that made the death of nearly half of New York, changes his body into an unstoppable killing machine. Sweet and deliciously ironic. In the end, isn't unleashing the monster within the best way to rid yourselves of the petty bounds of human empathy ? Ask that to the 2 million bloodthirsty gamers that got cracked on Prototype.Transmutation (AKA BACKGROUND) :
A project that survived the Vivendi/Activision fusion, the license of Radical surprised even it's publisher, which was miles to even think of such a success for this fresh license. With it's outdated graphics, it's unbalanced pacing, it's tentacular story that really got out of hand and tendency to go around in circles, the epic saga of Alex Mercer left to itself a certain sense of progression for the studio. Indeed it didn't stop the latter from learning from its mistakes. The team lead by Ken Rosman, Chris Ansell, Matt Amstrong have an answer to everything, and gave us (The Xbox Magazine guys) a marathon-like presentation that was extremely complete, and didn't fail to prove each point, controller in hand (Remember : it's an Xbox magazine
). And each one of them had a big smile on their face. A contagious smile. Before our amazed eyes : men and women were torn apart, tanks were destroyed, roads were covered with the pieces of monsters, either severed or crushed by the environment ("element of decor" isn't a poetic translation). Prototype 2 does not reinvent. It enriches, corrects, perfects and strikes with deeper impact. It can go from falsely innocent details like the possibilty of mutilating any enemy - not just humanoids - , to a more focused story, a better told intrigue and gameplay that was more accessable in general. We were scared at a moment, but the number of moves didn't trouble us at all. Heller jumps, glides, punches his way through obstacles, runs on walls in a very familiar way, consumes organic beings to steal their identity and even deploys all the * of Alex Mercer : Sharpened Claws, Giant Blade, Hammers, Armor, Slashing Whip (That's right, whipfist is still here : which is strange IMO because of tendrils ?
) and other special visions. More fluff as super powerful as it is super disgusting is added to that, like the Tendril power that grabs its target by all parts and limbs and then puts the other ends all around the environment. And then it gets tight...tearing off your prey apart. Or until the environment falls on it. Or even both (Now THAT is what I like to call epic 
). This proclaimed accessability is essentially based on the commitment to eradicate all the injustice encountered in the first episode, where it wasn't rare to be harassed by homing missiles that were out of focus, or getting surrounded and beaten up by a pack of hunters without even a chance to counter attack.Divide And Conquer
The Solution : a DODGE BUTTON that does just that. Press it and you'll save yourself automatically from any misery - if your timing is good. Just like in Batman Arkham Asylum which dethroned Radical's Hulk Ultimate Destruction as the most respected and most welcomed superhero game of all time on Xbox. The developpers had deep praises for this inspiration, but the challenge isn't to escape from the attacks of a single enemy, but to keep your rythm and pressure in the face of a group of hostile beings. It is therefore good to keep an eye on visual elements like half a dozen red dots that foreshadow a missile salve and other combat animations. But the right thing to do - press the A button - (again - we ARE talking about an Xbox magazine) will be indicated to you anyways at the right moment. Well, at least on medium difficulty (Keep in mind this is a DODGE BUTTON.
From what I have read it's not a counter button which I think is a good thing because the counter button was the main reason why I found Batman so easy, even on Hard difficulty). Of course, given the cutting edge (pun intended by me
) of most of your powers, the best defense might be to cut and dismember your surroundings. A well charged hit, and even the most pesky hunter will leave some meat behind. Not really Dead Space since you can't decide which parts you can dismember, but still an interesting tactical choice in case you're surrounded and overwhelmed, as a mutilated enemy is slower, less powerful, and will give you a bit of a rest to deal with other more pressing issues that you decide to resolve in your personal chosen order. Exactly the style of the new prototype to be truthful (I approve of this comment)The SuperMan (pun intended, but by the magazine this time
) for the job (AKA : stuff we already knew except a few things)James Heller is a big guy : an experienced fighter, older than Mercer and savagely more determined. Not really the guy that would let his sis tell him what to do. A good way to destroy this "Courier Boy" syndrome that Alex didn't really escaped from. The next person to interrogate, the next destination, it's up to Heller to chose, based on a more present narration and the indications given from previous missions. It can be useful to take the appearance of a Blackwatch soldier, the organisation still being on Manhattan, to infiltrate a base and get, from a duped officer, all the info you need for your research. But even if revenge is the primary drive of the narrative, Heller becomes very interested in the organisation's business and how it contains the Infection and fights it back. Either for his cause, or for your own curiosity : the Web of Intrigue system is back, giving the player the opportunity to reconstitute on his own pace the new scenaristic puzzle depending on his implication and the places he already visited. The City is cut in 3 zones : red, orange and green and thus limits any dispersion, although some matters will force Heller to breach some security gates. By pressing LB (don't ask me what button this stands for : I don't care because LONG LIVE PCs !!!), the predator activates his special vision (no, no pun there...), scanning the area for things of interest...things that, once consumed, may give upgrades in vehicle piloting or weapon mastery, new web of intrigue nodes, new missions or even new mutations. The latter work like the perks in the Call of Duty franchise, and they give noticeable bonuses once equipped like speed boosts, faster regeneration, more powerful shockwaves, etc...Heller can only equip 3 of them (WHAT ?! :x ) on the 30-40 expected mutations (which gives us in return a small glimpse of the total side missions we'll have in the sequel - so bad thing for good thing I guess) so exploration is really encouraged...even if it is possible to focus only on the main quest to reward players, in a more progressive way but with less upgrades. The main goal is of course to multiply and diversify the experience. And that's the thing we ask to do...again.
Fin
Also more info on this link
www.egmmag.com/egmi/issue/246-2.html
