Prototype

Prototype for the X-Box 360 is a very visceral game which truly deserves its M rating. You play as Alex Mercer after he wakes up in the morgue and discovers he has amazing powers. Unfortunately what he doesn’t have is a memory. He can’t seem to remember what happened to him or what is going on, so the game involves you figuring this out…by eating people.

Yes, as one of Alex’s powers, you can consume people that you kill in a very brutal fashion. Doing this grants you bits of their memories and even allows you to take on their appearance. This and the fact you can morph your body into various lethal instruments makes it feel like you are playing West Craven’s The Thing, and you are the Thing. You can turn your arms into claws, clubs, a sword, and an extendo tentacle as well as cover your body in armor. You can upgrade your skills using evolution points which you obtain by completing missions and killing enemies. Some powers are more useful than others though. This game has the slowest health regeneration I have ever seen.

You’re also able to use military weapons like machine guns and rocket launchers, but honestly you do more damage with your bare hands which don’t run out of ammo, so there’s not much need to bother with guns in this game other than for fun. The tanks on the other hand are very powerful and fun to use, and the helicopters let you cover long distance very quickly. It is also easier to take out other helicopters from the air, and your body doesn’t take damage while in a vehicle.

Most of the missions involve either killing someone, eating someone, destroying a building, or protecting someone by killing a lot of people. There are a few boss fights, but most of them consist of running around, picking things up, and throwing them at the bad guy before he can come over and hit you which makes them all pretty easy, but then the entire game is pretty easy since all you have to do if you’re low on health is run away, eat some people to gain more health, and jump back into the fight. The most difficult missions involve keeping something else alive while you fend of hordes of enemies, but this doesn’t happen often.