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  • If someone asked me for a game that epitomizes modern design principlesóboth the good and

  • badóthis would be the one I hand them. For everything it does well and for everything

  • it thinks it does well, this is todayís most prevalent philosophies on game design wrapped

  • into one violent, vulgar...and often vapid package.

  • This is the prototype.

  • And my puns are always intended.

  • Released in April, Prototype 2 is a follow-up to the 2009 original...a game that was widely

  • thought of as ìinFamous: The Hey, Thatís Not inFamous EditionFrankly, the games

  • are too similar not to be compared, so if youíve played inFamous, you have a pretty

  • good idea what to expect from Prototype.

  • And by extension, Prototype 2.

  • You play the game as James Heller, a soldier who weíre evidently supposed to care about.

  • His family has been killed...or something. The game doesnít really do much to elaborate

  • or even make Heller a sympathetic character because of it. And thatís one thing that

  • makes Prototype 2 a bad example of modern game design.

  • Heller is supposed to be fighting for his loved ones, so he should be a emotional. He

  • should be conflicted. But in reality, heís written like a one-dimensional jerk. I mean,

  • he just swears and curses...and swears some more. He has tantrums over ALT keys.

  • The

  • writing is almost laughably stereotypical of bad video game story writing, and itís

  • really symptomatic of the industry at large. Iím not saying video games canít tell a

  • good story, but the ones that do are very few. And this is not one of them.

  • Fortunately, Prototype 2 is also an example of what modern games do right. When Heller

  • is finally done with his tirades, heís straight-up kicking ass. This game takes the inFamous

  • concept to a whole new level. You run around this massive city, accepting a mission or

  • embarking on a side quest, all the while working to make Heller an even more powerful living

  • weapon.

  • The game feels designed around the idea that Heller is driven not necessarily by his thirst

  • for vengeance alone, but also by his infection. He wants more, and as the player, so do you.

  • In fact, you spend much of the game almost compulsively scouring the city for somethingóanythingóthat

  • can make you more powerful. For Heller, itís like this irresistible drug. And through the

  • gameplay, the player shares in his addiction.

  • Ultimately, the appeal of Prototype 2 is the sense of empowerment it provides. The game

  • gives you this insane amount of upgrades, and the more you find, the more fun youíll

  • have exploring the city and finding more. Like Heller, the game seems to grow itself,

  • and it does an unbelievable job of making you feel like a superhero.

  • And from a video game, you canít ask for much more.

  • Prototype 2 thinks itís an emotional story. I got news for youóthe commercial for this

  • game had more emotion than anything in the product. For the gameplay, on the other hand,

  • Prototype 2 is everything you want this kind of game to be...plus some. It does have delusions

  • of storytelling grandeur, but you can grow claws from your arms.

  • And thatís awesome.

If someone asked me for a game that epitomizes modern design principlesóboth the good and

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