Comandeer vehicles... violently
But making Pedigree Chum of enemies is only half the story as one of Alex’s abilities is that he can absorb the DNA of his victims, temporarily taking on their appearance and abilities. This opens up a whole new range of options for completing each mission as instead of charging in blades swinging, you could opt for a different route. For example, if you had to destroy a military base, you could assume the guise of a soldier to get past security. Then you could kill and absorb the commander, leg it to a safe distance and, using your newly absorbed abilities, call in an airstrike that destroys the base.
But once the army are onto you, you might have to adopt a different tactic. So how about you use your incredible strength to prise the hatch off an attacking tank, kill the crew (replete with suitable gory sprays of blood from the open hatch) and then go on a rampage with the tank, using that to destroy the base.
There’s loads of military vehicles that you’ll be able to take over and use, even attack helicopters (if you can get high enough to reach them) which you take control off in a suitably bloody manner.
Click for larger imageBut you need to be careful as the AI isn’t going to let you do this without putting up ever tougher resistance and you’ll soon find yourself under fire. In fact, it was when the chopper got shot down that we really got to see the superb procedural AI in action. As wreckage fell to the ground the civilians below, already running scared, scattered away… but not in an obvious ‘herded sheep’ fashion.
Each and every one of the people on screen, enemies and civilians, has their own AI running them with a different set of goals for each one, so some might even run too the trouble, either because they’re panicked and dumb or suicidally nosey. And if proof were needed of Prototype’s open gameplay, as the chopper crashed in a real time, unscripted smash, the still spinning main blades neatly sliced three luckless bystanders in half…
Click for larger imageOh and remember I said that Alex could control his mutation? Well someone is obviously up to something as Alex runs into not just the Army but full-on mutants known as Brawlers who, though lacking Alex’s shape-shifting abilities, are just as powerful, fast and strong as he is… Nasty buggers they are too.
Prototype is due for release on Q3 2008 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC
