Prototype 2
Prototype 2 is an action-adventure open world video game that was released for consoles on April 24, 2012. It was developed by Canadian studio Radical Entertainment and is the sequel to 2009's Prototype. The game was published by Radical Entertainment's owner, Activision. The game features a new protagonist,
James Heller, as he goes on a quest to destroy the Blacklight virus.
The story is also one of revenge, as Heller wants to kill Alex Mercer,
protagonist of the original Prototype, after his family was killed in
the outbreak of the Blacklight virus. The game was announced at the 2010
Spike VGA Awards with the tagline "Murder your Maker." While the game was a top seller for a period of time, its sales would eventually result in the demise of its developer.
Gameplay
James Heller can shapeshift and assume other people’s identities and
memories by consuming them. Taking people's identities and shapeshifting
into them has become more tactical. Due to Blackwatch's actions in the
Yellow Zone, if the player assumes the role of a soldier, people will
react to him in a way that they show they want nothing to do with him.
To make sure that enemies do not overwhelm the player, Radical has
created a dodging system and new, more realistic AI. Heller will be able
to use weapons in the game, such as ripping the cannon off a tank and
using it against enemies. Heller can also sneak up on unsuspecting human
enemies, inject the Blacklight virus in them and create a "BioBomb" out
of them to blow up objects, enemies and such. Heller also has improved
strength, movement, invulnerability (self-healing and endurance), and
has a sonar sense. The sonar includes a new pulse ability that
highlights the key features of an environment to make it easier for the
player to find someone, instead of looking in a large crowd for a person
with an icon above their head. Radical has stated that the powers will
be more meaningful, appearing as mutations and upgrades that let players
decide how they want to play as Heller.
To give gamers more power in the game, the developers have added
tendrils. Tendrils sprout from Heller's arm and can be used for a
variety of purposes. Players can use tendrils to smash objects into
other objects, such as a car into a tank, utilising the 'Black Hole'
attack. Players will be able to dismember enemies, a force that will
become more useful as the game progresses. There are many more ways to
kill enemies, ranging from throwing a car at a group of Blackwatch
soldiers, hacking off a mutant's head or using powers. Consuming has not
changed since the original Prototype, with the exception of some
enemies, which are consumed upon grabbing them (e.g. Supersoldiers,
Brawlers). It has also been announced that Heller can now control a pack
of Brawlers (similar to Prototype's
Hunters) to attack anything he desires (note: this power is limited to
main variant of Brawler). Heller will no longer find 'Events' throughout
NYZ, instead starting side-missions by hacking into Blacknet. Hacking
onto Blacknet, Blackwatch's system that details military operations and
the three areas of NYZ, Heller chooses from a small list of missions at
each terminal. Blacknet will allow Heller to find operations that he can
disrupt or take control of for his own purposes and find important
people that will allow him to learn more about what he has become
because of the Blacklight virus. It will also help him find out more
about Alex Mercer and what his connections are to his family's deaths.
The missions that are selectable can be sidequests or extensions to the
main quest that tell Heller more about the Blacklight virus.
Plot
Setting and characters
The main character of Prototype 2 is James Heller, a man who
blames the deaths of his family on Alex Mercer. After surviving a
suicide mission and being transformed by the virus released by Alex
Mercer, Heller is looking to kill Mercer, who acts as the game's main
antagonist. Mercer's motives are unclear, but unlike the first game he
is not committed to stopping the virus, but seems to be spreading it.
After the events of the first game, Manhattan recovered from the
initial outbreak and everyone thought that the "Mercer Virus" was
eradicated. 14 months after Prototype, Manhattan
has been quarantined again, due to a second outbreak, one far worse
than the first one, and blocked off from the other boroughs of New York City,
which has been renamed New York Zero (NYZ). The boroughs of New York
have been divided into three zones, the Red, Yellow, and Green Zone.
Each region stands for how affected New York City is by the Blacklight
virus. Most boroughs of New York Zero have been infected. The Red Zone
is Manhattan, home of Alex Mercer; in it the Blacklight virus grows
unhindered. The Yellow Zone is a triage area full of shanty towns and
the poor, it is very crowded and while the virus grows there, it is at a
minimum and Blackwatch is using the Yellow Zone as a petri dish. The
Green Zone is non-infected New York City, except there is a heavy
Blackwatch presence. James Heller will have missions in each zone and
each mission's difficulty will depend on which zone it takes place in.
Blackwatch is credited as occupying and controlling NYZ, but they are
said to know that New York actually belongs to Alex Mercer even though
the latter is only seen rarely.
Blackwatch is the organization that is responsible for the creation
of the virus and are in charge of eradicating it from New York City.
Heller's main adversary in Blackwatch is Colonel Rooks. Rooks is more
human than other Blackwatch members due to his family, though his
commitment to the concept of family is his interpretation of
Blackwatch's mission. Upon hearing the negative happenings in
Blackwatch's missions, Rooks has a short temper, but can be thrilled if
Blackwatch's missions are successful. Accompanying Rooks is Dr. Koenig,
the main virologist at Gentek. Koenig oversees every major Gentek
operation.
Story
Comic
It was announced by Radical Entertainment that like the original
Prototype, Prototype 2 would have a comic counterpart. The three part
series takes place before the second video game, acting as a bridge
between the two games. To be published by Dark Horse Comics,
the first comic was called the Anchor. After eradicating the virus in
Africa, Mexico and Russia, Alex travels around the world, wondering
about if the virus has made him a human, humanity's killer or its
savior. Alex slowly begins to decide that he is the earth's savior and
will usher it into a new age of prosperity after he wipes out humanity,
however, this changes when he falls for a woman. When the woman betrays
him, he decides that he will wipe out humanity and so he returns to New
York City and makes it NYZ.
The second comic, dubbed the Survivors focused on a former police
officer, Conrad who would join up with Ami Levin, a religiously tolerant
person and Marcie, an art student. The three would run afoul of
Lieutenant Riley, he would, however, agree to let Conrad see his wife,
so long he agrees to work for Gentek. Unbeknownst to Riley, his wife was
dead and that he ended up in a project called Orion. The third comic,
entitled the Labyrinth introduced Heller and Mike Marcos.
Game
2 years after the events of the original game, sergeant James Heller, after returning from touring in Iraq,
discovers his wife and daughter to be declared dead, causing him to
rejoin the military in the fight for NYZ against the Mercer Virus.
Heller is briefed on the previous outbreaks in Idaho in the 60's and in
NYZ in the events of the first game.
Pursuing Mercer for vengeance, Heller is infected by Mercer with a
strain that imbues him with similar superpowers. After blacking out,
Heller awakens in a yellow zone lab where Gentek scientist Dr. Koenig
and Blackwatch soldier Col. Rooks are experimenting on him. Heller
escapes the Gentek base, when Mercer confronts him and claims Gentek and
Blackwatch are responsible for recreating and cultivating the Mercer
virus, making them responsible for the second infection and the deaths
of Heller's family. Revealing his plans to take down Gentek and
Blackwatch, Mercer offers a truce to Heller; Heller, unsure of Mercer's
intentions, goes to his local parishioner, Father Guerra, for advice and
help.
Using information supplied by Guerra, Heller hacks into Blacknet
Terminals to find out about and sabotage a number of their operations.
Gradually consuming his way through Blackwatch, Heller eventually finds
and attacks Koening, only to find the doctor has superhuman powers
similar to Heller, and is one of several "Evolved" agents planted in
Gentek and Blackwatch by Mercer. After defeating and consuming the
doctor, Heller finds Mercer intends to recruit him in an attempt to
control NYZ. His doubts growing, Guerra then shows Heller a video tape
of Mercer releasing the virus for the second time in Penn Station, the same place Mercer originally released and contracted the virus.
Enraged that Mercer lied to him, Heller sets off to the green zone to
pursue and murder Mercer's accomplices, including an Evolved agent in
Gentek named Sabrina Galloway; upon confronting Galloway, however,
Heller reluctantly teams up with her when she reveals she can help him
take down Mercer. With Galloway's help, Heller soon finds that Mercer
plans to infect the entire world through "Whitelight", a contaminated
vaccine released by Gentek that actually serves to accelerate infection
and evolution rather than prevent it.
Frustrated with Heller sabotaging his plans, Mercer kills Father
Guerra; upon finding his corpse, however, a grieving Heller uses
Guerra's phone to reach Athena, Guerra's contact who is revealed to be
Dana Mercer. Dana explains that Heller's daughter, Maya, is still alive,
prompting Heller to head for the red zone to take down Mercer and to
save Maya. After preventing Blackwatch's second attempt to level Manhattan Island,
Col. Rooks helps Heller reach his daughter, only for Galloway to betray
him and take Maya to Mercer. Upon confronting Mercer, Alex reveals he
plans to solve international conflicts and world problems by infecting
the entire human race, effectively creating a Superorganism
with Maya at the center. After Mercer absorbs Galloway and several
evolved, he attacks Heller, only for the latter to emerge victorious.
Taking Mercer's role as head infected, Heller wipes out the infected
in NYZ along with most of the Blacklight Virus; then using Mercer's
absorbed memories, Heller locates and frees Maya and Dana from a vault.
The story then ends with the three overlooking New York before Dana
questions what to do next.
Video
Prototype 2 | OFFICIAL trailer (2012)
Prototype 2: E3 2011 - Action Trailer
Prototype 2: Red Zone Trailer
Development
Development of the game started soon after the success of the first
game and was in development for three years. The game was first shown at
the Spike 2010 VGA Awards in December.The game was revealed to be the main focus of the April, 2011 EGM
Issue. It was displayed in EGM and EGMI in 2011 revealing many new
details about the game's plot, characters and gameplay.
The game's graphics have been completely updated with buildings being
much more detailed and deformation of vehicles, mutants and humans being
much more visual. The game was also partially written by Dan Jolley.
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