Slick’s Pick of the Month (April 2012): Prototype 2

Before we step into the hell that is Sergeant James Heller’s life, you need an understanding of his maker, Alex Mercer. What exactly happened to him? Why did he take things so far and what is his ultimate goal?

And there you have it, the thing that calls itself Alex Mercer is not a man. However, with his last ounce of humanity, he saved Manhattan from annihilation. Or did he? What was once Manhattan island is now New York Zero and the only reason the virus is contained is that it cannot travel over water. All bridges are manned 24/7 with enough artillery to obliterate that section of the city. At this point, the bridges may even have been destroyed. For some reason, Mercer has not used any aircraft to leave NYZ…yet. And the subway tunnels, well, maybe the virus is not as contained as some may think. You will have to read the mini-series comic for more on that.

Prototype 2 is looking to make the first game look tame, which I assure you, it was far from. Heller at least thinks he is bigger, badder and better than Mercer, and for his sake I can only hope he is right. Alex Mercer has gone from antihero to just not caring anymore; half of NYZ is his playground and the government is doing everything it can to keep that from becoming all of the island. Let’s not forget that while miles off coast, there may also be the effects of a nuclear blast to deal with. Heller just wanted to come home to his family and they are dead because of Mercer. Mercer said it himself that he is to blame for all of this. Did he make Heller as some form of penance? Will the new monster really be able to murder his maker? in 18 days, you would be insane not to find out. And in case you were on the fence about whether this game deserves your money:

As  you can see, what Prototype 2 offers is way past your garden variety madness. Everything that you were able to do in the first game is enhanced. The enemies, both human and viral are smarter than before but our new “hero” is not going to let that stop him. Fans of the first game are in for treats galore, especially if they preordered the game. The Radnet pack is a welcome addition as it is completely free to those who preorder any version of the game. Fifty-five pieces of DLC for free spread over seven weeks equals game value of the year in my book. If that was not enough, your reward for playing through all of that DLC is a free Alex Mercer skin so you can enjoy the game as the original Blacklight viral strain that destroyed Manhattan.

Everything about Radnet is more, except for money out of your pocket. More missions equals more money. More Money equals more upgrades and that equals more mayhem. Why Activision chose to be so good to us I neither know nor care. I just hope that more companies follow suit with truly worthwhile pre-order incentives like this. And if for some reason all of that is not enough for you, or if you are just truly the most die-hard of the Prototype fan community, then you should be pre-ordering the Blackwatch Collector’s Edition (Radnet included):

The Blackwatch Edition is $79.99 and gives you more content than you can ever need for this game. Personally, I am sticking with the standard edition of the game because the bonuses don’t scream to me “gotta have it, screw the extra $20.” Regardless of which version you get, it is unlikely that you will get a deal this good on a video game launch this year. Even if I were not a fan of the game I would have to acknowledge that. Mark April 24th on your calendars and remember that there is still time to pre-order and get the Radnet content on either edition. After that, all I can say is I hope your enemies have paid up their insurance and said goodbye to their loved ones.

It’s gonna get ugly, and yet it will all be so beautiful!