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Prototype 2: Heller vs. Mercer

by: Sean Colleli -
More On: Prototype 2
I'll be honest, I was pretty meh about Prototype. The raw thrill lasted for a couple hours but the overall atmosphere turned me off; Alex Mercer unleashes a viral catastrophe on New York that happens to be generic zombie invasion #374, and then spends the rest of the game, uh, killing stuff and eating people to make things right? The whole story felt angry and hostile, but aimless and unsure of itself--like the kind of game angsty 13-year-olds would play.

I really didn't like Alex Mercer, first for being utterly generic but also for being kind of a jerk. Luckily the developers understand Mercer's jerkiness and therefore are making him the villain in Prototype 2. Now you play as James Heller, a man who lost his family to the infection Mercer started, and now he's got a personal vendetta against Mercer. Alex Mercer's story could've been an intriguing quest of wrenching guilt and rebirth, but instead came off as banal and half-baked. But turn that guy into the villain, and send me on a hell-bent revenge quest to kill him? Now I can get behind that.


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