This game is a complete fucking mess. I have never played a game that is so keen on being frustrating and a complete slog even with all the cool powers it gives you (despite majority of them being pretty useless).
First off are the missions, which are the same from start to finish and have no variety at all. You'll be doing the same things such as having to consume an officer and disguise as him, then infiltrate some area and then just kill or destroy everything. Sometimes you have to control a shitty vehicle to "spice" it up a little.
Surely the combat when you get to the killing is where the fun begins? Right?
ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOT!!!
Alex Mercer controls like a dog with zoomies which just had its dog food mixed with crack. You'll be slipping around over the environment because the studio thought it would be a good idea to make a ton of parkour animations when you sprint over anything that get you stuck on geometry or fuck with your momentum.
Then you got the actual combat and enemies. Starting with the game's lock on system, holy shit it's so bad. No Prototype, I do not want to cannonball into the random civilian that I'm not even looking at, I am aiming at a fucking attack helicopter that has been peppering me with homing missiles for five minutes. Speaking of, lets talk about the enemies. First off you got the military which will slowly chip away at your HP with their ARs at range or you got the 7 billion RPG soldiers that will Lee Harvey Oswald snipe you off-screen that will knock you off your feet EVERY SINGLE TIME. Every time Alex gets tickled by an explosion, he goes tumbling on his face. It's so annoying, it makes melee combat unviable and makes you resort to just throwing shit at them or dive kicking them from a distance. You'll also deal with tanks and helicopters that will also smother you with explosives with terrifying accuracy. Occasionally a random military soldier will call for a strike team which comprises of 4-5 attack helicopters trailing you with heat seeking missiles until you hide or kill them all. And this happens all the time that if you want to get to one place without triggering the entire military, you just have to disguise as someone and not do anything "suspicious"
Then there's the Hunters, which are these Amazing Bulk looking mutants. They suck even more. You have tons of powers at your disposable except they barely flinch to any attack. Don't bother stringing attacks against them, they'll hit you out of it with a flurry of attacks that eat through half your health. To stun them you need to charge up attacks, but it takes so long to charge an attack up that they'll pounce at you before you can let it rip. Any fight against more than one Hunter is a nightmare because they zip right up at you and stunlock you to death. The only reliable way to take them out is to either throw stuff at them, spam cannonball/diving blade slash or to unlock the one move where you can actually grab them.
You also get these really cool super moves, but the catch is you can only use them at full health. You will NEVER be at full health in fights and these super moves also have to be charged up, so pray a soldier doesn't hit you with a rocket or a hunter doesn't pounce you in that time, but who cares about praying it's gonna happen anyway.
To heal, you either have to be outside of combat for a slow auto-regen or consume enemies in combat, but you still get damaged during these animations so you end up taking more damage than healing. It's so stupid.
Don't even get me started on the awful boss fights, I don't have anymore energy left to talk about that shit.
I can't recommend this game at all unless you like funny aerial divekicks and cannonball moves that home into things and make them splatter. Maybe Prototype 2 will be better, but my hopes aren't up from this game.
First off are the missions, which are the same from start to finish and have no variety at all. You'll be doing the same things such as having to consume an officer and disguise as him, then infiltrate some area and then just kill or destroy everything. Sometimes you have to control a shitty vehicle to "spice" it up a little.
Surely the combat when you get to the killing is where the fun begins? Right?
ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOT!!!
Alex Mercer controls like a dog with zoomies which just had its dog food mixed with crack. You'll be slipping around over the environment because the studio thought it would be a good idea to make a ton of parkour animations when you sprint over anything that get you stuck on geometry or fuck with your momentum.
Then you got the actual combat and enemies. Starting with the game's lock on system, holy shit it's so bad. No Prototype, I do not want to cannonball into the random civilian that I'm not even looking at, I am aiming at a fucking attack helicopter that has been peppering me with homing missiles for five minutes. Speaking of, lets talk about the enemies. First off you got the military which will slowly chip away at your HP with their ARs at range or you got the 7 billion RPG soldiers that will Lee Harvey Oswald snipe you off-screen that will knock you off your feet EVERY SINGLE TIME. Every time Alex gets tickled by an explosion, he goes tumbling on his face. It's so annoying, it makes melee combat unviable and makes you resort to just throwing shit at them or dive kicking them from a distance. You'll also deal with tanks and helicopters that will also smother you with explosives with terrifying accuracy. Occasionally a random military soldier will call for a strike team which comprises of 4-5 attack helicopters trailing you with heat seeking missiles until you hide or kill them all. And this happens all the time that if you want to get to one place without triggering the entire military, you just have to disguise as someone and not do anything "suspicious"
Then there's the Hunters, which are these Amazing Bulk looking mutants. They suck even more. You have tons of powers at your disposable except they barely flinch to any attack. Don't bother stringing attacks against them, they'll hit you out of it with a flurry of attacks that eat through half your health. To stun them you need to charge up attacks, but it takes so long to charge an attack up that they'll pounce at you before you can let it rip. Any fight against more than one Hunter is a nightmare because they zip right up at you and stunlock you to death. The only reliable way to take them out is to either throw stuff at them, spam cannonball/diving blade slash or to unlock the one move where you can actually grab them.
You also get these really cool super moves, but the catch is you can only use them at full health. You will NEVER be at full health in fights and these super moves also have to be charged up, so pray a soldier doesn't hit you with a rocket or a hunter doesn't pounce you in that time, but who cares about praying it's gonna happen anyway.
To heal, you either have to be outside of combat for a slow auto-regen or consume enemies in combat, but you still get damaged during these animations so you end up taking more damage than healing. It's so stupid.
Don't even get me started on the awful boss fights, I don't have anymore energy left to talk about that shit.
I can't recommend this game at all unless you like funny aerial divekicks and cannonball moves that home into things and make them splatter. Maybe Prototype 2 will be better, but my hopes aren't up from this game.
12 Comments
yeah I also had problems with some of Prototypes combat, and did end up liking Prototype 2 way more. I think it sacrifices some of what P1 tries to do with its evolution stuff, but I did find it more enjoyable.
My fondest memories of this game stem from the navigation. While I didn't find the combat as bad as you did, I also didn't enjoy that aspect lol, the knock back is obnoxious in 1.
And like chandler said, 2 over correct's 1's combat to being extremely easy, though imo, it's one of the things about 2 I prefer as I didn't go flying or soaring when knocked back like in 1.
And like chandler said, 2 over correct's 1's combat to being extremely easy, though imo, it's one of the things about 2 I prefer as I didn't go flying or soaring when knocked back like in 1.
It wasn't that I was bad at this game it's that the combat is so frustrating in so many elements. Getting knocked over by explosions from 6 different enemies that blend into all the chaos while dealing with Hunters was not enjoyable in the slightest. Maybe everyone is "so fucking bad" at this game because the game's combat is so keen on smothering you with explosives that melee combat (you know, where most of your powers stem from) seems too far too risky as the moment you string together attacks for more than a second, four soldiers have already blown you up or three hunters pounced on you from the side.
i wasn't bad at it - but let me explain why i was bad at it
all of mercer's abilities have their uses but that doesn't mean they all work the best in every situation. helicopters are easiest to take down by throwing shit at them and are generally a non concern as long as you're actively moving. of course you're gonna get peppered by missiles if you're staying put and fighting ground enemies without having first dealt with the dudes shooting missiles at you
not to mention the defensive options - armor and shield are both very useful
all of mercer's abilities have their uses but that doesn't mean they all work the best in every situation. helicopters are easiest to take down by throwing shit at them and are generally a non concern as long as you're actively moving. of course you're gonna get peppered by missiles if you're staying put and fighting ground enemies without having first dealt with the dudes shooting missiles at you
not to mention the defensive options - armor and shield are both very useful
I prioritised helicopters over any grounded enemy in the game and the armour was my best friend. Those snarky comments saying I’m bad don’t add anything to the conversation.
fair enough - i just dont see how you're gonna get blasted with missiles constantly if that's the case. as long as you're actively moving everything's totally avoidable. even with regards to consuming - it's best to just grab someone and run away with them rather than consume on the fly in the open
i also just don't get the seemingly prevailing consensus that it's unfair. it's unforgiving, sure, but all forms of damage are completely avoidable
i also just don't get the seemingly prevailing consensus that it's unfair. it's unforgiving, sure, but all forms of damage are completely avoidable
I actually had more trouble with the rocket launcher soldiers because imo they blend into the environment amidst all the chaos too well and the lock on system in this game hates me. And with consuming, I would always grab someone and run away. Consuming someone in the open is suicide, but most of the time a Hunter or two would just come out of nowhere and tear me to shreds in a spot where I thought was safe.
Idk maybe I just didn’t get the game, I really wanted to enjoy it. Maybe I’ll appreciate more with a replay in future now knowing what works and what doesn’t. And I’ll definitely be checking out Prototype 2.
Idk maybe I just didn’t get the game, I really wanted to enjoy it. Maybe I’ll appreciate more with a replay in future now knowing what works and what doesn’t. And I’ll definitely be checking out Prototype 2.
Oh yeah and I forgot to mention that elbow dropping helicopters and tanks will never get old. That’s one thing that clicked for me.
it's been about a year since i replayed so it's not totally fresh in my memory, but i don't really remember struggling with the foot soldiers. helps that you can take their missile launchers and blast the shit out of them back. might've also helped that i went all in on damage upgrades and abilities over any sort of defensive stuff
honestly, i'd recommend checking out hulk ultimate destruction before prototype 2. i haven't gotten through it yet but i know it's a generally more liked game and this is more of a spiritual successor of sorts. you'll immediately see the same dna in the way hulk moves and attacks. prototype's practically a legally distinct venom game with the same general concept
also the director and staff for prototype 2 is totally different. feels more like a game inspired by the first than an actual successor imo
i'll ditto the lock-on point btw. it's the one aspect of the combat i think is pretty wonky. like it can be corrected but it's definitely annoying. pretty sure i generally found myself not using it at all unless i was trying to home in on a chopper
honestly, i'd recommend checking out hulk ultimate destruction before prototype 2. i haven't gotten through it yet but i know it's a generally more liked game and this is more of a spiritual successor of sorts. you'll immediately see the same dna in the way hulk moves and attacks. prototype's practically a legally distinct venom game with the same general concept
also the director and staff for prototype 2 is totally different. feels more like a game inspired by the first than an actual successor imo
i'll ditto the lock-on point btw. it's the one aspect of the combat i think is pretty wonky. like it can be corrected but it's definitely annoying. pretty sure i generally found myself not using it at all unless i was trying to home in on a chopper
good talk also. i admit i was being a snarky jackass initially but i appreciate the discussion despite that
Hey man no worries. It was a good talk. I’ll be sure to check out Hulk: Ultimate Destruction down the line too
chandler
3 months ago
you'll likely enjoy 2 more. it's extremely easy comparatively and you are fully invincible while consuming