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Sometimes the inevitable must be done in order to truly judge the merits of a game; one being a compare and contrast of sorts to a game’s competitor to see where standards actually lie. For Prototype, arch-nemesis PS3 exclusive inFAMOUS is a title which literally everyone has compared to side by side to see which of their superheros are actually worth cheering for. Let’s get this out of the day – Cole McGrath and Alex Mercer possess powers that surpass your ordinary brain-dead AI pedestrian, and they both have a case of amnesia – but that’s where the similarities end; and there’s where the comparison between the two should end. It’s been more than a few years in the making, and in a way, Radical Entertainment have lived up to the hype. Sort of. Simply, Prototype is an exceptionally entertaining title to blast through if sandbox games are your thing. Manhattan is your playground and no one’s going to stop you, not the Infected, not the Military nor the black ops known as the Blackwatch in the last apocalyptic days of the central city. This is what defines a sandbox game; it allows you to create mass amounts of hellish havoc while at the same time enjoying the freedom given with the powers provided. That’s not to say all this chaos and mayhem have come at a priceless cost, Prototype’s visuals have been downgraded from state-of-the-art Kojima Productions-like graphics to a more modest look in order to allow players to destroy 5 helicopters, 3 tanks and a hell of a lot of Infected and Military in one screen without a single framerate drop. The comparison should’ve never been between inFAMOUS and Prototype, but whether equal weighting should be given for the graphics of a game and its core, underlying gameplay mechanics.

First things first, the visuals in Prototype don’t look like Gears of War or Mass Effect. In fact, they look a little more like a downgraded GTA4 and a lot more like Saints Row 2. The main character, Alex Mercer, and other various supporting acts such as Dana Mercer and Elizabeth Greene are done fairly well visually. They’re probably the most detailed out of all the other characters and NPCs of the game. Mercer’s powers look great when activated, all of his powers distinctly different from one another as they boast visual flair like no other sandbox games have provided. Consuming the minds of many pedestrians you’ll come across triggers a Lost-like flashback scene that looks stylish and synchronises well with the whole atmosphere of the game. With that said, the game is thick with brooding ambiance that always seems to follow you as you glide, jump 30 feet high, eat (or consume to put it mildly) people, bodysurf pedestrians and fight off both the Infected and Military in epic proportions. There are a handful of highlights visually, from the art direction of the game to the relentlessly stubborn framerate which never seemed to drop for our benefit. Adaptive parkour animations also seem to find their home here, allowing for the fluidity of fast-paced action to never really stop. But on the contrary, there are also some questionable character models and the inclusion of poor last-gen textures that we shouldn’t be seeing in a 2009 game. Explosions look rather unattractive compared to other games in the same genre and buildings may seem to get repetitive. Despite this, Prototype’s visuals aren’t great but are, to a certain extent, justified by its incredible framerate-never-letting-you-down achievement and the massive scale of battles that you’ll encounter along the adventure.

Whether games have ever had amazing voiceover work is a debate in itself, but recent titles have shown that it’s still a void we need to fill up. There haven’t been any outstanding performances vocally from a game since the cinematic Metal Gear Solid 4 or even as far as 2007 when Andy Serkis portrayed King Bohan in Heavenly Sword. Suffice to say, every male protagonist in a game sounds exactly the same. It’s a decent job, but coupled with poor writing it’s one that seems lacklustre and even cringe worthy. Prototype doesn’t exactly boast dumbed-down dialogue, but it could do far better in trying to stay away from Vin Diesel’s machismo tone of voice from his last 10 films. Fortunately, the soundtrack in Prototype tells a different story. There are various tracks that seem to represent a mix of genres from orchestral pieces to grimier, louder music. Essentially, it captures the mood of different scenes and set pieces and stood out not as amazing, but good enough to create a thick, apocalyptic atmosphere that is ever so present in the game.

Prototype’s highlights aren’t found in its graphics or its soundtrack, but rather its gameplay. There are a myriad of achievements in Prototype when talking about the mechanics of the game, from the powers you receive, the copious amounts of upgrades and abilities to learn to the infiltration of military bases to stealth consume unsuspecting military AI in order to learn various abilities such as calling air strikes. Upon waking up in a morgue at the start of the game, you’re not open to the powers you were when you first played the tutorial mission at Day 18. You begin the game as a flashback from Day 1 as Mercer tells his story to a man unknown by the player. Giving a preview of all the powers the amnesiac anti-hero is open to during the tutorial mission creates an incentive for players to try and reach that point in the game again as they wade through hordes of enemies in the lead up to Day 18. Said powers include turning your hands to tentacles as a bio-whip to rip torsos from afar or hijack a helicopter as you leap from a building and grapple yourself to it, turning your hands to a blade to slice your way through waves of enemies and bio-hammerfists that make Mercer’s hands Hulk-like.  Other powers also include turning yourself to a walking Man of Steel as you cover yourself in bio-mass and the ability to consume pedestrians and military personnel to disguise as them.

Once you’ve grasped all of his powers, there are still devastators (larger-scaled attacks that deplete your health) to ‘buy’ via Experience Points (EP) and various other abilities such as bulletdives and enhanced sprinting abilities to further Mercer’s relentless and unlimited power. The beauty of the game is that it never feels too easy but never too hard either for it to get plain cheap, finding a balance for players to settle down with the main character’s array of weaponry. Though some have argued that the second half of the game peaks in difficulty, it’s nothing the average gamer can’t handle. Boss battles are epic, but may tend to get long-winded as they take a while to take down. Apart from the main missions, there’s also a plethora of side missions and other activities to do while you’re in the decaying Manhattan. Side missions provide longer hours to play through depending on your attentiveness. There are some mediocre mission designs for both the main and side quests, but standouts are exactly that. Some set pieces create sheer mayhem and chaos that you’ll note them for memorable gaming experiences. And this is essentially what makes Prototype so impressive. It never fails to surprise you with its instantly gratifying gameplay to hold your attention right from the get-go, as you slice a Hunter in half, land from the Empire State to the ground as you create waves of inertia to flip cars over and landing force enough to kill pedestrians to gliding around the city collecting orbs while simultaneously consuming unsuspecting victims and hijacking the many helicopters and tanks available to you at your disposal.

It’s hard not to forgive Prototype’s shortcomings in draw distance, decent graphics and low-res textures when you’re having a blast playing through the game, creating chaos right at your fingertips and immersing yourself in a mouldering Manhattan. The amount of people on screen at a time is to say the least impressive, and the amount of powers and upgrades available to you is immense for a sandbox game. There are copious amounts of things to do in your playground, and everything will feel natural thanks to adaptive parkour and Mercer’s animations. Though not the most polished game as the main storyline may get a little confusing with the way its presented, it doesn’t detract the fact that if you’re being entertained by a game and enjoying playing through it. So the question stands: graphics or gameplay? If you’re going to take a stroll through the buildings to stare at its textures or analyse the draw distance as you ride a helicopter, maybe you should stay away from Prototype. But if you know games are meant to be mediums to entertain, and Prototype does so through and through, grab a copy of the game and make sure you lock your door in a dark room Marshall Mathers-style because what Prototype provides is sheer, unparalleled carnage that is both accessible to casual gamers and enough to satisfy a deep enough game for those who are looking for that next great sandbox game. It’s not a technical masterpiece like GTA4 was, but you sure as hell will be doing whatever it takes to waste your time in a breathing city just like you did when GTA: San Andreas first came out. What will it be — graphics or gameplay?

Written By Jeff Effendi

A games journalist writing for various editorials such as AppGamer and MS Xbox-World, Jeff also contributes to big-time magazine 'Australian 360'. Being the first Asian-Australian to join The Koalition, he's unfortunately subject to a wealth of jokes in the office, just ask Edward.