You may have read my earlier trail of Prototype posts, so I figured it’s time for a status update. My affair with Protoype began on July 9 when Amazon listed the game for PS3 and 360 at only $39.98 as the “Video Game Deal of the Day”.  For a newly released game that normally sells for $60 and receiving decent reviews, I couldn’t pass it up.  That’s when I took a break from the plastic drums on Rock Band 2, and became hooked on Prototype.  My 2nd post came on August 21, when I raved about “Loving Prototype on Xbox 360“.

I have been told by gamers, that my review on this 3rd person shooter/slasher type of game is refreshing and different.  Why are my reviews different than others? Possibly because I have never played Halo…Not Halo 1, 2, 3, or ODST.  I’ve never seen any Halo gameplay, or watched someone else play Halo.  I did download the Halo Wars demo and played for about 5 minutes before jumping back to Rock Band 2.  So, my take on a game like Prototype is definitely different from the average gamer.

With that, if you read my post from August 21, you know that I definitely got my $40 worth of gaming with Prototype.  It has been my game of choice for the entire summer.  Now that the summer is over, I’m nearing completion of the story (and I won’t give too many spoilers here), but still enjoying it…to an extent.

Achievement Status:

As of this morning, I’ve only unlocked 40% of the achievements, and have 16 of the total 40.  That translates into 240 of 1,000 available gamerscore points. There’s still a lot to collect.  This week, I’m going to shoot for achieving the following, which should be easy and I should have done them a while ago.

Cleanup Kill 15 characters with a single Whipfist attack.

Misconception Destroy 25 Infected Water Towers before they hatch.

Speed Bumps Run over 500 characters in a single tank.

In The Web Consume 50 Web Targets.

Unnatural Selection Acquire all available upgrades.

Game Progress:

I just finished off Elizabeth Greene (if you haven’t gotten to that stage, OMG), which took me several attempts and had to look up on the internet for some tips. Once you get to fight Greene, make sure you block off about 30-45 minutes to take her down. I won’t spoil how to take her down or what weaponry you need. Now, I’m off to destroy the blood pump facility. I think there are only 2 or 3 more missions left to complete the story.

What I Still Love:

The fun factor still exists, the intensity continues to grow, the weapon and skill upgrades continue to allow the character (Alex Mercer) to evolve.  All those elements continue the fun factor.  I’m currently loving using armor and the fully upgraded blade to slash enemies to pieces, plus using my fully upgraded devastators to wreak havoc on everything nearby.

What I’m Not Loving As Much:

Although, there are still some corners of NYC that I haven’t completely explored, I’d love the ability to cross the Brooklyn Bridge or swim across the Hudson River to get to some other land.  The good and bad of the game is the entire island of Manhattan is available from the beginning of the game.  The good, Manhattan is huge and takes a long time to fully explore.  The bad, you never leave Manhattan.  There is no completing this map and moving to another map.

I’m still OK with this, since Manhattan is so large, but I am getting a little tired of Times Square.

What’s Needed:

The game is a complete package, with a good character, great weapons, great enemies, good (but not incredible) graphics, and very good sound.  What’s missing is two things.

Some type of multiplayer.  My wife hates me playing Prototype, because she can’t join in via couch co-op.  Every time one of my 100 Xbox Live friends log in, I can’t play with them (which I am so used to with Rock Band and other music games).  I miss playing with the community, and stuck in a single player mode.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE single player games, but would love the ability to invite a friend in to play.

The other thing missing is downloadable content.  This game is ready for some add-ons.  Basically, it needs a new map with some added story line.  Even just outside Manhattan to another borough, or to some other far-off land where maybe there is the “prequel” map.  If Manhattan is getting old to me, the casual gamer, I have to imagine that hard-core gamers are hating the game after a few months of the same map.

What’s Next For Me:

I’m trying to finish the story.  I just killed off Elizabeth Greene two nights ago.  I believe I have completed 37/40 missions, so it’s almost over.  I’m looking forward to seeing how the story ends.  That’s the big piece for me.

I’m also going to try to knock out the achievements I listed above.  They should be fairly easy to get.  I’m not so interested in getting all the achievements, though.

After I knock out Prototype, I don’t plan on buying any other 1st person or 3rd person games.  I will probably try the free Fable II Episode 1 that came out last week for Xbox Live Gold members.  I may also try to complete the Grand Theft Auto IV story. (That’s the only other non-music game I own).