Following our private screening at Gamescom with Prototype 2 and brief chat with Radical Entertainment, we believe there’s no way that the Prototype series will end with this forthcoming second instalment. In fact, we believe that Prototype 2 will flesh out the character of Alex Mercer even more before we step back into his shape-shifting body for a third iteration.
One of things we took from the Prototype 2 presentation is that Radical has tried to create the game that it wanted the original game to be, and it’s refreshing to hear a developer talk so candidly about the first games’ failings just as much as its good points. Prototype sold moderately well, but by listening intently to community feedback, it’s been totally overhauled to offer a familiar yet new experience that benefits from its many tweaks to the combat system as well as the balanced pace of the battles.
After the presentation, we took the opportunity to quiz Radical Entertainment about why Alex Mercer isn’t a playable character and ended with the question: Is this the end of Prototype? Teasingly, Ken Rosman, executive producer at Radical Entertainment said: “A virus can keep spreading if it’s not contained”. It was blatant that the team knew more than they were letting on, with shrugs and knowing smiles practically giving away the fact that there will be a Prototype 3. You don’t need to be mind-reader to work that out, though.
It’s clear from Radical’s passionate presentation that it cares intensely about community feedback, and with Mercer fans already vocal about the fact he’s not a playable character in Prototype 2, we believe it’s a given that the developer will deliver what the fans want. If that’s the case then we can already speculate about what happens in Prototype 2, but we’ll leave that up to you. Will Heller win the final battle against Mercer, or will Mercer live to fight another day and finally put the virus to bed in Prototype 3?
Stay tuned for PSU’s preview of Prototype 2 shortly.