A couple of years ago I wrote a blog about Infamous vs Prototype. Check it out with Lv99ron's time machine link Anyway I basically talked about not having a PS3 was my reason for favoring Prototype (multi system title) over Infamous (PS3 exclusive). Well that excuse no longer has weight to it (if it had any at all) because I am now the proud owner of a PS3. I recently purchased PS3 Infamous 2 bundle. After playing a few hours into Infamous 2, and a few weeks prior playing the "sorry we got hacked, here is a free game to make up for it" version of Infamous at a friends house I got to say I still prefer Prototype over Infamous. Now, before any of you get started, I'm not one of those fanboys that will stand by their title/franchise/publisher blindly. I am capable of comparing something I like with something else and pointing out everything that was wrong with it. With that said Infamous 1 and 2 are good games. The gameplay was fun and enjoyable, they had engaging stories, with fun little diversions, and little tweaks and features that I wish Prototype had. But when all is said and done I still enjoy Prototype more.

Infamous is fun to play. I enjoyed running around helping out random citizens. Trying to accomplish those stunts to unlock new powers, and being side tracked from my main mission because every time I used my ping move I found 4 or 5 blast shards in the vicinity that needed to be collected. When I was able to focus on my mission I was enjoying myself because they seemed to be varied enough. Sure they ranged from get to point A to point B, protect something or someone, or leave a trail of destruction and death, or in my case a trail of bad guys magnetized to the floor. I haven't beaten either game yet, so I can't speak on how repetitive some of these mission structures might become, but repetition has never bothered me. Shit I still enjoy playing Dynasty Warriors style games and those only have one goal, mash X with an occasional Y press to lay waste to countless enemies until you've wiped out the commanders, the main target, or all the commanders so the main target will appear so they can be wiped out. Prototypes mission structure does get repetitive. Kill target A, destroy structure A, consume target A to get inside structure A. Every now and then a B and even a C might pop up on your murder, consume, and or destroy checklist. But the beauty behind all of this that made the repetition barely noticeable was the fact that you were not stuck with only a few combat options. Cole Mcgrath, the protagonist in Infamous, has electricity based powers. He can shoot lighting bolts, fire off electrical grenades and rockets, produce static discharge (force push), and in part 2 he gains a static based form of telekinesis, as well as gains fire or ice powers based on if you want to be a bad motherf_@ker or the hero the city needs. Combine that with Cole's natural agility and parkour skills,plus his fighting skills and you have a little lightning spewing spider monkey blasting people as he clambers all over the place. Now on the other hand the protagonist in Prototype, Alex Mercer, could shapeshift. Imagine an angry cross between Mystique and the T-1000. Like Mystique you are fast, agile, and pretty good at hand to hand combat. But like the T-1000, why fight with your regular hands when you can turn them into an assortment of brutal weapons by manipulating your body mass to form blades, spikes, clubs, and my favorite a long tendril that can either be used like Scorpion's spear or clear a room like the cable in (warning graphic scene) Ghost Ship. These allowed you to mix combat up. Factor in Alex's enhanced speed, strength, durability, wall running, gliding, and minor parkour ability and you have a version of the Juggernaut if he had Wolverine's claws and was hoped up on 4 gallons of 5 Hour Energy, coke, and didn't fully believe in gravity. This alone is why I found myself enjoying Prototype more. Sure I can blast some bad guys from a distance with lightning, or force push them off a roof, but it's more fun to shred a couple of helpless soldiers, "GET OVER HERE" another who though he was safe on a roof top across the street and hurl his body into his friend who tried to run a little too late, to end it all by elbow dropping a tank to hell that was just passing by when it's attention was caught by a blood explosion on a nearby rooftop. And all that happened in 20 seconds. I'll get into the next 2 minutes a little later.

Now I would be a fool if I didn't say the story was Prototype's weakest link. The cliche story of someone with amnesia waking up and fighting to recover their lost memory, only to discover they have been gifted with powers and they are the only ones that can put a stop to what has happened to their world, was slightly livened up by ::SPOILER ALERT:: the fact that you wake up in a morgue with two guys ready to cut you open. You regain your memory by basically murdering and absorbing people using their memories to fill in the blanks. It turns out you were in fact that cause of the city going to shit, not once but twice. The military, of course, has dealt with this situation before and instead of destroying the virus that caused it decided to keep it and weaponize it. Oh yeah, and the fact that you aren't really Alex Mercer. The real Alex Mercer died right after releasing the virus shit storm on the city. You are in fact the virus basically in an Alex Mercer shell. (The last part reminds me of Unknown starring Liam Neeson where you are technically the bad guy, but your amnesia led you down a path of redemption where once you regained your lost memory you decided to stay on the side of good) ::END SPOILER:: Even with the few twist and turns the story takes, it never becomes that compelling, and at points it's just there as filler between blood baths. My biggest problem with the story was the fact that there was never a moment where Alex took a moment to reflect on the changes his body has undergone, which would have made him appear more human and relate-able. Instead they opted to add a sister, that acted as his only tether to his lost humanity. This seemed out of place to me because she just kind of accepted her dead brother was alive and capable of ripping a man in half, even after witnessing him punch a hole in a soldier's chest. Plus the scenes of them sitting around shooting the shit right after you just killed 4 or 5 dozen soldiers and caused millions of dollars in property damage were boring. On the other end of the spectrum you have Infamous. The story of a simple messenger that gets a package to deliver one day that turns his whole world upside down. The package is a device that destroys a portion of the city leaving wide spread chaos while gifting Cole with electricity based powers. These powers become Cole's escape from the now heavily militarized city, as well as the city's only hope of regain some semblance of order after the disaster ::SPOILER ALERT:: Soon you learn this was not a simple coincidence. You were meant to receive that package so you could get powers, because there is an approaching evil that only you can stop, but only if you become strong enough in time. This is none of that ancient prophecy mumbo jumbo, just some good old fashion time travel. The mysterious figure that gave you the package and ordered you to open it was the future version of yourself that traveled back in time to get you ready to face "The Beast", and entity of great power that he was not strong enough to fight in his time. ::END SPOILER:: Now, while it is still somewhat of a cliche story, it takes several twists and turns that keep it engaging. Also the karma system of the game affects the story in a variety of ways, by altering which characters you interact with, and changes the outcome for some. This helps keep the story fresh and GROUNDED. Too bad it was not enough to sway my decision.

With that out of the way, you all must realize I don't play games like this for the story. If you want to play a sandbox game for the story you play either Grand Theft Auto or Saints Row. But if you just want to feel like the baddest mother to ever terrorize digital civilians you play something like Prototype. Now yes, you can easily run a mock in Infamous, but that previously mentioned karma system means you will end up having to choose between the all powerful dark side or the kitten petting baby kissing light side. If you pick light your fun is limited because you are constantly worried about collateral damage. So that giant electrical storm you want to use you will have to hold off on because that bus of blind boy scouts is on its way to to the animal shelter and it's decided to stop right next to that group of enemies you want to nuke. Now if you started off as evil, or like me, playing the game again on the opposite side of the "give-o-fuck" meter you will not care. Seeing as Prototype has no karma system I was able to jump right in, and be the super powered dick I have always wanted to be. But the lack of the karma system is not the only driving factor. The main draw for me was how I could cause mayhem. Ripping a man in half with your bare (beefed up hands), or crushing his head with your mass hammer arm clubs will always be more fun to me than zapping dudes while hanging from a street lamp, or Fus Ro Dahing someone off a rooftop. Screw that. Instead of pushing him off I want to grab someone dumb enough to shoot at me off the street, run to the top of the empire state building, throw him at a helicopter that spotted a man sprinting up the side of the building, latch on to the helicopter when it's in range, rip open the cockpit, throw out the gunner, murder/absorb the pilot, crash the helicopter into another helicopter, as I'm free falling elbow drop yet another helicopter that was below me, then go from a nose dive into a cannonball of life and slam into a tank, and with everyone gathering to my position on top of the flaming remains of the tank unleash my devastator attack that fires out deadly tentacles from every inch of my body and destroy everything that was within range. Then when all is said and done grab another soldier that though he was one of the lucky ones to escape the blast radius, absorb him to don a new disguise, and round it all out by picking some random individual to take the heat by telling everyone they are in fact Alex Mercer disguised as some little old lady. That right there is what I call fun.

So there you have it. You might be like me and think Prototype was more fun, or you could hold Infamous as the next gen sandbox power fantasy game of all time. It just depends on the person. I just wanted to explain why I felt the way I did. Story wise Prototype is a much weaker game compared to Infamous, but because story is not what i was looking for I was in awe of the powers of death and destruction bestowed onto me. Now I do plan on finishing Infamous 1 and 2, so I can be ready for the inevitable part 3, I would be lying if I said I didn't get all giddy every time i checked my April to do list. April 24 12:00am Pick up Prototype 2. April 24 12:20am GO BAT SHIT INSANE THROWING HUMAN BIO-TENTACLE GRENADES AT PEOPLE. May 3 12:00am take a break from the game and eat something, and try to stop viewing everyone around me as a potential disguise or bio-mass to add to my growing collection.