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High flyin', tendril throwin', enemy slicin', whip wieldin' muthaf***a

Prototype 2, where do we begin? In an age where open world gaming has really developed into a powerful beast, Radical Entertainment have decided to take a step back, reign in the breadth of other titles, and create an open world action game with a much narrower focus. And in doing so, other studios should take note: sometimes, it's not about the size or depth of your world, but what you decide to do in it.

Prototype 2 takes a mild deviation from standard sequel practice, by casting the protagonist of the original, Alex Mercer, as the enemy, and you as Sgt James Heller, who suffered a tragedy at the hands of Mercer and wants revenge. The change in character doesn't mean the actual game is any different, however: the start of the game results in Mercer infecting Heller, and a similar pattern of superhuman development takes place. Over the course of the game, Heller unlocks skills such as flight, super speed, and some wicked weaponry. Yes, you too will be able to slice, dice and tentacle-ise your opponents with a wide array of attacks, starting with the simple (yet oh-so-fun) ability to absorb and mimic your enemies.

A quick word on controls – the simple pad layout is slightly customisable, and combo chains are wrought by alternately slapping and holding the key that corresponds to the move i question. It doesn't take long to pick up on what to do, and pretty quickly you'll be tearing about the boroughs of New York, laying waste to all you see with gleeful abandon, dropping F-bombs at every opportunity. The audio is little more than alright in Prototype 2, with genero-tunes that are quickly ignored, then massively overplayed by the sounds of gunfire, explosions, and visceral noises - for a game riddles with organic messiness, there's certainly no shortage of medical-bay ripping, rending and fisty-slappy schlock. Voicework is hammy and overblown, yet matches the overall feel of the game, meaning all the combat has a slightly silly sheen, as if the whole title is moicking itself with gleeful abandon.

Visuals are a mixed bag: it evokes a slightly comic-book feel, but really looks a little dated, with rough edges and slightly flatter textures than would have been nice. The character models are thin on the ground too, with only a few enemy variations as the game progresses meaning you'll be seeing a lot of the same faces as you progress. Buildings and environments are suitably grey, brown and flat for the most part, although the final third zone really ups the ante by tearing the cityscape to shreds and going totally apocalyptic to boot.

there's something about being elbow deep in enemies, throwing your weight around and making a mess that doesn't seem to get old

The basic gameplay is simple – go to point X, tear everything in sight to shreds, rinse, repeat. Few missions really deviate from this, as although the principals behind your mission motives vary (save this person, destroy that experiment, track down some scientists, etc.) every mission sooner or later descends into chaos and destruction. Luckily, Radical knew that the only way around the monotony was to ramp it to excess, and P2 certainly has no qualms about painting the scenery in blood and guts.

And I mean, literally – looking around after any fight tends to be an exercise in biology, and blood, muscle, mutated parts, limbs and general viscera are everywhere. You'll fight soldiers, mutants, giant tentacles and more, and although attack patterns vary from battle to battle, the basic idea of making a terrible nuisance of yourself cannot be understated. And a good thing too, as in terms of powers and abilities, you start overpowered and simply ramp up from there.

Beginning with some very nifty claws, Heller's rage is channelled through his need to behave like a puppy in a loo paper factory, and completing story missions and side quests unlock upgrades within several classes, as well as a plethora of new moves. You'll soon have a mental set of whippy tentacles, which can be used to create a black hole effect in enemies, or a spinning, scythe-like blade for decimating waves of soldiers in a flashing, cyclonic tornado of death. Failing that, you can simply pick enemies up and absorb them for health or skills. The absorption can also be used for a bit of stealthy sneaking about too, although don't rely on it, as it never takes too long before alarms sound and you'll be “forced” into heavy combat again.

There's a lot to fault about Prototype, and its repetitive nature and shallow gameplay don't really offer much variance – there's some collection side quests to be completed which add maybe a couple of hours to proceedings, but in truth, it's one long “fight, move, fight, move, hide, fight, move” sequence from beginning to end. And yet, it's utterly engaging – there's something about being elbow deep in enemies, throwing your weight around and making a mess that doesn't seem to get old, and the meathead nature of the gameplay is strongly complimented by the presentation. And in a world of sandbox gaming which seems to get more serious with every GTA, it makes a nice second alternative to the OTT proceedings of Saints Row. And if nothing else, rent it for weekend, get some beers in, and simply enjoy tooling about a blood soaked landscape being a bit of a dick to everyone you meet.

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