• 13Jun 09

  Prototype's blatant steals revealed. Cry about it, downvoters.

  First off, I went into this game with high hopes. Maybe I believed the hype surrounding it. Who knows?

  It's been a long time since I've witnessed a game steal something straight from another source. Now, I understand that we could all go back and say "Well any open world game came from MMO's, Spiderman 2 (The Game), or the GTA series" so I won't mention anything that's open world related.

  A few powers that I haven't seen lately, but have been done before, are forgiven simply because it's half original.

  Also, many games give you the option of upgrading your powers, so I won't mention the upgrade SCREEN. The games used for comparison will be listed below.

  
  MY STANCE ON SHAPESHIFTING
  It's one of those ideas that has been around for ages, but never truly taken advantage of. I find that Prototype does a Matrix-type thing with it, in which you can steal the body of someone and learn everything they know. "Consume" a pilot, watch his memories, viola...you can now pilot helicopters. In fact, some of the best moments are when I'm shapeshifted into an enemy commander and I point at another enemy and yell "That's him!" causing him to be shot by his comrades. Wee!

  
  August 2007, Prototype is unveiled in Game Informer magazine.

  
  RELEASE DATES
  Keep these in mind.

  Prototype's (Playstation 3 version) = June 9th, 2009

  Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (Playstation 2 version) = August 23rd, 2005 (2 years prior to Prototype's unveiling)

  
  --- Comparison ---
  Prototype vs. Hulk: Ultimate Destruction

  
  "CRITICAL MASS"

  HULK - When your health exceeds Maximum, a highlighted area appears on your health bar, called "CRITICAL MASS". Here, you can perform an ability which damages all enemies in an area.

  PROTOTYPE - When your health exceeds Maximum, a highlighted area appears on your health bar, called "CRITICAL MASS". Here, you can perform a "DEVASTATOR" ability, which is an Area of Effect (AoE) which damages all enemies in an area.

  
  NOTE: NOT EVEN A NAME CHANGE.

  ABILITIES

  HULK - GROUND SMASH. Pressing SQUARE + TRIANGLE at the same time causes Hulk to slam his fists into the ground causing a shockwave which can knock enemies off their feet, roll over tanks, and leaves a crushed circle in the pavement.

  PROTOTYPE - GROUND SHATTER. Pressing SQUARE + TRIANGLE at the same time causes Alex Mercer to "pound the ground", causing a shockwave that can knock weaker enemies into the air and leaves a crushed circle in the pavement.

  NOTE: At least they changed the name a little. Same button combo. Both can be charged for more damage, as well as used in the air.

  HULK - SONIC CLAP - Pressing TRIANGLE + CIRCLE at the same time results in Hulk clapping his hands together and sends a shockwave out to all sides of him. Can be used in the air to damage helicopters.

  PROTOTYPE - KNUCKLE SHOCKWAVE - Pressing TRIANGLE + CIRCLE at the same time has Alex Mercer pounding his fists together to blast opponents away from him.

  NOTE: Same button combo. Prototype's Knuckle Shockwave deals no damage for some reason.

  HULK - AIR DASH - Pressing R1 while in the air has Hulk slinging himself forward in a short burst. Can be upgraded to allow you to use it twice in one jump.

  PROTOTYPE - AIRDASH - Pressing R2 while in the air has Alex Mercer propelling himself forward in a short burst. Can be upgraded to allow you to use it twice in one jump.

  NOTE: Wow...

  HULK - SHIELD GRIND - While holding a shield, Hulk can smash it and use it as basically a skateboard. Ridiculous, right? Well...

  PROTOTYPE - BODY SURF - Landing on a human target allows you to grind their body on the road for a short time, like a skateboard. Granted, this is nice because they're ground to shreds by the time you're done, but I still consider it a steal.

  NOTE: Also resembles an ability in Spider-Man Web of Shadows.

  Now, that's all I can think of off the top of my head between HULK and PROTOTYPE. Now for the finer points.

  
  Anyone notice that the "VIRUS" in PROTOTYPE is almost an exact replica of the "OUROBOROS VIRUS" in RESIDENT EVIL 5? Even the BLADE power in PROTOTYPE looks just like WESKER at the end. Maybe Wesker DID spread the virus in a major city.

  
  There's this ability in PROTOTYPE called "GROUNDSPIKE". Basically, you shove your hand into the ground and cause spikes to erupt under someone, impaling them. Um...Venom, anyone?

  
  The "WHIPFIST" power in PROTOTYPE. Don't even get me started. It IS the symbiote suit from Spider-Man. You can't deny it. Straight ripoff.

  
  Air Recovery has been done a thousand times before in many high-flying games. It's where if you're knocked into the air, you can recover yourself and, if you're fast enough, unleash an aerial combo before touching the ground. Just one of those givens.

  
  The "HUNTERS" in PROTOTYPE look an awful lot like the albino Symbiotes in Spider-Man. 'Nuff said.

  
  The "HIVES" in PROTOTYPE share such a resemblance to what Venom has done in the past is just unforgivable. Oh, I'm sorry. It's not purple. It's red.

  
  It sounds like I'm hating on this game. I am. If you've played the games I've mentioned, then you would laugh at it too. If I hadn't played them, then I probably wouldn't notice, like many of you 15 and younger crowd.

  
  This concludes the early study of how Prototype failed to deliver on at least half-decent authenticity. I shouldn't be having flashbacks to other games because the controls, powers, and HUD looks just like them.

  PROTOTYPE CANNOT BE COMPARED TO INFAMOUS! STOP TRYING!

  -Fin-

  
  Now, on to my thoughts of inFAMOUS.

  
  Some of you may be saying "Well you're a Sony fanboy because you love inFAMOUS so much!" No, this isn't it at all. I'm a fan of good games. I own each system and love them all individually. If inFAMOUS were out on the Failbox, then I'd still say pick it up.

  Now, about Cole. If you're going to say his character is based on someone else, then please find me that character. No one to my knowledge uses ONLY electricity-based attacks. Dr. Doom uses electricity to power his SUIT. SHOCKER DOES NOT USE ELECTRICITY! Storm controls lightning and STATIC electricity.

  inFAMOUS, in short, is among the best games of this century. If you haven't played it, then please don't feel the need to rip on something you have no idea about.

  =========SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER==========
  IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT INFAMOUS STOP READING RIGHT NOW
  STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP

  Yes, the story is boring and bland in the beginning. But once you see the ending and find out that your nemesis is really a scared guy from another time, where he married Trish with Zeke as his best man, it takes on a whole other meaning for Cole's character. If you're good, then you interpret it as Kessler (Cole) molding you into the savior he failed to be. If you're bad, then you interpret it as him wanting you to be ruthless. The man even killed Trish so you wouldn't be tied down by emotions when "The Beast" comes! That's hardcore if there ever was hardcore.

  I've heard of alternate universes/people. Superboy-Prime being my favorite villain. But to have an enemy that turns out to be a greedy, selfish YOU, who used his newest power to take a one-way trip back in time and is trying to make things right by killing the woman he loves...man. It still blows my mind a bit. If you've heard of another story just like this, please enlighten me. I've never heard of anything like it.

  • Posted Jun 13, 2009 10:44 am PT
  • Category: Games
  • 4 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • Tweet
• 18Jan 06

  My take on the year in gaming

  (originally posted on www.myspace.com/xjedijonx/ by me on December 31, 2005)
  
  
  Since it's officially the LAST day of 2005, and nothing is going to
  happen today in the world of gaming, I figured I'd give you all my take
  on this past year in gaming.
  
  We've definitely seen a lot of
  crazy things happen this year. Some good (Splinter Cell Chaos Theory),
  some bad (Stubbs the Zombie), and some ugly (360 launch in Japan). And
  now to take up a lot of space, I'm going to give my take on every
  system this year. Woo!
  
  Sony's Playstation 2 had another
  awesome year as they always do with the release of their fan's favorite
  games. We saw the release of We Love Katamari, Socom 3, Soul Calibur
  III, as well as some very underestimated games, Shadow of the Colossus
  and Guitar Hero. Sony has revealed their Playstation 3 with a release
  date set for Spring 2006. With easily superior graphics to everyone
  else, I'm very excited to see how developers use the technology in the
  years to come.
  
  Sony also released their PSP earlier this year.
  With excellent graphics, this handheld could possibly hold its own
  against some console graphics (step it up a notch, developers!). Now
  while this device does play games, it can also play UMD's and even play
  videos and music downloaded onto its memory sticks. So if you're
  looking for an all-in-one device on the go, this is one to check out.
  
  Sony's grades
  Console - A
  Handheld - B
  
  
  Microsoft's biggest news this year was their expected, and slightly
  overzealous, headstart into the next-generation. With the graphics of a
  high-end PC, the Xbox 360 truly wowed few with their games. But I'll
  save that argument for a later time. With their original Xbox, we saw
  the release of very few exclusive console titles. Stubbs the Zombie
  used the Halo engine to create a semi-satirical zombie adventure. While
  this game wasn't very excellent, it was pretty funny. Create a zombie
  army...I've always wanted to do that. However, since Oblivion missed
  the launch window, and even the holiday season, I haven't really seen a
  killer app for the 360. Hopefully they'll do better next year.
  
  Microsoft's grades
  Xbox - B
  Xbox 360 - B-
  
  
  Nintendo is always a pretty tender subject, since people say they're
  becoming the Sega of the next-gen. I have a lot of reasons to differ.
  Now while Nintendo kind of slacked off this past year, we did see some
  pretty decent games from them on the Gamecube, such as Geist, Super
  Mario Baseball, and Super Mario Strikers. One thing that hurt them
  MAJORLY was the pushing back of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
  There really isn't a lot to say about their little lunchbox, since not
  a lot happened here. However...
  
  In the handheld market,
  Nintendo had a LOT of excellent games for the Nintendo DS. Trauma
  Center, Mario Kart DS, Advance Wars Dual Strike, Animal Crossing Wild
  World, and many more innovative titles. They definitely know what
  they're doing in the handheld side of gaming. Also, porting Final
  Fantasy IV to the Game Boy Advance and the release of their new Game
  Boy Micro didn't hurt them either.
  
  Nintendo has revealed their
  next-gen console, Revolution. With admittedly the weakest graphics of
  the three consoles, they're deciding to shatter the standards with
  their controller, and taking backwards compatibility to a whole new
  level. However, we haven't seen any games shown for it, although a
  teaser trailer showed some very awesome things they could do with it. I
  know many of you think it's just a gimmick that won't work and will
  essentially ruin the company, but you all said the same thing about the
  touch screen on the DS. So we'll all see this upcoming year.
  
  Nintendo's grades
  Console - B-
  Handheld - A
  
  
  Now we all know PC games are best in first-person shooters and
  MMORPG's. However, we did see a TON of very excellent games arrive this
  year. Age of Empires III, F.E.A.R., and Serious Sam 2 are my personal
  favorites. There's really too many to note on here from this year. PC's
  are always going to be a step above consoles in graphics, so we'll just
  leave it at that.
  
  PC grade
  Overall - A
  
  
  My top 10 games of 2005 (in no particular order)
  1. Star Wars Battlefront II (Xbox and PC)
  2. Guitar Hero (PS2)
  3. Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
  4. Resident Evil 4 (PS2 and Gamecube)
  5. Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (Xbox, PS2, PC, Gamecube..don't buy the DS version)
  6. World of Warcraft (PC)
  7. God of War (PS2)
  8. Trauma Center (DS)
  9. Mario Kart DS (DS)
  10. Animal Crossing Wild World (DS)
  
  
  
  All in all this was a pretty awesome year in gaming. With every
  next-gen set to break out their big guns (360 - Oblivion, PS3 - MGS4,
  Rev - Zelda) in 2006, we'll definitely see swords clash and the
  breaking of shields in this next generation battleground.
  
  
  • Posted Jan 18, 2006 8:36 pm PT
  • 0 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • Tweet

See Previous Blog Posts »