From the get go, I really wanted to like Prototype. I mean damn, you pretty much play a superhero, flying around a city, terrorising it's citizens and generally raising the mortality rate to a level that would put off any tourist (or even a terrorists for matter). So what went astray? Well firstly, don't get me wrong, Prototype is a fun game to play, but unfortunately it suffers from many of the major symptoms of sandboxaphobia (definition; a fear of delivering a planned gaming experience).

As with most open world games, it settles for quantity over quality. Sure, the city is vast and you can explore it to your hearts content, but that doesn't change the fact you'll be doing the same shit no matter where you go. Why? As with many open world games, this games lacks any clear choreography and because of this, each piece of action plays out very much like the last. As such, the game quickly becomes quite repetitive, especially when you also consider all the mindless travel you'll be doing. That's right people, just to start the next mission you're forced to circumnavigate the expansive city. Where's my skip-to-end button dammit? And what's the deal with side missions? I'm sure the developers would like to tell you that they make their games diverse. Put a bit more effort into them and make them somehow worthwhile, and I might actually start to agree, but for now I'll stick to the storyline thanks (or at least the thin thread you pretend is a story).

Having established that the gameplay is repetitive, at least I can say it's fun. Creating a blood orgy by shooting out a slew of tentacles, which tear apart everything and everyone in the near vicinity, whilst somewhat disturbing, also kicks ass. Likewise, being able to take down an attack chopper by scaling a building and lugging an air conditioner at it isn't without its charms either.

All said and done, Prototype offers an enjoyable experience, however, I can't help but think how much more I would have enjoyed this game had I not whored out my childhood to GTA3.