Prototype

Overview

Prototype (stylized as [PROTOTYPE]) is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Activision. It came out in June 2009 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows. In 2015 it was re-released with its sequel as the Prototype Biohazard Bundle on PS4 and Xbox One. Players control an amnesiac shapeshifter named Alex Mercer, who tries to stop an outbreak of a virus called Blacklight in Manhattan.

It is an open world based on modern Manhattan, with landmarks such as the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. Alex can change shape to look like anyone, and can consume people to heal and take their form. He has superhuman strength, runs up walls, jumps over five-storey buildings and takes no damage from falls. Parts of his body can become weapons: Blade, Claws, Whipfist, Musclemass and Hammerfists, plus a shield and full body armour.

His strongest attacks are Devastators, used while in Critical Mass. The enemies are the Infected, which include huge creatures called Hunters, and the Military, which includes the black ops unit Blackwatch. Territory is split into Blue Zones under Military control, Red Zones full of the Infection and Purple Zones where the two fight. How you act in a Purple Zone decides which side takes it.

Alex wakes in a morgue belonging to the genetic engineering company Gentek with no memory. He tracks down people tied to the conspiracy, consuming them to gain their memories, and finds that he helped steal a sample of Blacklight before being shot at Penn Station. Barry Pepper voices Alex, with Jeff Pierce as Robert Cross, Lake Bell as his sister Dana, and Phil LaMarr as Dr. Bradley Ragland.

Sierra announced the game on August 10, 2007 for summer 2008, then pushed it to 2009. After the Activision and Vivendi Games merger, Activision kept only five Sierra titles, and Prototype was one of them. It was the first game to support THX's neural 7.1 surround sound. Activision said that no Wii version was in development. It came out on June 9, 2009 in North America and June 12 in Europe after a short delay. A six-issue prequel comic was published by DC Comics under its Wildstorm imprint.

Reviews were generally favourable, with Metacritic scores of 79 on PS3 and PC and 78 on Xbox 360. Critics liked its originality, story and fast moves, and disliked the fiddly controls and dull scenery. It came out two weeks after Infamous, and many reviewers compared the two. The Xbox 360 version was the top selling game in North America in June 2009, and the game had sold 2.1 million copies worldwide by March 2012. Prototype 2 followed in April 2012.

Official trailer

[PROTOTYPE] - Opening Cinematic Trailer, Prototype. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

PROTOTYPE | PS3 Gameplay, BenedictPlays. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Action-adventure

Developer

Radical Entertainment

Publisher

Activision

Series

Prototype

Designers

Eric Holmes

Producers

Tim Bennison

Directors

Lindsey Williamson-Christy

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

No

Release dates

Editions

Buy this game

Disc IDs

The serial printed on the disc and the case. It tells you which region a copy is from.

Trophies

Trophies41

Platinum possibleYes

Platinum

1

Gold

4

Silver

10

Bronze

26

Total

41

Points

1350

Platinum time

45 hours

100% time

45 hours

Difficulty

8 out of 10

Playthroughs for platinum

3

Playthroughs for 100%

3

New Game Plus

Yes, trophies and progress carry over. New Game Plus keeps abilities, kills, collectibles and finished events, at the same or a lower difficulty.

Platinum without online

Yes

Online trophies

0

Boosting needed

No

DLC has trophies

No

Platinum includes DLC

No

100% includes DLC

No

DLC note

There is no DLC.

Missable trophies

5

Chapter select fixes a miss

No

Separate trophy lists by region

No

Only in a language other than English

No

Region note

One list for every region.

Online-only version

No

Digital-only

No

Disc-only

No

Trophy list shared with other versions

No

Other versions

The PS4 Biohazard Bundle has its own list.

Players with the platinum

2.93%

Missable trophies

• Half-Truths
• Hard To Kill
• Mankind Is Your Mask
• Nice Guy
• Return Fire

Grind

• Gold and Platinum medals in every Event
• Trail Of Corpses kill count

Glitches and fixes

• Pt can fail if every Event reaches Platinum before Au unlocks; keep one Event below Platinum until Au pops.

• Platinum Trophy Platinum Trophy Platinum 2.93% of players
• Crossing The T Complete the Hunter Boss Encounter. Bronze 84.66% of players
• Errand Boy Complete the Specialist Boss Fight. Bronze 63.7% of players
• Children Of Blacklight Complete the Supreme Hunter Boss Battle. Bronze 52.48% of players
• On Instinct Complete the Mother Boss Battle. Bronze 44.4% of players
• One Thousand Suns Complete the Supreme Hybrid Boss Battle. Silver 38.19% of players
• Revenge Revisited Complete Story Mode on hard difficulty. Gold 3.76% of players
• Endless Hunger Consume 200 characters to boost your health. Bronze 53.51% of players
• Trail Of Corpses Kill 53,596 infected. Silver 4.05% of players
• Wrecking Yard Destroy 2,000 vehicles. Bronze 25.18% of players
• Misconception Destroy 25 Infected Water Towers before they hatch. Bronze 29.25% of players
• Brain Trust Complete all Consume Events. Bronze 9.37% of players
• Streetwise Collect all Landmark collectibles scattered across New York City. Silver 3.85% of players
• Polymath Collect all Hint Collectibles scattered across New York City. Silver 5.21% of players
• Half-Truths Complete a mission without causing a single Military Alert. Bronze 44.4% of players
• Mankind Is Your Mask Complete 3 missions without causing a single Military Alert. Silver 13.77% of players
• The Butcher Kill 50 characters in 5 seconds. Silver 49.01% of players
• Return Fire Catch any object tossed by a Hydra; and throw it back. Bronze 16.25% of players
• Gunning Destroy 20 Helicopters in a single Helicopter flight. Bronze 14.81% of players
• Cleanup Kill 15 characters with a single Whipfist attack. Bronze 20.94% of players
• The First Thread Unlock the Web of Intrigue. Bronze 91.65% of players
• Self-Deception Discover what happened to Alex Mercer through the Web of Intrigue. Bronze 11.37% of players
• Hope Discover the truth behind Hope, Idaho through the Web of Intrigue. Bronze 14.5% of players
• Origin Discover the history of Elizabeth Greene through the Web of Intrigue. Bronze 15.18% of players
• Web Of Knowledge Acquire all nodes of the Web of Intrigue. Gold 7.08% of players
• It's Him! Patsy 5 military personnel. Bronze 33.87% of players
• In Plain Sight Evade 10 strike teams. Bronze 41.23% of players
• Infiltrator Infiltrate 10 Military Bases disguised as a Commander. Bronze 30% of players
• Threat Elevated Destroy 25 strike teams. Bronze 39.64% of players
• Repossession Seize 50 vehicles from enemy hands. Bronze 43.11% of players
• SME Gain the ability to drive and fly all vehicles. Bronze 59.7% of players
• Surface-To-Air Shoot down 50 helicopters while driving armor. Bronze 19.84% of players
• Evolutionary Step Use the Upgrade Menu to acquire an Upgrade. Bronze 90.28% of players
• Unnatural Selection Acquire all available upgrades. Silver 14.72% of players
• The Cleaner Destroy 10 Military Bases or Infected Hives in New York City. Silver 50.1% of players
• In The Web Consume 50 Web Targets. Bronze 35.66% of players
• Au Achieve a rating of Gold or better in all Events. Silver 5.81% of players
• Nice Guy Complete the game while consuming 10 Civilians or fewer. Silver 12.44% of players
• Hard To Kill Complete Story Mode in any difficulty without dying. Gold 7.23% of players
• Speed Bumps Run over 500 characters in a single tank. Bronze 17.89% of players
• Pt Achieve a Platinum Medal in all Events. Gold 3.59% of players

Space and patches

Space neededAbout 6.5 GB

Update patch01.01

These are the patches Sony still hosts for this disc ID. The game's real history can be longer.

DLC

The game had no downloadable content.

Playable today

Playable offline todayYes

Single-player, and still sold on the PS3 store.

Online

Online servers runningNo online features

Plays offlineYes

The game has no online features.

Services

Service	Status
Online play	Does not exist

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale
Metacritic	PS3	79	100
Metacritic	Xbox 360	78	100
Metacritic	PC	79	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale	Platform
GameSpot	8.5	10	PS3
IGN	7.5	10	PS3 (US)
Game Informer	7.25	10	PS3
GamePro	4.5	5	PS3
GameZone	9.4	10	PS3
Eurogamer	7	10	Xbox 360
Destructoid	7.5	10	Xbox 360

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Director	Lindsey Williamson-Christy
Producer	Tim Bennison
Designer	Eric Holmes
Programmer	Neall Verheyde

Cast

Character	Actor
Alex Mercer	Barry Pepper
Robert Cross	Jeff Pierce
Dana Mercer	Lake Bell
Dr. Bradley Ragland	Phil LaMarr
Karen Parker	Vanessa Marshall
Dr. Raymond McMullen	Paul Guilfoyle
General Peter Randall	Gordon Clapp
Ian Taggart	Richard McGonagle
Elizabeth Greene	Kari Wahlgren

Notes for collectors

• Prototype was first announced for summer 2008 and was delayed to 2009. The European date slipped from June 5 to June 12.
• It was the first game to support THX's neural 7.1 surround sound.
• The Trail of Corpses trophy asks for 53,596 kills of the Infected.
• The Au and Pt trophies need a Gold and a Platinum medal in every Event.
• A six-issue DC Comics Wildstorm miniseries is a prequel to the game.

Credits

Publisher

Activision

Developer

Radical Entertainment

Director

Lindsey Williamson-Christy

Released

2009-06-09

Age rating

ESRB M

Disc ID

BLUS30145

Region

US

Time to beat

about 11 hours