Prototype 2

About Prototype 2

Radical Entertainment delivered this sequel in April 2012 as an open-world action title for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and later PS4 and Xbox One. You play as Sergeant James Heller after the original game turned New York into a death zone called New York Zero. Your wife and daughter died from the Blacklight virus, so you hunt down Alex Mercer to exact revenge. This single-player adventure blends hack-and-slash combat with platforming stunts across a devastated cityscape. The story picks up two years later as you gain similar powers through infection and fight against both the military and other infected creatures while uncovering a deeper conspiracy involving Gentek and Blackwatch.

Gameplay

You move through Manhattan using a mix of running, wall climbing, and long jumps to cross the vertical ruins. Combat feels heavy and visceral as you slash enemies with claws or rip out organs to gain health and temporary abilities. You can morph into specific targets like soldiers or civilians to infiltrate buildings undetected. The game offers multiple mission types where you destroy generators, hunt down specific targets, or clear out zones of infected. A key mechanic involves consuming enemies to learn their traits and unlock new combat options instantly during fights. You often switch between melee attacks and ranged energy blasts depending on the crowd size. Finding Blacknet terminals lets you sabotage enemy operations before moving to the next objective in the story.

What Players Think

Players rate this title at 73.4 out of 100 based on 245 IGDB ratings. The average playtime sits around 9 hours for a standard run, though completionists spend closer to 15 hours to unlock all achievements. Community moods lean toward frustrated but entertained, with many noting the story is engaging despite technical issues at launch. Reviews often highlight the visceral combat as the strongest element while criticizing the repetitive mission structure. Some players mention that the ending feels rushed compared to the buildup. The game maintains a cult following among fans of early 2010s superhero shooters who value raw power fantasies over polished mechanics.

PlayPile's Take

This game works best if you enjoy messy combat and a story with high stakes. It runs about $20 on digital stores today, making it a cheap entry point for the genre. You will earn roughly 30 achievements by finishing the campaign and finding collectibles. The controls feel clunky at times but the power fantasy makes up for it. Do not expect tight level design or clever mechanics from a modern perspective. If you want to see what a superhero game looked like before everyone tried to copy it, play this one. Just be ready for some frustrating checkpoints along the way.

Storyline

Two years after the events of the original game, Sergeant James Heller, after returning from touring in Iraq, discovers his wife and daughter to be declared dead, causing him to rejoin the military in the fight for NYZ against the Blacklight virus. Heller is briefed on the previous outbreaks in Idaho in the '60s and in NYZ in the events of the first game. He later finds Mercer and begins chasing him. Pursuing Mercer for vengeance, Heller is infected by Mercer with a strain that imbues him with similar superhuman abilities. After blacking out, Heller awakens in a Yellow Zone lab where Gentek scientist Dr. Anton Koenig and Blackwatch Col. Douglas Rooks are experimenting on him. Heller escapes from the Gentek base, when Mercer confronts him and claims Gentek and Blackwatch are responsible for recreating and cultivating the Blacklight virus, making them responsible for the second infection and the deaths of Heller's family. Revealing his plans to take down Gentek and Blackwatch, Mercer offers a truce to Heller. Unsure of Mercer's intentions Heller goes to his local pastor, Father Luis Guerra, for advice and help. Using information supplied by Guerra, Heller hacks into Blacknet Terminals to find out about and sabotage a number of their operations. Gradually consuming his way through Blackwatch, Heller eventually finds and confronts Koenig, who claims to be on his side and reveals Blackwatch's super-soldier program, codenamed "Orion". Heller prevents Project: Orion's progress by killing a super-soldier who was injected with his DNA. After consuming one of the head scientists, Heller discovers that Koenig was observing him in order to find his weaknesses. Enraged at Koenig's betrayal, Heller tracks him down only to discover that he has powers similar to he and Mercer, and is one of several "Evolved" agents planted in Gentek and Blackwatch by Mercer. After defeating and consuming the doctor, Mercer reveals to Heller that he intends to recruit him in an attempt to control NYZ. His doubts growing, Guerra then shows Heller a video tape of Mercer releasing the virus for the second time in Penn Station, the same place Mercer originally released and contracted the virus. Enraged at Mercer's deception, Heller sets off to the Green Zone to hunt down Mercer's henchmen, including an Evolved agent in Gentek named Sabrina Galloway; upon confronting Galloway, however, Heller reluctantly teams up with her when she reveals she can help him take down Mercer. With Galloway's help, Heller soon finds that Mercer plans to infect the entire world through "Whitelight", a contaminated vaccine released by Gentek that actually serves to accelerate infection and evolution rather than prevent it. Frustrated with Heller sabotaging his plans, Mercer kills Father Guerra; upon finding his corpse, however, a grieving Heller uses Guerra's phone to reach Athena, Guerra's contact who is revealed to be Dana Mercer. Dana explains that Heller's daughter, Maya, is still alive, prompting Heller to head for the Red Zone to take down Mercer and save Maya. After preventing Blackwatch's second attempt to level Manhattan Island, Rooks helps Heller reach his daughter, only for Galloway to betray him and take Maya to Mercer. Upon confronting Mercer, he reveals that he plans to solve international conflicts and world problems by infecting the entire human race, effectively creating a Superorganism with Maya at the center. After Mercer absorbs Galloway and the remaining Evolved, the two engage in a bloody duel, only for James to emerge victorious and to kill and consume Mercer. Subsequently, Heller wipes out the infected in NYZ along with most of the Blacklight Virus; then using Mercer's absorbed memories, Heller locates and frees Maya and Dana from a vault. The story then ends with the three overlooking New York before Dana questions what to do next.