Prototype Series

[Prototype]
Prototype is an action-adventure open world video game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Activision. The game was released in North America on June 9, 2009, and in southwestern parts of North America as well as Oceania on June 10, and was released in Europe on June 12.

The game is set in New York City, where a virulent plague known as Blacklight is spreading through Manhattan. Those infected are mutated into hideous monsters of varying form, with an uncontrollable urge to kill all uninfected life-forms. At the center of it is the protagonist, Alex Mercer, an incredibly powerful shapeshifter with no memory of his past. Parallel to the game's storyline is the ability to play the game as a sandbox-style video game giving the player freedom to roam Manhattan.

Many reviewers compared and contrasted it with Infamous, another action-adventure open world game released one month prior to Prototype, by Sucker Punch Productions which features a superpowered protagonist with developing powers in an urban world. However, the gameplay of Prototype is very similar to The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, also by Radical Entertainment.[4]

Plot
The game follows Alex J. Mercer (voiced by Barry Pepper) who wakes up in a morgue in the basement of Gentek, a genetic engineering company based in Manhattan, sending a pair of scientists that were just about to perform an autopsy running. Alex escapes, and witnesses the scientists being gunned down by military operatives. Alex is discovered and attacked. He survives bullets being fired into his chest, and leaps over a wall to safety. He soon discovers he now possesses powerful shapeshiftingabilities, superhuman strength, speed, agility, durability, endurance, weaponry and the ability to "consume" people to gain their memories, skills and appearance. With no memory of his previous life, Alex decides to find and consume those related to the conspiracy in order to uncover the truth. During his quest, Alex faces two factions: the United States Marine Corps and Blackwatch, a Fort Detrick special forces unit dedicated to combating biological warfare; and the Infected, monsters created by a virus known as BLACKLIGHT that is overrunning Manhattan. Captain Robert Cross (voiced by Jeffrey Pierce), a Blackwatch officer, is given orders to find and contain Alex.

Alex makes contact with his sister, Dana, who assists him in tracking down targets, leading to the infiltration of Gentek headquarters. He finds a young woman called Elizabeth Greene contained in the building. Greene is a host for BLACKLIGHT and upon her escape unleashes it upon Manhattan. Dana directs Alex to Karen Parker, his ex-girlfriend. She agrees to aid him in stopping the virus, but leads him into a trap where he is confronted by Cross. During their battle, Alex is injected with a parasite that threatens to kill him. Alex seeks help from Dr. Ragland, a pathologist linked to Gentek. Ragland helps Alex remove the parasite and turn it into a weapon against Greene. However, using it on Greene only serves to create a monstrous being, the Supreme Hunter, which Alex kills.

The origins of the virus and Elizabeth Greene are uncovered through a contact: in 1969 the government tested the virus' predecessor in Hope, Idaho, designed to target predetermined races. The virus mutated into something far more deadly, and the whole population was infected. Elizabeth Greene was the sole survivor; an anomaly in her body's biology accepted the virus, rewriting her genetic code along with that of her unborn son, codenamed PARIAH. The remaining population of Hope, Idaho, was liquidated by Blackwatch. Greene and PARIAH were kept in captivity for further research.

Alex discovers his own past: Blackwatch shut down the Gentek project due to leaks and ordered all project personnel eliminated. Alex Mercer took a sample of BLACKLIGHT as "insurance". Eventually pinned down by Blackwatch in Penn Station, he decides to kill as many as he can, releasing the virus before being killed. The virus entered Mercer's body through the bullet holes and re-purposed itself at the cellular level.

The contact and Alex pump a new "BLOODTOX" biological agent underground in order to drive the virus above ground where it can be fought directly, causing Greene to emerge, encased in a towering monstrosity. Greene falls from the monster in human form once she is defeated, and is consumed by Alex. Through her memories, it becomes apparent that General Randall, head of Blackwatch, is prepared to destroy Manhattan with a nuclear weapon. The contact, revealed to be Cross, and Alex infiltrate the USS Ronald Reagan to stop him. Once Alex consumes Randall, Cross is revealed to be a Supreme Hunter, who assumed Cross' identity after consuming him, and attacks Alex. He defeats the Supreme Hunter and moves the weapon out into theAtlantic Ocean, where it detonates and catches him in the blast. His remains float back to the city and regenerate after consuming a crow.

During the credits, it is revealed that the public considers the military to have been the one who stopped the infection; a US Senator is heard telling the media that the events in Manhattan were a case of nuclear and biological terrorism, and promises retribution upon those responsible, Alex claims himself to be 'something less than human, but also something more'. After the credits, Manhattan is shown to be slowly recovering, the virus has been almost completely eradicated. Alex, standing on top of the Reuters Building in Times Square, comments that his work is almost done. He sets out on a quest to achieve his full potential, and eventually completes this task. From then on, Alex roams the city, dealing with Infected and military forces as needed.

Prototype 2
Prototype 2 is an action-adventure open world video game that was released on April 24, 2012. It was developed by Canadian studio Radical Entertainment and is the sequel to 2009's Prototype. The game was published by Radical Entertainment's owner, Activision. The game features a new protagonist, James Heller, as he goes on a quest to destroy the Blacklight virus. The story is also one of revenge, as Heller wants to kill Alex Mercer, protagonist of the original Prototype, after his family was killed in the outbreak of the Blacklight virus. The game was announced at the 2010 Spike VGA Awards with the tagline "Murder your Maker."[5]

[edit]Setting and characters
The main character of Prototype 2 is James Heller, a man who blames the deaths of his family on Alex Mercer. After surviving a suicide mission and being transformed by the virus released by Alex Mercer, Heller is looking to kill Mercer, who acts as the game's main antagonist. Mercer's motives are unclear, but unlike the first game he is not committed to stopping the virus, but seems to be spreading it.

After the events of the first game, Manhattan recovered from the initial outbreak and everyone thought that the "Mercer Virus" was eradicated. 14 months after Prototype, Manhattan has been quarantined again, due to a second outbreak, one far worse than the first one, and blocked off from the other boroughs of New York City, which has been renamed New York Zero (NYZ). The boroughs of New York have been divided into three zones, the Red, Yellow, and Green Zone. Each region stands for how affected New York City is by the Blacklight virus. Most boroughs of New York Zero have been infected. The Red Zone is Manhattan, home of Alex Mercer; in it the Blacklight virus grows unhindered. The Yellow Zone is a triage area full of shanty towns and the poor, it is very crowded and while the virus grows there, it is at a minimum and Blackwatch is using the Yellow Zone as a petri dish. The Green Zone is non-infected New York City, except there is a heavy Blackwatch presence. James Heller will have missions in each zone and each mission's difficulty will depend on which zone it takes place in. Blackwatch is credited as occupying and controlling NYZ, but they are said to know that New York actually belongs to Alex Mercer even though the latter is only seen rarely.[8]

Blackwatch is the organization that is responsible for the creation of the virus and are in charge of eradicating it from New York City. Heller's main adversary in Blackwatch is Colonel Rooks. Rooks is more human than other Blackwatch members due to his family, though his commitment to the concept of family is his interpretation of Blackwatch's mission. Upon hearing the negative happenings in Blackwatch's missions, Rooks has a short temper, but can be thrilled if Blackwatch's missions are successful. Accompanying Rooks is Dr. Koening, the main virologist at Gentek. Koening oversees every major Gentek operation.[9]

[edit]Comic
It was announced by Radical Entertainment that like the original Prototype, Prototype 2 would have a comic counterpart. The three part series takes place before the video game, acting as a bridge between the two games. To be published by Dark Horse Comics, the first comic was called the Anchor. After eradicating the virus in Alex travels around the world, wondering about if the virus has made him a human, humanity's killer or its savior. In Africa, Mexico and Russia. Alex slowly begins to decide that he is the earth's savior and will usher it into a new age of prosperity after he wipes out humanity, however, this changes when he falls for a woman. When the woman betrays him, he decides that he will wipe out humanity and so he returns to New York City and makes it NYZ.

The second comic, dubbed the Survivors focused on a former police officer, Conrad who would join up with Ami Levin, a religiously tolerant person and Marcie, an art student. The three would run afoul of Lieutenant Riley, he would, however, agree to let Conrad see his wife, so long he agrees to work for Gentek. Unbeknownst to Riley, his wife was dead and that he ended up in a project called Orion. The third comic, entitled the Labyrinth introduced Heller and Mike Marcos. [10]

[edit]Game
Sergeant James Heller, touring in Iraq, receives various phone calls from his wife who fears for the safety of his daughter. After a final phone call, Heller returns home to discover them to be declared dead causing him to rejoin the military in the fight for NYZ against the Mercer Virus. Heller is briefed on the two previous outbreaks, the one in Hope, Idaho when only Elizabeth Greene survived and the second in NYZ when Greene was freed by Mercer.

To avenge his wife and daughter, Heller pursues Mercer but is infected with the virus, however, the strand he is given gives him the same powers as Mercer, causing him to black out. Heller is taken in by Blackwatch and given to Gentek where he is experimented on by Dr. Koenig of Gentek, with experimentation overseen by Colonel Rooks and Lieutenant Riley. Heller escapes the Gentek base and is taken in by Alex Mercer where he tells Heller that Gentek created the Mercer virus, Blackwatch controlled it and he was the experiment, he had nothing to do with the deaths of Heller's loved ones and that the Mercer Virus is a bioweapons test and that he wants Heller's help in destroying them. Mercer explains Heller's powers after he forces Heller to consume a soldier, following which Heller seeks refuge in a church and meets an old acquaintance, the priest, Father Guerra, whom he requests for help.

He is told of by Guerra of two Blackwatch commanders who Heller goes after and absorbs, thus making him Blackwatch's new top priority. Heller then learns of Blackwatch experiments in the Yellow Zone which he sets out to stop. After he stops them and discovers new strengths, Heller convinces Guerra to join him. [11] [12] [13]

Using information supplied by Guerra, Heller hacks into Blacknet Terminals to find out more about Blackwatch operations. He also does this to enact his revenge on Rooks for torturing him, albeit under directing of Koenig. Heller begins to combat Blackwatch by interfering in a number of their operations within the Yellow Zone on the people. This would lead Heller to Dr. Sameul Billengsley, a head researcher for Gentek. From consuming Billengsley, Heller learns of Blackwatch's experiments on people. Doing missions and interrupting Blackwatch forces through Blacknet would allow Heller to get closer to Rooks. This eventually causes him to learn of Colonel Rooks' Briefing, when he attends, Rooks and Lieutenant Riley both mysteriously vanish, leading to Heller deciding not to kill Rooks as he could be valuable information.

With the help of Guerra and an informant called Athena, later revealed to be Dana Mercer, Heller eventually uncovers a conspiracy within both Blackwatch and Gentek, and realizes that Mercer lied to him. Upon learning this and discovering that his daughter, Maya, is still alive, Heller begins to track Mercer down, killing Mercer's creation, Goliath, in the process. Mercer, realizing his plans have fractured, kidnaps Maya and locks her in a bank vault, presumably as insurance. When Dana informs Heller about this, Mercer hunts her down and imprisons Dana with Maya, signifying that no one, not even his own family, is safe from his anger. Heller follows Blackwatch intel to the bank where Mercer has the two captive, where Mercer states that all the death he had caused was part of his purpose for survival, as is Heller's. Mercer believes that the evolution of man had become stagnant, and by using the virus, he would allow mankind to live as super beings. Heller responds demanding that Mercer releases his daughter. Mercer declines, because Maya shared a DNA link with Heller that made the Prototype Gene. Mercer couldn't use either himself or Heller because they were already infected; instead, he reveals that she will be sacrificed for the creation of the Prototype race. The two then commence a massive battle, where Mercer is ultimately defeated. Before he dies, he laughs, and says that Heller is now at the top of the "food chain". Heller then consumes Mercer and instantly unleashes a huge wave of tendrils that kills every Infected in Manhattan, completely eradicating the virus. Afterwards, he frees Maya and Dana, both locked inside the bank vault by Mercer. Heller reunites with Maya and the story ends with a portrait of Heller hugging Maya and Dana looking to the sunrise on the roof of the bank, pondering the question of what's next.[14]

Credits
Prototype Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prototype_(video_game)

Prototype 2 Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prototype_2

Prototype Wikia: http://prototype.wikia.com/wiki/Prototype_Wiki 

All information, citation, and reference can be found on these Wiki's.