[EGD] If This Is The Prototype Then Where Is The Final Product?

Review by matthade2 on Wednesday, July 10th 2013

Hello and welcome to my first review! Today I will be looking at Prototype made by Splatter in the Arcade Creator for EGD 7! Splatter is known for making some pretty amazing games and even has some experience with the arcade creator. That's a lot of pressure to live up to. So does Prototype live up to the hype? Is it the magnum opus of this year's EGD? Can it make me a sandwich? Well relax, sit back, and grab you something to eat as we take a look at Prototype!

Review

I'm going to start with the narrative elements first and while it's not much it still is good. The plot of this game is that you are a robot or something made by the humans to stop a alien threat. This plot is pretty basic but the dialogue is where the narrative shines. Whether you are talking to the helpful tutorial man, the final boss, or just learning more about the game it gives you more insight into the game and even helps raise the stakes. It doesn't interrupt the gameplay experience and only serves to make the game more fun for you.

Next up is the presentation! Does prototype lag, look good, and have a overall good experience? With that said the game does manage to run smoothly. I can't recall any moments of slowdown and or any glitches out making the game unplayable. The music is pretty fitting too. Each track manages to capture the mood. The stages while having basic locations run smoothly and don't slow down. The scenery however is a mixed bag. While some stages like the opening stage or in the caves have great scenery other stages like the Desert and level four are just boring and bland. I've seen beautiful scenery in the arcade creator before I know it has the potential. Seeing some of these uninspired stages in Prototype makes presentation one of its weakest points.

Difficulty however is Prototype's strongest point. I can't thank Splatter enough for the great difficulty in this. It's challenging but not impossible. It's difficult but not horrible. This game constantly introduces new and unique challenges in every level and hardly any of them are not fun to play. The action is fun and exciting and there are plenty of health powerups scattered out so you can make a couple of mistakes. Even at the bosses which could be so lazily put together shine through with unique and more importantly fun ways to defeat them. It's very easy to make a punishing, hard, experience. It is very difficult however to make a fun challenging experience and Splatter managed to do that here. Difficulty here was well executed for both the hardcore players and for the brand new players.

Now let's talk about placement. When playing Prototype there are a lot of moments that are supposed to go a certain way and you can tell when playing the game that Splatter tested this game a bunch to make sure it was pitch perfect. From the quick jumping areas with precise landings to even the slowed down moments when you look for switches to get to the next area the block placement is stellar. The enemy and the health placement is spread out throughout all the levels. However there are some more annoying tedious parts in the game that make the placement unbearable. Wall jumping sections and lava areas especially are tedious and not a joy to play through because of the placement. Heck even Splatter had a tough time getting through these sections when I saw his walkthrough of the game. Placement isn't bad but could be a lot better.

Finally we come to the biggest and most important part of any game the gameplay. Prototype starts off with a great tutorial to show you the basics of the game. Here you learn about enemies and various ways of attacking them. You can jump on enemies or shoot them with magic or whatever that blue energy ball is. The control is your standard arcade creator controls and you gain more powerups as you go along. You travel through multiple stages and levels with different obstacles and challenges. Most of the challenges are jumping puzzles or slowing the pace down for a puzzle or two. The big issue with the gameplay is the length. The game is only six levels, which isn't that big or expansive. I was constantly saying to myself throughout the game I want more! This is too short! Where is my sandwich mom! Some awesome moments of gameplay include: different paths, a sense of progression, problem solving, and even a boss gauntlet! There are some issues though like having to pick certain upgrades to advance and a lackluster ending. Gameplay here does feature challenges and keeps my interests. However there are some moments that drag out to long and are not fun to play through.

The Ratings

Story: 8 out of 10

Presentation: 7 out of 10

Difficulty: 9 out of 10

Placement: 8 out of 10

Gameplay: 7 out of 10

Overall: 7.8 out of 10

Feature Worthy: Yes

Overall Prototype does feature what I like to see in a game and makes me want to come back for more. While the presentation and placement are okay this game really shines through in its difficulty and gameplay and even in its narration. Prototype is a fantastic game that Splatter put a lot of effort into and I can honestly recommend this game as an arcade classic.