enFenix

Despite having a rough start, with some hiccups along the way, and a troubled finish to the series, I thoroughly enjoyed the game. Granted, I went into playing this game being aware that there was a very large outcry of complaints regarding the endings available in the game. With that in mind, I was prepped for a very disappointing ending to the title and the series. Regarding the endings, I will say this one non-spoiling thing: They're not half as bad as the die-hards are suggesting. The game makes suggestions throughout it's entire story about what would be on the table in the last few moments of the story, so I'm unaware why people were so shocked. The diversity of endings, in my opinion, were nothing different from the previous installations. Mass Effect 1 & 2 both had endings which varried SLIGHTLY depending on many of the players decisions throughout the titles, however the major results of each of the original 2 titles endings never changed. The diversity was in supporting details. So my thoughts regarding the backlash of the chosen ending of the game is for people to stop complaining and enjoy the game for what it is. Outside of the more controversial issue, the story of the game is wonderfully written, and incorporates many facets of the original 2 games, including the decisions made by the player in the original titles. The details surrounding the core plot of the game during my play-through vastly differed from that of my friends experience. I was impressed by the games potential for diversity in ancillary details. Graphically, to be honest, I feel the engine has hit it's apex and is beginning to age. However, it was still a visually-enjoyable game. The game-play experience itself was well fleshed-out, although I feel the second instalment of the series takes the crown in this category. The side-quest of searching through the galaxy for bonus resources/items/etc was very basic and un-interesting. The combat system seemed to be a little flawed this time around, where actions I expected my character would make were not, well, made. The voice-recognition for the Kinect was fun for a bit, but then become an irritation. That is my own personal experience, others may enjoy it greatly. Overall, I suggest you be aware that the ending has some controversy around it, and otherwise enjoy this game for everything it offers between the start and the finish.

TO BE FAIR: I have only played this game for about 10 hours so far. However, I have been consistently frustrated by the over-simplified mechanics of the game-play experience. The skill system is a very flawed construct when compared to other titles, including this game's direct predecessor. I receive many arguments from fans stating that Blizzard aimed for simplification to allow a wider diversity of players to enjoy the game. I don't accept this. If you look at recently-release titles such as Skyrim, Mass Effect 3 and even Modern Warfare 3, all skill-learning and upgrade systems allow much more freedom of customization of the players character/s and (despite some issues with Skyrim's UI ease-of-use) the games are extremely enjoyable by an extremely wide range of players. Another frustration to consider is the side-effects this being network-dependent... Such a side-effect I seem to suffer from repeatedly is server lag in a single player game... Think about that. I've had moments during solo-play where my character jumps around the map, counter-strike-style, when my connection to the server suffered. On a positive note, the improvements in the audio/visual realm are very much appreciated, but it's nothing impressive when compared to the majority of titles on the market. Overall, despite being a relatively short distance into the game, I feel that Blizzard has made some shocking mistakes with the design of the game-play mechanics, and their choice with making this an exclusively network-dependent game. I sincerely hope that Blizzard listens to it's customers complaints and releases some significant improvements to the game.

Despite being extremely excited for the sequel to a game I found to have a good amount of further potential, Prototype 2 left me wanting more and receiving less. The biggest problems were the result of too much time being spent on improving the look of the game than the game-play experience. While the graphics engine received some considerable improvements that are, in some areas, quite impressive, many other aspects of the game came in under the expected mark, even when compared to the first. It's predictable and dis-jointed story and flawed game-play mechanics take too much away from the experience to make this a winner. Sorry Radical, better luck next time.