While the combat abilities definitely hold appeal, absorbing biomass as a form of disguise has interesting implications. Non-player characters respond realistically to you based on your appearance and behavior. If Alex consumes a military commander, for example, he'll be treated as though he is that commanding officer. On the most basic level, this means soldiers won't fire at Alex and grant him access to military installations and equipment. Depending on the disguise, there's the potential for more advanced trickery. As an officer, Alex can disband a squad by invoking distrust within the group. Accusing a soldier of being infected causes dissension among the ranks, ultimately ending with a deadly standoff between comrades. Naturally, this is an effective means of dealing with military forces and clearing the way for Alex to bypass heavily guarded areas.

The unique ability to don disguises from the biomass of foes offers something wildly fresh; however, there's little else that breaks up the supreme focus on combat. Too much may have been inherited from Radical's work on Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. Satisfying as it is to kill soldiers and wreak havoc in Manhattan—perhaps it would be best to leave that to the green machine. With Sony readying its own super-powered free-roaming action game in Infamous, Prototype could end up being late to the party and without that game's diversity. The delay until early (April) 2009 could be a move to incorporate more innovative elements like biomass disguises to provide more variety and depth to the action. Even if Prototype doesn't undergo such a change, it still should dish out some satisfying action.

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