Being a monster is fun. Monsters have such a power over us that we can’t help but be both fearful and fascinated by them. Witness the popularity of Foxtel’s Crime Channel marathon Serial Killer Sunday, featuring day long programming about depraved monsters; or the ground breaking popularity of Grand Theft Auto. Prototype 2 takes this fascination to the next level, your not just a crazy person, you’re John Carpenter levels of monster, you’re a Lovecraftian monster, you’re a Resident Evil boss with no plucky STARS agents to stop you.

And by Thor it is fun.

You know it's a power fantasy game when the guys with bazookas are only annoying

I adored the first Prototype game for the same reasons. As Alex Mercer you were an unstoppable killing machine, taking terrible revenge on the army and the biotech company that had turned you into a monster. You had claws, tendrils, blades, hammers, bone weapons sprouted from your body like crazy and you good leap tall buildings and run faster than a helicopter could fly. When you needed information, you just ate the person who knew what you needed to know.

The game had some issues. The powers were difficult to scroll through and juggle which made the controls a bit confusing at times. The protagonist was also pretty difficult to get behind. Alex Mercer was on a revenge mission, but he was also utterly ruthless and pretty much divorced from humanity all together. There was no element to make him relatable. Playing as a monster is fun, but a monster with character is even better.

The big guys offer a little more resistance, then you tear them apart and eat them

Introducing the protagonist of Prototype 2, former soldier James Heller. To describe Heller as a little bit grumpy would be an understatement. He’s a man possessed, consumed with rage over the deaths of his wife and daughter at the hands of infected. He blames Mercer for the spread of the infected and joins the military mobilisation in New York’s Red Zone, to try and kill his target. Off course it doesn’t go as planned. Mercer isn’t so easy to kill, but on a whim decides to infect Heller with the same strain of the mutating virus to turn Heller into him. Kind of a fate worse than a fate worse than death thing, turning Heller into the thing he hates most.

From there the plot gets interesting enough that I don’t want to spoil it by giving any more away. Suffice to say there are some twists and turns and a few genuine surprises along the way. It’s not super high brow stuff, but it keeps you engaged far better than the last game did, the plot of which I can scarcely remember now.

He can tear a tank apart, but he can't break a wallnut with his bare hands

The controls have been given a good polish and Heller handles a hundred times better than Mercer ever did. Heller can have two of his mutations equipped at any one time and are controlled by two buttons. Tapping for combos and holding down for special attacks offers a surprising variety across five different powers. Heller can’t do everything Mercer could, there’s a few powers missing like the cool Guyver style armour, replaced with a block shield attack and some of Mercer’s odder skills, like convincing nearby soldiers some other soldier was him in disguise. A power that was hilarious but otherwise useless. In short there aren’t any skills you’re going to miss and Heller still feels like a Swiss army knife of crazy mutations. The newest and most often utilised ability is sonar. Heller sends out a pulse that drenches the screen in a sickly orange, the direction the pulse comes back from tells you where your target is and highlights them for a few moments.

Sometimes you'll prefer the quiet simplicity of a grenade launcher

You can still hijack helicopters and tanks and go on crazy shooting sprees, as well as use a number of military weapons. Many missions actually have you using your disguise powers to break into facilities, pick up VIPs (and then eat them), and join soldiers going on patrol. It’s a lot of fun playing the part and sneaking into areas and then eventually revealing yourself and tearing everyone to pieces.

This particular virus produces scary quantities of mucus, enought to entangle a helicopter

As in the last game there’s a levelling up system to improve certain skills and increase basic abilities like running speed, health and jumping height. Most of the experience can be farmed from the side missions. There are four types of non story quests. Missions you gain from hacking terminals that are often as comprehensive as story missions, underground Lairs that have you fighting huge hordes of infected, Field Ops that basically involve chopping up a couple of soldiers and scientists, and black boxes that are hidden packages hidden around the game. The Lairs, Field Ops and Black Boxes are found by exploring the city and there are certain enemies with yellow tags above them that indicate a special skill can be learned or upgraded by killing them.

Mercer has deep seated issues, wearing a hoody over a dress shirt, man he crazy

One of the most enjoyable additions to the game is a ladder system that ranks you against friends for almost everything you do the in the game. Whenever you pass someone for soldiers killed, blood spilt or cars thrown at helicopters, you’ll get a notification and a little goal medal if you make it to number one. It adds that extra layer of challenge to the gameplay so you always feel like you have something to do when you’re free roaming.

My only criticism of the game would be that it’s just ridiculously easy. There are a few special enemies that offer a little bit of challenge but by the last third of the game they don’t stand a chance against you. Having a few enemies that were a little tougher would have added to the fun and mixed things up a bit.

I loved the pants of Prototype and took a bit of flack for giving it five stars. But it was a fantastic game and I stand by it. Prototype 2 is absolutely superior to its original. Almost every element, gameplay, story, characters, has been improved and the new side quests and leaderboard rankings give it that Trials HD ‘just one more try’ feeling. Prototype 2 is a game that lets you play as the ultimate monster and fight monsters and it’s a staggering amount of fun.