The original Prototype will probably always be remembered for its rivalry with the similarly themed InFAMOUS. Both titles tasked the player with traversing a wide open city sandbox with a superhero of questionable morality, stopping every once in a while to fuss with some skill trees or collect little items. While Prototype 2 is largely the same game in terms of concept and structure, it no longer has to live in the shadow of Sucker Punch’s creation. While Cole McGrath has gone on to star in a sequel of considerable depth, Alex Mercer and his game have been stripped down to their bare skeleton, for better and worse.

The game opens with some flashing, grainy images and narration about the life of protagonist James Heller, an Iraqi war vet whose family was trapped in New York Zero during the second outbreak of the Blacklight Virus. Heller is transferred into the contaminated city to aid the military in its fight against the zombie plague, even though army command knows he only wants to find Alex Mercer, the man who the public believes is responsible for the events of the first game. Mercer, who is in fact no longer human, infects and recruits Heller for his own purposes, but… well, the game’s tagline is ‘Kill Your Maker.”

James Heller is a very different kind of character than his predecessor. Whereas Mercer was broody and constantly searching for answers in the twisted conspiracy perpetrated by Blackwatch, Heller is basically just a honey badger in a leather jacket. He does have the deaths of his wife and daughter as motivation, but since we never get to meet them, it’s hard to sympathize. Later plot developments do offer promises of character growth, but with an emotional range that only spans “Angry” and “Sad,” it’s impossible to get invested in the few things that are actually going on. To the game’s credit, Heller’s voice actor is pretty fun, tossing off a few good one-liners when he isn’t repeating the same few swear words or calling women “bitches.”

Most of the title’s flaws can be simply traced to the writing. Heller and Mercer are both one-note characters, but the considerable supporting cast is even worse. There are at least half a dozen scientists that play into the plot, none of whom have enough screen time to justify their existence before they’re devoured by the hero. Both Heller’s allies and enemies are equally boring and cliché, at least when they have an identifiable personality at all. Probably the worst offender is the hilariously contrived priest, who might as well have been Cheech Marin’s character from Machete. The first Prototype may not have been high art, but I remember caring about Mercer’s journey more than this.

At least part of the problem lies in the pacing. The game flies by, jumping from plot point to plot point with no time to breathe. Every cutscene amounts to characters spitting exposition at each other as quickly as they can, apparently eager to get the voice-over recording over and done with. You could probably breeze through the whole thing in about 5 hours if you didn’t stop to do repetitive side-quests, but it will take considerably less time for you to start praying for the bad guys to nuke the city. The worst part may be that there is potential for some real drama with the dynamic between the new and old main characters, but the execution is just underwhelming.

If you aim to get your money’s worth from the purchase, you’re going to spend some time going to the side-quest icons on the map. However, you’ll quickly find that there is little to no variety to be had in these diversions. Just as in the last game, you’re tasked with killing all the enemies at a certain location, infiltrating a facility by impersonating someone you absorbed, or racing across some rooftops. Since those game types make up the bulk of the campaign as well, the side missions don’t offer any sort of a break from the main attraction. Also, the first iteration’s RPG elements have been simplified to correspond with certain side-mission types, so instead of spending points on upgrades when you want to, the game will just ask you to pick one when you’ve done enough tasks. I understand the desire to keep the player immersed in the game world, but this is an instance where I could understand accusations of “dumbing down.”

Luckily, the core gameplay is very solid. However, just as any narrative complexity and character depth were excised between installments, it seems as though the combat has been noticeably simplified. That’s not to say there isn’t any strategy–you always need to experiment with your weapons and powers to find out what best suits each enemy type and situation–but the mechanics of fighting have definitely been streamlined. Each weapon has only two basic techniques: 1. Holding the assigned button or 2. Mashing the assigned button. There are also aerial attacks and some “Devastator” specials, but the crux of the violence hinges on your ability to figure out which baddies need to be clawed and which ones need tentacles jammed in their orifices.