I once knew a guy called Chicken-Harrier. He was a dolphin-man. And when he wasn’t busy pondering his own existence he tended toward socialising with a friendly family of sentient ducks that lived in a horse factory inside our teacher’s computer screen.

No, I haven’t gone insane. I’m talking irrelevant drivel. The very same kind of irrelevant drivel spouted by masses of internet-faring gamers as of late regarding the so-called question of which game is better; inFAMOUS or Prototype?

Frankly, there’s another game of the same genre that beats the pants off of the both of them. Intrigued yet? I’ll explain further after the jump.

First of all, allow me to preface this entire argument. I really LIKE both inFAMOUS and Prototype. But for ENTIRELY different reasons.

inFAMOUS has an intriguing story, it’s got characters I feel connected to, it boasts a world that I actually care about to the point that I HELP civilians and try my best to keep the carnage out of their way (whilst playing Good at least). Oh, and one more thing, it’s HARD! One stupid decision in inFAMOUS will get you killed. Dead. I like a difficult game, it makes me think strategically, and that’s a good thing. This game does, however, FAIL MISERABLY at keeping me entertained and feeling truly empowered.

Prototype is just plain good fun. Some of the best fun I’ve had with a game in a long time, in fact. There’s a plethora of powers at your disposal, plenty of city to wreak havoc upon, and travelling from A to B is a lot quicker than it is in inFAMOUS. On the other hand, it’s easy. WAY too easy. No situation presented to me has posed a challenge. Worst case scenario: I run over a couple of buildings and devour some civilians to regenerate health, then head on back to the party.

Also, I have no care for the world whatsoever. The civilians may as well be plankton, for I have no care for their lives and at no point do I ever feel morally bad about that. Oh, and the story is poorly presented (to the point that I actually regret wasting time on watching cut-scenes), and is also a little bit similar – and by “little” I mean almost entirely – to the basis of Spider-Man: Web Of Shadows.

Which brings me nicely to my point (I really do enjoy a good segue), if you were to take inFAMOUS’ good aspects (story, characters, captivating world and relative difficulty), and then take the good aspects of Prototype (speedy and easy travel, plenty of powers, able to cause a ruckus utilising the environment), what you really end up with IS Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.

This game covers all of those “best bits” and bundles them all into one previously-established universe. It really is the best of both worlds, so to speak. And it genuinely shocked me to realise that the same people making the aforementioned arguments of late, are the same people who have either dismissed Spider-Man entirely, or have just not given it a try. How have these people avoided this game?! It’s truly a conundrum for me. I mean I’ll be the first to admit it didn’t get everything perfect, but at least it was all there (unlike a certain other two games I could mention).

I think what I’m really trying to get at here – my overall point, as it were – is that inFAMOUS is a good game, and so is Prototype. But if you really want to establish their respective faults, go back and play Spider-Man: Web Of Shadows, because even if you’re not a big fan of the game (or the setting for that matter), you can at least find an appreciation for its robust structure.

Everything you need from an open-world superhero game is there. inFAMOUS and Prototype cannot claim the same status.

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