what have I become? something less than human, but also something more
"When I close my eyes I see the memories of a thousand dead men, screaming as I take their lives. Moments I'll relive forever."
I will be beyond displeased if Alex Mercer is really the main villain of Prototype 2.
Alex Mercer is not a very good person. He does not spew rainbows and pet kittens. Flowers do not spontaneously grow wherever he goes.
Alex Mercer is a walking wasteland. This is a game where if you pick someone up on accident, it is literally impossible to set them down gently. Your only options are to violently eat them or throw them into a car.
But he's not a monster, either.
A fairly large part of the game is devoted to Alex growing something akin to a conscience, if the screams of everyone he's ever eaten constantly reverberating in his mind can be called a conscience.
He knows pain. He knows fear. He knows exactly what he's doing and exactly how fucked up it is every time he takes a life, because he's experienced it countless times over.
This is the guy you want to be your super evil final boss??????
I actually really like Alex Mercer. I know, right? Growly-voiced amnesiac white guy with inexplicable powers goes on a stomping spree through a city. It's every single video game plot out there. But his character arc through the game, while very, very understated, was actually fairly interesting. He's not a good person at the beginning of the game and he's sure as hell not one by the end of it, but he at least regrets, which is far more than could be said for the man he's based on.
I cannot wrap my mind around the idea of undoing characterization like this. Why would anyone do this? They actually put in effort to make him change and grow throughout the game when it could have been so easy to just forge on and keep him an unholy biohazardous bastard. This is a guy who flips out in the penultimate mission because the guy he's pursuing keeps throwing troops at him to slow him down. Taggart throws away the lives of his men to cover his own escape. The entire stage is Alex practically baying for Taggart's blood in rage that he would do such a selfish thing.
This is a guy I'm supposed to believe would start his own viral infection because he believes humanity is worthless and not worth saving?
HE JUST ATE A THOUSAND FUCKING PEOPLE AND CONSUMED THEIR MEMORIES AND PERSONALITIES.
IF HE WAS GOING TO BE CONVINCED OF THIS FACT, YOU WOULD THINK HE MIGHT HAVE FIGURED IT OUT BEFORE NOW.
I just. This makes no sense. There were plenty of opportunities to take the character in this direction before now. He consumed countless Blackwatch soldiers, most of whom we can agree are downright pricks. He's consumed Taggart, who we already covered. He knows what McMullen did and would have done to New York City. Hell, he's based on Dr. Alex Mercer, a guy who was willing to cause a viral outbreak of unimaginable proportions to spite the people hunting him.
Why would they turn him into a bad guy now?
/flipping fucking tables I can't even
I know I shouldn't expect *~*QUALITY WRITING*~* from the gaming industry, but I was actually impressed with Prototype and Alex Mercer and fuck I even liked the Web of Intrigue even though hunting down the targets for it was a righteous pain in the ass. This was a game whose plot and writing was done by the guy who did Delta Green. DELTA FUCKING GREEN! Do you know how much I love Delta Green? It's a whole fucking lot!
I will be beyond displeased if Alex Mercer is really the main villain of Prototype 2.
Alex Mercer is not a very good person. He does not spew rainbows and pet kittens. Flowers do not spontaneously grow wherever he goes.
Alex Mercer is a walking wasteland. This is a game where if you pick someone up on accident, it is literally impossible to set them down gently. Your only options are to violently eat them or throw them into a car.
But he's not a monster, either.
A fairly large part of the game is devoted to Alex growing something akin to a conscience, if the screams of everyone he's ever eaten constantly reverberating in his mind can be called a conscience.
He knows pain. He knows fear. He knows exactly what he's doing and exactly how fucked up it is every time he takes a life, because he's experienced it countless times over.
This is the guy you want to be your super evil final boss??????
I actually really like Alex Mercer. I know, right? Growly-voiced amnesiac white guy with inexplicable powers goes on a stomping spree through a city. It's every single video game plot out there. But his character arc through the game, while very, very understated, was actually fairly interesting. He's not a good person at the beginning of the game and he's sure as hell not one by the end of it, but he at least regrets, which is far more than could be said for the man he's based on.
I cannot wrap my mind around the idea of undoing characterization like this. Why would anyone do this? They actually put in effort to make him change and grow throughout the game when it could have been so easy to just forge on and keep him an unholy biohazardous bastard. This is a guy who flips out in the penultimate mission because the guy he's pursuing keeps throwing troops at him to slow him down. Taggart throws away the lives of his men to cover his own escape. The entire stage is Alex practically baying for Taggart's blood in rage that he would do such a selfish thing.
This is a guy I'm supposed to believe would start his own viral infection because he believes humanity is worthless and not worth saving?
HE JUST ATE A THOUSAND FUCKING PEOPLE AND CONSUMED THEIR MEMORIES AND PERSONALITIES.
IF HE WAS GOING TO BE CONVINCED OF THIS FACT, YOU WOULD THINK HE MIGHT HAVE FIGURED IT OUT BEFORE NOW.
I just. This makes no sense. There were plenty of opportunities to take the character in this direction before now. He consumed countless Blackwatch soldiers, most of whom we can agree are downright pricks. He's consumed Taggart, who we already covered. He knows what McMullen did and would have done to New York City. Hell, he's based on Dr. Alex Mercer, a guy who was willing to cause a viral outbreak of unimaginable proportions to spite the people hunting him.
Why would they turn him into a bad guy now?
/flipping fucking tables I can't even
I know I shouldn't expect *~*QUALITY WRITING*~* from the gaming industry, but I was actually impressed with Prototype and Alex Mercer and fuck I even liked the Web of Intrigue even though hunting down the targets for it was a righteous pain in the ass. This was a game whose plot and writing was done by the guy who did Delta Green. DELTA FUCKING GREEN! Do you know how much I love Delta Green? It's a whole fucking lot!