New York City is a war zone. From Times Square to Central Park to Harlem and Manhattan, even Penn Station, where it all began. You’re Alex Mercer, and your life will never be the same.

It’s been eighteen days since an outbreak brought New York City to its knees, overrun with infected creatures, from shambling, once-human beasts in street clothes, to the highly evolved Hunters, that can fell a battle tank with powerful blows from their fists. Eighteen days since Alex Mercer became something else, and now you are at the epicenter, fighting to remove the infection at the heart of your city. U.S. Military and the shadow organization “Blackwatch” pursue you, as a mole within helps as you fight to end this war on your terms.

After a lab accident in Penn Station, you have changed in ways unfathomable – your body changes shape at your every whim, you move and fight like no one else alive. You now assimilate to learn – acquiring memories and skills as you consume your targets. Good thing you can assimilate others’ memories – you’ve lost nearly all your memories, beyond your name. To top it all off, the U.S. Government wants you back, dead or alive, and they prefer the latter. The infectious strains that created you are loose in the city, and you are the key to victory, for all sides in the fight.

You begin on Day One, learning your abilities, and the events that granted them, in cinematic flashbacks following your assimilation of key characters in the storyline. Biological warfare experiments gone awry are the culprit – you are framed as the source of the NYC outbreaks, neatly covering Blackwatch’s involvement, with U.S. Marines in the fight so Blackwatch higher-ups will have a “patsy” in case things go wrong.

You move with powerful leaps, climbing ability a la Spider-Man, and gliding to eat up distance in fine fashion. This game is quite violent – as you seek clues to your past, your victims are consumed, absorbed in grotesque fashion. Consume Marines and Blackwatch troops, improving your skills with the military’s own arsenal, or use their stolen forms as the ultimate saboteur, entering bases undetected. Missions lead from the moment you are first infected, to the final, climactic battles of Day Eighteen. There’s a lot to learn before you reach Day Eighteen. Good thing you’ve got the Web.

The Web of Intrigue, that is – key characters are interconnected in a “memory map” describing the events of your rebirth as the Prototype. Key military and research figures are met within the campaign, while “free range” targets are uncovered as you roam the city. Gotta catch ‘em all! Events and challenges outside the storyline abound – do as many as you can manage, as these will

a) Sharpen your movement and combat skills without risking mission failure

b) Expose more Web of Intrigue targets as you travel the city, discovering the truth behind your origins

c) Earn beaucoup experience points in the process, making you more durable and dangerous, as you spend on upgrades.

Be prepared! Boss fights are never a cakewalk, and you need the combat experience these events will offer.

This game has held my attention for the past week for two main reasons – the storyline is engaging and compelling, with the Web of Intrigue the perfect means of delivery – many times, I found the Web of Intrigue more exciting than even exploring my new abilities. Reason Number Two? Ever performed an Elbow Drop onto a battle tank in Times Square, from fifteen stories up? Eat your heart out, WWE!