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Alex Mercer has become a monster in "Prototype," and he wants to find out how and why.

That's the setup for this open-world game – the second this year, after the PS3-exclusive "Infamous," to put players in the shoes of someone who never asked for superpowers. But Mercer makes no pretense of being nice – there aren't any of the moral choices that "Infamous" protagonist Cole McGrath was given.

Mercer wakes up in a Manhattan morgue with a chest full of bullet wounds and no memories. But he soon finds that he can consume humans, copy their shapes and absorb their memories. He also has enough strength to lift and throw a car, and the ability to run up the sides of skyscrapers.

After sifting a hint from an early victim's mind, Mercer learns that he has a sister. With her help, he starts looking for clues to his disturbing transformation – and to the shadowy military group, Blackwatch, that begins taking over the city just as mutants infected by a strange virus start overrunning the streets.

Much of the story is presented as a flashback, as told by Mercer to a mysterious confidant nearly three weeks after the start of the game. The plot is interesting enough, but it's told in a herky-jerky way that makes it tough to maintain any narrative momentum.

One neat storytelling device is the memories of the people Mercer consumes. Certain targets are marked as part of the Web of Intrigue, a chart of plot points made up of tidbits of information relating to the plot at large. Absorbing them gives Mercer new pieces of the big puzzle.

"Prototype" is far more gory and violent than "Infamous"; Mercer's powers aren't neat and tidy, and he's not concerned with sparing innocent life. In fact, consuming civilians is often the only handy way to refill Mercer's health when he's in a tight spot, though soldiers and mutants tend to restore more.

Absorption and imitation are just the tip of Mercer's shape-shifting iceberg. New abilities are unlocked as Mercer progresses through story missions, and he can purchase upgrades and new powers with the evolution points generously doled out for defeating foes and completing story missions and side challenges.

Mercer's mobility and diverse combat powers make rampaging through the city a blast, but there are some control issues that make finer movements a pain.

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RUNE FACTORY FRONTIER

3 stars

An offshoot of the farming-RPG series "Harvest Moon," the "Rune Factory" games mix a bit of combat in with all the plowing and planting. "Rune Factory Frontier" continues the agricultural adventures of Raguna as he arrives in a new town with a fresh row to hoe.

The game's a pretty mellow experience centered on day-to-day tasks and Raguna's relationships with his neighbors, though there is a story line to follow.

Raguna plants seeds in his fields and waits for the crops to mature before harvesting and shipping them off to be sold. Some crops grow best in certain seasons, and most take different amounts of time to mature. Much of the field is littered with debris at first, and special tools are needed to clear it, though it's not made clear where to find them.

Raguna can buy extensions for his house, such as a forge to make tools. He can capture the small, glowing Runey spirits that inhabit the land and release them to influence his fields or produce miracles. Apart from farming and wandering the town, there's also a floating, whale-shaped island above the town whose interior is a deep dungeon. Raguna can befriend and domesticate the monsters he battles there for use as livestock, and will find plenty of items along the way.

Nintendo Wii; $49.99 • Age rating: 10-plus

SINS OF A SOLAR EMPIRE: ENTRENCHMENT

3 1/2 stars

"Sins of a Solar Empire" was fantastic when it launched, though it did have a heavy emphasis on offense. The game's first mini-expansion, "Entrenchment," beefs up players' defensive options considerably, introduces a host of new features and improves the artificial intelligence.

Defensive upgrades have been moved to their own research trees, and some of the gaps in the offense-oriented technology trees have been filled with new abilities. Along with improvements to defenses, each culture can lay down fields of space mines and field units capable of cracking a fortress world.

But the most obvious new features are the starbases, incredibly expensive structures that, when upgraded beyond their vulnerable initial forms, can hold their own against entire fleets. These bases can be built anywhere, allowing players to create a foothold in enemy territory or hold onto previously uncontrollable areas such as stars and gas giants.

Each culture has a different kind of base with unique upgrades that are in line with their play styles.

Other additions include units designed to counter hardened defenses and smaller tweaks such as the new quick start option, which allows players to begin with a few extra structures that are typically built first thing. Not shabby for a $10 download.

PC (ImpulseDriven.com download); $9.95 Age rating: Teen

– Justin Hoeger

Nintendo's "Punch-Out!!" boxing games date back to the mid-1980s with the original arcade version, but most gamers are probably more familiar with the 1987 home version for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

First in "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!" and later in the slightly revised version without the Tyson license, late-'80s gamers learned to counter the dirty tricks of such hulking, caricatured boxers as King Hippo, Bald Bull and Piston Honda with the steady punches of the diminutive Little Mac.

The series had been dormant since "Super Punch-Out!!" in 1996, but now there's a new version on the Wii.

Mechanically, this "Punch-Out!!" is nearly identical to the old one (which is available on the Wii's Virtual Console for anyone who wants to check out the similarities).

For defense, Little Mac can dodge left or right, duck and block. For offense, he has high and low punches and the more powerful Star Punches.

Players can control the game with just a Wii Remote, for which the controls are pretty much like the original NES game, or with the Remote and a Nunchuk, which uses motions for the punches. The Wii Balance Board can be added to control ducking and dodging.

Little Mac's limited arsenal is part of what makes the game such fun. Each boxer is a puzzle to crack, and while the first few matches are pretty easy, the challenge ramps up quickly.

The lineup of rival boxers includes everyone from the original NES game except Mike Tyson and his eventual stand-in, Mr. Dream, along with several fighters from "Super Punch-Out!!" and a handful of series rookies.

Each of the fighters has an arsenal of regular punches and a signature special move. More powerful moves are telegraphed by signature taunts or movements, but that doesn't always make them easy to avoid. For example, King Hippo's two-handed smash must be ducked or countered with a body blow at just the right moment, and Great Tiger creates a phantom version of himself that's easy to spot but can still spoil a player's defense timing.

Opponents tend to have a tight defense, so the player has to watch for openings in attack patterns and exploit them. Little Mac will tire if he blocks too much or if his own punches are blocked, but his foes won't.

Hitting opponents in the right way at the right time may produce the stars that are used for Star Punches, or in some cases knock them down outright. Mac can win with a knockout, three knockdowns in a round, or by a decision at the end of three rounds.

After defeating the final boxer in Career Mode and claiming the big prize, Little Mac must defend his title against his previous opponents in the tougher Title Mode; they come back to the ring with new attack patterns.

Players having a tough time on a particular match can head to training mode for practice against a harmless hologram.

This "Punch-Out!!" is the first in the home series to offer a "versus mode" – two Little Macs can fight in split-screen fashion, and if they manage to fill a special meter all the way, they can temporarily become the more powerful Giga Mac.

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Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2

2 1/2 stars

Series veterans know just what to expect from "Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2": the same nearly mindless hack-and-slash action that defines the series. But this installment improves quite a bit on the first "Gundam" spinoff. The game play remains incredibly repetitive, but it's entertaining and well-done.

Players can select from several characters to go through the Official Mode, which ties into the anime series, or take on specific challenges in Mission Mode. Either way, the core of the game lies in guiding a powerful robot fighter to key points on the battlefield, pounding hordes of enemies until the contested zone is under control, then moving on to the next. The missions are arranged so that multiple paths to victory may crop up, depending on what the player does.

More powerful enemies appear from time to time, and sometimes the player must face gigantic foes that can be taken apart piece by piece.

Microsoft Xbox 360, also for Sony PlayStation 3, PS2; $59.99 ($29.99 for PS2) • Age rating: Teen

Air Conflicts: Aces of World War II

2 stars

"Air Conflicts: Aces of World War II" offers several campaigns each for the RAF, Luftwaffe, U.S.S.R. and U.S. Army Air Forces. Players have limited planes with which to complete a campaign – lose them all and it's back to the beginning for another try. It's unusual for a modern game not to offer "continues," and "Air Conflicts" is a reminder of why: It's simply frustrating to waste all that effort.

The limited number of planes is balanced out somewhat by the campaign structure: Whether a mission is failed or passed, the timeline still progresses, so the game moves on to subsequent missions as long as there are planes left.

The game play is fairly simple, with controls for acceleration and braking, firing guns and rockets, dropping bombs and so on all easy to master. Leading enemy planes properly is trickier to figure out, and sometimes hits seem to pass through their targets.

Sony PlayStation Portable; $29.99 • Age rating: Teen

Stalin vs. Martians

1 1/2 stars

"Stalin vs. Martians" is a silly strategy game that does exactly what it says on the tin. Under orders from Josef Stalin himself, the player battles an invasion of pastel aliens with a variety of Soviet vehicles and infantry, which can be instantly replaced by spending points in the reinforcement menu.

The game's arcade presentation is different from most real-time strategy games – players run over icons dropped by defeated enemies to restore health, increase attack, gain more points for reinforcements and other effects.

The graphics are middling, the sound is annoying and the game play hasn't been polished; troops are sluggish to respond, and attacks are hit-or-miss.

"Stalin vs. Martians" is available via several online marketplaces, including Steam, GamersGate and Direct2Drive.

PC; $9.99 • Age rating: Not rated

– Justin Hoeger

"Red Faction" was a decent shooter with an awesome gimmick.

As rebellious miners caught up in a resistance against the oppressive Ultor Corp., players could blast chunks out of the Martian tunnels and high-tech bases they explored, using the destruction to sneak around enemies or destroy their cover, among other uses.

"Red Faction II" brought the action back to Earth and limited the usefulness of the game's so-called "GeoMod" features, which was kind of missing the point of the thing.

But "Red Faction: Guerrilla" is back in the sweet spot, only instead of destroying the Martian landscape, players destroy pretty much all else.

The main character, Alec Mason, goes to Mars to meet his brother Dan, who is part of a rejuvenated Red Faction rebel movement. Seems the Earth Defense Force that liberated the miners at the end of the original game has replaced Ultor as oppressors.

Mason gets an early lesson in this when an EDF aircraft kills his brother. Before a patrol can finish him off, members of the Red Faction save him and recruit Mason into their ranks. He becomes a vital part of their plan to liberate Mars' habitable regions.

The name of the game is "Guerrilla," not "One-Man Army." It's not all about shooting, like the first two. It's a game about blowing things up and tearing stuff down. Mason is outnumbered, and the EDF soldiers are good shots and tough to kill, if not very smart.

He can opt into numerous side missions such as hostage rescues, convoy thefts or destruction, demolition and so on, along with main-line missions that advance the story. If Mason dies, he'll fail his current mission, reappear at a Red Faction safe house, and morale will fall a bit.

Mason also has a supply of remote-activated demolition packs that double as grenades, and these along with his powerful hammer form the core of his structure-destroying repertoire. Most of the other weapons are good for fighting EDF soldiers – there are shotguns, pistols, rocket launchers and assault rifles as well as exotic guns such as a lightning thrower that zaps enemies inside vehicles, leaving the hardware with only light damage.

All the destruction has a purpose: It weakens the EDF's hold on a region and increases rebel morale. Eventually the EDF will be driven out.

The going can get tough, but collected salvage can be used to upgrade Mason's weapons, buy new ones, increase his ammo capacity, apply armor plating to his clothes and so on.

The online multiplayer consists of mostly familiar game modes spiced up with the game's destructible buildings. Several of the game types focus on destroying enemy buildings and defending the team's own structures. And Wrecking Crew, the game's terrific party mode, has players pass around the controller to see who can wreak the most destruction on the game's multiplayer maps.

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UP

2 stars

Publisher: THQ

System: Nintendo Wii, also for Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 2, DS

Price: $39.99 ($19.99 to $39.99 for other versions)

Age rating: 10-plus

Based on the Disney and Pixar film, "Up" emphasizes teamwork between the main characters, the elderly Carl Fredericksen and young Wilderness Explorer Russell.

As they explore the South American jungle while tethered to Carl's floating house, they help each other climb up ledges, push obstacles out of the way and solve various puzzles. A single player can switch between the characters at will, and a second player can drop in at any time.

The game play isn't great and the visuals aren't that good, though "Up" features nice music. But there isn't much here.

FREAKY CREATURES

1 1/2 stars

Publisher: Abandon Interactive

System: PC and Macintosh

Price: $19.99 and recurring fees for online play

Age rating: 10-plus

Part toy, part game, a "Freaky Creatures" starter pack includes a couple of monster action figures, a 1-gigabyte flash drive and a code good for a month's free play of the online dueling game in which digital versions of the figures are used. For what the game offers, it's a stretch for it to require a fee.

There are a couple of starter packs available – this one comes with a monster called Trappern and a dragon-man called Dracon. More monsters can be bought separately.

The dueling game allows players to pit their creations against each other in simple turn-based battles. The access code provides a selection of body parts and items for players to customize their monsters – equip a beast with weapons, horns, tentacles or wings, and a tail, and it's ready to fight.

There are several damage and defense types, and players can further customize their fighters with powers as they level up.

MIGHTY FLIP CHAMPS!

3 stars

Publisher: WayForward Technologies

System: Nintendo DSi (DSiWare download)

Price: $8 (800 DSi Points) Age rating: Everyone

"Mighty Flip Champs!" is a devious puzzle game for the new Nintendo DSi. Controlling a character named Alta, the player must rescue her friends and in each level reach the Fishman, who serves as a teleporter to the next stage. But there's never a direct route. However, the player can change the layout of the stage at will – each level has one or more alternate layouts in a "stack" that can be flipped through at the press of a button. By cycling through the mazes, Alta can reach her destination, but she must avoid traps. The game grades players on time and number of flips it takes to finish each stage, so there's plenty of reason to play these over and over.

– Justin Hoeger