The Musclemass power is obtained from the upgrade menu. It is purchasable after the Hammerfists and made available at the same time as the Whipfist power. While active, it boosts Alex's strength to immense proportions, increasing the damage done in close combat and the damage and distance of thrown objects. This ability is replaced by the Tendril Power of James Heller in Prototype 2.

StrengthsEdit

Musclemass increases Alex's melee damage twofold and increases the speed at which he strikes. At its base level, a charged attack will turn any human enemy it strikes into bloody chunks; once upgraded, even a glancing blow will cause this. Objects thrown with Musclemass will hit harder, fly further, and move faster than objects thrown at Alex's normal strength; upgrades will augment the distance. Though the game does not explicitly state it, all of Alex's Combat abilities, save for the Devastators, will be enhanced by Musclemass. This fact of Musclemass makes it one of the most damaging powers in the game if used with the right abilities.

Musclemass is most effective when used on living targets; vehicles are largely immune, or at the very least highly resistant unless used in conjunction with the Cannonball attack or Bullet Dive Drop. The various shockwave abilities can clear entire crowds in close proximity. Thrown enemies/objects will also hit much more accurately thanks to the speed increase.

Though Musclemass enhances the power of all Combat class abilities, a few in particular benefit greatly from it. The Cannonball attack, augmented by Musclemass, can destroy a helicopter on any difficultly level with a charged attack. The Uppercut and its various add-on combo abilities also become extremely deadly, enough to reduce a Hunter to its recovery state with a single combo on Hard. Even the simple Air Kick can bring down a Helicopter in two hits, and will carry Alex much further than it normally does. Musclemass also has the power to greatly increase the damage of the Bullet Dive Drop. Executed correctly, this can be used to destroy multiple tanks simultaneously, without actually getting an exact hit on any of them, so long as they are in close proximity. It can also be used to destroy military bases or Hives with little to no concern for retaliation, save for Helicopters. Even the knocking damage from sprinting with a Shield or Armor power is enhanced, as well as other miscellenous damaging acts, such as denting objects during parkour or even creating shockwaves from high falls.

WeaknessesEdit

The weakness of the Musclemass is that it does not actually modify Alex's attack abilities, only makes them more potent. It is useless against vehicles unless paired with Alex's high-end Combat moves, and even then Alex's other powers are far more efficient in this regard (except when destroying Helicopters). The short range also requires Alex to get face to face with his opponents to deal damage. His other powers, by comparison, have some measure of area-affect that will hurt enemies around Alex in addition to his current target. Its consume animations also do not deal any collateral damage, which may end up hurting Alex more while being swarmed by minor infected especially at higher difficulties.

UpgradesEdit

The upgrades include the MuscleMass Boost, which increases the overall damage and effectiveness of MuscleMass, and MuscleMass Throw, which increases distance when throwing an object with MuscleMass.

TriviaEdit

• In Prototype 2, the uppercut-style consume animation is reused for one of James Heller's Tendrils power consume animations, only with additional Tendril creating effects.
• The Flesh Cleaver consume animation is available in Prototype 2 as a pre-order incentive.

SourceEdit

• Prototype
• Prototype 2