Evolved

"The revelation. It freed me. It killed me." This article contains spoilers and plot details from Prototype 2. Read the article at your own risk.

Evolved
In-Game Information
Affiliations	Infected Alex Mercer
Weapons	Bladed arms
Misc. Information
Attacks	Swing blades, throwing objects
Appears in	Prototype 2

The Evolved were virally enhanced individuals created by Alex Mercer for the purpose of infiltrating and destroying Blackwatch and Gentek and to further his plans to spread the Blacklight virus to mankind. They mainly utilize a pair of Blades of two distinct shapes as a means of attacking, which are supplemented by powers that vary between each Evolved. Among the abilities unique to each Evolved are twin Whipfists, the ability to produce biobombs, tracking others of their kind, being untrackable, consuming individuals and summoning Brawler Hunters or a flock of Flyers.

Alex tasks his Evolved agents with infiltrating Blackwatch and Gentek, as part of his master plot to spread the tainted Whitelight compound, originally meant as an inoculation against his own virus, thus transforming anyone inoculated with Whitelight into an Evolved under Mercer's control.

Known Evolved

• Dr. Karen Archer
• Archer's Contact
• Lindsay Benhurst
• Biobomber
• Commander Chapin
• Lieutenant Colonel Ethan Collins
• Evolved Thief
• Dr. Lawrence Foster
• Keith Gallagher
• Sabrina Galloway
• Dr. Harry Gutierrez
• Dr. Jenkins
• Dr. Kishino
• Dr. Anton Koenig
• Elwood Pine
• Roland
• Dennis Wayne
• Whipfist Evolved
• Kamil Woinski

There are 38 Evolved in NYZ in total, excluding Mercer and Heller, while additional Evolved will rarely appear by releasing Whitelight toward Blackwatch soldiers.

Combat Tactics

Aside from Alex Mercer, Evolved are the fastest and most mobile enemy in game. To defeat them, players must act fast to their attacks and counter them wisely. All of the Evolved will wield twin Blades aside from the Whipfist Evolved. Their attacking methods are actually similar to the Brawler's, although faster and harder to defend from. Evolved can also throw rocks or other objects to damage players if far away.

The most effective power against the Evolved are the Claws, the Blade, and the Hammerfists. Claws can constantly damage them, without giving them time to fight back; although it will have problems dealing with multiple enemies. The Blade's Tornado maneuver can deal heavy damage, but can be countered if used at the wrong time. Hammerfists can deal heavy damage and shake them into the air, stopping them from attacking. The Evolved are also very weak against most aerial attacks.

Evolved will sometimes slash with both blades vertically, which when dodged, will cause their blades to become lodged into the ground, upon where players can then use use attack keys near them to deal heavy damage, depending on the power active at the time.

Note: When an Evolved is stunned with a shield bash or a powerful attack, make sure to attack them after they recover, as they have a counterattack where they lash both of their arms upward, which can stop most of Heller's attack and deal good damage.

Some Evolved also possess unique offensive powers:

• Dr. Karen Archer, as well as one of the Evolved that kidnapped Agent Griffin, can summon a Brawler pack to aid them in the fight. Archer will summon Brawlers twice during the fight, two the first time and four the second time, when her health is dropped to a certain level. The Evolved that kidnapped Agent Griffin will summon two Brawlers whenever one of his teammates is defeated.
• Roland can suddenly erupt spikes from his body, transforming himself into a spikeball, which deals heavy damage if not dodged or blocked in time.
• Lindsay Bendhurst, Dr. Lawrence Foster, and Alex Mercer can summon Flyers to aid them in fight. Dr. Foster's Flyers automatically disappear when Heller defeats and consumes him. However, during Mercer's fight, Heller must use the devastator attack to destroy the flyers before the fight may continue.
• The Biobomber, as well as some of the other Evolved, has the ability to biobomb Heller after hitting him with a slash. The attack deals heavy damage. This can be avoided by blocking.
• The Whipfist Evolved's attacks can be blocked or dodged. React fast to defend from the Whipfist and charge to attack during her attacking interval.

On the minimap, Evolved will be marked as small red dots, which helps separating them from normal humans when not in alert. If you know an Evolved is disguised, you may gain an upper hand by attacking first, rather than trying to consume him and got tossed away. Note that this only works when the Evolved is not scripted to run away immediately.

Chasing Evolved

Not all of the Evolved will start a fight immediately after their cover is blown. Many of them will attempt to run from Heller. When chasing the Evolved, try to keep airborne as long as possible, as the Evolved cannot glide. Players can also wall run along the side of a building to regain momentum and recharge air dashes for continued gliding. Do not try to damage the Evolved being chased as they are immune to damage at this state. If you lose track of them, don't panic and quickly find the indicator of their location. Sometimes, Evolved will try to throw rocks or cars at the player. Dodge this by changing directions or with an air dash.

Trivia

• Several of the Evolved, such as Dr. Koenig and Sabrina Galloway, refer to James Heller as being one of them, although he shares far more similarities with Alex Mercer.
  • It is implied that Mercer originally intended to make Heller an Evolved, but the latter's genetics resisted, and made him a Prototype as a result.
  • This is best seen by Koenig's dialogue during his battle with Heller, "I'm what you could have been. What you were supposed to be."
• Aside from using powers, Evolved also poses other passive abilities such as using varieties of disguise or consuming, and in some cases, they possess developed tracking skills or the ability to prevent their own tracking.
• Strangely, the Evolved can shift both arms to one kind of weapon, twin Blades/Whipfists, unlike Mercer and Heller, who have a variety of powers, though some are limited to one arm. This can be cited as an advantage over Prototypes, in terms of lethality.
• Exposing citizens and military to Whitelight after Fall from Grace, may rarely transform them into Evolved, even in free roam mode.
• Although the Evolved exhibit high intelligence in combat, those transformed by Whitelight will still attack Blackwatch after transforming for mere seconds, without receiving orders from Alex Mercer. It is presumed that they attack simply because they are amidst the chaos and confusion of transformation and infection.
• While the head Infected of both the Redlight and Blacklight viral outbreaks (Elizabeth Greene and Alex Mercer) cannot ever completely control the actions of their 'armies', the Evolved are the first Infected organisms to perform actions that against the head Infected's will, as both Dr. Anton Koenig and Sabrina Galloway's actions were against Alex Mercer's plan, for they both aided Heller against Mercer, albeit temporarily.
• It seems the viral strain given to the Evolved was modified by Alex Mercer so Blackwatch's Viral Detectors would not recognize them in disguise.
• The Blades used by Evolved come in two variants, the thin version, similar to Mercer's Blade in the first Prototype, and the broad version, similar to Heller's Blade.
• Most Evolved have their own unique battle taunt in mid-combat, with Heller having different responses toward each of them.
• They always counter anything regards on touching them when you try to grab, Bio-Bomb and consume would always reveal their true form.

Gallery

Subdued Evolved

Evolved engaging Heller

Elwood Pine reveals his viral powers.

Evolved Sabrina Galloway holding Heller's daughter hostage.

An Evolved Marine and Scientist.

Heller about to consume the Evolved Koenig

Heller engaging in his first fight against an Evolved

Keith Gallagher as one of Mercer's Evolved

Harry Gutierrez, in Evolved form.

Heller against an Evolved.

Evolved Karen Archer

A disguised Heller encounters an Evolved civilian.

Alex Mercer with his Evolved subordinates

Sources

• Prototype 2 - Radnet Edition reveal trailer