Prey is regarded as a spiritual successor to some game of exactly the same name that launched back in 2006, but fans from the “original” won't find anything like the things they remember. Sure, you will find aliens, crazy sci-fi weaponry, rather than the twain shall meet, but the premise of the experience has changed drastically. It is better to think of this Prey as standing nearer to the RPG first-person action games from the Bioshock, Dishonored, and Deus Ex variety, and also to that end, it does the subgenre proud. Prey doesn't have quite the breadth of the other games occupying this stable, but it could possibly get just as deep for all those prepared to dive in to the void.
The story starts with protagonist Morgan Yu realizing he has been part of a mysterious experiment that resulted in losing his memory. Even more shocking is the fact that he's stranded around the Talos I space station with simply a handful of other survivors, and finds the station infested having a hostile alien race referred to as Typhon. The enigma of Morgan's identity, loss of memory, and connection with the aliens is tangentially touched upon over the course of the primary campaign, but it's usually put aside to make room for the more isolated stories involving other survivors. The game's biggest questions have been answered in rather direct fashion throughout the campaign's big finale. The conclusion becomes more and much more predictable the closer you're able to it, but still provides a couple interesting twists along with a mildly satisfying pay-off for the pseudo-moral choices the player made throughout the adventure. When everything concludes, there is no New Game Plus choice to be located, with only one difficulty setting above hard, replay value appears limited if players already picked the very first playthrough dry.
A insufficient replayability would prove problematic when the space station of Talos I wasn't this kind of expansive cradle of discovery and excitement. Unlike the white, claustrophobic tunnels of padding and buttons we all know as space stations, Talos I is a luxurious habitat, filled with all of the amenities for both comfortable living and high-end scientific research. Morgan awakes shortly after the aliens overrun the station, so its livability continues to be clearly visible under all the death and destruction. The lavish, art deco architecture contrasted against futuristic, sci-fi design creates an appealing backdrop for that Typhon and the eerie imposition they've around the environment. Combine this having a staggeringly impactful soundtrack of classic rock/synthpop tunes and dramatically sinister ambiance, and Prey delivers an environment that puts players on the fringe of their seats while keeping the tension from peaking excessive the majesty of the aesthetic can nonetheless be enjoyed.
Talos I being an open-world is hardly the biggest available, but there's a lot crammed into its tight spaces. The limited size the number of zones into that the map is split up means players will face more than their great amount of backtracking while progressing through the game. The monotony is remedied by the distinct environment design within the different areas of the station, plus the innumerable secrets hidden around every corner. The game's backtracking becomes more bearable when the player discovers picking a airlocks located around the station that enable access to the black void of space past the walls. Players can navigate round the entirety of Talos I in zero gravity, taking in the astounding view, exploring areas inaccessible from the interior, or using shortcuts to a more distant part of the complex. The zero gravity often leaks into areas of the station itself over the course of the experience, offering a new and enjoyable perspective for combat and exploration. Traversing zero gravity could be disorienting initially, but it quickly proves to be a captivating novelty when you are the hang of it.
Exploring Talos I-either on the floor or hovering above it-is the core of the Prey experience that each other game element serves. As players unlock new parts of the map and methods of access, the experience progressively gains momentum as more and more opportunities for discovery come into arm's reach. Successfully hacking a highly secured door, or spotting a hidden passage having a keen eye, makes the subsequent treasure trove of goodies that much more satisfying, specially when these secrets can end up serving as a solution to a hitherto unknown problem. Apart from the conventional ammo, medkits, etc., junk along with other items could be collected with regard to processing them at a number of Recycler terminals located round the station. These turn collectibles into different base materials for use in crafting virtually anything the gamer could need from separate Fabrication terminals (assuming they have the right materials and blueprint). This technique gives every pick-up in the game value, which in turn gives Prey's exploration a perpetual feeling of purpose.
There may be plenty to explore on Talos I, but players won't always like everything they find. Typhon are lurking around nearly every corner, often spawning in areas that were previously cleared to give the occasionally tedious backtracking some suspense. There are many varieties of Typhon that players will encounter, the two most common to be the shape-shifting Mimics and the formidable Phantoms. Mimics-as the name implies-are small, speedy creatures that may transform into everyday objects and wait to ambush unsuspecting scientists, while the larger Phantoms have no have to hide because of their durability and number of psychic abilities, such as manifesting energy right into a damaging projectile they can throw at Morgan. Additional tiers of Typhon will be faced as players progress with the story, including game's most daunting foe, the Nightmare Typhon, which appears when certain conditions are met. You will find just enough Typhon forms to help keep the threat unpredictable. Each one of these necessitates different tactics to overcome, and keep combat from becoming stale.
While Talos I is a host to science, you will find fortunately more choices for battling hostiles than simply beating them with the wrench you begin the sport with. Although the wrench is fantastic for bludgeoning when resources are scarce, there are also a number of more sophisticated tools for knocking the Typhon down a peg. The word “handful” might be literal than figurative here, though, because the game's selection of armaments is aggressively small. The few that are present are distinctly unique to each other and excel at tackling different foes.
The best and memorable of Prey's limited arsenal is the GLOO Gun, which fires an adhesive paste that quickly hardens like rock, freezing any enemy it covers for any brief time. When the projectile does not hit a target, it'll form a hardened glob on whatever surface it touches that can be beneficial in covering environmental hazards like fire, or creating platforms with which to climb to new areas. There's also nearly as many grenade varieties because there are firearms. These can also have a multitude of uses with respect to the player's creativity, such as the innovative Recycler Charge that sucks enemies or objects into a vortex and spits out crafting materials-handy for clearing a path, insta-killing foes, or other things the player can consider.
A wider choice in weapons would have been preferable taking into consideration the potential in the few that we got, but the available options manage to cover the bases. Killing in Prey is more about efficiency than style. The stiff controls and lack of aiming down sights can prove frustrating before the player involves terms using the game's combat design that incentivizes preparation over proficiency.
Fighting with just a weapon plus some wits is only going to get players so far in Prey, however. Eventually, they will need to purchase the game's skill trees to achieve an edge, unlocked through collectable Neuromods. There are two types of Neuromod skill trees; Human skills that are divided up into Engineer, Scientist, and Security branches, and Typhon skills which are broken down into Morph, Energy, and Telepath. Human skills are more passive than active, giving general stat buffs or upgrades to technical efficiencies, like hacking doors or carrying heavy objects. For more of a spectacle, the Typhon skills provide a selection of psychic powers which range from electric blasts to moving objects with your mind. This is also the course that houses the Mimic Matter skill which allows players to steal the strength of the Mimics and transform right into a number of objects that may be tactically effective or comedically meaningless based on your implementation of the power. Typhon skills are fun to mess around with, and useful in occasional scenarios, however they appear more as distractions while the Human upgrades feel integral to success. Design of skills begins to feel smaller the deeper in it you appear, but as with the weapons, there's just enough creativity and diversity to prevent feeling lacking.
However players decide to upgrade their character, it may only be done this with an abundance of Neuromods. These are Prey's form of experience points, but the game doesn't actually feature an experience-based progression system. To upgrade, players have to get Neuromods naturally, or craft them in the aforementioned Fabricators. This progression system works, however it leaves the need for side missions rather ambiguous when rewards to finish are better found elsewhere. There is essentially always something worthwhile hidden at the end of each task, however the same profit might be found through organic exploration, calling into question the point of a few of these quests. Obviously, story missions are necessary to open a lot of map, and both mission types expand around the overall narrative through smaller anecdotes of characters involved. Oftentimes, the more dedicated reward feels to be a heightened purchase of the planet and narrative, which could ultimately become more fulfilling than upgrading a personality through an arbitrary experience bar.
Prey is definitely an adventure that only gives back around you place in it, hitting the perfect quantity of depth if given your full attention. Submissions are somewhat limited and the environment can seem small compared to most initially, but closer inspection will reveal a full and engaging experience. Every corner may be worth a look, even though the replay options are limited following a game's conclusion, your time spent in the thick of it will race by and become worth every second.
