While the game is open for a lot of different approaches, they all just boil down to “fight” or “sneak.” Once you’ve figured out your plan for either situation, you can really just repeat it in any area. You will understand everything there is to Prey’s gameplay long before you reach the end of it. There is very little in terms of player growth or mastery in the game. This is a game where you can get the drop on enemies, but without the right perks you will not be able to easily fight them. The game’s progression is built on abstraction, and is more of a RPG. An Action RPG:ĭon’t let the screenshots fool you, Prey is not a FPS. What makes Prey work is also where the problems I have with the game lie. Outside of a few optional areas, the game never puts you in an area and tasks you to fight your way out of it. They will also respawn when you leave and return to previously visited areas.Īs a special point, I would like to give the developers credit for not creating generic boss fights in fact, there are no bosses period. ![]() The different enemies have hard defenses and counters that you can learn by scanning them (akin to Bioshock’s camera). Even larger enemies could be considered mini bosses and require specific tactics to take them out.Įach enemy type will test you in different ways The phantoms come in different varieties and act as the game’s shock troops. The small mimics can transform into literally any interactable object in the game and lie in wait for the player. There aren’t a lot of enemy types in the game, but each one was designed to present a unique challenge to the player. The Typhon may lack that easily identifiable look like the Big Daddies of Bioshock, but they are some of the most interesting enemies seen in the genre. Speaking of different situations, the small, but varied approach also applies to the game’s enemies. Many areas have completely different paths through them, and rarely will you come to an obstacle that only has one way to get by. Depending on the player’s penchant for lateral thinking, the game rewards people for coming up with creative solutions. The beauty of the game is that very rarely will there only be one way through a situation. Every one of Morgan’s items can be used in different situations. The Gloo gun can freeze certain enemies to open them up for attacks, create makeshift platforms and barriers, and is used in many of the game’s puzzles. Very early on you’re given the Gloo gun which may be the best unorthodox weapon in a FPS since the portal gun. Your pistol for example is also your long ranged stealth option. Instead of focusing on a lot of weapons and turning the player into a one-man army, Prey is all about tools. Each perk will radically change Morgan’s ability, and by design, the player’s options.īeyond that, the player gets access to a small, but very flexible number of items and weapons. The perks themselves cost different amounts of neuromods to install. The game starts out with three trees of perks, with three more unlocked later in. Neuromods, Prey’s version of Plasmids or Tonics, allow you to upgrade Morgan. The neuromod system is where all progression in the game comes from ![]() At the surface layer, the game allows you to either fight or sneak your way around Talos 1, but there’s more to it than that. Prey’s major tenet is that the player is in control of how they want to play through the game. This also plays into a major part of Prey’s design: Giving the player choices and having them matter to the gameplay. There are always multiple rooms to explore, hidden pathways and items, and so much more. Each area of the station is not that big in terms of space taken up, but the level of detail is astonishing. ![]() The level design and environmental storytelling are some of the best I’ve seen in some time. ![]() While you do have missions to achieve, you have complete freedom to explore and get around challenges. If the name of this section didn’t clue you in, Prey takes heavy influence from Bioshock and System Shock in its approach and design. The space station has become infected by an alien life form that has been referred to as “Typhon.” Playing as Morgan Yu, you wake up to discover the last three years of your life have been a lie set up by your brother Alex. Prey takes place on board the Talos space station in the far future. What we got was a sleeper hit in terms of game design, and another game that blurs the line between action and abstraction gameplay. The complete reboot of a series that already spent years in development, Arkane decided to do what they always do: Make something completely different. Prey by Arkane Studios did not have a lot going for it at launch.
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