Developer: Arkane Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Rrp: £19.99 (Humblebundle, Steam and the Bethesda Store)
Released: 4th May 2017
Available on: Humblebundle, Steam and the Bethesda Store
Played Using: Mouse and Keyboard
Approximate game length: 20+ Hours
Did that cup just move? No… no. It was just my imagination. Never can tell though… best hit it with a wrench to be sure. But if I do that and its real the cup will be broken and then I’d have to find another cup for my coffee, again. But I swear I saw it move. Maybe I’ll just give it a tap, that should be enough right? Wait, where’s my wrench? AAAHHHHH!
When I entered into this game I didn’t know what to expect, I’d gone out of my way to avoid spoilers and ignored most of the promo material that was out there. All I really knew was that it was a first person game where you could turn into a mug, that was it. And I have to say I’m so glad that I went into this game blind!
Prey is a first person RPG, taking extremely heavy inspiration from games such as System Shock Two and Bioshock. In fact this game actively flaunts its spiritual roots quite early on with several direct references to Looking Glass Studios (the creators of System Shock Two).
You play as Morgan Yu working aboard the Space Station Talos One, its a big place and houses some of the best and brightest minds that the Earth can muster. Unfortunately an infestation of an alien race, known as the Typhon, has quickly taken root on Talos One and its up to Morgan to solve the issue.
When starting a new game you can not only choose your difficulty setting but also activate survival mode which adds modifiers such as weapon degradation. This is actually the first game I’ve played that has a difficulty setting that’s below ‘easy’. The mode in question is named ‘story’ and from what I can tell (I didn’t use it apart from a brief moment to see what it does) allows players who are only really interested in the story a way to play and experience the story without being constantly killed.
Interestingly the player gets to choose what sex Morgan will be. What I find interesting about allowing this choice is the level of care they took into implementing this. Everything from dialogue with other characters, recorded audio logs and even written documents changes to reflect this choice. I know that sounds a bit strange to praise but it shows a level of attention to detail that you don’t often see for a choice that, mechanically speaking, is insignificant.
As I mentioned previously the enemy you face are known as Typhon and they come in a variety of shapes and sizes some of them being pretty damn huge. The most common of these enemies are mimics and it’s because of them that this game is possibly one of the most tense games I’ve ever played, including Alien: Isolation. You see, mimics can imitate objects within the world, a box, a cup, even a health pack. That’s what makes it so effective, the mimics can and do imitate collectible items, they even glow the same way on the HUD. I’ve never spent so much time smashing cups and generally hitting objects in the environment trying to flush out all the mimics before they can attack me.
It must be said that the combat in this game is brutal, enemies hit very hard and come at you out of nowhere sometimes (especially mimics). If I’m honest I died a lot in this game, more than is usual for me. Thankfully the difficulty of the game can be changed very easily so if you find that a part of the combat is too grueling you can knock the difficulty down until the danger has passed. There’s no shame in doing that if you’ve tried your best and found you just can’t progress.
You can recycle items into base components which in turn can be used to create items at fabricators, which is a great way to stock up on ammo or create other much needed items. If you’re anything like me you’ll always want to where the nearest recycler and fabricators are so that you can keep yourself nicely stocked up with ammo… specifically pistol ammo to shoot all the boxes and cups that might be mimics! Did I mention those? Damn things made me paranoid throughout the entire game!
Now I did mention that this game was an RPG, well throughout the game you will find neuromods. These handy items allow you to unlock and increase your skills. At first these skills are somewhat normal in nature, increasing your damage with weapons, being able to run faster etc. However later in the game you can choose to take on Typhon abilities such as firing psychic bolts and being able to mimic objects yourself. These abilities are powerful but they also can cause certain events to trigger.
I’m sure this game could be completed in under fourteen hours but this is the kind of game where I read every book and explore every nook and cranny. I just found so much to do and explore, it should also be mentioned that Talos One is pretty big so there is a lot of ground to cover. Of course what pushed my time into the fifty hour mark was the inclusion of new game plus which gives you all the abilities you previously unlocked once you reach a specific point in the game.
So yeah, I kinda’ loved this game. Even if I was constantly paranoid. It gave me the same feelings I had when I played System Shock Two for the first time.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
System Shock 2
Alien: Isolation
Bioshock
