Right, please understand BEFORE reading on that I couldn't give a monkey's nut sack about spelling or grammar (clearly). So don't bitch about horrendous Engrish just read the fucking review and enjoy!
When you buy this game it’s a definite stopgap between big releases, well it was for me anyway. I had little or no knowledge about it; just that it was an 18-certificate FPS game, which usually means big guns, big death, big fun – well let me assure you it delivers all in mammoth quantity. I paid 12.50 euros for the game but now you can get it as cheap as 6 euros pre-owned in game stores and I cannot stress what a bargain it is. Usually with a low key, bog standard FPS game you end up with a pick up and play ‘10 minute’ game. I obviously don’t mean literally 10 minutes but one of those games you might spend an afternoon on or, play when you are having a beer with your mates around or, you might occasionally go back to if you have absolutely nothing else on your play list, but Prey breaks this mould.
The ‘yes anyone can research shit on the web’ bit – Looks like an ex-ID (Doom, Quake) bloke worked on this (Tom Hall?) and the game was on and off more than Madonna’s knickers – the game has also had more names than prince. The game engine is based on ID’s Tech 4 (apparently)
The info bit – So you play Domasi or ‘Tommy’ for those not fluent in ancient Cherokee. A former US army type bloke who is disillusioned with, well everything! His granddad - who harps on about the ancient heritage that he feels Tommy should embrace, His girlfriend - who works in a bar and feels their place is there with family on the reservation. Tommy wants out and is pretty miffed with the lot of them. So, are we heading for another dysfunctional family episode of Oprah with the family trying to resolve long running issues? Is Doctor Phil going to help out with his pearls of wisdom? Of course not – an alien invasion fleet is going to scoop up the bar, half the reservation and a whole heap of trouble. No seriously – that’s about it, hardly Shakespeare but then again, who would play ‘Macbeth – the FPS’? Anyway basically you can see where it’s heading – you control Tommy, your family is probably being anally probed by aliens, your girlfriend hasn’t even let YOU anally probe her (your granddad may have but that’s for the prequel) and you seem to have misplaced your lucky eagle feather. Basically you’re mad, alone, and surrounded by crazy ass aliens trying to kill you and its hammer time. Don’t be fooled that the 18 certificates ensures only gore – there are some pretty adult plot twists with a classy sci-fi feel.
The graphics in this game are surprising from the outset, very clear, large, and concise backdrops, play areas, and characters. Many FPS games suffer from repetitive graphic elements but Prey provides very separate gaming levels, with vastly differing ways of looking at these levels that I will explain later in the game play bit. The weapons are also works of art, of course you start with the usually grubby ‘bludgeon an alien’s face off’ weapon but later on some of the alien weapons are both stunning and cleverly thought out. I would describe the graphics as well above average; in fact they are very good, and without any slowdown (that I noticed). If I had any slight issues with the graphics it would be that in some levels the lighting is very dark. I know this is to add ‘atmosphere’ but it can get more of an annoyance than anything else, but Prey isn’t the first and most certainly wont be the last game to have this problem – sometimes you just don’t want to fumble along blindly – as a lot of girlfriends will attest to. The ‘spirit walk’ graphics look a bit naff – but this is in my opinion though, and some people may well like the eerie ghost looking graphics – technically they are as well done as the rest of the game. I’ll pop a bit about the sound in here too, I don’t feel the need to waffle on about a game’s sounds – they are very clear, eerie at times with pleasantly ear shattering weapon effects, what else can you say? Oh Tommy does whine on a bit.
The weapons in this game are definitely worth a mention. Prey is by no means the first game to allow the player to use alien weapons of course but the creators put serious effort into distinguishing Prey’s weapons a little bit special. All the alien weapons have an extremely viscous feel, even to the point of Tommy commenting on them being ‘gross’ or ‘urgh’. Each weapon also has 2 modes of fire – once again hardly original but the Prey boys have put enough time and effort into them to give each of them a unique feel.
The standard rifle for instance, fires what appear to be rods of molten rock/metal and the secondary fire is a scope for this weapon, being Prey this is no ordinary scope – it’s a weird tentacle thing that comes out of the gun and sucks into you eyeball! The grenades AREN’T grenades at all but small 3 legged, green glowing, bug things - rip off a leg and throw at an enemy! Failing that use the secondary use, flip it upside down, rip off a leg and throw it on something – it’ll stick like glue and act as a mine, anything wanders along and BOOM! The beauty of this weapon is the animation of the bug, you see him scurrying about genuinely annoyed that you’ve ripped his leg off (sucks to be him). Now the leech gun is a very innovative weapon, it’s a charged energy gun which fires different beams dependant on the sort of energy you’ve charged it on. It’s not as complex as it sounds, there are charge points dotted about the ship and the secondary function for this weapon ‘sucks’ the energy from these machines. There is electrical, ice, fire, and solar, the first three are effective against differing enemies however the solar beam is awesome and pretty much annihilates everything in seconds. All of the energy beams look good but it’s the solar beam that steals the show, when in use it pushes the player back with force. The weapon that would equate to the chain gun in other FPS games is a large alien looking gun with a big fat scorpion looking tail. Primary for this is your standard rapid-fire gun but the secondary fire launches a flaming grenade bomb out of the tail bit, total madness I tell you. Another Prey original is the acid gun – it does what it says on the tin, firing a luminous green corrosive that is very deadly against, well…..everything, and clicking the secondary fires a whole canister of the stuff, very effective in close spaces. Finally, the stalwart weapon of the FPS – the rocket launcher, and yes it does launch rockets, or should I say alien bugs. Once again you see the aforementioned 3 legged critters, this time pulsating in a translucent pouch inside the gun, it really does look creepy until you pull the trigger and decimate everything in the room (including yourself at close range). Finally the creators have even added a shield element to the rocket launcher as the secondary use release a cloud of biological vapour which acts as a shield, the graphics of this are particular spectacular when an enemies bullets hit it. The weapons are a big selling point in this game, looking like contorted biomechanical monstrosities, which ooze gelatinous liquid and have pulsating tubes and switches.
The game is (mostly) set on the alien ship that as I’ve said is split into clearly differing levels, each with its own look. The other platform for play is a sort of astral plane where Tommy has the ability to spirit walk – another nifty idea which adds puzzle elements to the game, yes that’s right puzzle elements in a bog standard FPS. Tommy also reverts to this astral plane area when killed in a sort of mini game to recover a partial amount of his energy by killing these spirit bat looking things with his ‘magic bow’ – its does sound a lot cheesier than it actually is. There are some truly excellent ideas in Prey; the two, which perhaps make it stand out, are the gravity panels and portal windows. Throughout much of the alien ship are glowing strips that usually lead from the floor, up a wall, and onto a ceiling – these are strips, when you walk on these you can walk up the wall and onto the ceiling. This can be disorienting but when you get the hang of it these areas add a whole new level to the game whether it be to secret areas or a tricky part of the game where to progress you need to give it a bit of thought. Other puzzles may include control pads scattered about in a room, when activated, they change the direction of the gravity in that room which again leads to some clever thinking needed to progress. The other neat addition to this game is the portal system, a sort of 2 way mirror deal but exceptionally well put together design. You may look at what is a plain crate but if you look from the other side it actually leads into a separate room or corridor etc. Again this adds to some interestingly cryptic passages of gameplay including a particularly impressive ‘hall of mirrors’ room. Obviously its hard to describe perfectly these sections but they are impressive non the less. There is one other important section of the game and that’s the ability to spirit walk – an out of body experience if you will, where you can access areas behind impasses allowing access to otherwise inaccessible areas. I can’t say I like the system of continuation after you die, there isn’t any real consequence – in truth it’s a simple mini game and then return to where you died making this a simple grinder if you just want to rush through it. Finally perhaps the lowest point of the game are the few sections where you control a sort of space craft, the controls for this are truly woeful and are in truth the only part of the game that could kill it dead for some players. I’d still say try and force your way through these sections and enjoy the rest of the game – hey, it might even be just me and I’m just crap at flying.
One other small touch in Prey is the sub games available at the bar in the beginning and a couple around the alien ship. There are 4 in total, poker, blackjack (or 21), and slots as well as a Pacman clone. All play as useable arcade machines, now I enjoy this sort of thing and it did add to the game, it might even lead to some achievements but I’ll let you figure that out. It’s also a good laugh flicking through the jukebox in the bar – all the bands are fake but I think the songs might be actual known bands – unfortunately I’m no gothrockmetal head so I wouldn’t know.
There is a multiplayer for Prey and I have had a quick go but for me the game is all about the single player. There are still (a few) people playing this online so it might be worth checking out if that’s your sort of thing.
As an FPS game, I can’t say Prey is up there with the absolute best and neither can I say it sets any new standards. What it does do is take an overused (and some might say tired) format and brushes it up with a good solid engine and graphics, plus some really unique ideas and gameplay. I have completed this game and found it a very satisfying endeavour indeed – albeit it easy do to, with what in my opinion is a floored immortality system.
If I were forced to compare Prey to another game I really couldn’t compare it to one – having said that I will say that it has a feel of Doom 3, Half Life and Quake all rolled into one without being similar to any of them. Personally I am an FPS genre fan and as such perhaps found this game better than some might but at the price you can pick it up at I would advise anyone to give it a try.
