A story-driven, action-packed dream come true

Prey pays tribute to some of the best games but retains its originality

May 08, 2017 06:09 pm | Updated 06:09 pm IST

Screenshot from Prey

Screenshot from Prey

As a series, Prey has had a troubled existence. At the risk of becoming perpetual vapourware, the game finally saw the light of day in 2006. The same was true with its sequel, which was first imagined as an alien bounty hunter game. This was before Arkane Studios, the makers of the legendary Dishonored series, stepped in. They rebooted Prey and the game’s new incarnation looks fantastic. This is the Half-Life 3 we never got.

What’s it about?

You play as Morgan Yu, a scientist and human lab rat in a science experiment on a mysterious space station known as Talos 1. You’re stuck in a Groundhog Day-like situation, going through the same day over and over again, till the cycle is broken by the the reveal of the arachnid aliens, the Typhon. The mysterious race has infested the station, and are capable of shapeshifting and mimicking anything.

There are lots of shades of the first Half-Life game in the beginning of Prey, especially with the main character donning his science suit, and the aliens appearing. But the gameplay is best Deus Ex territory, with the eerie space setting reminiscent of the classic System Shock, while the art style and architecture are homage to BioShock.

While Prey does borrow elements and pay tribute to several great games, it tells its own original story. The premise slowly unravels while traversing the doomed space station Talos 1. As you move through what is now an opulent junk heap in space, you uncover clues as to what happened to the crew, through recordings and emails. All the while you are guided by voices over the communication links with their own agendas.

How does it play?

In Prey, you are alone in a space station filled with dead people, with gaping holes in your memories of how you got here. To top it off, you are being constantly hunted by an enemy that can disguise itself as anything. What you think is a harmless chair, jumps right out at you in a tangle of evil black tendrils with legs. These only get bigger throughout the game; fortunately, you have the firepower to take care of the menace.

You start off with a wrench, another parallel to Half-Life’s trusty crowbar. And as you progress through the game, you pick up guns and other unusual weapons, like the GLOO gun that shoots goo that paralyses enemies. In addition to this, you have powers, courtesy of upgrade tools named neuromods. For instance, there are wicked eye injections that enhance your strength, speed, as well as give you hacking and repair abilities.

Essentially, Prey is a sort of a horror action game, a lot like the Dead Space series, but you can also play using stealth. You can pick your weapons, neuromods and items based on your play style. Plus, Prey has a plethora of powers to pick and choose from to craft your perfect character.

The graphics of Prey are excellent, especially Talos, with its glorious gold façades. The sound engineering is a bit odd, as it’s geared towards the jump scares, but there were times when we completely missed them because we were looking elsewhere. While the score design is great, sometimes the soundtrack devolves into a high-pitched set of whines. Another minor quibble is in the interface, where you need the action buttons to interact with the many in-game computer screens, instead of the mouse .

Should you get it?

If you loved story-driven first-person shooters like Half-Life and BioShock, you will absolutely love Prey. The game not only feels like a spiritual successor to both, it also carries their legacy while keeping its own identity. A fantastic game with an excellent story packed with a lot of gameplay. Prey should be on your summer shopping list.

Julian Almeida is a tech and gaming enthusiast who hopes to one day finish his science fiction novel

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