Thoughts on Prey

[Such-A-Goonie]

BioShock is a spiritual successor of System Shock, as is Prey. No idea why it's called Prey, because it has very little to do with the first Prey game. Arkane Studios has people who worked for Looking Glass and who worked on the first System Shock. That game was amazing, and to be honest, Prey is the sequel that I always wanted System Shock 2 to be. I guess I'm not a big Ken Levine fan.

 

Still, they're definitely not shooters, more first person action adventures. If that's not your pace, then the games aren't for you, sadly. ☹️

[NaseemJohn]

10 hours ago, Such-A-Goonie said:

BioShock is a spiritual successor of System Shock, as is Prey. No idea why it's called Prey, because it has very little to do with the first Prey game. Arkane Studios has people who worked for Looking Glass and who worked on the first System Shock. That game was amazing, and to be honest, Prey is the sequel that I always wanted System Shock 2 to be. I guess I'm not a big Ken Levine fan.

 

Still, they're definitely not shooters, more first person action adventures. If that's not your pace, then the games aren't for you, sadly. 

Yeah basically. I wouldn't really call it a shooter cause that wasn't the most appealing thing about it 

[Guest]

How bad is the load times?

[NaseemJohn]

On 2018-01-07 at 2:29 AM, ERGOPROXY-DECAY said:

How bad is the load times?

Did it at launch load times weren’t bad but about 1-2 mins. 

Edited April 29, 2019 by NaseemJohn

[Red_HoodXX]

14 hours ago, ERGOPROXY-DECAY said:

How bad is the load times?

 

Always over a minute but never much worse than that.

 

The game is phenomenal and totally worth those load times though. 

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Red_HoodXX said:

 

Always over a minute but never much worse than that.

 

The game is phenomenal and totally worth those load times though. 

 

Ok, that aint to bad then. Awesome.

[DrBloodmoney]

It’s my personal favourite game of this generation- there are a few other contenders, but Prey takes it handily

[XxLacunaCoilxX]

I personally also loved prey, great story and amazing twist at the end of the game. Highly recommended!!

[DrBloodmoney]

7 hours ago, TKdovahkiin said:

Probably necroposting here - but you’re saying that Prey is the best out of all 324 games you have platted this generation? This has to be taken seriously indeed...

I just got my copy and am looking forward to putting your theory to the test. Although it might be awhile, as I’ll try to finish what’s on my list first. But I expect to report back eventually...  In the meantime, care to elaborate any? Cheers!
 

 

Well, I technically meant my favorite game of the current gen (PS4), though that shouldn’t take anything away from Prey - probably if the PS3 is included that position would be taken by Dark Souls 2, but Prey would still be high up that list too.

 

okay, where to start?  

 

There is something so well designed about Prey.

During my first playthrough I was certainly a big fan of it, but I think it was a few hours into my second playthrough (where I was doing a different set of powers) that I came to fully appreciate just how well designed the game is.

 

There are so many different ways to deal with traversing the space station, and working out the different ways to achieve your goals based on the powers you have chosen is immensely satisfying.

 

Can’t hack that door? Did someone email themself the password? No? Have you tried finding a vent? No way to get there? How about creating a path with your glue gun? No glue? How about shooting a nerf gun through the security window at the emergency open switch? No nerf gun? Why not mimic a coffee cup and blast yourself through the cracked window? No mimicry? Why not get your space suit on and float around to the other side of the door?

 

That’s fun in and of itself, and other games have done similar stuff, but I’ve never seen it done in a way that has so many options, but does it in a way that never sacrifices the integrity of the constructed world.

 

Every option available still makes sense within the context of world you inhabit - I never feel like “oh, okay, I get it, but why would this be here?”

 

The ventilation system makes sense. Access hatches are where they would be. That thing might be a convenient way to climb to that ledge, but it also makes sense that there would be an abstract art piece in this lobby, based on the aesthetic and the background story of the place.

Symbiosis between game mechanics and story integrity is rare in games.

The Bioshock franchise has always had an incredible sense of place and world, but the actual variety of choices in terms of traversal were pretty limited - most of the multi-choice stuff was in relation to combat. Actually getting from one area to the next never really had more than one or two options.

On the flip-side, the Deus Ex series always has a lot of variety in the choices of both combat and traversal, but to achieve that, the devs sacrificed the integrity of the world - I constantly was asking “really? A massive air vent here? Why?” “Why are these guards just hanging out here? What do they think they are guarding against?”

 

In Pret it all just... makes sense, and that means that you as the player stop thinking about the problems you face in terms of “what does the game designer want me to do?” and instead go “what would I do?”

That may seem like a small distinction, but it makes the game so much more immersive.

 

It really feels like there is multiple ways to do everything, and the devs have accounted for every single little way that I tried to do.

Every time I tried something a little odd, or out-of-the-box, it was not only possible, but often worked so well that I have to assume they had considered it (or, at least, made the mechanics work so well that they could cope with anything I threw at it.) I even tried breaking the game scripting by killing characters that seemed essential to certain missions, or doing stuff ahead of when I was supposed to, or out of logical order, but the scripting kept up - it adjusted to fit what I was doing without forcing me back to what the expected path would be.

 

The controls are great, the guns feel good, and there are a plethora of interesting powers and mechanics to play with, which is great, but that is a small thing in comparions to: The world just feels real.

 

Every inhabitant of the space station can be found (corpse or otherwise) and accounted for, and by reading the emails and diaries, post-it notes, video diaries, security footage etc. you can follow each and every one’s story, which have been worked out flawlessly. 

This person is an Engineer, but the locator shows them not in the engineering bay? You can bet there is an email on some computer somewhere explaining that they had to go somewhere else right before the outbreak, or a timetable showing they were off duty that day, or a schedule showing they were off-shift.

 

It’s stuff like that that makes it all feel way more plausible - I get the sense that if I asked the game writers anything about the background of the game or any little tertiary character, they would be able to tell me any details I want about them. They have put in the work to make my detective work feel valid.

 

Each new area you go to feels different from the previous ones, but also fits with the overall aesthetic, and feels correct for the station as a whole - Talos 1 is neither too big (so it feels impossible that it exists or is architecturally impossible) nor too small (so it feels too limited to explore for a long game.)

 

There are also a lot of very small things that make stuff that usually feels like superficial ‘busywork’ in lesser games make sense and feel worthwhile.

eg. The ‘break down items to component elements/ 3D print new items from those elements’ mechanic means that every little item is of value - No shotgun this playthrough? Those shotgun shells are not useless - break them down into component elements and use those to make yourself a med kit or some crossbow bolts.

Need a new power quickly? Break that useless stuff don and make yourself something to gain a new skill!

It’s never that Resident Evil thing of “I have to use this gun, because that’s what ammo I have” - you can unmake and remake the world to suit how you want to do things!

 

The game is not perfect, If it has a weakness, it’s that the combat can be a little flat, especially in a Human Powers Only / No Powers playthrough, so I would recommend playing on no higher than ‘Normal’, unless you enjoy stealth games, as you will need to hide a lot above that (the stealth is good if you do like it - these guys made Dishonored, so they know how to do 1st person stealth well) but if that isn’t your bag, then keep it on Normal.

Even ‘Easy’ is no cake walk at times, (though I do think you would lessen the tension by playing on easy for the first playthrough.)

 

(i’ll also briefly mention those load time, which are too long. Not a massive problem early on, but later, when you are going between mutiple areas more often, they are a drag. There’s no two ways about it, you definitely feel the length of them.)

 

Obviously game opinions are all subjective - not every game is everyone’s cup of tea - but if there is one game I always feel good about recommending to people, it’s this one, because I think that no matter how you chose to approach it, the game will reward you for thinking like that.

 

Most games are crafted in such a way that if you try something different, they say “No, sorry, that’s not the solution.”

Prey says “Sure, why not?”

 

Hope you try it, and I’m sure you will enjoy it if you do!  

 

Edited May 28, 2018 by DrBloodmoney

[DARKB1KE]

On 5/4/2017 at 6:41 AM, DividedByMankind said:

I've had the game for a week now mate. And all i gota say is that the game is really good, coming from a fan of prey on pc back in 2007, also (i got a admit, that i was skeptical mate since it was a new developer on the game)arkane took the game to an whole other level which really surprised me how good the game is my personal score is 9/10 !

Quote

Arkane's Prey is largely unrelated to the 2006 game Prey developed by Human Head Studios, and is considered a reimagining of the intellectual property set in a wholly new narrative. While Prey 2, a sequel to the 2006 game, had been planned by Human Head, it fell into development hell following transfer of the intellectual property from 3D Realms to Bethesda Softworks, and was eventually cancelled in 2014. Arkane's game does not use any of the planned sequel's assets, and only incorporates the previous game's name and the broad theme of the protagonist being hunted by aliens. Arkane built Prey as a spiritual sequel to System Shock, providing the player with several potential means of progressing within the game.

 

[Eraezr]

Wanted to get this on launch month but huge backlog+no Pro support then was a deterrent. Will pick it up by the end of 2018, hopefully.

Edited June 23, 2018 by Eraezr

[ZireaelSan]

25 minutes ago, Eraezr said:

Wanted to get this on launch month but huge backlog+no Pro support then was a deterrent. Will pick it up by the end of 2018, hopefully.

Might aswell get the deluxe edition wich includes the new dlc

[YorkyPuds]

I really enjoyed this although I don't think I'll do a second playthrough. Not a fan of games that force you to play a certain way to unlock trophies and at 35+ hours for my first playthough, I don't think I can be bothered to do a Typhon only run.

[Sifferino]

Interesting points. I played this game for a few hours but like many people here I found the combat such a let down that I wasn’t enjoying myself at all. However having read these glowing reviews I might give it another shot in the future, perhaps on easy difficulty. Thanks!

[SilkyJay86]

I posted in the self discrimination trophy thread.  I have a lot of thoughts on this.  I'd copy n paste but im on my ps4.   My opinion on a game that couldve been great great.  Theres a reason there was no prey hype like that of ds, or tew.  The game didn't bring it.  It had already been braught.

[preciseRNG]

Just got this game for 1EUR from ebay in mint condition-since I read a lot of good comments about this game I wanna give it a try!

[starcrunch061]

I like this game a lot...except for the combat. I don't know how they dropped the ball so much on this. Thankfully, I found that the best stealth strategy is to launch objects (which requires investment in the skill trees, of course), or just to avoid enemies altogether (which sucks, because they seem to be able to look through walls and whatnot). 

 

The trophies do the game no favors; there was absolutely no reason to force players, e.g., to kill every human on the station, or to play through the game without ever unlocking any powers. I mean, that's like having a Prince of Persia game have a trophy for never rewinding, and we know nothing like that could ever happen.

 

But the atmosphere, the lore, the story - they're all really solid. Enemy designs are few, but excellent. I love researching enemies and reading all of the notes attached to them. I even love reading emails.

[SnowxSakura]

26 minutes ago, starcrunch061 said:

I like this game a lot...except for the combat. I don't know how they dropped the ball so much on this. Thankfully, I found that the best stealth strategy is to launch objects (which requires investment in the skill trees, of course), or just to avoid enemies altogether (which sucks, because they seem to be able to look through walls and whatnot). 

 

The trophies do the game no favors; there was absolutely no reason to force players, e.g., to kill every human on the station, or to play through the game without ever unlocking any powers. I mean, that's like having a Prince of Persia game have a trophy for never rewinding, and we know nothing like that could ever happen.

 

But the atmosphere, the lore, the story - they're all really solid. Enemy designs are few, but excellent. I love researching enemies and reading all of the notes attached to them. I even love reading emails.

The combats not bad, but it can be hard if youre doing a no power playthrough.

 

As for killing all humans, there's not many to kill

[starcrunch061]

On 9/23/2020 at 10:35 AM, SnowxSakura said:

The combats not bad, but it can be hard if youre doing a no power playthrough.

 

As for killing all humans, there's not many to kill

 

You seem to know this game pretty well. Is the DLC worth a purchase?

[SnowxSakura]

4 hours ago, starcrunch061 said:

 

You seem to know this game pretty well. Is the DLC worth a purchase?

Unfortunately I can't give an opinion on the dlc as I haven't played it yet. If you know someone with it, you could try share play to try it out?

 

Edit: I do own the dlc, so if you can't find someone, i'm willing to use share play, but my connection isn't great

Edited September 26, 2020 by SnowxSakura

[griffin123456789]

I just discovered this game and I am LOVING IT so far. I have played the intro levels of like every Immersive Sim (even system shock 2 on my pc) but I just never make it past the opening hours for some reason. Something about them usually doesn't hook me. This one though? Fuck me is it great. The enemies are what really elevate it in my eyes. No matter how powerful you are, each enemy type poses an interesting threat that forces you to be cautious and look for vulnerabilities. Level design is fantastic. I love opening a grate only to then realize "shit, I could have crawled underneath this room the entire time?! Awesome!"

 

I also love how it gives you multiple options towards tackling obstacles. I wanted to move some boxes out of the way but my strength skill wasn't high enough. Without knowing this would even work, I tossed a recycler grenade at the barricade and it fucking sucked them into it! Instantly turned them into molecules. That right there is when you know you're playing a brilliant RPG.

[Sifferino]

On 8/5/2019 at 5:43 PM, Sifferino said:

Interesting points. I played this game for a few hours but like many people here I found the combat such a let down that I wasn’t enjoying myself at all. However having read these glowing reviews I might give it another shot in the future, perhaps on easy difficulty. Thanks!

 

I finally got around to a re-play. The added "story" and "very easy" difficulty levels made all the difference for me: I didn't care much for the combat in my initial play, I am in this for the story and the mystery. So for my second attempt I opted for "story" and now I am really enjoying myself. I don't care about the trophies, I am just immersing myself in the game and it keeps surprising me with its story direction. I really enjoy the whole "figure out how you'd like to do it" thing. Here's a closed door that requires a key card. Find the key card, use your abilities to slip through a tiny hole, wait for one of those bot thingies to open the door for you, shoot or manipulate the door handle I can see on the inside, etc. And while I must admit I don't read everything in emails, notes and what have you (so some of the time I have no idea why I need to do something), I just... it clicks for me. I find it relaxing to spend an hour or two just wandering around and poking around.

 

Really happy I gave it another go.

Edited January 19, 2021 by Sifferino

[SuperSaiyan3985]

I didn't like it very much, even though I loved the Dishonored games. The combat felt clunky and unbalanced (enemies were bullet sponges) so I just didn't enjoy myself with it. That being said the story is decent, and Talos 1 is a really sharp-looking environment. I can tell that it's a good game, but it's not my cup of tea. Also, the Platinum is not fun.

[Infected Elite]

This game now sits around $10 in walmart. Debating on getting it, however it'd go to the backlog asap and seeing as its 12hrs(?), i may randomly beat it in a weekend. Whatever trophies i unlock is whatever. 

[I-Reaped-U]

36 minutes ago, Infected Elite said:

This game now sits around $10 in walmart. Debating on getting it, however it'd go to the backlog asap and seeing as its 12hrs(?), i may randomly beat it in a weekend. Whatever trophies i unlock is whatever. 

It was worth $60, it’s definitely worth $10. One of the most underrated games of the last generation.