NEW GAME | 'Prey' lives up to expectations
'Prey' is a first-person shooter science fiction action-adventure game published by Bethesda Softworks and developed by Arkane Studios for Windows, Playstation 4, and Xbox One.
The game is a remaining of the 2006 game developed by Human Head Studios, and while there was a sequel in the works, it was subsequently cancelled as it fell into development hell in 2014 following the transfer of the intellectual property from 3D Realms to Bethesda Softworks. In this version of the game, nothing of the planned sequel was used with only the broad theme of the main character being hunted by aliens.
With 'Prey', you take control of either the female or male incarnation of Morgan Yu, who is aboard a space station that contains a number of Typhon (hostile aliens). While in control of Morgan, you're able to make decisions that affect the outcome of the game's story, and as a result, there are multiple endings that fall into three major points depending on how you go about completing and interacting with the game.
To survive, you must collect and use weapons and resources to protect yourself from the Typhon. What makes 'Prey' interesting is that creative director Raphael Colantonio has said that the station is meant to be a continuous effort rather than strapped to the typical set missions and increasing levels. The Typhon also interestingly have the ability to gain a variety of powers over a period of time that make the game increasingly difficult, such as the ability to mimic everyday items like tables and chairs.
After the release of 'Dishonoured' in 2014, the team at Arkane Studios split, where one team worked on 'Dishonoured 2', while the other began work on what we know now as 'Prey.' Using the CryEngine 5 that eliminated many performance-related issues, the interaction of relatively simple game mechanics, or what's known as Emergent gameplay, was a strong goal of Arkane as the team wanted the players to complete the game in whatever way they desired.
In essence, everything about 'Prey' comes down to choices. The team also restricted the number of horror elements included as it couldn't be predicted where us as the player's could place our attentions, which interestingly enough, made the team consider 'Prey' not to be a horror game. Instead, ambiance is of utmost importance in the game as it nails the blood-streaked offices and an almost undetectable enemy.
While 'Prey' breaks away from similar games in its genre, it borrows in combat. In the first few hours of gameplay, it helps you get used to the mechanics and the Typhon abilities. As the combat elements of 'Prey' is unique to the game, it can be a cause for a frustrating concern for some seasoned gamers as some hits from the enemy, no matter what mode, can knock you out. In the end, its up to you to figure out what the best way would be to take down the Typhon while taking as minimal hits as possible.
The setting of 'Prey' is based around an interesting historical moment where in an alternate timeline, US President John F. Kennedy survives his assassination attempt in 1963, and explores what could have happened, much like that of the television show, 'Man in the High Castle', which looks at the big 'what if?' following WWII.
Because Kennedy survives, it allowed more funding into the space program and the acceleration of the Space Race. As a result, a conglomeration of aliens known as the Typhon launch an attack on earth causing the US and Russia to unite to defend earth against the Typhon and without the rest of the world knowing, capture one of the aliens for study. Also in their pairing, they build a space station called Kletka - Russian for 'cage' - to orbit around the Earth's moon and eventually, the US takes command of the space station after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1964 to us it as apart of 'Project Axion'; this project is eventually shut down after the 'Pobeg Incident' in 1980 where many individuals lost their lives abort the station to the Typhon and as a result, the capture Typhon were left alive.
Eventually, in the near future of 2025, TranStar Corp claims ownership of the Kletka and by 2030, a fully operational research lab has been installed that leads the creation of Neuromods to harness the Typhon's physiology to restructure the human brain to grant the user new abilities that include the superhuman ones. This brings us to the beginning of the game.
Although this game may seem like another 'Alien'-esque game, it's so much more where the gameplay means so much more than it's action and gunplay. It's adventure into deep space lets you have the freedom to explore the game in anyway you'd like and it's not like anyone player would have the same experience while playing the game. For many, especially for those who grew up with 'System Shock' and 'BioShock', 'Prey' can be considered a dream come true. The gameplay is intensely complex with an endless amount of story to unravel that only continues to increase with the amount of hours that's spent with the game.
'Prey' is a game you should seriously consider having on your shelf and playing to death, as it's a hell of a take on the psychological horror gaming genre. It's unique ambiance and more than challenging gameplay is not one to be missed.
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