
In fact, it’s too bad there aren’t more of them. They don’t break up the action if anything, they serve as buffers between shooting segments. To Prey’s considerable credit, these are actually smart puzzles that give some needed pause to the brainless action. There’s even a 3D version of a sliding tile puzzle (kind of). There are some areas where you need to have “out of body†Native American experiences in order to manipulate objects in some instances, you leave your body on a platform, flip a switch, and watch as you’re carried off to another location. You never lose your orientation, because the game does a brilliant job of using visual cues—like airflows, visible debris, and relatively “normal†environments—to help orient the player. In most cases, you navigate the environments either by altering a room’s gravity, causing it to spin around, or by turning on machines that allow you to walk on walls in certain areas. You go through these complex environments without being led through them.
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You often find yourself figuring out how to get from Point A to Point B, and it never involves platforming. While Prey doesn’t have the epic set pieces of Half-Life 2, most of the levels are interesting. More impressive is the way all this technology is used to create some fantastic places to play in. The sound also does a terrific job of conveying just how gross this place is—it makes you want to shower after extended play session. The walls ooze creatures emerge from vagina-like slits sphincters spew out explosive balls of organic material or projectile vomit all sorts of unknown waste products. In fact, everything is downright disgusting. Everything from the levels themselves to the weapons found on the spaceship is consistently organic and alien looking. Prey certainly isn’t “pretty†in any conventional sense. The DOOM 3 engine is as shiny as ever, and it retains the obsessive attention to detail of id Software’s original game. The technology used throughout Prey is superb. More often, the portals let developer Human Head create “impossible†levels where you can change the laws of physics. Unlike the heavily criticized monster closets of DOOM 3, it’s an internally consistent contrivance—aliens can make portals, so of course they’ll warp to your location. They allow monsters to “warp†into areas. It uses “portals,†which add an interesting twist to standard levels. Its formulaic parts are buffed to near-perfection its twists are clever and interesting.

He has little concern for anyone else in this alien world, even though they’re clearly suffering.įortunately, the narrative is offset by the superb gameplay. He wants to find his girlfriend and he wants vengeance (in that order). Throughout the game, he only cares about his own needs.

This scenario is supposed to be Tommy’s chance to gain redemption and to attempt to connect with his Native American voodoo heritage and save his people. He also dismisses his grandfather for holding onto those Native American beliefs, one of which is apparently a love of fire water, since Pops sidles up to the bar and pounds a cold one after your opening conversation.Īfter a short intro scene where Tommy gets to beat up some rowdy patrons, aliens show up looking for some grub and abduct Tommy, his grandfather, and his girlfriend. You control Tommy, an Indian dude living life on a reservation somewhere, which he really wants to leave with his girlfriend Jen. It has a few twists here and there but mostly adheres to a singular formula: be a rigidly linear corridor shooter with a lousy narrative and mundane AI. It’s loud, it’s bold, it’s in your face. Prey has all of the markings of a summer blockbuster.
