PREY (PC)
|
Publisher: 2K Games.
Developer: Human Head Studios. Released: July 2006. Genre: FPS. Other versions: X360. Posted 10th February 2013. By Alan Passingham © 2013 |
Amongst the multitude of first-person shooters out there the last thing you really want to hit the shelves is yet another humdrum by-the-numbers shooter peering up at the majesty of Half-Life 2 and quaking in its shadow. You want something to pass the days away until the arrival of Half-Life 3 at the very least. You want something a little bit unique, thoughtful, and different to the norm. Prey certainly has that. You want something that looks and sounds amazing. Prey has that by the bucket-load. You want something that is going to instantly grab you. Another welcome ‘tick’ for Prey. You want something that’s going to provide an unforgettable challenge. Oh. Bugger…
Prey’s basic plot can be described quite simply as Native American badass against alien marauders smacked-out on pot looking for the nearest pit-stop for some much needed munchies. The munchies being human protein of course! Tommy, an Indian of Cherokee heritage, his girlfriend Jen and his grandfather are all abducted from Jen’s bar one night by an alien invasion force, led by The Keeper, and end up tied-up traversing the interior monorail system of a vast bio-organic spaceship called the Sphere. Tommy manages to escape after an explosion, gets out his wrench and begins smacking his way through assorted alien scum whilst searching for Jen and putting a stop to the aliens making Earth a permanent McDonalds drive-thru.
At first glance Prey looks and plays like a decent FPS title despite some occasional unoriginality. The opening sequence is little different to Gordon Freeman’s vista through the underbelly of City 17’s citadel, but much less spectacular. Likewise, enemy design is populated entirely from the Quake II blueprint of bastard aliens making the creatures throughout slightly unmemorable. Still, the marvellous graphics and some unnerving horror do make way for Prey being much more than a ‘seen-it-all-before’ FPS monkey. A passenger jet-liner inexplicably appearing in the Sphere before crash landing is one outstanding ‘what the fudge’ highlight, whilst the meaning behind your abduction becomes a terrifying experience as you witness fellow humans mashed into mince-meat in one particularly nasty sequence. This is enough to provide the initial thrust to explore Prey’s world further and ensures more than just fleeting interest in the title. And then Prey really does get going.
Black, white and red... Obviously a newspaper factory.
|
Portal in 'not as original as we thought' shocker!
|
Rather than linear pathways and corridors to get from A to B the game design is much more thoughtful and resplendent. Gravity-based walkways and portals (that pre-date the concept in Portal) lead to far-flung destinations of the Sphere and make the early parts of the game a dizzying spectacle. Witness the rather marvellous sequence when Tommy ends up in a jar with a giant looking alien-head on the outside peering in. It makes the first-steps of the game an absolute blast as new ideas and concepts are thrown abound regularly. From flipping the ceilings upside down so they become the floor to some rather cunning (yet not frustrating) puzzles that play to the physics engine’s strengths, Prey is more than just an endless stream of alien blasting. Even then the alien-blasting is cracking. The bio-weapons Tommy picks up as he delves further into the sphere are certainly fun (and graphically marvellous) and the varying ammo means that you pretty much utilise all throughout (except the wrench, which is quite useless). Alongside old-school health regeneration (no ducking behind cover here folks), decent voice-acting, an intriguing plot that is unravelled slowly through radio transmissions from Earth and some simply wonderful graphics that are smoother than velvet toilet paper, it makes the initial setup a refreshing joy to play.
Prey’s most intriguing concept, however, is Tommy’s Cherokee background and the spirit warrior abilities this provides. A couple of early sections leave the confines of the ‘Native American versus space aliens’ scenario and delve into the spirit realm of Tommy’s forefathers in order that he can learn the way of the spirit warrior. Back in the Sphere this simply means Tommy has a few handy extra skills to play with. Chief among these is the ability to spirit walk – leaving the confines of one’s body and allowing the soul to roam the environment. Rather handily Tommy’s spirit is also armed with an arse-kicking bow (where the arrows are powered by the spirit left behind by fallen enemies), providing an alternative means of attack, but the chief use of the spirit walk is to allow Tommy to bypass force-fields and other barriers blocking the path onwards. It’s a great little idea which complements the physics engine and puzzling marvellously whilst also adding further dynamism to the combat options. Furthermore, becoming a spirit warrior provides Tommy with a totem animal, a hawk in this case, which acts as his guide throughout. A thoughtful addition and certainly more interesting than the directional arrows and objective screens that are now more common-place to help morons through modern shooters.
So Prey is awesome? Ah, damn. I really wish it was. There is so much to enjoy at the start, that it’s pretty dejecting once you realise the whole game is broken by one daft mechanic. At the point where Tommy’s health runs out his soul is whisked away to the spirit realm again where, after a short side-game of shooting some floaty essences with his bow (to top up health and spirit level), he is re-inserted into the action on the Sphere. At exactly the same point where he died! With the bad guys having exactly the same level of health! And with no penalties for being a clumsy d*ckhead who has just had his arse handed to him by the A.I. at all! Great for making the save option a redundant feature, not so great when it comes to generating even a half-decent challenge.
Prey’s most intriguing concept, however, is Tommy’s Cherokee background and the spirit warrior abilities this provides. A couple of early sections leave the confines of the ‘Native American versus space aliens’ scenario and delve into the spirit realm of Tommy’s forefathers in order that he can learn the way of the spirit warrior. Back in the Sphere this simply means Tommy has a few handy extra skills to play with. Chief among these is the ability to spirit walk – leaving the confines of one’s body and allowing the soul to roam the environment. Rather handily Tommy’s spirit is also armed with an arse-kicking bow (where the arrows are powered by the spirit left behind by fallen enemies), providing an alternative means of attack, but the chief use of the spirit walk is to allow Tommy to bypass force-fields and other barriers blocking the path onwards. It’s a great little idea which complements the physics engine and puzzling marvellously whilst also adding further dynamism to the combat options. Furthermore, becoming a spirit warrior provides Tommy with a totem animal, a hawk in this case, which acts as his guide throughout. A thoughtful addition and certainly more interesting than the directional arrows and objective screens that are now more common-place to help morons through modern shooters.
So Prey is awesome? Ah, damn. I really wish it was. There is so much to enjoy at the start, that it’s pretty dejecting once you realise the whole game is broken by one daft mechanic. At the point where Tommy’s health runs out his soul is whisked away to the spirit realm again where, after a short side-game of shooting some floaty essences with his bow (to top up health and spirit level), he is re-inserted into the action on the Sphere. At exactly the same point where he died! With the bad guys having exactly the same level of health! And with no penalties for being a clumsy d*ckhead who has just had his arse handed to him by the A.I. at all! Great for making the save option a redundant feature, not so great when it comes to generating even a half-decent challenge.
Always good to resolve your differences in a fight to the death
|
Where would FPSs be without the good ol' wrench
|
Remember that feeling when taking down gunships and striders in Half-Life 2? The suppressed elation that would eek out of the pores after a dozen failed attempts to progress that would culminate in a cry of exaltation at the point of ejacu… victory? Prey has no understanding of such a concept. Effectively having infinite life makes boss encounters and scripted scenarios devoid of any tension or fun when you know you can take tonnes of punishment and simply come back to finish the job after some daft spiritual wankery. Ironically, the vibrant spirit on show when you first boot up Prey is sucked dry because of this intervention. After 10 years in development are you seriously telling me nobody picked up this game-breaker during play-testing? Bonkers!
Unchallenging, lazy, cackumbabo are a few choice words you could use to describe Prey, but the one that sticks in the throat the most is ‘disappointing’. From standing on the shoulders of giants with its fantastic graphics, the brilliant conceptual design of the Sphere, a physics engine that renders it marvellous, great puzzling and action sequences that remind just how good old-school shooters are, a decent plot and the unique focus on a little seen ethnic group within gaming, it’s a long drop to the ground to think about why in the blue hell the game was made so easy to render all the above irrelevant. A real shame as there is much to be admired in Prey. Yet the lack of any discernible challenge at all simply makes Tommy’s travails through the Sphere a completely unsatisfying journey.
Unchallenging, lazy, cackumbabo are a few choice words you could use to describe Prey, but the one that sticks in the throat the most is ‘disappointing’. From standing on the shoulders of giants with its fantastic graphics, the brilliant conceptual design of the Sphere, a physics engine that renders it marvellous, great puzzling and action sequences that remind just how good old-school shooters are, a decent plot and the unique focus on a little seen ethnic group within gaming, it’s a long drop to the ground to think about why in the blue hell the game was made so easy to render all the above irrelevant. A real shame as there is much to be admired in Prey. Yet the lack of any discernible challenge at all simply makes Tommy’s travails through the Sphere a completely unsatisfying journey.
|
Similar to...
Quake IV
|
VERDICT
Visual: 10/10
Audio: 9/10 Gameplay: 6/10 Longevity: 4/10 OVERALL: 5/10 |
PIXEL SECONDS: PREY (X360)
Though not as infamous as Duke Nukem Forever, Prey was stuck in development limbo for a good decade or more. And while the end result is not as disastrous as DNF, it feels underwhelming due to a number of flaws both big and small. It has an interesting story, mixing sci-fi with Indian Cherokee philosophy, but its core gameplay feels like scraps patched together. The portal stuff could have been cool, but it feels more like trippy pathways through a linear game design. Two other major problems are present: the lack of difficulty and the length. Upon death, Tommy is dragged into the spirit world where he can easily prevent his demise through shooting nearby creatures regenerates his health. It highlights that Prey is really easy and you can’t help but breeze through the game without being tested at any point. Perhaps due to this, Prey is also extremely short, taking a few hours to brush off, and a lacklustre multiplayer component fails to entice much play beyond that. It doesn’t do anything particularly badly, but the flaws that are present are enough to drag Prey down to be only recommendable as a cheap purchase to those curious how this oft-delayed shooter turned out. [6] – Shane Battams © 2013
Though not as infamous as Duke Nukem Forever, Prey was stuck in development limbo for a good decade or more. And while the end result is not as disastrous as DNF, it feels underwhelming due to a number of flaws both big and small. It has an interesting story, mixing sci-fi with Indian Cherokee philosophy, but its core gameplay feels like scraps patched together. The portal stuff could have been cool, but it feels more like trippy pathways through a linear game design. Two other major problems are present: the lack of difficulty and the length. Upon death, Tommy is dragged into the spirit world where he can easily prevent his demise through shooting nearby creatures regenerates his health. It highlights that Prey is really easy and you can’t help but breeze through the game without being tested at any point. Perhaps due to this, Prey is also extremely short, taking a few hours to brush off, and a lacklustre multiplayer component fails to entice much play beyond that. It doesn’t do anything particularly badly, but the flaws that are present are enough to drag Prey down to be only recommendable as a cheap purchase to those curious how this oft-delayed shooter turned out. [6] – Shane Battams © 2013