Thoughts on Prey

Picked up Prey for the 360 recently and wanted to jot down a few thoughts in the hope they might help some of you who are undecided on the game. Not sure if this will be a regular feature or not – let me know if it works for you, or if you have any suggestions on format. I can say that I’ll be keeping these pretty short – not enough time in the day to write a detailed review, and there are plenty of places that do so. (Whether or not they’re biased, influenced, or otherwise compromised is another question. Maybe a good topic for a post down the road!)

Early Prey Thoughts:

I’m probably about a third of the way through the game, so keep that in mind as you read this.

On the positive side, Prey has really done a great job of reinvigorating the FPS genre. Visually, the game looks as good as Doom 3, but this time someone left the lights on so you can actually see where you’re walking. The concept of being abducted by aliens and exploring an alien ship really comes off well. There are some great scenes where they incorporate real-world sets, vehicles, or other objects in ways that give you a nice double-take. You also really do feel as though there’s always something cool to see just ahead and around the corner.

The whole portal/control gravity concept also works quite well, although if you’re like my roommate and get nauseous after playing 3D games for more than a few minutes, this definitely isn’t the game for you. So far the game seems to be 80% exploration/puzzle solving, and I for one am loving it. Don’t worry, plenty of shooting to be had, but manipulating gravity and portals to advance through the game is definitely a lot more fun than your standard “find key card and open door” design.

On the negative side, your primary character swears a bit too much, and a little unbelievably. Occasionally the comments are somewhat funny (such as when one of those aforementioned cool scenes happen, and he reacts by saying something like ”That’s f**ked up!”), but I’d have been happier with a little less of it. Controls are also not quite as fluid as I’d like. They’re not bad, but fine aiming is a little tough – the game could take some lessons from Halo’s acceleration and damping work.

Haven’t played online yet, so can’t comment there. Suspect it’ll be pretty fun – I can see the gravity switching and wall-walking as having some interesting tactical implications.

All in all, highly recommended. I’ll probably finish the game, which should say something to you. I see a lot of games in my role, and there just isn’t enough time to finish the majority – I can only invest the time in a few. Prey appears to be one of those.

Preliminary rating (to be updated with a final rating after finishing): 8 (out of 10)

Edit: I also have found the spirit walking mode to be a lot of fun. The concept of leaving your body to explore and pass through barriers really adds to some of the puzzles. I also really like how death is handled. You basically are taken to a spirit realm where you have a chance to “hunt” spirit and body energy (health), and then are returned to the real world which has paused while you were away. This means that the frustration of death in an FPS is finally removed – you can go up against the toughest boss, and eventually you’ll be able to pass and continue playing. That’s a huge win in my book – I know far too many games that have a frustration point where you just give up. I’m hoping more designers take note and understand the simple fact that people of all skill levels want to play your game and experience what you’ve created. Find ways to let them continue!

Related posts:

1. Final Thoughts on Prey
2. Early Zelda: Twilight Princess Thoughts
3. Quick Thoughts on Fable 2 and Fallout 3
4. Some Hands-on Thoughts about the Playstation 3