Prey is a highly anticipated title soon to be taking Xbox 360 and PC owners on an incredible journey. Prey has been a long time coming as well, initial development started way back in 1995; so it better be bloody good then.
Prey's story is based around Tommy who is a Cherokee garage mechanic. Tommy is in denial about his Cherokee heritage and is unsure of his next step in life. Sadly Tommy doesn't have much time to ponder as he and his people are abducted by an alien space ship. Tommy must now embrace his Cherokee heritage if he is to survive and rescue his girlfriend along with the rest of the world.
My first reaction after playing Prey was something along the lines of "okay it looks pretty good if a bit dull", as I progressed though this impression soon changed. There is a lot of interaction available around specific areas, like in the men’s room and the bar - you can change tracks on the juke box and increase/decrease volume or watch a few channels on the portable television (its just up in the corner as well, where you might find one in your local pub).
During my time playing Prey it is easy to compare it to some other highly recognized Xbox and Xbox 360 titles. Most noticeably Condemned and Doom 3 - Though it would have the dreary atmosphere of Doom 3 as Prey is actually using a modified version of Doom 3's engine, this is most noticeable during interaction with other devices. Upon the opening scene of the game (men’s room), it is easily comparable to Condemned's rundown dirty style, just without the hobo's. Once abducted the visual flair soon changes as you're thrust into an alien spacecraft and that dark dreary atmosphere that is reminiscent of Doom 3 soon kicks in.
Once you are free from the clutches of the alien race it is up to you to explore this mammoth space ship and rescue your grandfather and girlfriend Jen along with the rest of the world, easier said than done though - did you ever see action heroes in some of your favorite movies have to enter an opening sweaty anus to continue (complete with passing wind)? No, didn't think so. Speaking of opening holes, that has to be a first for the FPS genre if not all games in general; this is one of the many things in Prey that makes the title unique. There are also times during the game where you can actually walk up the side of walls, flip gravity, enter spirit mode and have a walk with death. Yes, this is one weird mother of a game, but this is what I love about it. One of the strangest things in the game has to be the portals, these portals are in my opinion out of all the weird stuff in the game have to be the most common seen in video games but are very well implemented in Prey. It is some what surreal the first time I found one and quite funny; I found this box at the back of a dark room and you can actually see through the front and the rear of this box, at the rear end of the box is the portal of which you can see through to the next room... What was so amusing about this was I found my self looking through and then moving to the side to check that it’s a different room. I'm sure I won't be the only one to chuckle and crack a little smile at that.
I really enjoyed the experience of playing Prey it has a bit of everything from a lot of FPS games, of course there are similarities to Doom 3 in the level design and general look. I found Prey to also remind me a lot of Condemned's gritty but true presentation and melee combat system and I found the enemies and the AI to remind me of that of both Doom 3 and Quake 4. So in that respect I suppose it copies some styles but throws its own unique features into the mix like the wall walking and flipping gravity, two other features that I haven’t really mentioned as of yet are death walking and spirit mode. Spirit mode is essential to progress through the game, it enables your spirit to leave your body and you then have control of your spirit (bow and arrow in hand) which can reach places the human body cannot go, so performing simple tasks like flipping a switch so you can physically progress becomes second nature.
Death mode is entered upon your death in the game, but your spirit lives on and you must defeat evil spirits with your bow and arrow to regain your health and then teleport back into your human body. Ah, the benefits of a Cherokee heritage.
My closing thoughts on Prey are that it is a particularly good title with some unique features which try to separate it from the other mentioned titles of the same genre. I myself found the single player demo enjoyable but also too easy, though it could be that I'm just very good at it, for some unexplainable reason I doubt it’s the latter and more a case of difficulty select. I am looking forward to the near release of Prey as I do believe its one of those titles worth parting the cash for and is likely to be one of the Xbox 360's must have titles this year.
If you're a FPS Sci-Fi and/or horror fan then you will likely find Prey a treat to play. Prey is currently scheduled for release in the 2nd week of July but you can get your first taste of Prey in the form of a playable demo which is available right now to download for free on the Xbox Live Marketplace. I am preying for a decent multiplayer offering as well, the demo does actually feature Xbox Live multiplayer but I personally did not find it enjoyable, seems just like Doom 3's multiplayer but with fancy portals and wall walking, an online co-op mode would be more than welcome though, I can't see co-op being included as something would likely have been mentioned already.
The retail version of Prey promises to deliver more levels, many new weapons, controllable vehicles, tons of new puzzles, new enemies and new multiplayer maps.
Preview By: Wayne Julian
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