Prey: Can't Mimic A Proper Conclusion

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Before we arrive, let's discuss some odds and ends. In Prey the player traverses the sizable space station of Talos I. The splendor of the structure, and the mechanics of travel made this experience enjoyable where it could have been tiresome. There were many barriers to movement, like locked doors, heavy obstacles, large holes, and dozens of enemies. Prey says there are multiple solutions to any problem. Sometimes there were, like key cards, hacking, super strength, advanced agility, and combat skills, but all too often there was only one option. For example, there were two types of glass in Prey; regular, breakable glass, and unbreakable super-glass. While unbreakable glass normally appeared in the places one would expect, like any window to space, or next to hazardous materials, it occasionally felt like super-glass was installed to artificially prevent access to particular areas. An even more obvious contrived construction were the electronically locked doors. Some doors were hackable. That is, the player could use an ability, to open a locked door. But some doors couldn't be hacked. In these instances the player needed the proper access card. This didn't make sense, that some locked doors could be hacked, and others couldn't. Though barriers like code locked electronic doors frustrated the player's initiative, it wasn't all bad. Prey did an excellent job recording any relevant codes and data so the player didn't have to take notes.

In Prey, the inventory of Morgan was limited, and the player had to make use of whatever they found. To aid them, the developers introduced the combination of a recycler and fabricator. Any object in Morgan's inventory, empty bags of chips, banana peals, grenades, ruined hard drives, and shotguns could be recycled down to its basic components. The four types of materials were organic, mineral, synthetic, and exotic. At a fabricator the player could choose from a list of fabrication plans they'd found in Talos, and out would pop the object. With these machines the player could create ammunition for the weapons they preferred by recycling ammo they didn't want. Once the player had found the proper fabrication plans, they could create any supplies they needed; medical kits, weapon upgrades, or even Neuromods.

The rest of this review is about the ending of Prey, so stop reading now to avoid spoilers.
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The beginning of Prey introduces the player to two viewpoints. One is his brother, who functions as a semi-antagonist. The other is January, a robot ally who speaks with Morgan's voice. The latter guides the player through the initial sequence when Morgan wakes up with the Typhon roaming Talos I. It claims Morgan created it as a backup if the secret tests backfired. Gradually Morgan learns that he had agreed to a series of tests on Talos to imbue humans with Typhon powers through Neuromods. During the tests, the Typhon escape containment, and Morgan is confined to quarters. With the station in chaos, January frees Morgan and reminds him that he'd spent more than half a year installing and uninstalling Neuromods each day. During that time Alex, January, and the science staff discovered a fatal flaw with their product: repeatedly installing and uninstalling Neuromods led to personality drift. Over those months, Morgan became a different person, even though he had forgotten every experience.

In addition to January, Morgan built two other robot allies; October and December. Neither interacts with Morgan as often as January, but do impact the plot. January tells Morgan that he had a backup plan. In the event of a Typhon outbreak, he wanted sacrifice himself blow up Talos I. December rejects this plan, and instructs Morgan to flee the station in an escape pod. Any player who follows December's instructions will discover it is possible to finish Prey in under five hours, but that it isn't really an ending. No one will be satisfied with it, and will return to the main quest.

Later in the game Alex offers an alternative solution to January's. Instead of destroying the station, he theorizes that it may be possible to neutralize the Typhon with a weapon Morgan invented. Alex tries to persuade his brother, saying that January is an impostor and a liar. His real brother, Alex continues, would want to save their accomplishments, not destroy them.
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With these conflicting perspectives Prey poses multiple questions about memory and identity. Who is the real Morgan? Because of personality drift, the original Morgan is dead beyond reach. It's freeing because the player can be who they want to be. But which should be trusted; January, December, or Alex's memories of Morgan?

From my perspective, Alex repeatedly demonstrated duplicitous behavior, so I questioned his motives, his trustworthiness, and the validity of his plan. The real choice over the ending related to each plan's chance of success. Which was more likely to defeat the Typhon: destroying the station, or exploding an experimental bomb to neutralize them? Since the Typhon were discovered in space, it was possible that destroying Talos wouldn't kill them. They might even be ejected toward Earth. On the other hand, can Morgan's prototype Typhon neural bomb kill all the Typhon on the station? Alex argues for this proposal because it will preserve the knowledge they've gain by their experiments.

But assuming both choices successfully defeat the Typhon, I asked myself if I want the station to survive. The player discovers, as they venture deeper into the mysteries of Talos, that the station is like a massive Nazi science experiment. Morgan relearns the truth of the diabolical process for creating Neuromods. Remember, a Neuromod imprints on a brain a specific skill like computer programming or writing poetry. To make a Neuromod the scientists needed an appropriately skilled human. They needed Volunteers. They found them in the gulags and prisons of Earth, awaiting execution or experiencing a life sentence. What the Volunteers didn't know was that they would be Typhon food. Each Volunteer with a relevant skill was fed to Typhon mimics. Then the scientists killed the mimics and extracted their substance to create Neuromods. I'd gladly destroy this abominable farm, as long as destroying the base also defeated the Typhon. In spite of these thoughts, Prey still made the final choice difficult because the game remains resolutely vague about what either choice will do, or if either will succeed.
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No player should find the choice difficult, because both endings are functionally the same. They are short, end abruptly, and offer no real resolution to the player. A disappointing conclusion.

But then there's the after credits game-play. Prey reveals that the player wasn't controlling Morgan, but a Typhon, influenced by Neuromods to make it sympathetic to humans, while under the oversight of Alex Yu. The Morgan/Typhon was (possibly) reliving the real events of the fall of Talos I from Morgan's perspective. The player learns that the Typhon have invaded Earth, and Alex is working on a vague plan to save it.

The conclusion raises more questions than it answers, rendering it more frustrating than the earlier conclusion. One can only hope Arkane releases Prey 2 in order to satisfactorily answer the following questions.

What happened to Morgan?
What happened to Talos I?
Where is Alex at the end of the game?
How did the Typhon get to Earth?
What is Alex's plan to save Earth?
How many humans are alive, and where are they?
What is the situation on Earth?
How far in the future is the final scene?

Even this ending isn't the ending. While no announcement has been made about Prey 2, Arkane released an expansion, Prey: Mooncrash, a year later. Next week, a review of this conclusion, (not a conclusion) expansion.

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