Prey:
Time to Beat: 25 Hours
Shamus Young, at Twenty
Sided, was the first to bring Prey to my attention. I
didn't know anything about the game but the author's effusive review
convinced me of its excellence. Though I'd played Dishonored
by developer, Arkane Studios in 2017, their remaining catalog looked
like a mixed bag of failure and success. At the time I compared
Dishonored to System Shock and the Bioshock
series. Prey doesn't stretch the comparison either. These
games nestle together in the middle ground between lite-RPG first
person shooter and fantasy (or sci-fi) action shooter.
Prey is a science-fiction,
horror, RPG, first person shooter set in an alternate future
universe. The player controls Morgan Yu, an heir of the influential
and wealthy Yu family. Morgan and his brother Alex co-manage Talos
I, a space station operated by TranStar. The board of TranStar is
controlled by Alex and Morgan's parents. Both Morgan and Alex are
geniuses in their scientific fields, and together invented the
Neuromod. This ingenious device, a chemical inserted into the brain
with a needle near the eye, allows anyone to instantly master a
skill, such as classical piano, karate, or piloting a spacecraft.
Prey reveals that Neuromods contain a significant drawback
(and hides other issues for later): all memories made after the
installation of a Neuromod are forgotten if it is removed.
Unfortunately the developers don't use this aspect of their game to
incorporate themes about memory to the fullest extent.
This lack is especially disappointing
considering how memory is used to such astonishing effect for Prey's
opening. The developers created one of the most wonderful,
surprising, and twisted introductions in gaming, but they fail to
follow up on it as the game continues. A lack of memory can inspire
feels of tranquility or terror, if one knows that one doesn't know
(or doesn't know that one doesn't know). The security of the
introduction is shattered when Morgan learns of a threat he'd agreed
to forget about: the Typhon. Aboard the scientific research station
of Talos, it's surprising how few of the staff know the work behind
their prime product. The top scientists, including Morgan and Alex
are experimenting on an intelligent and deadly alien race, the
Typhon. The rest of the staff believe TranStar is developing
Neuromods, but don't realize the true extent of Talos I.
Where the Typhon came from, or what
their purpose is, aside from absorbing all non-Typhon life into
itself, remains unclear. Humanity first learned of the Typhon when
they destroyed a Soviet Satellite. This wreck became the core of
Talos I as the Soviets sought to contain the menace. Talos I is home
to about a dozen Typhon types, which look like a bundle of oily black
tentacles coiled together into shapes. Each Typhon type looks
distinct-ish from each other, but many types include sub-varieties,
and it's difficult to tell them apart at a glance. For example,
there are variety of mimics, a spider-like creature which transforms
to take the appearance of everyday objects, like a bag of potato
chips or a calendar. When an unsuspecting player approaches the fake
object the mimic leaps forward to latch onto Morgan's face.
Ingenious creatures, I even saw a mimic transform into the corpse of
a dead mimic. The best way to deal with these insidious monsters is
to wack every object with your trusty, System Shock
referencing, wrench.
The whole game, except for the
beginning, occurs on the TranStar space station known as Talos I.
It's a beautifully detailed mini-world reminiscent of the best parts
of BioShock if that underwater metropolis was a gleaming space
station fusion of retro and futuristic design. Not only is Talos
visually astonishing, the level design and the interconnectedness of
the station is makes exploring seem seamless and rewarding. Unless
one is determined to find all the collectibles (like the 268, mostly
dead crew), the player won't have to do much backtracking, and
certain abilities will make travel faster and easier as Prey
progresses.
During Prey Morgan installs
Neuromods to transform himself (or herself) into a super, sci-fi
warrior. Neuromods are the game's version of leveling up, and it
includes a reasonable variety of different ability trees to choose
from. Player's can focus on improving their basic human functions
like more health, stealthier sneaking, or improved proficiency their
weapons. Or Morgan can install Typhon skills, like the ability to
mimic objects in the environment, or shoot a kinetic blast at
enemies. The process to learn new abilities is fine, and it's cool
that later in the game the player can manufacture Neuromods at
Fabricators (more on those next article). The problem is the
implementation of Neuromods as a game mechanic breaks the player's
immersion. Remember earlier when I described Neuromods, I explained
how each Neuromod teaches a particular skill. But, in Prey
there is no need for mastering chess, playing the flute, or welding.
In a space station overrun by a horrific alien species the only
relevant skills are kill the extraterrestrial, or run away from it
and hide. So the Neuromods in Prey are blank slates,
collected and used to upgrade any ability the player desires. Not
only that, but almost every ability requires more than one Neuromod,
and some require as many as six. Though the developers describe the
details of Neuromods for the story, the mechanic is entirely divorced
from for game-play, and that isn't satisfying.
Though Prey bills
itself as a horror game, this is only true for the first hour or two.
In the beginning the player fears the Typhon because they wield
deadly powers. As the player gains access to these same powers with
the aid of Neuromods the game transitions from a horror shooter to an
action shooter. Enemies that initially destroyed the player
in seconds vanish to an overwhelming barrage of bullets. Typhon
super powers, bodily enhancements, and increased damage with a
shotgun allows the player to rip through enemies like paper towels
through grease. The exception is the Nightmare, a terrifyingly
humongous nemesis created for the specific purpose of hunting Morgan.
The Nightmare attacks with deadly efficiency and is best defeated,
or evaded, by trickery. Unlike other Typhons which don't know
Morgan's location, and are surprisingly bad at detecting sounds, the
Nightmare knows exactly where the player is. But its large frame and
inability to fly, make it possible to find a location it can't reach.
From this secure spot the player can whittle down its health or
avoid its lethal mental blasts. The Nightmare's greatest weakness is
that after three minutes it disappears, though it returns later in
the game regardless of whether it was killed or not. If the player
doesn't or can't find a place to hide, they can find the nearest
transition from one section of Talos I to another. Passing through
one of these doors requires a loading screen, and the Nightmare can't
travel through these, but the timer still counts down. Aside from
the Nightmare, areas cleared of Typhon mostly remain clear except for
the main lobby, and the occasional event which re-infuses oily blood
into a location.
While Prey pretends there are
other styles of play beyond combat (like stealth), this is either a
lie, or merely unsatisfying. Sneaking isn't a viable way to explore,
as the player will be forced to pass over so much detail. Sneaking
around to achieve a better angle of attack on an enemy is fine, but
investing in combat abilities makes this unnecessary. Prey
also invested in platforming elements, which is a real head scratcher
for a first person shooter. Its key component is the Gloo gun, a
non-lethal device which fires gloo to walls, creating platforms to
stand on. The Gloo cannon is introduced in a scene where a NPC
creates a smooth inclined path to travel to a higher level, by
stacking gloo blobs on each other. Similar effects can be seen
around the station with gloo blobs used to block large windows or
massive holes in the walls. The player can not do this. When the
player fires the gun, blobs can't even be next to each other, forget
touching. And they are so small, and the player can only see through
Morgan's eyes, making it is frustratingly difficult to jump from one
to another. Prey also features a climbing mechanic, which
allows Morgan to grab onto edges and ledges, but it is often
difficult to find the edge of a gloo blob, which results in numerous
falls. The game is similarly bad with throwing objects. One ability
allows Morgan to lift heavy objects and throw them, but the camera
prevents throwing them with any level of precision. These may be
minor issues, but one wonders at their inclusion in an otherwise
seamless experience.
Hopefully this first review offered a
general idea of the protagonist's situation and an understanding of
combat, while next week will review a few other features along with
information about Prey's themes and its conclusion.
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