Arkane comes through once again with another immersive sim, this time taking heavy inspiration from System Shock. And for the most part, it's a really great experience.
Narratively, Prey follows some of the tried and true sci-fi tropes, but adds enough flair to keep things engaging from start to finish. I loved reading the interpersonal stories of the different crew members, and I was definitely stressing about my choices leading up to the end. Much like the opening, the ending itself is really fun and interesting... but it lacks polish. If rumors are to be believed, Arkane was reworking the endings and had to rush to meet deadlines so they weren't able to give it quite as much time as it needed, which is a bit of a shame. Still, it's a very interesting ending and I like it, but it could have been executed better.
Combat wise Prey isn't amazing but it's definitely solid, and the enemies are really cool. Normally I think jumpscares are weak horror devices, but the way they're contextualized here makes them actually pretty fun. Having to worry about shapeshifting mimics makes the simple act of interacting with objects an interesting gameplay loop. And while they lose their luster by the end, they're still cool nonetheless and they make exploring new areas a really fun and tense experience.
Speaking of exploration, I think it's probably the best aspect of the game, with a shit load of different ways to explore the station. Arkane's whole "Play your way" initiative is still going strong here, and most areas or objectives have a multitude of ways to reach them, usually depending on your character build or your attention to environmental detail. For me that's where the real charm of the gameplay comes in - A lot of the combat can be completely ignored, you can utilize typhon abilities to shapeshift, you can do things earlier in the game that make it easier later on, and much more. I found it particularly fun to search around for alternate paths into locked rooms, and the first time I came across a "Telepath" enemy was a great moment that I wont spoil here.
The exploration is also helped by the fact that the space station itself is really well designed from a visual standpoint. With a nice mix of art deco and mechanical designs, and a distinct blue and Gold color palette. The more traditional "space station interior" areas of pipes and gray walls were a lot less interesting to me personally, but the beautiful design of places like the Lobby, the Crew Quarters and the Arboretum certainly make up for it.
Prey also has really solid sound design, with creepy typhon noises and station ambience. Mick Gordon's soundtrack is fantastic, and I've said it before but this game confirms it; guitars fucking slap for sci-fi shit and you can't tell me otherwise.
Voice acting is also great with Benedict Wong turning in an awesome performance as Alex... It's just a shame that the audio team weren't aware that the mics should have been a few inches farther away from the actor. Either that or they need a better audio editor for the dialogue.
There are a few other issues I have here and there, with some sections overstaying their welcome and some so-so mechanics like the hacking (though to be fair, has hacking ever been good in a video game??) Overall though, this is a really fun experience and it's a damn shame that it didn't sell well. But I guess that's what happens when 80% of the gaming community is a bunch of fuckheads who would rather just play the same 3 things every year, and then cry about not having any "new" or "different" games to play instead of expanding their horizons. Also probably because Bethesda made the boneheaded decision to name it after a game from 2006 that next to no one remembers.
4 outta 5 - would go so so fast with sailing ships again.
Narratively, Prey follows some of the tried and true sci-fi tropes, but adds enough flair to keep things engaging from start to finish. I loved reading the interpersonal stories of the different crew members, and I was definitely stressing about my choices leading up to the end. Much like the opening, the ending itself is really fun and interesting... but it lacks polish. If rumors are to be believed, Arkane was reworking the endings and had to rush to meet deadlines so they weren't able to give it quite as much time as it needed, which is a bit of a shame. Still, it's a very interesting ending and I like it, but it could have been executed better.
Combat wise Prey isn't amazing but it's definitely solid, and the enemies are really cool. Normally I think jumpscares are weak horror devices, but the way they're contextualized here makes them actually pretty fun. Having to worry about shapeshifting mimics makes the simple act of interacting with objects an interesting gameplay loop. And while they lose their luster by the end, they're still cool nonetheless and they make exploring new areas a really fun and tense experience.
Speaking of exploration, I think it's probably the best aspect of the game, with a shit load of different ways to explore the station. Arkane's whole "Play your way" initiative is still going strong here, and most areas or objectives have a multitude of ways to reach them, usually depending on your character build or your attention to environmental detail. For me that's where the real charm of the gameplay comes in - A lot of the combat can be completely ignored, you can utilize typhon abilities to shapeshift, you can do things earlier in the game that make it easier later on, and much more. I found it particularly fun to search around for alternate paths into locked rooms, and the first time I came across a "Telepath" enemy was a great moment that I wont spoil here.
The exploration is also helped by the fact that the space station itself is really well designed from a visual standpoint. With a nice mix of art deco and mechanical designs, and a distinct blue and Gold color palette. The more traditional "space station interior" areas of pipes and gray walls were a lot less interesting to me personally, but the beautiful design of places like the Lobby, the Crew Quarters and the Arboretum certainly make up for it.
Prey also has really solid sound design, with creepy typhon noises and station ambience. Mick Gordon's soundtrack is fantastic, and I've said it before but this game confirms it; guitars fucking slap for sci-fi shit and you can't tell me otherwise.
Voice acting is also great with Benedict Wong turning in an awesome performance as Alex... It's just a shame that the audio team weren't aware that the mics should have been a few inches farther away from the actor. Either that or they need a better audio editor for the dialogue.
There are a few other issues I have here and there, with some sections overstaying their welcome and some so-so mechanics like the hacking (though to be fair, has hacking ever been good in a video game??) Overall though, this is a really fun experience and it's a damn shame that it didn't sell well. But I guess that's what happens when 80% of the gaming community is a bunch of fuckheads who would rather just play the same 3 things every year, and then cry about not having any "new" or "different" games to play instead of expanding their horizons. Also probably because Bethesda made the boneheaded decision to name it after a game from 2006 that next to no one remembers.
4 outta 5 - would go so so fast with sailing ships again.