Prey

Okay, I'm not overly educated, jaded, a genius, or professional gamer; but some one who wrote here the game is 'BioHalfMassEffectLifeShock', in the positive sense -- HEY! THIS must be why I LOVE this game that IS a new example of all of those, with even brighter shades of modern Doom series thrown in. Frankly, I also get tired of death dark dangerous games -- dangerous is fine; kill the monsters to win the day but celebrate Life - there is more sympathy, humor and humanity to this title than usual for an fps. And it is not overdone; is just right, I think, for people who like to PLAY and to get through to the END of the game they PAID for. I also would still like to see a sequel of the original 'Prey', but I believe this game is a great excuse that they did not make that other one yet. I find it to be INSPIRED. Finally, for those who found it 'lazy', I found it to have just enough strategy and thought involved -- as I love strategy games in theory, I only can't play them because of their complexity. This smart fps does it for me; I find this an intelligent game that all CAN play. It also has high replay value; am now on my second round, finding things I missed the first time, still enjoying it. I also find the enemies and action challenging, yet not ridiculous. FIVE STARS: THANK You, God! Uhhh, GOG I mean. ;-)

Anyone who is a fan of immersive sims or curious about the genre should play Prey. My biggest disappointment is that there aren't more games like this. PROS: +Great level design that allows freedom of movement and multiple paths. +A "play your way" style of gameplay. Want to use stealth? Go for it. Want to go in guns blazing? Do it. Interested in alien space magic? Knock your socks off. +Lots of replayability as you experiment with different powers and how they affect your gameplay. +Rewards exploration and thinking outside of the box. +Multiple ways to solve any problem. +Interesting, world-building side quests that add to the overall experience instead of feeling tacked on. +Interesting story touching on loyalty, trust, morality, and the "greater good". +Multiple endings that aren't just "choose A or B". +Excellent music and visual presentation. +Mods that further change the experience, making things either much easier or harder. CONS: -While I wouldn't call it a horror game by any stretch, it is a very tense game that jump scared me at several points throughout. (Damn mimics!) -If you skip all of the optional side quests and just stick to the main story, it's a fairly short experience that fails to invest you in the story. -Much of the world building requires you to read a lot of the various reports, articles, and emails that you'll find throughout the game. -There are a few times where the game takes away your options in order to force you in one direction for story driven purposes. Overall, Prey is an excellent example of an increasingly rare genre of game; that being immersive sims. Instead of creating a problem and programing a solution, Arkane Studios creates obstacles and trusts the player to use their skills, equipment, and brain to find their own solutions. Such design requires a certain amount of trust between the developer and player, and I wish more developers would take such risks in game design. I highly recommend Prey.

After being massively disappointed with Bioshock, I approached this "spiritual successor to System Shock" with a lot more skepticism. Playing through the early stages, I was actually dismayed at how much it shares with Bioshock; it has the same 'Art Deco monument to man's hubris built by a megalomaniac who can't accept that things went VERY bad and you're left in the wreckage' thing going on. But where Bioshock ended up becoming a silly, boring slog with ridiculous writing, Prey actually takes that premise and does something quite special. Prey puts you on the research station Talos I playing as Morgan Yu, a silent protagonist (a trope I actually love and wish more games would utilize instead of forcing cringe words into your character's dumb maw) who is participating in the space station's study of neural modification when some sort of alien entity gets loose and starts wreaking havoc. As you make your way through the station figuring out the best ways to combat the threat, you discover more about what has been happening, and how you are connected to it. In concept, Prey seems like it's going to be a horror game; in style and execution however, it is much more of an action mystery a la the Half-Life games. I was really in the mood for a good horror game when I started Prey, so that disappointed me at first. But once I understood what it actually was (a fps action-rpg metroidvania in space) I got hooked. Prey accomplishes what so many games only promise: divergent gameplay as a consequence of your choices within its world. And the worldbuilding, both in setting and story, is some of the best I've ever seen. Talos I comes to life as you explore it; finding your way into subsections, crawling through maintenance shafts, floating through zero-g tunnels, reading emails. It all interconnects to make a game that is not only fun to play, but one that immerses you in an experience that feels believable. In that regard, it is a true successor to the System Shock games.

I would have loved a continuation, or even a re-envisioning, of the adventures and horrors of the bitter, disaffected Tommy What's-his-name. As such, it's kind of disappointing that this game has blotted out that prospect. That being said, I had a ball with this game. If you liked the many secrets, "more than one way to skin a cat" approach to gaming that System Shock 2 and Deus Ex brought to us before, Prey's got it. This is one of those games where you are motivated to replay, just to figure out how to get to the scraps of meat you left on the bone on the first playthrough. Map design is intricate and inviting. I love it when everything in the game fits together. Graphics were great, and they ran smooth as silk on my 2019 gaming laptop. Sound effects were great. Music was good, although there was nothing that really stuck in my head like something from Unreal or Deus Ex (here's to you, Mr. Brandon). The story was interesting. I love to discover what's going on in bits and pieces: through diary entries and scattered notes. I really felt like I was a part of the story. Gadgets were fun. I liked being able to upgrade both my character and his/her equipment. I haven't played a lot of the Mooncrash DLC, but it seems like a unique experience from the main game, which is intriguing. In a nutshell: good game. Glad I bought it.

To be honest didn't like in initially, but as you progress through the story, PREY grows on you. One of the tougher games to beat, which makes it challenging as well as frustrating at times. Played it again after finishing, and it does get easier the second time when you know what to do against enemies.