Prey Review

Prey has been in development since 1995 in some form or another and was finally released in 2006 after Human Head Studios took over the development. Upon release the game sold reasonably well, received generally positive reviews and then disappeared without a trace, banished to the forgotten bargain bin of shops all over the country. However, with a special offer on Steam recently and the game being available for £5 in most major UK game shops it seemed worth another look.

Prey is an interesting and unusual first person shooter and this both helps and hinders it. The story follows the Native American protagonist "Tommy" as well as his girlfriend Jen and grandfather Enisi who live on a reservation in the Southern USA. One night, strange things begin to happen and before you can say "E.T." they have all been abducted and with a large proportion of Oklahoma, find themselves stuck on an alien craft orbiting the Earth. It is down to "Tommy" to try and save the people and stop any further abductions, as well as to save his girlfriend who has been whisked away into the depths of the ship.

Whilst some elements of the plot are pretty conventional and have been done many times before, the setting is something very different and I haven't seen a sci-fi horror game of this quality in some time. The game is uncompromisingly brutal and some of the scenes are particularly graphic, which certainly warrants the 18 certificate, though at times it does feel gratuitous and lacks the psychology of games like Silent Hill. However, it does add to the atmosphere and some scenes are chillingly effective. There is also a great way of getting past palm scanners later in the game which deserves a mention.

The graphics for the game are also top of the range for their time and still impress today, a few years on. The spaceship itself looks amazing, with the metallic corridors looking realistic and the more organic living sections being particularly memorable. Effects are also impressive with explosions and weapon blasts giving the impression of power. Sound is also handled competently but never really impresses, although the music fits the game well, though at times the continuous Native American bell jingling in some sections can have you humming loudly to drown it out.

The gameplay of Prey is fairly unique and it brings some new and intriguing ideas to the table. The game is played entirely in the first person perspective in the same manner as the Half Life series, although Tommy is frequently more verbal than Dr. Freeman, even though much of his dialogue largely consists of a tirade of swearing.

The first person gunplay is good, but never really feels solid and satisfying in the same way as Half Life 2. The combat is effective enough and battles are generally tense and fraught, but a strange system means it is difficult to die. If you lose your health you have to take part in a sort of mini-game where you fight spirits until you are returned to your body. There are also the obligatory vehicle sections which aren't bad but they tend to drag on and are sometimes confusing and feature enemies stolen straight from The Matrix.

Here lies one of Prey's new ideas. The ability to leave your body and wander in the "spirit realm" which essentially allows you to walk past force fields and active switches, giving rise to a number of puzzles which are never really that difficult but add a much needed addition to the combat. Whilst in this spirit mode you can also use a spirit bow to dispatch enemies whilst your body is far enough away to avoid damage, which is a nice idea and is well handled.

The weapons in general are fairly small in number, with 7 main ones, some with numerous firing modes, but they are generally fairly conventional (rifle, machine gun with grenade launcher) although there is a rather snazzy acid shotgun which helps to keep things interesting.

The other major differences are the use of "gravity switches" which when shot spin the room around you, so you can advance over obstacles. For example, if you were on the floor, then activated a switch on the ceiling, the gravity would alter suddenly flipping you upside down. This is confusing at first and could potentially give you some pretty serious motion sickness, but it is a unique idea and offers some challenging sections. Bizarrely the gravity ramps featured seem to have been stolen from the Ratchet & Clank games, which seems to be a little unusual in an adult sci-fi horror game.

The last major feature of Prey is the use of Portals. Whilst this must have been groundbreaking and never seen before at the time, playing this after Valve's Portal, it seems a little mediocre. Whilst Portal seems to have been influenced by Prey (down to the orange and blue portal outlines) Valve's game is the superior. In Prey portals play little real role in the gameplay, other than to access new areas and to spawn waves of enemies to fight. As a player you have no way of controlling them, other than the occasional flick of a switch. This seems a shame, if Prey had made them more integral to the story, it would likely have beaten Portal to the idea.

In the end though, Prey is by no means a bad game. It is an unusual first person shooter, which does take some risks by trying new ideas, but ultimately plays it too safe in the long run by resorting to traditional FPS and story ideas which prevents it from becoming a real classic of the genre. That said the story is quite satisfying and if you are a fan of the genre, want to try something different and can pick this up for a good price then you shouldn't be disappointed.