Prey Reviews
From the first time you set foot in the world of Prey and Talos 1 the space-station where the majority of the game takes place, you get a clear indication that Arkaine Studio's inspiration comes from games like System Shock, Bioshock, Deadspace and Half-Life. And like they say: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". The pacing is solid, the narrative is well crafted coupled with a beautiful atmosphere, makes pray one of the most memorable FPS games I have played in the last couple of years.
We are there, in that cold metal clutter, scared by what we can find, but determined to advance with our discoveries.
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The rebooted Prey really has nothing to do with the game that provided its name, but it does take many of Dishonored's gameplay tropes and implements them well in space. Just be prepared for difficult enemy encounters, long loads, and tons of backtracking through Talos 1.
When you take all these different elements into account, it becomes clear that Prey is greater than the sum of its parts. The intriguing story that adapts to your decisions, the emphasis on player creativity and thinking your way out of problems, the beautiful art design, it all works together well. Yes, the loading screens might get annoying. Yes, hearing the exact same tones when you die is groan worthy. Yet those don’t take away from the countless other things Prey gets right. Frankly, deducting points for those two incredibly minor things, especially given how they might not even annoy other players depending on how they play, feels utterly vindictive. There are so many other things done right here that this amazing experience is not held back in any way. Obviously there’s no such thing as a truly perfect game. However, I must say that Prey comes incredibly close.
Prey is truly an unique game, featuring one of the best designed space stations I´ve ever seen, along with the characteristic artistic vision of Arkane Studios. Yet, it also copies so many flaws from their previous Dishonored series, like the lackluster story-telling and most importantly, the mediocre combat. The point, where Prey simply fails is to keep the thin balance of fairness and difficulty. When the combat works, it both looks and feels great but these moments are just too rare, switched out by too many frustrating moments, overshadowing all the great things Prey implemented. Overall, I still really enjoyed my trip to the Talos I, be it, due to the amazing sandboxes or level design, the sheer amount of possibilities to experiment or the lore behind it. I was often frustrated with it, no doubt, I was often annoyed but also enchanted and stunned by it.
The game is a real triumph and is already one of the more impressive titles of 2017. I look forward to seeing what is next for the franchise as PREY is an impressive achievement that will provide countless hours of gaming to even the most hard-core gamer.