Not long now until we see Arkane studios’ most ambitious project yet in it’s full. PREY is a re-imagining of the 2006 cult classic FPS that strives for an intelligent, action packed experience with surrealistic imagery and themes on identity and the horrors of the unknown. The demo is now out for everyone to try and we highly recommend you do. Here are a few tips and pointers to give you a better understanding of what to expect.
Mind Games
When you boot up the demo, everything seems fine and dandy. Taking on the role of Morgan Yu, you start a brand new career at Tristar, the world's leading corporation on space endeavours, scientific research and other unspeakable evils. You embark on what is possibly the best journey into work via helicopter and meet your brother Alex who's also the CEO. After a brief chat you take part in a number of tests that seem insulting to your intelligence rather than productive or useful. But a good laugh none the less, until a certain event happens and everything changes.
Morgan discovers a sinister truth while escaping from her unknowing captivity. PREY soon becomes an experience of survival for Morgan as new discoveries and disturbing truths about Tristar and her brother Alex come forward.
Intense survival
The Talos I station is a beautiful place to be while a deadly outbreak takes place. Much like Bioshock, PREY's interior is heavily inspired by art decor and 1960's architecture which delivers a rich, futuristic and retro environment that's visually pleasing. The Talos I station is vastly dynamic allowing players to traverse the entire station and explore to their heart's content. You'll only be limited in your journey by what key items, pass codes and powers you obtain. But there's always an alternative path you can take and how you progress Morgan in terms of abilities will offer different methods of progression.
Morgan will have to use all their wits, intellect and raw strength to defeat the sinister force behind the takeover of Talos 1 known as the Typhon who range in many different forms. The Typhon are relentless and deadly as each form processes unique and interesting abilities. Mimics for example are able to replicate any object they make contact with from organic matter to various office appliances. They'll stay in their disguises as a chair, lamp or coffee mug until your close enough before they strike. It's unnerving as you'll often see them move around, or from the corner of your eye as they shape into an object, waiting for you to approach.
Other enemies have powers to deal melee damage, conduct elements such as electricity and fire into attacks while surprise attacks from giant brutes known as Nightmares will occur. But there are plenty of ways to combat and overcome these vicious encounters.
Adapting
Morgan has many resources to help them adapt and fight back at Talos 1, from firearms such as pistols and shotguns. Then there’s the Gloo canon, an inventive tool that acts as a weapon to freeze enemies but can also be used to bridge gaps and be allowed to create small structures that can be climbed. This opens up massive possibilities for gameplay and problem solving which is the main focus here in PREY.
But there are other mechanics that grant depth and dynamic complexity to the RPG gameplay. Players can gather various junk, trash and loot and recycle these items with the aid of a recycling machine known as a Fabricator, which produces raw minerals from junk. Players can use these raw minerals to produce vital items such as ammo, health and more. This engages players to explore, salvage and consider what they should be collecting, even if it’s complete junk.
As with an RPG from Arkane studios, there are plenty of skill trees and supernatural powers to obtain that’ll allow you to traverse the environment and complete any number of tasks. These powers can be obtained via using these nifty gadgets that inject abilities through your eye ball. Sweet! The powers and perks at play range from standard hacking, lifting heavy objects to the move inventive perks that allow you to mimic items. This comes in handy when you need to get into a locked room and the only way you can see is through a small gap in the window. So, transforming yourself into a mug or roll of toilet paper to squeeze through is highly encouraged.
Freedom of choice
This leads me to my final point. PREY is shaping up to be this gen’s Bioshock/System Shock and already it’s making an impact with the dynamic gameplay and the range of choices it offers. Indeed, PREY does offer and excellent sense of freedom and range of paths to take in completing your tasks. This can be from the simple find key card to open door to the more inventive manner of progression as mentioned before. Transforming into a roll of toilet paper to get through a small opening into a locked room hasn’t been seen before and is a first for gaming. There’s plenty of variation and range which makes PREY stand out as one of the most innovated FPS titles on this gen.
So that’s a recap on what to expect from PREY as our impressions from the demo, which you can play right now. We highly recommend trying out the demo and stay tuned for more news and our review coming out soon.
