English
Gamereactor
previews
Prey

Prey - Hands-on with the first 90 minutes

We experienced the start of Morgan Yu's adventures on Talos 1.

Subscribe to our newsletter here!

* Required field
HQ
HQ

Finally, a video game where you collect stuff and send all the scrap to virtual recycling - we're as happy as can be standing in front of the recycler, playing as Morgan Yu (male or female is your choice, with no influence on the actual gameplay), throwing in whatever we found on the Talos 1 space station. Old wires, broken hard disks and, thankfully, the contaminated bags with alien innards can be recycled. As an added thank you for cleaning up, you get raw materials that allow you to print out med kits, weaponry, ammunition and more from the Fabricator (but only if you have the necessary blueprints). It's a brave new world on Talos 1, and unfortunately almost everything is dead on this privately owned space station circling the Moon in 2032. What may be alive are aliens seemingly made up of black smoke; aliens that can turn into everything from a coffee cup to a med kit. It makes for nasty surprises every so often, but luckily it's also great fun.

Prey is officially labelled a first-person sci-fi action thriller, at least that's what the developers called it during the presentation. The game lets us experience the rather complex story of Morgan Yu and, as we learned in the first twenty minutes, Morgan has a problem grasping reality, because the world is not real at all, much like what you saw in The Truman Show. The brilliant scientist got carried away with experiments, and at the centre of it all he or she has turned into the lab rat. The experiments were meant to improve mankind, perhaps even save it, but things did not go according to plan, and a very affable relative of Morgan also plays a role. You'll learn all of this in a playable intro sequence, which immediately immersed us into the game. It looks convincing at first sight, and you can see the hallmarks of Arkane Studios, quickly getting an idea how stylish everything will be. It's like Bioshock Infinite in space - and that's a compliment.

PreyPrey
This is an ad:

Morgan Yu quickly peeks behind the scenes and realises that Talos 1 is full of danger. Already at the first entrance of the large lobby, which also serves as a kind of hub, it becomes clear that this will not be a small game. Just exploring the offices, the medical station, and the IT security area reveal several options to achieve the required goal. You can avoid enemies or fight them, depending on how you choose to spend your experience points on Neuromods, which unlock various abilities.

The gameplay is initially designed for action, with less stealth. Later on, however, things will be much more complex as you unlock the alien skills, something we wrote about in our first preview. At least in the first hours it does not seem possible to completely avoid the aliens. Either way we're equipped with plenty of tools to get rid of them. First you'll have to rely on the ever trustworthy wrench. Morgan then quickly discovers a Gloo-Gun, which can catch aliens in a high-tech foam layer. This leaves them much easier to deal with - especially helpful when faced with the fast and very aggressive phantoms, who annoy us with their mixture of acid spitting and morphing. The small Mimic forms aren't much better, and if they come in packs things can quickly escalate. A shotgun is of course very helpful too, but unfortunately it loses potency with time or breaks down completely, just like Morgan's protective suit.

The initially quite large inventory with space limited to 45 slots (Resident Evil sends its regards) is quickly filled and you'll have to consider what you carry very carefully. You can expand the inventory over time to 84 slots, combine items, or use weapon upgrades. With the help of Neuromods, your abilities can be improved. There are the three basic areas: science, technology, and security in which Morgan can improve his/her neural skills; you can improve your hacking abilities, increase your health, or the gain the ability to repair destroyed equipment on Talos 1. Sneak and focus capabilities can also be improved, so you can definitely tailor Morgan Yu to your preferred play-style, but as a whole the game is designed with a mixture of confrontation and exploration in mind.

For further enhancement both the suit and the helmet can be fitted with special chipsets for even more perks, although we only found a 19.4GHz Recycler Shield for the suit that makes Morgan immune to Recycler Charges. Whatever that means. You can also consume all sorts of things lying around on the space station, from a rotten banana to a Magnum bottle of Kings & Way. This affects Morgan's state of mind, as he/she becomes more frightened by alcohol, but gains some energy. Well, better afraid and intoxicated in outer space than dead, we suppose.

This is an ad:

As chic as the whole station is, some design decisions are unfortunately not perfect. One annoyance are the notes you collect, which are displayed as blocks of text for in-depth reading. They provide more details on the background, but there are more important passages being told via audiologs, and you can also use terminals to read e-mails. Sometimes you have to hack them first, which requires an ability, and this also applies to locks on doors, which is why explorers should invest their Neuromods into hacking right from the start. As much as the gameplay favours action, Prey invites you to discover the world and alternative routes and solutions. Here it is very similar to Dishonored 2, once more a flattering comparison.

The almost 90 minutes we played from the very start of the game clearly shows the direction the game is taking. We're to explore Talos I, deeply immersive and always with that ominous feeling that some weird and unknown alien is about to launch themselves at us. You will have to make peace with visiting the inventory again and again and to examine and move objects, and the radial menus and shortcuts used for items and weapons takes some getting used to. But these are only minor annoyances that are easy to overlook. Prey looks terrific and offers an exciting, ambitious story. If you've got the slightest lust for stylish science fiction, you should be very excited for Prey.

HQ
HQ

Related texts

0
Prey: MooncrashScore

Prey: Mooncrash

REVIEW. Written by Mike Holmes

"The procedurally populated levels will certainly keep you on your toes, and Mooncrash definitely captures the spirit of Prey despite the structural changes."

0
PreyScore

Prey

REVIEW. Written by Mike Holmes

"Striking visual design and thoughtful gameplay systems have come together to create a unique and engaging experience."

0
Prey VR spotted on UK retail site

Prey VR spotted on UK retail site

NEWS. Written by Lisa Dahlgren

UK retailer ShopTo added (and swiftly removed) Prey VR to its site just recently, sparking speculations regarding a VR version of Arkane's first-person action-horror title.



Loading next content