Prey

Prey is an exciting first-person action game in a sci-fi style with lots of psychological twists added to the gameplay. You play as Morgan Yu - the subject of some suspicious experiments that were primarily designed to improve the human race. All the game’s scenes are happening aboard the Talos 1 in 2032, and you are there to uncover its secrets. Just keep in mind that a mysterious alien force is always hunting you, so it’s not that easy to get those secrets. Look for different tools on the station, use them as your weapons and along with your wits and mind-bending abilities combat the growing enemies and try to survive.

Graphics 4.5/5

Graphically, Prey is not the best game you’ve ever played. But it does have some visual tricks that will make you addicted to the gameplay shortly. The Prey’s animation looks smooth and clear. Therefore combats feel so enjoyable especially with those mysterious enemies that will surprise you during the entire game. All of them are made of the same weird looking black goo, and the way they move through the shadows and spontaneously appear will make you speechless shortly. Some of the larger aliens look just like blobs while the robotic ones are basically floating computers.

The graphical flaw can be simply noticed when you take a look at the human characters because their faces feel just like plastic and almost don’t move or express any emotions. Obviously, this doesn’t make a nice impression from the animation.   

Gameplay 5/5

Prey has a fantastic storyline, and therefore it’s enjoyable to uncover the whole history by bits and pieces that you can find in news articles or see on loading screens. What makes Prey even more exciting is its semi-open-world level design which is flexible and allows you to reach objectives in different ways that you can pick by yourself depending on your strengths.

To get out of the room, where you’ll surprisingly find yourself at the beginning of the game, you can use 3 different ways: think how to hack the terminals and unlock the doors; use your force to remove barricades; spend some time and look for something that will point you at the passcode for that door. You won’t have all of the opportunities all the time, but it’s still fun to try out all the ways and puzzles for escaping the room. As you progress through the game and get upgraded, more new places and further encouraging explorations will become available for you.

Besides escaping various rooms, you’ll have to combat with enemies and protect yourself from all kinds of danger. You can pick up almost any piece of useful gear or even trash that you see on your way and turn it into materials for manufacturing weapons and upgrades. Of course, this makes the gameplay more interesting because you have a wider range of options instead of simply getting ordinary weapons.

In addition to customizable weapons, you’ll have some impressive abilities like the one with moving objects, increasing strength, killing with your mind or making the dead to fight for you.

So all you have to do in the game is to keep yourself alive, gain new abilities and unique skills to develop your powers and improve combats, craft weapons, find gadgets and tools, overcome dangerous obstacles as well as enemies on your way and discover all the secrets of Talos 1.

Controls 4.5/5

Prey’s controls feel good on mouse and keyboard, the sensitivity is great. Combats are fine with pistols and shotguns as the main weapons. There is also a couple of other options available.You can even use some mental abilities in your combats like clones of yourself or use the dead to protect you. There is also a mind-control power that can be used even against the fiercest enemy. Your enemies have no ways to detect you unless they notice you while patrolling areas. But you can swipe from the mimics to transform into any small object and make yourself invisible anytime until you stop holding or your psych power meter runs out.

Replay Value 4/5

The Prey’s gameplay keeps you in the tense from the beginning and till the end. There are plenty of some cruel traps for you, so whenever you see a pair of health packs, for example, better double check it and make sure that it’s not a  predator waiting for his prey. Entering a new room will cause you the same sense of tension even at the end of the game.

Prey has lots of side quests that can extend this game from a 15 to 20-hour run to something longer. You will unlikely get tired of playing in the same locations and seeing the lobby, the arboretum or the cargo bay because you will explore and unlock new abilities, opportunities and ways to play this game.

In-app purchases

Prey costs about $60 and doesn’t have any in-game purchases which allow you to enjoy playing this game thoroughly right from the beginning.

Conclusion

Prey is an exciting sky-fi game with a curious gameplay and intriguing side quests. It has lots of cruel traps, hidden threats as well as beautifully detailed environments and smoothly animated enemies which makes the game a joy to play. The gameplay keeps you in the tense due to the paranoiac sense that won’t leave you until you finish the game. 

• Graphics 4.5
• Gameplay 5
• Controls 4.5
• Replay Value 4

Pros

fantastic environments;
beautiful animation;
a lasting sense of tense;
side quests;
puzzle solving tasks;

Cons

the storyline lacks details;
human characters look unrealistic;