{"id":1084,"date":"2008-09-23T02:34:41","date_gmt":"2008-09-23T02:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/?p=500"},"modified":"2010-08-31T13:36:32","modified_gmt":"2010-08-31T12:36:32","slug":"prey-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/prey-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Prey Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Story<\/span> <\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

In Prey you play the role of Tommy, a Cherokee Indian. Like countless other humans you are abducted from Earth by an alien sphere intent on harvesting its victims for food, but using a combination of captured alien weapons and your Cherokee Indian abilities you take the fight back to your captors.<\/p>\n

The story is quite good and combines elements of science fiction, Native American Indian beliefs, and Tommy\u2019s quest to rescue his girlfriend and escape from the sphere.<\/p>\n

During the course of the game the story unfolds through communication with your Grandfather. There is also an unknown telepathic voice on the alien sphere that regularly communicates with you, and Tommy also talks to himself sometimes to shed insight on things he sees. Additional back-story is garnered through cameo voice appearances by Art Bell with his radio talk-show where callers on Earth ring and describe what is happening on the planet (\u201cbright lights in the sky\u201d, and so on).<\/p>\n

The voice acting for all the major characters is pretty decent and believable too, and the opening abduction scene is very well done and really sets the mood of the game.<\/p>\n

\"tommy\" <\/a> This handsome face belongs to you.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Level Design<\/span> <\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

Prey’s environment is set inside a vast alien sphere and as a result offers themes ranging from metallic to organic, or a mixture of both. Level design is a mixture of standard corridor crawls to very large open spaces. The corridor crawl sections usually have variable lighting, animation and\/or fog to keep things visually interesting.<\/p>\n

Progress generally unfolds in a linear fashion but sometimes puzzles stand in the way, and what sets Prey apart from most first person shooters is the range of gameplay elements used to solve such puzzles.<\/p>\n

<\/strong> <\/span> <\/p>\n

Spirit Mode<\/span> <\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

One such gameplay element is your ability to enter spirit mode. This mode leaves your body behind but allows your spirit to move as normal. This is handy to pass through forcefields, traverse areas not possible in physical form, and generally be in two places at once.<\/p>\n

While in this mode you can manipulate objects as if you were in physical form so you can press buttons, pick up items, and so on. Also while in this mode spirit "bridges" can appear in some areas that allow the crossing of chasms that are otherwise impassable. Additionally you can also attack enemies with your ethereal bow but this drains spirit energy, energy which can be replenished by dispatching opponents and absorbing their souls.<\/p>\n

When spirit mode is needed to progress or there is a secret area nearby, there is usually a circular star symbol on the ground or wall which gives you a hint to use it.<\/p>\n

\"spirit-mode\" <\/a> Tommy goes into spirit mode to get past the forcefield. He can engage the guards on the other side with his ethereal bow while his body floats to the right until he returns. Note the sun symbol on the ground to the right which gives the hint to use spirit mode.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong> <\/span> <\/span> <\/p>\n

Portals<\/strong> <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Portals offer another gameplay element. These offer the ability to see and move into spaces that are not connected to your current area in a regular fashion. There are also puzzles involving the manipulation of extra-dimensional rooms not accessible by anything but portals, rooms that allow you to proceed to the next area.<\/p>\n

\"portal\" <\/a> Entering this portal teleports you to the room beyond.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong> <\/span> <\/p>\n

Gravity<\/span> <\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

Another unique aspect of the game is variable gravity. In certain areas you can change the direction of gravity by shooting gravity controllers and the gravity will start pulling towards the wall the controller is attached to. So if a wall is too high to climb over, you can reverse the gravity and walk on the roof (which is now the floor) to get past it and then flip the gravity back again.<\/p>\n

In a similar vein there are gravity walkways that follow all manner of twists and turns but as long as you stay on them, you won\u2019t fall off, no matter what your orientation is. Think Descent but on rails. However if you kill enemies on a walkway they will fall back to the ground.<\/p>\n

Additionally objects can exhibit their own gravity separate to the main map so (for example) you can walk around an asteroid without falling off and you can jump high due to its low gravity. However as soon as you leave the asteroid the main map’s gravity takes over so you can fall as normal and jump only to a regular height.<\/p>\n

\"wallkway\" <\/a> Stepping onto this walkway keeps your feet firmly planted on the ground even if you start walking upside down.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong> <\/span> <\/p>\n

Interactive Objects<\/span> <\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

Interactive objects also appear in the game. The start of the game has a bar with working gambling machines (slot, cards, and so on) and also a jukebox where you can select from a range of music. These items aren\u2019t necessary to complete the game but can provide an interesting diversion, and later on they\u2019re distributed through the game as Easter eggs. There\u2019s also a \u201ccasino mode\u201d difficulty level that allows you to play these machines indefinitely as it won\u2019t allow progress past the opening bar.<\/p>\n

\"jukebox\" <\/a> It’s time to kick some Alien butt\u2026while listening to Judas Priest.<\/em><\/p>\n

Puzzles <\/span> <\/span> <\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

Puzzles in Prey are generally \u201cpush the switch to unlock a door and move on\u201d but there are several examples of more complex puzzles requiring you to blend several gameplay elements described above in order to successfully accomplish your goal.<\/p>\n

For example, in one area there\u2019s a passage that is too high to reach and the required box you need to climb is behind a wall. The solution is to reverse the gravity, push the box along the roof (which is now the floor) to get it past the wall, reverse the gravity again, and then push the box up to the passage and jump on it to get past.<\/p>\n

Another puzzle involves Tommy needing to continue along a gravity walkway that has a continuity gap, and the switch to move the end tile is in a control room behind a forcefield. The solution is to position Tommy\u2019s body on the end tile, enter spirit form to get past the forcefield, activate the switch to move the tile to the other side (which moves Tommy\u2019s body too), and then return to your body.<\/p>\n

<\/strong> <\/span> <\/span> <\/p>\n

Weapons<\/strong> <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

The game has a small but interesting selection of weaponry and the unique aspect about them is they\u2019re alien (apart from the wrench) so they\u2019re alive. They move, drip, and almost look annoyed if fired too much. The basic machine-gun for example has a standard high rate of fire but in alt-fire mode the organic eye piece moves up to your eye so you can shoot it like a sniper rifle, courtesy of the laser guided sight.<\/p>\n

Similarly hand grenades aren\u2019t really hand grenades but rather three legged crabs, and to make them explode you pull off a leg and throw them which causes an acidic explosion. The rocket launcher also shoots live bugs that crawl around in an organic sack while idle.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no aim mode and neither movement nor stance seems to foul the crosshair so the game follows the classic run-and-gun formula, though most weapons have an alt fire mode.<\/p>\n

No reloading is required either, though some guns will pause after a firing spree to \u201crecover\u201d. The machine-gun for example rotates its three energy tubes, taking away the old tube and positioning a fresh one.<\/p>\n

\"weapon\" <\/a> This interesting fella is actually a machine-gun\/grenade launcher combo.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong> <\/span> <\/p>\n

Combat, Enemies & AI<\/span> <\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

Enemies are generally a combination of aliens and hybrid mutants strung together from human body parts. The basic grunts have a machine-gun and grenades while later enemies have more advanced weapons like rocket launchers.<\/p>\n

The AI is competent but not exceptional although good gunfights are still possible. Certain enemies can retreat through organic \u201cdoors\u201d and even teleport through portals created on demand which adds to the challenge. There are flying opponents too.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no \u201cdeath\u201d in the game; dying simply puts you into spirit form in an off-world location but after dispatching a certain number of enemies you\u2019re returned to the action.<\/p>\n

Health can be recovered through health spores and organic health \u201cstations\u201d scattered through the levels. For an extra challenge the game\u2019s hardest difficulty level (\u201cCherokee\u201d) is unlocked after the first play-through and in that mode there are no health spores or stations, though Tommy\u2019s health will slowly regenerate to 25% if it drops below that.<\/p>\n

\"alien\" <\/a> This is one of the more common alien grunts you\u2019ll face, and he teleported into battle using the portal behind him.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong> <\/span> <\/p>\n

Vehicles<\/span> <\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

The game\u2019s sole vehicle type is the shuttle and shuttles are available to traverse some of the game\u2019s larger areas. Shuttles are capable of firing energy weapons and also have a tractor beam that can hold onto small objects and drag them around with you.<\/p>\n

Once you enter a shuttle you can\u2019t exit unless you land on one of the shuttle pads scattered throughout the levels. Your shuttle\u2019s energy and health can also be recharged at any shuttle docking station.<\/p>\n

\"shuttle\" <\/a> When wreaking havoc on foot isn\u2019t enough, jump into a shuttle for added mayhem.<\/em><\/p>\n

Interface<\/span> <\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

The game\u2019s HUD is pretty minimal and shows your health and spirit levels along with an ammunition bar for your current weapon. Pressing a weapon hotkey displays a mini-menu with all of your weapons and their current ammo bars.<\/p>\n

The game\u2019s configuration menu is excellent; it\u2019s well laid out and very easy to change settings to your liking. The only bug I found was the \u201cadaptive difficulty\u201d setting didn\u2019t stick between play sessions.<\/p>\n

You can quick-save\/quick-load whenever you like plus the game automatically rotates between five quick-saves and automatically saves level checkpoints too.<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

Technology <\/span> <\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Powered by a modified version of the Doom 3 engine the game is capable of delivering very nice visuals. Apart from the great shadowing and lighting the texture resolution is also top-notch. The game manages to pull off the stark contrast between cold metallic areas and warm organic sections very well, and is also capable of rendering very large open areas. On demand lighting is provided by Tommy\u2019s lighter which heats up when turned on but cools down when switched off.<\/p>\n

The game also supports 3D sound through OpenAL so the sounds have pretty good reverb and positioning and the ambient sounds in particular can be quite immersive.<\/p>\n

Patch 1.4 officially removes the CD check so kudos to the developers for supporting legitimate users.<\/p>\n

The game is reasonably demanding for a 2006 title; with full detail levels enabled the game seldom dropped below 50 FPS on my 8800 Ultra running at 1920×1440, but I could \u201conly\u201d use 4xAA.<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

Summary – Pros<\/span> <\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n