Bethesda‘s upcoming first-person shooter, Prey, is, believe it or not, a reboot of the 2006 game of the same name. I remember the original being alright, but it certainly wasn’t groundbreaking.
I was a little sceptical when the reboot was announced, particularly when the only thing it had in common with the original was space and some aliens that wanna make you hurt real bad.
Luckily for me and my nerdy face, I was invited to give the game a whirl 3 months ahead of its May release and my initial thoughts were quite different to what I was expecting based on the trailers. Heads up – there are a couple of little spoilers in here, but nothing you wouldn’t have seen coming.
You play as Morgan, a bright scientist who wakes up in his schmick San Francisco apartment in the year 2032. You pop on your sweet red space suit and jump in a private helicopter that prompts an opening sequence that includes a dope electronic soundtrack.
Enter a short tutorial disguised as a test lab that will introduce you to basic movement and object interaction. Nek minute, a coffee cup turns into an alien and you pass the fuck out.
So far so good. A smart science guy, a fancy suit and a failed science experiment. If this doesn’t smell exactly like the 1998 classic FPS, Half-Life, to you, stop reading and play it right now. It’s like 5 bucks on Steam, man, there’s no excuse.
The comparisons don’t stop there, either. The first weapon I picked up was a trusty wrench to pummel alien blokes with. I know, not quite a crowbar, but still, it’s effective.
Whilst looking for a way out, I received a voice transmission from a dude with the alias January who says I really need to step up the pace. “I’ll go out the window”, I think.
OH SHIT DUDE, YOU GOT FUCKIN’ TRUMAN SHOW‘D HARD. YOU ARE ESSENTIALLY VIDEO GAME JIM CARREY.
From here, it’s a journey to find out what the sweet heck is going on while you clobber the living shit out of some alien mongrels.
Whilst exploring the depths of the Talos space station, you’ll come across upgrades called Neuromods that can be used to enhance your abilities. For example, enhancing your hacking capabilities will allow you to gain access to certain areas or hack handy machines.
Oh, did I mention you put the Neuromods into your FUCKING EYE? Because that’s what you do.
You’ll also have the ability to craft items and while I wasn’t able to get enough bits and pieces to do it myself, it looks to be quite a deep system.
Unlike other games that leave you wondering if random items are worth picking up, Prey includes recycling stations that convert items into their base material, allowing you to craft them into useable objects.
Overall, it looks like Prey is going to be a fantastic game. The graphics are beautiful, the gameplay is smooth and the upgrade system seems sound enough, judging from the brief glimpse I was given.
I, for one, look forward to destroying more alien creeps on May 5.
Photo: Prey.
