Prey is a first-person shooter with RPG elements being developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is a reimagining of the first Prey released back in 2006. It is not a sequel or a remake and has no ties with the original or the cancelled sequel, Prey 2. Â It’s said to have more of a psychological thriller than straight out horror atmosphere.
Backstory
Even though there is no tie-in with the original Prey the premise is the same to a degree. You are again being hunted by alien beings, however, you begin this game waking not knowing who you are, why you are where you are or what’s happened to you.
Rough night
You play as Morgan Yu living on the Talos 1 space station in 2032 which orbits the moon . Mysterious experiments are being carried out by Transtar to harness alien powers to improve humanity but things have gone awry.  From video and text interviews with Arkane Studios it looks like Morgan is one of the recipients of such powers, willingly or unwillingly is not yet clear.
In a groundhog day type series of scenes, in one video, Morgan examines himself in the bathroom mirror but as the scene repeats itself he has mysteriously developed a bloodshot eye. We know the alien powers are administered through a Physchoscope via the eyeball so this is likely the cause of that bloody eye. He clearly doesn’t remember how it became bloodshot.
To Morgan these repeated scenes are a recurring nightmare that leave him confused and convinced there is someone or something watching him and overseeing everything and everyone.  But what he does know is that the horror unfolding on Talos 1 needs to be contained for the sake of all humankind.
Gameplay
Female Morgan
Players can select the gender of Morgan but not much else it seems at this time. Morgan finds himself aboard the Talos 1 space station overrun by an alien race known as Typhon who are hunting him down. He has to use his wits and whatever is at his disposal to defeat the aliens whilst at the same time solving the mystery of who he is.. Although Prey is not openworld there is a lot of freedom of choice in how you go about solving the challenges you will face.
Gravity
There is a huge element of exploration and the decisions you make will ultimately determine how the game plays out.
Weapons can be found as well as gadgets in the science area that weren’t necessarily meant for combat but that Morgan can utilise. He can also acquire alien powers from the aliens themselves which he can use against them.
It’s not just straight out combat, there are situations where you want to be more stealthy and find other ways to problem solve and get through areas of the station.  You will also be able to go outside of the space station in a space suit, experiencing zero gravity, in order to find shortcuts to other areas.
Combat
Coffee to go
You will be fighting the Typhon aliens which are made up of various sub-species, one of which are the Mimics. There are other sub-species not yet revealed.
Fighting the Typhon will be partially done with conventional weaponry found in the security department but also by way of gadgets that you can use in new and interesting ways.  The alien powers you acquire will allow you to, for instance, mimic inanimate objects, basically anything that isn’t bolted down, which can give you an advantage. For example, one scene in some gameplay video showed Morgan change into a coffee cup so he could roll through a small gap in the counter of a security booth.  As there are stealth elements to this game this could be a skill that lends itself well to those situations.
A sticky end
This is however a double-edged sword as it means the aliens with this ability, the Mimics, can also change, so they could be hiding as a chair or a gun in a room you walk into. You could go to loot a gun laying on the ground only to discover it’s actually a Mimic that then attacks you.
A couple of weapons and gadgets seen in videos so far were the Gloo Cannon which shoots large globs of glue-like substance that cover enemies turning them into frozen statues.  An ability also demonstrated was Superthermal which set down a heat area of affect with eviserated the glued aliens.
Crafting
There are Fabricators which are like super advanced 3D printers on which you can create new weaponry from recipes and resources you have found. There are also special grenades, similar to anti-matter grenades, which reduce objects down to their base material which you can then use to craft these recipes.
Launch/Pre-load Times
PC pre-loads start 3 May.
Launch times are global for all regions based on a 9PMÂ PDT time on 4 May. That translates to the following in the different time zones:
- 00:00 EDT 5 May
- 05:00 BSTÂ 5 May
- 06:00 CESTÂ 5 May
- 09:30 ISTÂ 5 May
- 14:00 AESTÂ 5 May
Published: May 3, 2017 12:52 pm