Prey is a stellar game. Yes, it has its flaws, but I’d choose to wander the halls of Talos I over any other game world almost any day of the week. With that said, even the best games can get stale over the course of time and multiple playthroughs. That’s why I’ve put together a list of some of the best Prey mods out there right now as part of the 20th anniversary of Arkane Studios. Let’s get started.
Mix up the gameplay
Prey‘s core gameplay mechanics don’t require any changes, but sometimes it’s nice to give yourself something slightly different to play around with. Whether you want something to make your life easier, more difficult, or just a little stranger, these Prey mods are what you’re looking for.
Safe Mode
Safe Mode is a simple mod that renders most enemies in the game friendly. You can walk through the game and explore every nook and cranny, safe in the knowledge that nothing will attack you — apart from Mining Operators in Mooncrash. This is a great mod for those who want to get a close up look at all of the Typhon variants, or just take their time understanding the ins and outs of Talos I. Take you time and breathe easy with this one.
Prey Souls
Prey Souls is an expansion-sized mod for Prey that provides a Dark Souls sort of experience. New enemies, loot, mechanics, and pure terror are all part of this mod, which is designed to push you way past your limits. The mod swaps out some enemies for more difficult ones, but it also adds completely new ones that have been created by the modder, including the Blood Phantom and Prowler Phantom. You’ll only be allowed to save in certain locations, and enemies will also now walk through loading screen doors, so you’re not safe in those ‘safe zones’ anymore.
On top of all of this messing with enemies, story item locations have been randomized too, so you now can’t avoid certain areas just because the story doesn’t require them. This isn’t the Prey you know; it’s almost a completely different game.
Talos in the Dark
If you thought that Prey was a tense game already, try playing it with this mod enabled. Talos in the Dark makes it so that all the lights in Talos I go dark right after the outbreak. This means that you need to navigate the entire station with just your flashlight for company. There are already a few sections of the game that put you in the dark, and they’re quite terrifying/difficult by themselves.
Playing the whole game through with no lighting on the interior of Talos I is a true nightmare, even without any other difficulty-enhancing mods turned on. This is not for those who are afraid of the dark, but I’d recommend it for everyone that wants to see Prey in a new light.
Mooncrash Extreme
Do you think that Mooncrash is too easy now that you’ve played through it a few times? Well, this is the mod for you. It completely transforms Mooncrash to be the trap that it always should have been. Loot has been rebalanced so that it’s generally much harder for the player to find or buy useful items. The corruption timer is lower, enemies are more difficult and will actively seek you out with much more perseverance, and there are some changes that the mod author has kept secret just to mess with you.
Yu Only Live Once
The name of this mod made me think that it had something to do with James Bond, but that’s so far from the case. Yu Only Live Once turns Prey into a game you must complete with just one life. This is achieved by removing the ability to heal Morgan Yu. As a caveat, Yu has been given a health boost up to 300, but it’s down to you to make that health last. This is the mod to use if you want a hardcore mode that isn’t going to pull any punches. Regardless of how good you are at this game, do you think you can do it without taking 300 points of damage?
Small changes that have a big impact
If you’re not into Prey mods that fundamentally change the way the game looks or feels to play, then I’ve collected a few smaller mods that will make tiny changes to your game. While the impact of these changes is much greater than you’d first think, they aren’t game-changing by themselves.
Apartment Intro Skip
No one can argue that the apartment introduction sequence in Prey is probably one of the best visual set ups in a game. I’m still impressed by it whenever I boot up a new playthrough. However, for those who have seen it once and just want to move on, this mod provides you with an easy skip. With this mod installed, you can take a suite, get outside using those well-known keycodes, which are mentioned on the mod’s page, grab a wrench, and get into the game proper.
No Corruption Timer in Mooncrash
Mooncrash is a fantastic piece of DLC that can provide an almost endless version of Prey to play on a daily basis. However, sometimes it’s just a bit mental, and you want to get through it without things getting too intense. This mod prevents the corruption level from raising, keeping it at level 1 for the entire time you play Mooncrash.
One Button Hacking
If you want to do a playthrough of Prey will all available doors unlocked, this is as close as you’re going to get. You can walk up to any Keypad and hack it just by pressing the F key. This works across every keypad in the campaign, and even in Mooncrash.
All Keycodes Are 1111
If the above doesn’t sound like it’s for you, and you want the opportunity to actually put some codes in, then this might be the mod for you. It doesn’t completely remove the necessity to put in a code, it just changes them all to 1111. I put this second option in here for those who might want to test out a speedrunning route without needing to learn every keycode throughout the game first.
Recycle More
One of the best inventions in the world of Prey is definitely the Recycler Grenade. Throw it anywhere, even at enemies, and it will break all matter down into base components that you can use in a Fabricator to make useful resources with. This mod increases the amount of materials that you get from using Recycler Grenades, though since Typhon are bloody everywhere it doesn’t increase the materials you get from them. Have fun watching entire rooms turn into resources.
Just for fun
The Prey mods in this section of the list are purely for fun. You probably won’t see any benefits to gameplay or the types of visuals you can achieve, but you will find yourself laughing out loud instead of screaming in terror. Isn’t that enough?
Mimics Squeak
This mod is simply ridiculous. If you see a Mimic in the distance, be prepared to laugh when it approaches you. The mod makes all Mimics squeak as they walk. And while it doesn’t stop them from dealing damage, it somehow manages to make them adorable all the same. We’ve actually got a video of this one in action:
Turret Factory
Turrets are super helpful in Prey. If you repair the broken ones that you find around Talos I, they’ll make mincemeat out of almost any creature that approaches them with too much foreign DNA. Unfortunately, the only way to consistently rely on them is to pick them up and walk around with them, which just isn’t practical. Turret Factory allows you to store Turrets in your inventory, so you can pick them up and take them with you wherever you go. Stay safe out there, and lean on the Turrets.
Mimics With Silly Hats
Mimics are threatening, and if they run past you they can quickly become anything in the area and scare you all over again. Give yourself a break by putting silly hats on them all. Just like with the squeaking Mimics mod, they’ll all still attack you, but at least they’ll make you laugh a little first.
Moregan
This final mod is just mental. It turns every NPC in the game into Morgan Yu, meaning that you’ll be seeing a familiar face at almost every turn. I think that you could even justify this mod as part of the game proper if you decide that the real Morgan just managed to stab themselves in the wrong part of the brain at some point. The only issue is that everyone with a slightly different character model looks as though they’ve been murdered by a Mimic. You can also set every NPC to be one of the other major characters if you like, but where’s the fun in that?
Published: Jun 17, 2020 02:30 pm