Prey PC demo released

By Tom Bramwell Published 22 June, 2006

Game's nearly done.

Human Head Studios and 3D Realms have released a PC demo of first-person shooter Prey, which is due out on PC and Xbox 360 next month.

The demo features five single-player and two deathmatch levels, which sounds like a healthy amount to us, and is available now from various mirrors including Eurofiles.

Meanwhile, on a related note, 3D Realms boss George Broussard dropped a hint about the game's status on his company forum when he said, "I smell gold" - implying that the game has reached or nearly reached gold disc status, which would put it on the path to manufacturing.

There've been other signs of the game's nearing completion this week too - earlier 3D Realms stuck up a list of the game's available Xbox 360 achievements.

"Officially it hasn't happened yet," a 3DR spokesperson said later, spoiling the party, but all the signs are we can expect it to hit its release date of July 14th in Europe.

Incidentally, if you're wondering about an Xbox 360 demo, Broussard said this in a statement: "I'm still waiting for specifcs, but I'm being told that it's still in testing at Microsoft. From what I understand this isn't Microsoft's fault, and is more likely just an issue of timing." He then added that it might take "a few days" to turn up on Marketplace. We'll let you know when it does.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (31) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Xerx3s #1 6 years ago

    And the 360 version?

  • Wrestlevania #2 6 years ago

    Huzzah! Although, I don't why I'm so happy--it'll likely cripple my machine just trying to load the menu...

  • Inquisitor #3 6 years ago

    360 one is delayed for a few days. They don't have a certain release date for it yet.

  • asphaltcowboy #4 6 years ago

    Downloading it from a torrent on mininova at the moment, all the mirrors are really slow, compounded by the fact that my internet connection is playing up! Rubbish!

  • Clive_Dunn #5 6 years ago

    "all the mirrors are really slow"

    Perhaps it's a cunning ploy, it'll take you all 7 years to download the demo and give them time to finish the game.

  • afray #6 6 years ago

    If it's not gold yet why did Cefax have a review up giving it 5/5 over a month ago? :p

  • Inquisitor #7 6 years ago

    I know that there have been no reviews so far, but for me, this the game pushing me towards buying a 360. Hopefully those lucky enough to grab the PC demo can tell me how good it is.

  • skillian #8 6 years ago

    From 3D Realms:

    Here's a quick message from our forums, posted by 3DR president George Broussard about availability of the Prey 360 Demo.

    We do not want 360 people waiting up for the demo or having false expectations. The 360 demo will not appear on Marketplace tonight.

    I'm still waiting for specifcs, but I'm being told that it's still in testing at Microsoft. From what I understand this isn't Microsoft's fault, and is more likely just an issue of timing.

    I'm hesitant to give any estimates for a release, but I've been told it should be reasonably soon after the PC release, but could be as long as a few days.

    We will post an update as soon as we have more solid information.

  • Inquisitor #9 6 years ago

    "It's not Microsoft's fault. They aren't gay. Really."

  • Darren #10 6 years ago

    I tried the PC demo this morning and it's very good, although it does seem alot like Quake 4 meets Doom 3 in terms of visuals and feel. The character you play as seems to have a bit more personality than is normal for this type of games thanks to his constant chatter as you play. The start of the game is very linear though but the story is intriguing and I can't wait to play the full game on the Xbox 360. I just hope the game runs better than the juddery Quake 4 did...
    Edited by 1 at 22/06/06 @ 12:32

  • Gurgeh #11 6 years ago

    It's surprisingly good. Not sure about all the tricks with portals and gravity in multiplayer but it's different.

  • asphaltcowboy #12 6 years ago

    @teamster_jr: well, I'm on 8mb - where are you downloading from?

  • Talha #13 6 years ago

    Well it is based on the Doom 3 engine, so IMHO it should run pretty well even on today's midrange machines.

    Here's hoping.

  • Talha #14 6 years ago

    Well it is based on the Doom 3 engine, so IMHO it should run pretty well even on today's midrange machines.

    Here's hoping.

  • Azazel #15 6 years ago

    boooo!

    /me want's 360 demo now damnit!

  • Corvus #16 6 years ago

    Excellent news, I've been interested in this one since seeing the gameplay movie last year. That said my PC, being nearly 2 years old, is probably going to cry when I try to run it :-(

    "If it's not gold yet why did Cefax have a review up giving it 5/5 over a month ago? :p"

    They most probably got their hands on a beta version if they managed to get a review before any of the big name magazines, so I wouldn't trust that review too much.

    This comment inspired me to take a look at the teletext games pages - something I haven't done since the Digitiser days - and they do seem pretty poor.

  • asphaltcowboy #17 6 years ago

    Cheers teamster

    EDIT: WOW! Amazing speed! Thanks!
    Edited by 1 at 22/06/06 @ 13:16

  • AHiFi #18 6 years ago

    Glad to hear a positive response. Eleven years well spent then.

  • Artemus #19 6 years ago

    George Broussard talking about a game actually being released. There's a first. I guess Prey will fund "development" of Duke Nukem Forever for another few years.

  • Darkedge #20 6 years ago

    just completed the Demo.
    It's good. I mean seriously good. Original and fun - the portal and gravity stuff is great and so are the puzzles. it's not just another braindead shooter.

  • Azazel #21 6 years ago

    heh, I just looked out an old 1999 preview issue of PC Gamer which features both this and DN: Forever o_0

  • wayn3h #22 6 years ago

    Just completed the demo. Its great. One of the best fps' games this year so far. Looking forward to it.

  • Wrestlevania #23 6 years ago

    Thanks for the concise heads' up, Darkedge.

  • Hunam85 #24 6 years ago

    Dont Fear the Reaper used to amazing effect :D

  • space_ace #25 6 years ago

    wonder what dnf smells like?

  • Sko #26 6 years ago

    The portal stuff is nice but I don't like how they're using it as an excuse for lazy-ass spawning for the enemies.

  • stonedben #27 6 years ago

    Online play is a bit more....3 dimensional...than normal.

    /goes to throw up in a bucket

    /goes back for more

  • asphaltcowboy #28 6 years ago

    Awesome! Truly awesome!

  • Wrestlevania #29 6 years ago

    Sko: The portal stuff is nice but I don't like how they're using it as an excuse for lazy-ass spawning for the enemies.

    I don't think "lazy" is fair--at least it's something much more purposeful this time. Plus it works both ways; you can use it to your advantage too, and in more than just a couple of places in the demo alone.

    I did enjoy the demo, but I wouldn't think of Prey as being particularly revolutionary based on the demo alone. Solid? Definitely. Polished? To a deep shine. But it's part evolutionary (the gravity stuff in the demo is intriguing--especially when you need to make use of it to get around obstacles) but it's wrapped around arguably the best bits of the most note-worthy FPS titles in recent years:

    - The general setting, and many of the demo's monsters too, reminded me of Quake 4. It's fair to say, though, that Prey's architecture is far more ambitious and varied, as is the structure and flow of each of the demo's levels. I doubt you'll get bored of wandering through Prey's corridors like you did in Quake 4.
    - The weapon selection in the demo is a mixture of Quake 4's and UT2k3's arsenal.
    - MultiPrey (Prey's version of Deathmatch) felt very much like UT2k3 to me, too.

    All in all, I'd say it's definitely worth a download. It's a spectacular game, and the story is (somewhat) original and should prove compelling. It also ran brilliantly on my fairly humble laptop, too, with virtually all the eye-candy switched on and running at a decent resolution.
    Edited by 2 at 23/06/06 @ 10:49

  • Sko #30 6 years ago

    "I don't think "lazy" is fair--at least it's something much more purposeful this time. Plus it works both ways; you can use it to your advantage too, and in more than just a couple of places in the demo alone."
    I think you missed my point. Lazy is using it as an excuse to just pop enemies into the scene in front and behind you for cheap shock gameplay. Yes, the portals as static windows into other parts of the level is a nice touch but it's not the same thing as the spawning 'device', that's merely lazy gameplay done in the style of the portal graphics.

  • NoQuarter #31 6 years ago

    I loved all the doors, the mechanical ones open in proportion to your distance from them, and the biological anuses are just awesome.