Prey 2 to show Portal a thing or two

By Robert Purchese Published 18 March, 2008

Scott Miller talks up Radar Group.

Scott Miller has spoken out on the sequel to first-person shooter Prey.

He was detailing the fresh ideas that production company Radar Group have come up with, suggesting Prey 2 will take the idea of portals even further than, ah, Portal.

"While Prey pioneered the portal concept, Valve's Portal took it to an all-new level." Scott Miller told IGN. "It really shows what you can do when you focus on a single core cool gameplay concept.

"So, while Portal impressed the heck out of us, it has also inspired us to return the favour to Valve and hopefully leap frog them as they did us. We believe we have new ideas for portals that will keep the portal race interesting."

The action will once again focus on Tommy, but he will have realised his hero status from the outset and be comfortable saving the galaxy from nasty aliens.

Boasts for the sequel include more enemies on screen simultaneously as well as more variety and wide-open areas. Think Call of Duty 4 as a template, apparently, which we thought was rather corridor in its approach.

The other Radar games announced are Earth No More and Incarnate. The former is about a virus that makes nature go berserk and start wiping out humankind. It's a reaction to our years of misusing the planet.

It will have a deep story and could make a rather good film, apparently, and is in development at Finland-based developer Recoil Games.

"I think this is the most exciting game to come from that country, as it really tackles an important subject we just don't see in our industry," claimed Miller, suggesting it will outshine Remedy creation Alan Wake.

Incarnate, on the other hand, is similar to Assassin's Creed in outlook and will have you bounding across Chicago rooftops hunting down reincarnated souls of evil people like Hitler, possibly.

This is written by The Cooler author Frank Hannah and encapsulates Radar's unique outlook, according to Miller.

Earth No More was thought to be the first brand-new IP to arrive from Radar, but apparently there are two other original projects that will be released first.

Radar Group is currently focusing on "cutting-edge" hardware such as PC, PS3 and 360. It has no plans for Wii, DS or PSP titles as yet, but is not ruling it out for the future.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (44) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • space_ace #1 4 years ago

    "rather corridor in its approach"


    glol

  • ostrasized #2 4 years ago

    Heh. Prey didn't invent portals. They were in Unreal Tournament years ago.

  • dfunked #3 4 years ago

    Didn't realise this was in production... The first one was rather entertaining, so I'll be looking forward to this one

  • PotajiTo #4 4 years ago

    Wasnt narbacular drop before prey? I dont think they invtented anything.

  • Xerx3s #5 4 years ago

    "While Prey pioneered the portal concept"

    Ah, I imagined those portals in Doom then. "Not the same" you say? What about unreal and doom 3 then? Look through portals that do exactly the same.

  • McBradders #6 4 years ago

    Prey is like 10 years old, and had portal stuff working in some super old pre-quake 3 engine, so it predates Narbacular Drop by a HUGE MARGIN.

    >_

  • jonsaan #7 4 years ago

    A new genre is born - the PBFPS.

    Portal based first person shooters...

    Also, didn't Prince of Persia have a portalesque mirror level?
    Edited by 1 at 18/03/08 @ 12:49

  • Inquisitor #8 4 years ago

    Yea, the original designs of prey at least pioneered portal design in games but to be honest even if the game never existed I still think we'd have seen portal.

  • McBradders #9 4 years ago

    POrtals were in Quake 3 as well...

  • NthSimulachum #10 4 years ago

    "It could be a film!"

    Oh dear. Notice he doesn't say that it could be a "good" film. Nor a well-written film. So at least he can't be accused of lying.

  • paketep #11 4 years ago

    I find amazing every time Miller or Broussard have the gall to speak about other games and/or companies.

    Man, shut up and finish DNF. I still remember when one of them (don't remember which, they are the same to me) critiziced Elite Force for being too short. You know what?. It was a great game. And I played it way longer than DNF. And also the other 10-20 games about ST since then. And the other 5-10 games from Raven. Because professional companies release a game every 1-3 years.

  • paketep #12 4 years ago

    BTW, Ultima had portals :p

    Also: WarCraft 2: Beyond the Dark *PORTAL* ;)

    Prey (the original) had *visible-through* portals, but as usual 3DR fucked it up
    Edited by 1 at 18/03/08 @ 13:07

  • sharpfish #13 4 years ago

    portal. was. dull. and. overrated.


  • gaselite #14 4 years ago

    The portal race?

    Give me a fucking break.

  • loopy #15 4 years ago

    "portal. was. dull. and. overrated."

    no. it. wasn't.

  • hjarg #16 4 years ago

    But Pray was. Aside from occasional screwing with your sense of directions, portals were nothing more then "cool doors" in the game. You did it bad, Portal did it well!

  • sharpfish #17 4 years ago

    Yes it was dull. If you'd already played prey, narbacular and spent any time in game editors (hl2/UnrealEd). The portal gimmick lent itself well to the puzzle FPS gameplay, serving as a thoughtful change from blind shooting for a few levels, then it got as dull as fuck. As it wasn't a full price game but part of the amazing Orange box I can forgive it. EP2 was brilliant, EP2 was a GAME worth playing. Portal was a mere diversion for people who were impressed by portal technology but oblivious to modern level design... it didn't need to look quite so boring and grey (or white), and the gameplay was only so-so. Of course i'm only saying this because Portal was so popular and critically acclaimed and not all because IN MY OPINION I found it nothing exciting.

  • neilka #18 4 years ago

    Hint: Portal wasn't good because of the portals.

  • The_Inquisitor #19 4 years ago

    Most of the puzzles in Prey were gravity based or using the spirit ability, so it'll be interesting to see how portals are integrated into the game, where before they were used mostly as a way of making enemies appear in front of you.

    One interesting aspect of the portals in Prey was that they were different sizes. So if you enter one, you could become 20 times smaller when you come out the other end, could make for some quite interesting puzzles if they go down that route.

  • AcidSnake #20 4 years ago

    But Duke 3D had teleporters...same thing really...
    Even Asteroid had portals on the side of the screen...

    Though to be fair they said they were leapfrogged, so they realise the difference in class between prey and portal...

  • huxathon #21 4 years ago

    prey was such a disappointment, so many good ideas so poorly handled. portal on the other hand had one great idea and pushed it to the limit, making it a classic.

  • sharpfish #22 4 years ago

    The reason i'm not that impressed by ANY portals in FPS games is basically because they reinforce the reality that you are 'only playing a computer game'. They break all the laws of reality/immersion. Ok many games supply breaks from reality that empower the player and are fun. Portals (aside from the first time you play with them for an hour) are more of a technical showpiece than an intrinsically fun gameplay mechanic. Actually they can be a right pain in the arse.

    If you are basing your game around portals then something fundamental is missing elsewhere to carry the game. It's a cool gimmick but in prey it served as a mere diversion or break from the main gameplay, in portal it WAS the main gameplay combined with getting spheres into slots.. but there was no good reason to WANT to be putting spheres into slots through holes in walls that were there purely to make the game rather than to enhance it.

    Portal was good, It was just overated and got dull quick to anyone who'd already burned themselves out on the whole 'portal' gimmick in Prey and other games already. If you'd never seen portals before and didn't mind the workmanlike design of the game then i'm sure it was a better experience.

    Oh I should add the whole 'humour in the computer voice' thing didn't raise a smile never mind have me laughing. I just couldn't see past it being a technical excercise in the source engine, cobbled together as a 'cool concept' a 'what if'... While I read reviewers were in fits of laughter at the GLaDOS stuff I barely paid any attention to it because I just couldn't suspend disbelief, something I find common in games that look like technical excercises rather than living worlds - had the level design/themes been more inviting maybe I would have been more open to it.

    I'd give it 7/10 for the price (virtually nothing in the orange box), if it had been released as a full game it wouldn't stand up so well of course. And in an age where masterpieces like Crysis can get people pissing and moaning about the 'generic' gameplay or 'too high system requirments' then Portal is easily open to as much, but different, criticism.


    Edited by 1 at 18/03/08 @ 14:01

  • exidor #23 4 years ago

    "So, while Portal impressed the heck out of us, it has also inspired us to return the favour to Valve and hopefully leap frog them as they did us."

    "Boasts for the sequel include more enemies on screen simultaneously as well as more variety and wide-open areas."

    I bet Valve wish they'd thought of that. Gabe must be kicking himself.

  • 7creature #24 4 years ago

    Hmm, in fact those portals in Prey were pretty good IIRC and interestingly done. So according to my (fuzzy) memories, he is right.

    Prey was not entirely great (IMO) mainly because of a bit boring weapons and B story. And a bit weaker ending. And that insanely high price on Steam :-P

    So all in all, if they plan to improve/correct those issues, I am pretty much looking forward to another Prey.

  • Slamhound #25 4 years ago

    It seems that they haven't cottoned onto the fact that it wasn't the portal tech that made Portal special, but the fact that it was well-written, entertaining, and varied.

    All of which, Prey was not.

    Prey had some good ideas, such as the ghost children and the whole portals-within-boxes and the changing of scale, but they were woefully underused, while the drab "boss fight" scenario was overplayed, as was the "here's fifteen dozen portals, you have to guess the right one" idea. If they had made more of what was genuinely interesting rather that sticking with Huge-Big-Bad-Monster-That-Takes-Two-Thousand-Shots-To-Kill every other level, it would have been a much more interesting game.

    And it didn't help that the main character was a whining bitch.

  • Ryuken #26 4 years ago

    Hopefully they expand on the multiplayer, MultiPrey was ace. Fighting against intelligent opponents (unlike the AI) with all those gravity/portal/scale tricks is brilliant stuff.

    Portal did things right yes but then again it didn't try an awful lot if you ask me (especially not for only three hours). The only thing that really impressed me was gaining momentum and that's about it. Rest had been done before.
    Edited by 1 at 18/03/08 @ 14:15

  • kangarootoo #27 4 years ago

    Portal.

    1. a door, gate, or entrance, esp. one of imposing appearance, as to a palace.
    2. an iron or steel bent for bracing a framed structure, having curved braces between the vertical members and a horizontal member at the top.
    3. an entrance to a tunnel or mine.
    4. Computers. a Web site that functions as an entry point to the Internet, as by providing useful content and linking to various sites and features on the World Wide Web.

    Hmmm. I think the ancient Egyptians might have got there first, unless you count point 3, in which case I think it was a mole.

  • L42yB #28 4 years ago

    "This is written by The Cooler author Frank Hannah"

    Maybe, but that depends on which author you think he is cooler than...? :p

    @7creature - I thought the weapons in the first Prey were cool! They all looked and moved like living creatures if I remember correctly...


    P.S. Halo 1 had portals ;p Even had a whole multiplayer mad FULL of portals :D


  • dirtysteve #29 4 years ago

    Never understood the hype around Prey.I bought it and returned it after it bored me rigid. If i remember rightly, it was released at a time when there weren't that many top shooter options on the 360, but on the PC, it never stood a chance.
    It now resides in the bargain bins where it belongs

  • McBradders #30 4 years ago

    Holy crap, Sharpfish... words fail me.

  • Razorus #31 4 years ago

    In my opinion, as a scholar, artist, gamer, and part-time male stripper; I personally enjoyed Prey. Some of you here are misunderstanding the idea of pioneering. In a very basic sense of the word, it means that it took something that already existed and made leaps forward to improve it. They didn't "invent" anything but what they did with portals was a fresh take (at the time).

    Someone here also said that the spirit and portal features were underused. I agree with that. But they were still quite special. The game had many wow moments for me, such as when you enter a glass box with a mini planet and a giant Hunter comes and looks at you. I also thought the story was pretty cool and the use of a native american who wasn't Turok was a nice touch. I liked Tommy's dilemma and evolution through the story; but it could have been better.

    Still, Prey 2 should be great if they make the relevant improvements *cough, laggy multiplayer, cough*

  • L42yB #32 4 years ago

    @Sharpfish -

    Really?! Seriously!?!? You are in such a vast minority that I feel you may well be completely on your own with that opinion...

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #33 4 years ago

    I should add the whole 'humour in the computer voice' thing didn't raise a smile never mind have me laughing

    Let us all weep for the poor little boy with the heart of stone....

    ... and then play our "Still Alive" MP3s so we can smile again!

  • Turambar #34 4 years ago

    "The former is about a virus that makes nature go berserk and start wiping out humankind. It's a reaction to our years of misusing the planet.

    It will have a deep story and could make a rather good film, apparently, "

    The rather good film has been done already see anime series Blue Gender.
    Edited by 1 at 18/03/08 @ 15:46

  • zoidberg #35 4 years ago

    They had portals since the first Serious Sam came along :p

  • L42yB #36 4 years ago

    Serious Sam :) Happy memories :')

  • Bender1001 #37 4 years ago

    Kinda surprised nobody mentioned anything about Incarnate (I for one wouldn't mind leaping from roof top to roof top hunting a reincarnated Hitler or Mussolini...).

    As for dropping the "Portal" bomb and believing that he's gonna return the "favor" to Valve...uhh...good luck with that Scott Miller. Try working on getting the next Prey out within a decade first, then we'll talk about what ideas you might have involving portals.
    Edited by 1 at 18/03/08 @ 16:59

  • AtomicBanana #38 4 years ago

    After you've played the prey demo, you've seen everything the game has to offer. It's a really fun demo though! Shame about the entire rest of the game . .

  • Svecke #39 4 years ago

    Bwahahahaha! Scott Miller makes unintentional funnies. XD As if Prey was first with portals. Be quiet and get back to DNF.

  • Lim-Dul #40 4 years ago

    Ha, ha! Prey has been developed for like 11 years and even then they didn't manage to implement portals as cool as in, well, Portal and now that they have been shown how to do it properly they can brag about surpassing Portal's technology. Woohoo!

    By the way - if Prey 2 will surpass Portal which in turn surpassed the technology seen in Prey then what will Portal 2, that is apparently in the works, look like? :-P

  • BobsUncle #41 4 years ago

    @sharpfish

    There was a perfectly good reason to put spheres in slots in Portal, because it was the mechanic they used to open doors or trigger an event. You really seem to have missed the entire point of Portal.

    When you say it got dull as fuck, I think you mean difficult. There's nothing wrong with using your brain to play a game as opposed to a gun. Portal was a game for people with a certain mindset, anyone who "got bored" of Portal really just gave up because it was too difficult for them, the game is just not long enough to get bored of.

    "Portal was a mere diversion for people who were impressed by portal technology but oblivious to modern level design..."

    Seriously, you've really missed the point here, to say the level design is anything but amazing is quite frankly stupid.
    You really don't appreciate how clever the level design in Portal is until you do the advanced maps.

    As you've already said it's just your point of view, but it's wrong. :-)

  • marilena #42 4 years ago

    I can only laugh at sharpfish saying that Portal is duller for someone who has played other games with portals. The fun thing about portals in Portal (sorry) is not that stuff goes through them in one place and exits in the other, it's that this concept is used as the core element of a series of puzzles (which are fun or not, depending on how you feel about puzzles in general). People didn't look at Portal and say, "wow, I'm entering through here and exiting though there, fucking amazing!", they were impressed by how interesting the problems presented to them were, and how the game could use a single idea for so many cool things. When you say you got burned on portals in Unreal you couldn't miss the point more if the point was on the Moon and you'd be looking for it in Birmingham.

    And the same goes for Miller. Exactly the same, in fact, as he misses the point so much it makes him look like a complete tool. They didn't pioneer any freaking thing, portals existed already and they didn't do anything smart with them, they just used them as doors, rendering them completely pointless. This was especially embarrassing in Prey 2 (I don't remember the first one, actually), because they banged a lot about how they have portals and this is cool, but they didn't do anything interesting with said portals. The cheekiness of implying that Portal was in any way inspired by Prey defies belief.

    Edit: I just realized there is no Prey 2 :p. It's actually Prey, but it took them so long to make it that it got ingrained in my mind as two games. The cheekiness is now even bigger! Prey wasn't even the first game with portals or anything.
    Edited by 1 at 18/03/08 @ 20:17

  • tap #43 4 years ago

    @sharpfish

    you.are.dead.inside.

  • 7creature #44 4 years ago

    L42yB: Yup, looked good, but weren't exactly entertaining. Sadly. That said, I am not particular fan of, for example, HL2 weapons either. I liked HL1 selection the most (from the games I can recall at the moment). And, yes, I am excluding Doom 2 from the comparison, of course...