Prey Review

By Kristan Reed Published 14 July, 2006

Giger counter.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Summer's a rotten time for new game releases - we know this, but it's a good thing. It gives us a chance to, you know, go outdoors, see friends and family we've been "too busy" to see, not to mention indulge in an entire month's worth of football and the associated liver failure that goes with it.

But that's gone now, and unless you're indulging in a disgustingly long summer holiday (in which case, congratulations, enjoy it while it lasts) or have a stack of unfinished games to go back to, you're probably wondering whether Prey's good enough to rush out and buy. It's indicative of how quiet it is that so many people seems to be pinning their hopes on it being the next 360 killer app, but, yet again, it's one of those first-person shooters that threatens to do wow us with bold new ideas before treading the same old familiar path that's been etched into the FPS fabric since the late '90s.

To start with, it's promising enough. You assume the role of Tommy, a mid 20s Cherokee Indian who's never really been into all that spiritual mumbo-jumbo that his grandpa spouts. He prefers living a typical 'white man' life as a garage mechanic, and we join him in the toilet of his local diner. Before you ask, no he hasn't murdered anyone, but he soon finds himself making use of his handy wrench once some low down clientèle start disrespecting his barmaid girlfriend, Jen.

Come get some

Just as the fight's getting interesting, all hell breaks loose and Tommy finds himself abducted aboard an alien craft high above Earth's orbit, with his frightened friends and family screaming for help from their Giger-esque prison pods. Our reluctant hero quickly breaks free and finds himself roaming the confines of a biomechanical spaceship on a desperate mission to find his loved ones and to seek vengeance for their 'harvest'. Time to kick ass and chew bubblegum. Oops, wrong game.

'Prey' Screenshot 1

Before long, Tommy's forced to accept the birthright of his long-dormant Cherokee spiritual powers in order to stand a chance of getting even with his deranged abductor. (Big) Chief of these is your ability to leave your body and go on a Spirit Walk - rather like the out-of-body ability present in the under-rated Psi-Ops, hitting Y at any time turns the screen a washed out blue and gives you a chance to wander straight through force fields and sneakily turn them off, not to mention disarm security systems, unlock doors and so on. Occasionally you also get to traverse otherwise impossible gaps via handily placed bridges that are only visible (and unusable) when you Spirit Walk, and you'll become aware of little sun symbols etched in floors and walls to remind you to use it. On the downside, you're limited to firing bows and can't open doors, so it's not all good.

Another rather useful ability is your Death Walk, which kicks in automatically as soon as your mortal body is 'killed'. Rather than be presented with a Game Over screen, you enter the Death World, and have 15 or so seconds in which to shoot red or blue Death Wraiths and steal the energy trapped within them. If you succeed, you're spirited back to the point where you were killed and given the chance to carry on - negating the need to rely on checkpoints or have to replay previously cleared sections. While it's definitely a bit of a cheating fudge to be able to do this (rather than rely on skill, you can just chip your way through via repeated Death Walks) it's preferable to quick-saving every time you turn a corner, or replaying long sections as with many FPSs.

For the majority of the time, though, you'll charge around in human form, blasting a fairly grisly but familiar selection of mutant enemies that appear to have been borrowed from any number of sci-fi shooters down the years. If Duke Nukem, Doom and Unreal all had a hot tub party in 1998, the chances are the monsters that populate Prey's space ship would have looked uncannily familiar to this particular cast list. The truth might not be all that far away from our glib assessment.

Deja Vu

'Prey' Screenshot 2

But it's not just the inhabitants that feel familiar. The biomechanical constructs that you explore have more than a whiff of games gone by, albeit replete with the kind of gelatinous ooze, moody lighting and steamy ambience that affords next generation FPS engines in 2006. It's a suitably Alien environment and one that looks crisp and striking on an HDTV, but given the number of Giger-inspired games over the years it's not one that feels particularly strange, foreboding or unwelcoming. Heck, we don't feel at home in a sci-fi flavoured FPS if we're not clanking over metallic walkways while slick, spongy entrails snake their way through the gloom. Originality? Nil points.

To be entirely fair to Human Head and 3D Realms, the box marked 'new ideas' was largely reserved for how the levels themselves were constructed - and it's here that Prey does things a little differently from the FPS herd. Come see.

For example, Prey contrives to complicate otherwise standard level design via its occasional use of blue gravity switches that flip levels through 90 or 180 degrees if you shoot them - suddenly giving Tommy the ability to negotiate otherwise impassable obstacles and reach previously off-limits areas that, in turn, might grant you access to switches that allow you to make progress elsewhere.

Spacious

This 'levels-as-puzzles' design philosophy becomes more prevalent as you progress, with entire areas of the game constructed around manipulating the environment or navigating it in unusual ways. For example, the ability to walk up certain designated chevron-marked surfaces evoked memories of the long-forgotten platform title Dr Muto (where you could transform into a spider and walk up specific surfaces to access otherwise unreachable areas), where the level design is, literally, turned on its head, forcing you to think about your destination in a completely different way. Much like the gravity switches, this concept gives each level a much more 3D feel, with enemies appearing in disorientatingly unexpected places (such as what appears to be the ceiling, but is actually the floor, etc.) and challenging you in ways we're not used to in first-person shooters.

And yet it's precisely here that being 'different' doesn't necessarily equate to 'better'. For the majority of the time, when Prey switches to 'contrived puzzle mode' it treads a fine line between being thought-provoking and just plain annoying at how prescribed such segments are. In what stacks up to being a pretty short 8-10 hour game, it's surprising how many times you end up snagged by one of the environmental puzzles. Surprising, because none of them are that hard in reality yet still have the capacity to become really annoying when you've spent ages trawling round and round searching for something that's been staring you in the face all along.

Meanwhile, the much-vaunted Portal technology is little more than a cunning marketing buzzword that sounds more profound and interesting than it really is. In truth, they mainly serve the purpose of being doors to a different part of a level, and as a result make very little difference to the gameplay in any meaningful sense. Sure, they look very cool - being able to peer into another location before you're there is a neat trick, and the ability to duck in and out of portals seamlessly between two locations with no loading pauses is a lovely sight to behold - but once you've done it a few times it's fundamentally just another way of getting around. The enemies you face also use their own portals, but only in the sense that they're ostensibly used as a cunning way of justifying why they are able to spawn right before your eyes. If enemies could chase you between portals, or you could use theirs, that would make more sense and be a cunning use of the tech. As things stand, it's just a means of making the game look cooler than it would otherwise.

Predictable

'Prey' Screenshot 3

But all of this might be forgivable if the core combat was so intense that your memories of the game were littered with wide-eyed moments of awe. The truth is slightly more mundane than that, sadly, thanks to an arsenal of too-powerful weaponry and huge, predictable, lumbering foes who make it a perfunctory exercise to blast them to mincemeat within seconds of their appearance (including the various anticlimactic boss encounters). With the most casual use of circle-strafe and the abundance of available cover you'll easily avoid most enemy attacks and also get a surprisingly large window of opportunity to strike back. It's simple enough to keep backing away from chasing enemies, and it's no problem to avoid incoming rocket fire. And any game that rarely challenges you to take on more than two enemies at a time is just asking to be kicked.

Meanwhile, although just seven weapons make it into the game they're all a bit too powerful for their own good (apart from the entirely redundant wrench) and ammo is always plentiful. With skill, even the first proper projectile weapon (the relatively underpowered Hunter Rifle) seems capable of taking down most of the enemies you face, and without fail, by the time you do face anyone of any power, you'll be supremely well stocked with a brutally powerful arsenal to take care of them very quickly. Failing that, you can easily fall back on the cheatery of repeated regenerative Death Walks. Without exception, even average players will breeze through Prey with barely a pause for breath - in fact, you can expect to polish it off inside a day if you're determined.

In technical terms, Prey rarely rises above 'satisfactory', and looks every inch the medium range PC port that it is. The interior environments of the sprawling spaceship certainly appear detailed and impressive at first glance, but quickly get samey and - rather like Doom 3 - aren't especially interactive. There's almost nothing in the way of destructible scenery, physics barely even figures in the entire game and the majority of it takes place in small, enclosed, darkened environments that make it feel just like any other corridor-based shooter you care to mention. Fair enough, the occasional flying sortie around the more cavernous parts of the ship adds a fleeting sliver of welcome variety, but it's frankly not enough to make you want to tell all your friends that you've seen the future of the genre.

Prey tell

'Prey' Screenshot 4

And apart from the amusing licensed jukebox inclusions at the very beginning of the game, the soundtrack is entirely forgettable watery string-based sci-fi fodder that noodles just outside your consciousness whenever the action amps up. Depressingly, the voice acting is shockingly run-of-the-mill amateur dramatics fare which adds little to any attempt to build the atmosphere. We wish we could be kinder to a game we've been really looking forward to for ages, but the closer you examine Prey, the more disappointing it gets.

At the end of Prey you'll probably just feel a little blank. Its tendency to lapse into generic blandness might be acceptable on boring days in July with no other games to focus on, but it'd have to a fairly rainy one at that. Even with our feel-good glasses on it feels like we're damning Prey with faint praise to write a sentence that ends with "reasonably entertaining few hours of gunplay that never really stretches you". More likely, you'll mutter to your mates in the beer garden that you're glad that you got through all those slightly irritating, rarely satisfying puzzling sections without having to resort to a guide, and feign surprise as the subject gets changed in an instant. Back home, you'll wonder why anyone made a fuss about the storyline in the first place, wonder what 3D Realms really think about it, and sit the summer months out, waiting patiently for the next developer to do something truly surprising in the FPS genre.

Perhaps inevitably - although maybe not intentionally - Prey struggles to break free of its late '90s genesis, and essentially what we're left with is a game whose good intentions simply don't translate into wide-eyed entertainment. With uninspiring and basic deathmatch multiplayer options failing to rescue the package, it looks like it's going to be another long hot summer for FPS devotees.

7 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (85) Latest comment 5 years ago

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

  • Stormflood #1 6 years ago

    Meh-xpected.

  • numptyboymatt #2 6 years ago

    hooray!

  • foamy #3 6 years ago

    Soooooooo... what about the multiplayer? kind of forgot it eh?

  • gizmo #4 6 years ago

    Downloaded the demo, thought it was poor. Even in the current game drought it was a non-runner.

    Not interested in shooting random, meaningless creatures in flashback to Doom3.

    With the exception of Halo, I've never enjoyed a FPS where the enemies aren't human or human-like. Floating blobs just don't cut it.

  • absolutezero #5 6 years ago

    Question.

    What did you expect?

    Oh thats right, nothing because you had no intention of buying it in the first place and are just here to complain. LOL!!

    I have the PC version sitting in front of me right now, I bought it over the 360 version because of the horrible loading times that pop up everytime you move into a new level. Its seamless on my PC. Anyway the combat is basically Quake 4, the designs actually are quite interesting once you get further in plus the entire selling point, the portals etc ARE worth playing the game to experience. I played the 360 demo in the room full of people that had never heard of it before, by the end they'd all gathered round the TV, gasping and gigggling at the little tricks. The end of the demo with the abducted bar? That got a "Holy shit! Is that the bar from the start??!!"

    The multiplayer is actually alot of fun aswell, it plays like Half Life 2 Deathmatch - Gravity Gun + Gravity itself.

    Plus then theres the Gametm review, the PC Gamer review and the PC Zone review, which are all more in-depth in why the game works and why it does'nt. I would'nt write this off from just this review. Or that awful Gamespot one.

    EDIT: So let me get this straight, this game is'nt being given a chance because 1. Its summer nothing else is out and its being hyped and 2. Its not Half Life 2? Shit Damn! its once again time to throw out 3/4 of my PC games collection.
    Edited by 2 at 14/07/06 @ 13:09

  • Darren #6 6 years ago

    I've been playing the PC version since I got it yesterday and I really like it, it's definitely a solid 8/10 game for me. Prey's problem is that gravity walkways and puzzles aside, if you've played Quake 4 or Doom 3 before, the whole game feels instantly familiar and so doesn't feel as original as it might have done had it come out two or three years ago. It's still a good game but it's certainly not breaking any new ground...

  • Mr_Whacker #7 6 years ago

    I had 2 mates over watching the demo. One comment was 'why start a demo in such a dull part of the game?' and general mocking about lame mechanics, dull monsters.... I thought it was OK, but not worth buying.

  • jack_klugman #8 6 years ago

    The demo played like Doom 3 minus the appeal of that games heritage. And Doom 3 played like it was stuck in the past.

    It annoys me that Prey, by all accounts the embodiment of average, should be receiving so much hype. It does not deserve any of it.
    Edited by 1 at 14/07/06 @ 12:54

  • Tomo #9 6 years ago

    :[

    I thought it would at least get an 8. I loved the demo and forum buzz has been groovy. Still, I think I'll enjoy it a lot when I do pick it up.

  • Azazel #10 6 years ago

    I was a bit underwhelmed by the demo, so this review doesn't come as much of a suprise.

  • sharpfish #11 6 years ago

    I have played the demo on both PC and XBOX 360 (noting jerkyness on some areas on the 360 - OPTIMISE PLEASE!).

    Anyway, I was underwhelmed. Sure the portal tricks and the insane stuff is "cool" for about 30 minutes and then it disolves into a standard FPS with last gen tech and last-last-gen game design. I don't think it's bad at all, well worth a seven, maybe worth more to someone who hasn't played a lot of FPS. To FPS fanatics though, cool tricks aside, there is a massive sense of deja vu. Nonething impressed me graphically so that couldn't gloss over the gamplay flaws like it could in Doom3 when the tech was new.

    I think this game has just been hyped up a lot as it's a summer release and the industry (including the game mags) need something to hang their self-worth onto until the drought is over. Seriously, if you own a PC and haven't played any FPS I would reccomend Far Cry, Doom3 and Half Life 2 to be played over this. And if you can stand old tech then get System Shock 2 or Deus Ex and really see what good gameplay is about :)

  • Pachinko #12 6 years ago

    Bad review. Kritan presuposses that the game is a shooter with some puzzles thrown in. Wrong: it's equal parts a shooter and a puzzler. The puzzles are integral to the gameplay and the reviewer is WAY off in bashing them for holding up the experience. They are the experience! Originality = nil? Come on. Yes, it does LOOK similar to Q4 / D3, but consider all the giant machines, flying the shuttle outside, fiddling with the gravity switches ... It's very, very original and satisfying.

  • DDevil #13 6 years ago

    I must admit, I was underwhelmed by the demo. It played just like Doom 3 and Quake 4, only with gravity effects. I think I'll actually give it a miss.

    Although if you buy the PC version at GAME you get Serious Sam II free!

  • spadge #14 6 years ago

    Great party lads.

  • reality_cheque #15 6 years ago

    Did anyone else manage to shoot *themselves* through those portal crates on the demo? Damn my quick reactions!

  • absolutezero #16 6 years ago

    I can't wait for the release of Half Life Episode 2 so I can copy and paste the quotes from the news thread today when people starting crying about it being shit.

    Mr A in HL 2 Ep 2 Review Thread!
    "Well I for one have always been deeply unimpressed with the HL saga and I expected nothing less from this monstrosity!!"

    Mr A in HL 2 Ep 2 News Thread!
    "Holy Crap! TF2?? This is the best thing in the World ever this year! EVER!"

  • ram #17 6 years ago

    This is a definite been there done that game confirmed by the review and the demo.

    Whoopie-do you can flip the gravity. If that floats your boat try Marble Blast Ultra instead for about £40 less.

  • jonnyreb #18 6 years ago

    I know that a demo isn't neccessarily indicative of the final product...but it gives you an idea.

    When I first started playing the demo, I was pleasantly surprised.....the part when you are in the bar I am talking about here.

    Brought back memories of Deus EX.IV for some reason....and I was sure this was going to be a definite purchase.

    However as soon as you were taken to the spaceship and the 'poor Doom / Quake' foolishness commenced I realised that this was just another corridor shooter with a few twists........yes, it's OK.........but OK just doesn't cut it anymore for me.

    Won't be buying this one...........

  • MikeP #19 6 years ago

    I rate this review 4/10. Mind you I've only looked at the picture at start.

    Plays Chrome Hounds.

  • ccfb #20 6 years ago

    I expected a 4/10 score for this given the mostly negative comments on the "bland-factor".

  • jonnyreb #21 6 years ago


    @Mike P

    "I rate this review 4/10. Mind you I've only looked at the picture at start."

    Not a Gamespot reviewer are we?? :p

  • pjmaybe #22 6 years ago

    "Soooooooo... what about the multiplayer? kind of forgot it eh?"

    EG don't "Do" multiplayer.

    Specially not LIVE


    Peej

  • RedPanda #23 6 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • Grim... #24 6 years ago

    So Frogger is as much fun as Prey?

    Really?

  • Ryuken #25 6 years ago

    It ain't perfect, story isn't brilliant, voicecasting is way off at times but I'd rather saw that you said more about the multiplayer in which you do take on intelligent, fast-moving foes. It's a great new take on Deathmatch (for once, other multiplayer modes aren't even necessary to make things enjoyable), not because of the weapons but a nice collection and great implementation of all those hyped tricks that actually do refresh the multiplayer fps experience. The singleplayer is too easy, but then again, HL2 and Episode 1 were also too easy, on hard even. Puzzles are definitely more intriguing than those of most other shooters, I can't understand where you got it that they are irritating, really, even with all the strange effects attached to them they are actually more logical than the ones found in other, so-called classic games that do receive credit for their puzzles.

    But well, we'll probably hear that portals are good after all in the 9/10 HL2: Episode 2 (Portal game included) review, isn't it?

  • jack_klugman #26 6 years ago

    Best leave Value to do the portals, lads.

  • goz #27 6 years ago

    "As good as frogger then ? o_O"

    Just because two games are stylistically diverse or chronologically far apart doesn't mean they can't occupy a similar point of critical worth on a scale of fun.

    Unless, of course, you were making a biting satirical point about the futility of adding numerical scores to incisive critique for the benefit of dim readers that can't perceive for themselves a game's worth through argument and need everything tidily placed on a ten point scale of goodness, in which case: gold star!
    Edited by 1 at 14/07/06 @ 13:42

  • krudster #28 6 years ago

    Heh, at least we're still talking about Frogger 25 years on. I can't imagine Prey will mean much to people in 2031...

  • login_name #29 6 years ago

    "Heh, at least we're still talking about Frogger 25 years on. I can't imagine Prey will mean much to people in 2031... "

    You might be but I'm not, Frogger sucked then and sucks even more now. There's not many new games that will mean much to people in 2031, good or bad. The industry has changed and so have the games and peoples attitude towards them.

  • krudster #30 6 years ago

    Wow, can I borrow your crystal ball ;)

  • Wrestlevania #31 6 years ago

    We wish we could be kinder to a game we've been really looking forward to for ages, but the closer you examine Prey, the more disappointing it gets.

    I'd say 7/10 was pretty damned kind for a game which you appear to be maligning the whole way through. Did one person write the review and another then bolt their rating on the end?

    Congratulations: you've managed to be disjointed and confusing in reviewing a game that's supposed to be linear, shallow and numbingly familiar.
    Edited by 1 at 14/07/06 @ 14:12

  • gizmo #32 6 years ago

    2031... what will games be like then?

    Will one game be so good, that theres no point anyone developing other games? Persistant worlds, destructable environments - down to brick level, totally accurate physics, evolving objectives, ability to manipulate anything? How could that be improved upon?

    It still amazes me that no-one has really taken all of the top notch features from any given genre and put together the ultimate game in this day and age.

  • krudster #33 6 years ago

    Wow, I hope all the people slagging off the review have played the game to completion and actually know what they're talking about.

  • PortJourno #34 6 years ago

    Do not agree. Thought the game was great, those tricks with the gravity and portal worked really well. And how can you criticize the soundtrack? It was great, and with excelent timing. Jeremy Soule (the same guy from Elder Scrolls, in case you're wondering) composed it! Very good level design, great graphics, cool gameplay... what the hell do you want more? Its's fun! Old fun, at times, but fun nevertheless. Although, I must say, it's really short. Finished it in 6 hours, but I'm still hanging on to multiplayer.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #35 6 years ago

    Via demos, I've played through the beginnings of Doom 3, Quake 4, and now Prey. I really couldn't stand the flashlight juggling nonsense in Doom 3. And the beginning of Quake 4 seemed similarly over-dark, and full of hackneyed space marine bollocks.

    However, Prey caught my interest for some reason. If the main reason for not getting it is that we've supposedly played the same game twice already in the past 18 months, then I might well buy it.

    Mind you, I really enjoyed both Brute Force and Unreal II, so I suppose I'm just fickle when it comes to straight-down-the-line scifi shooters.

  • ram #36 6 years ago

    @login_name "Heh, at least we're still talking about Frogger 25 years on. I can't imagine Prey will mean much to people in 2031... "

    You might be but I'm not, Frogger sucked then and sucks even more now. There's not many new games that will mean much to people in 2031, good or bad. The industry has changed and so have the games and peoples attitude towards them."

    lol, yes you are
    Edited by 1 at 14/07/06 @ 14:23

  • caligari #37 6 years ago

    I played the 360 demo in the room full of people that had never heard of it before, by the end they'd all gathered round the TV, gasping and gigggling at the little tricks.

    ... !

    that sounds pretty creepy. I'd have to kill my friends if they started to gasp and giggle around my TV.

  • bloodflowers #38 6 years ago

    Agree with the review, but would have docked an extra point for the parts where the graphics engine slows down even more than normal.

    As for the people saying Frogger sucked back in the day - I'd wager half of them don't remember the day /really/, or remember it from their ZX Spectrum port. It was actually pretty good, and certainly in the scheme of things better ranking among its peers than Prey manages today.

  • absolutezero #39 6 years ago

    "that sounds pretty creepy. I'd have to kill my friends if they started to gasp and giggle around my TV."

    You should have they're little faces when I gave them Loco roco to play. Poor souls just don't have any breadth of experience in games.
    Edited by 2 at 14/07/06 @ 14:40

  • Whizzo #40 6 years ago

    As for the people saying Frogger sucked back in the day - I'd wager half of them don't remember the day /really/, or remember it from their ZX Spectrum port. It was actually pretty good,

    Nope it's always been rubbish, all it was good for was inspiring a very short sequence in Horace Goes Skiing.

    I can't honestly remember people feeding Frogger machines with money when it first came out as it's shit.
    Edited by 1 at 14/07/06 @ 14:43

  • NthSimulachum #41 6 years ago

    Well it's not bad, its just not innovating really. May pick this up after it dives spectacularly in price.

  • gizmo #42 6 years ago

    Played to the end of the game? I'm afraid I gave up before the end of the demo.

  • Dynamize #43 6 years ago

    Got it yesterday afternoon for the PC, played it through into the late night and finished it. 7/10 was the score I had in mind too. It started to get somewhat tedious, but I was dragged onwards by a desire to see the culmination of the story.

    I found the portals very impressive. Shooting into a portal in a box, at an enemy seen in profile, who is looking straight at you and shooting at you...confusing and kinda awesome. Then in another instance, walking through a portal to come out another one 90 degrees to the one you went in, catching a fleeting glimpse of yourself going through the first one. Mental.

    Still, yeah, combat was very by-the-numbers. Environment was pretty amazing in places, but defaulted to the usual corridors for most of the game. I also couldn't quite suspend my disbelief for all this gravity-swapping stuff. Sure, the walkways seem plausible in a zany-aliens way, but flipping whole rooms so crates and stuff fall all over the place? Who the hell thought that would be a good idea for a storage room? Stupid aliens. And a contrivance a little too far.

    A victim of FPS fatigue I'd say. It's certainly a good product, just not something that lit my world on fire.

  • AHiFi #44 6 years ago

    Surprised by the score - looked like it was heading lower than a 7.

  • octo #45 6 years ago

    As soon as I heard "red Indian garage mechanic" my "this is going to be shit" sensor started beeping loudly. The demo had some nice touches but just felt a little stuck in the past. So spot on Eurogamer with your seven.

  • Nostromo13 #46 6 years ago

    a fps that is mostly set in corridors is never going to get a high score, especially one which is using the doom 3 engine. But, since this is a particularly dry summer...i will take it.

  • repairmanjack #47 6 years ago

    Very underwhelmed by the single player, as pretty as it was. I've tried the multiplayer half a dozen times, and every time it's been like reading a flick book. I know it's only a demo, but all the others have been smooth.

    The whole gravity thing seems like an empty attempt at advancing past Doom 3's core gameplay. And the guns, in the demo at least, just felt... well, silly.

  • MikeP #48 6 years ago

    Quote: "Wow, I hope all the people slagging off the review have played the game to completion and actually know what they're talking about."

    Krudster, understand where you're coming from. Primarily because recently people on "your side of the fence" have been doing something similar themselves. Bit of a touchy subject with some of us.
    Edited by 1 at 14/07/06 @ 15:37

  • wayn3h #49 6 years ago

    For me personally this game would be an 8.

    Contrary to what the reviewer says, I think the voice acting/music are really good. And the storyline isn't half bad either. Well it at least compelled me to complete the game to see the conclusion.

  • krudster #50 6 years ago

    Mike P - I realise any new high profile game is going to attract opinion, but I do find it pretty unhelpful when people put their point of view across based on very little information - and insinuate the review is useless even though the game only actually came out today!

    For the record, Prey starts really well, and I can understand people feeling a bit giddy on first impressions. But after 10, 12 hours of it (or 6 if you're the ninja) I'd definitely had more than my fill.

  • Eighthours #51 6 years ago

    Earth to sub-editor! Earth to sub-editor! Your time has come!

    Edit: thanks chap!
    Edited by 2 at 15/07/06 @ 10:49

  • Ryuken #52 6 years ago

    Euhm, pre-ordered it here in Belgium and already got it since yesterday noon (and even then stores had the normal versions already in place). Everyone's entitled to an opinion, you can't be too much surprised that there are some quibbles about some points no?

    And I would actually say the opposite; the game doesn't open in a grand way but it becomes more interesting near the end. It's not a game to play for 6 hours straight but then again, no shooter really is.

  • Carlo #53 6 years ago

    Dammit! The reviewer I find consistantly reflects my own opinions about games has given this a 7.

    "Generic blandness" - sums it up really doesn't it.

    /wonders what else he has to look forward to on his 360...

  • SlackMaster #54 6 years ago

    BTH although it's been widely anticipated and hyped, I think it looked a bit dull the first time I laid my eyes on the gameplay footage.

    Playing a Doom3 style clone just doesn't interest me at all... can we not be brought something new for the next gen please. :(

  • Xerx3s #55 6 years ago

    http://ww w.gamestats.com/objects/744/744...

  • Artemus #56 6 years ago

    I think it's about time we saw the D3 engine do something other than dark mech corridors.

  • dk_rare #57 6 years ago

    So uh standard games have been a dissapointment, like Black and Prey? Oh well, hopes up for the Wii to avoid another games crash of the 80s

  • Red-Moose #58 6 years ago

    I've only played the demo and didn't think much of the graphics at all. I just got a 360 last week, and PGR3, FN3, BF:MC and PDZ. After playing those, it was like step back in graphics a lot. The outside bit where you do the deathwalk was cool, and so was the bit in the canyon when you learn the spirit stuff though.

    But the interior thing is just very old TBH. If the full game made more of the plot and turned it into a RPG style game it would have been a lot better, some X-Files stuff and so on.

    So it has samey graphics, okay sound and a good plot background (generic, but good-ish) and unfortunately they gayed it all up in stupid shooter mode.

    It reminded me of Rise of the Triad, which after checking out 3D Realms website, turns out to have been 3D Realms as well.

    A bit shit really. so I'll gte Oblivion instead

  • cyber_nicco #59 6 years ago

    Is it just me, or does it seem the review doesn't match the score...

    I mean, if I just read the review, I would have thought this was going to receive a 4 or something. Don't hate me, but this reminds me of the Halo review. :)

    Being cynical and embittered is not the same as being bright and insightful.

  • Mordum #60 6 years ago

    You can read all the reviews you want. One reviewer will give the game a 5 another will give it a 9, so the best thing to do is just ignore the reviews and find out for yourself. Buy it, don't like it, well then sell it... at least you made your own judgement and did'nt take reviewers 'personal opinions' on it.

  • admir #61 6 years ago

    man they hyped this stupid game so much

  • Chtulie #62 6 years ago

    What's it about no physics on page 2 when there's a whole paragraph describing all sort of gravity trickery that extremely prevalent in the leveldesign?

    And about the starting weapon being powerful...what of the complaints of the usual fps starting gun sucking and other fps' games with properly useful starting guns being praised for it. Except this game apparently.

    I don't play pc fps games, don't own nor plan to own a 360, but man is this review full of contradictions.

  • StixxUK #63 6 years ago

    I agree with the review.


    ^^ Most boring comment EVAR>!

  • lost_soul #64 6 years ago

    I'm in full agreement with this review (well, I may have dropped the score to a 6).

    The demo had some real standout moments in it; so far, the rest of the game doesn't :-(

    The atmosphere is fantastic in places, but the game itself is pretty disappointing.

    Oh and portals = monster closets.

  • yagisencho #65 6 years ago

    Personally, I loved the demo (played it on a whim from 1-3:00am). Not the sort of game you want to play if you're suffering from FPS fatigue, but seems perfectly fun otherwise.

  • JA$ON #66 6 years ago

    and looks every inch the medium range PC port that it is.

    And thats why im selling my mother, so i can buy a PS3. which will hopefully not have medium range pc graphics like the 360.

  • bungalooBunny #67 6 years ago

    It seems on the most recent 360 game reviews there are always 2 persons giving the games a rating of '1' - would that be the Sony and Nintendo representatives? Or hardcore fanboys?

  • amorpheus #68 6 years ago

    I have read much of this posts above (not the review cos I have to buy the game and don't wanna more spoils) and my impression is that they are all related to the demo. Does anybody have played the full game and tell us his impressions? Just to hear another voice.

  • brombeer #69 6 years ago

    @Admir: "man they hyped this stupid game so much "

    Err..no..Microsoft hyped the 360 and everything playable on it. There's not a single game which gave me a WOW..NEXT GENERATION sense. Even on my HD TV running in real 1080i pixels (I have a 1920x1080). I bought the game and gave up after 3+ hours. 'Dull' is the keyword here. Score is still way too high.

  • silentbob #70 6 years ago

    Told you! :)

  • Dirtbox #71 6 years ago

    A review that says pretty much exactly what I said early last week.

    No mention of multiplayer whatsoever, pretty stupid considering that's where the replay is and it's pretty good and the fact that the game is loads better on Cherokee difficulty.

    Oh well.

    Half a review is beter than sod all I spose.

  • Pachinko #72 6 years ago

    I played the game, I finished the game (the PC version, to be honest), loved it, so I CAN in fact criticize the review. FYI, I've been playing games since 1981 and Prey does in fact feel rather fresh with its gravity mechanics. Haven't seen that before. If you have, enlighten me please.

    Also can Dirtbox please enlighten me how the game can be 'loads better on Cherokee' if Tommy, like on Normal, cannot die and can mostly endlessly respawn right in the middle of the fight? If Deathwalk were pulled from the Cherokee difficulty, it would have been great. This way, it;s basically the same, albeit with some more deaths. The AI does not improve, only the damage dealt to you is greater. BTW, this is another point the review fails to delve upon.

  • silentbob #73 6 years ago

    "No mention of multiplayer whatsoever, pretty stupid considering that's where the replay is and it's pretty good.."

    ?

    "With uninspiring and basic deathmatch multiplayer options failing to rescue the package.. "
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/06 @ 19:30

  • InfiniteFury #74 6 years ago

    I've only played the demo on the 360 but loved the opening. Great start to a game and I thought the story set-up was superb from the bar to when you first go into first-person.

    Does it really go downhill?

  • Ryuken #75 6 years ago

    @silentbob: it's not because the multiplayer options are limited that it sucks. You could call BF2 a hideous game for the same reason. It's the gameplay itself that really gives it an edge over any DM experience of the last few years.

  • Darth_Flibble #76 6 years ago

    @ InfiniteFury

    I would say no, I've really enjoyed the single player mode (although normal mode is a bit easy)

  • Monstar #77 6 years ago

    Nothing to do with the thread, but this is unbelievable!
    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=EbE-sNsR_vo

  • lost_soul #78 6 years ago

    I would say that if you've played through the demo, you've already seen pretty much everything the game has to offer. The vehicle on offer later in the game is pretty disappointing.

    I did enjoy the end of level bosses though.

  • numptyboymatt #79 6 years ago

    Well, baring in mind that I generally cant stand FPS games, I'm loving it so far - only other FPS I could ever bare playing was the Alien Trilogy thingy on the PS1!

  • trevd72 #80 6 years ago

    I can tell you that multiplayer is stuck in the mid 90's and it sucks. the lag on healthy servers is very bad. With the likes of halo 2 and BF2 the benchmark for online battles is at the highest its eva been so this game was always going to fall short in MP but to come up this short and with it being in development for so long is shocking. i remember reading about this game about 10 years ago and it seems they have not changed their ideas since then. I love online killing, you see it is what makes me buy a game when it is first released rather than hiring it or buying it cheap later.

  • The_Foo_Fighter #81 6 years ago

    I wasn't hugely impressed with Prey, despite its innovative gameplay mechanics and intuitive gunplay. I'll take it online when I get the chance and, hopefully, it will provide a laugh or two (in the correct way, of course).

    Maybe I'll just go back to the Red Indian bar and play some Blackjack.

  • Skooch #82 6 years ago

    Great ideas that unfortunately are not combined with great gameplay. Looking around at the ship and it's inhabitants was as entertaining as trying to progress through levels, which felt like an imbalance.

  • dryden555 #83 6 years ago

    I would have been happy if it was a good as Quake 4 on hard difficulty. That was a throwback to old FPS days that was actually fun.

  • Dr.Mott #84 6 years ago

    I quite like it. Then again, I got it in a bundle with my 360, I wouldn't pay £40-£50 for it.

  • miiiguel #85 5 years ago

    all in all it is rather bland, but it's still impressive graphic-wise.