Prey Comments by Kristan Reed

I must say.

Never been this unexcited by a hyped shooter before.

Meh-xpected.

hooray!

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

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

Well, that review was a letdown. Unlike Prey.

:[

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.

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

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 :)

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.

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!

Great party lads.

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

I'm puzzled as to how people can review a demo and expect the full game to be much the same ... Prey goes much further than the demo suggests.

As for the review itself - this is bringing back memories of the Oddworld Stranger's Wrath review.

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!"

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.

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...........

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

Plays Chrome Hounds.

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

@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

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

EG don't "Do" multiplayer.

Specially not LIVE


Peej

No witty captions :(

So Frogger is as much fun as Prey?

Really?

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?

Best leave Value to do the portals, lads.

"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!

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

"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.

Wow, can I borrow your crystal ball ;)

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

@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

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.