Review: Prey

Prey (Human Head Studios, 2006) is an FPS, the story of a Native American with mystic powers he uses to fight off an alien invasion. It's on sale for $5 on Steam this weekend, so I picked it up and played through it.

Gameplay
Prey is basically an FPS. The weapons are kind of weird. There are a number of different ones with strange alien designs, but it's not particularly satisfying to use any of them. I suppose that's partly because their effects on the enemies and the levels are never that impressive. Also, none of them have enough ammo for me to really get on a roll before I have to switch over.

When you run out of health, you flip into the spirit world for ten seconds or so, shoot some spirits for health, then you're back. It kind of takes the teeth out of the experience. Sure, some of the enemies have attacks that are a pain to dodge. Sure, some of the areas you fight in lack cover or any other interesting combat terrain. Who cares?

Prey has portals and special floors that allow you to walk on walls and ceilings. There are some puzzles using this mechanic, but nothing terribly difficult or intrusive. There are also a few mini-planets to run around on.

You can also turn into a spirit in the real world. This is also used for puzzles, as your spirit form can still hit switches, but isn't held back by force fields and there are occasionally hidden spirit bridges to use.

The puzzling aspects of the game aren't bad, but the combat really lacks luster.

Theatrics
The word I'd use is quaint. That's not code for outmoded. Almost all games' theatrics are outmoded. (I'm expecting a comeback of top hat wearing mustache twirlers any day now.) No, I have a genuine fondness for the game.

Or that may be just pity as some pretty bad stuff happens to the protagonist. In one section of the game, the protagonist has just suffered a big loss. Every time you kill a baddie, he swears and boasts. His earlier swearing and boasting was annoying. This swearing and boasting seemed appropriate, and was something I couldn't believe I hadn't seen in other games.

The spirit world elements also took a while to grow on me. At first they were just game mechanics. Then there's a twist in the game that makes the spirit world more interesting.

The characters don't have any real development beyond their stereotypes (brash hero, wise mentor, tacked on love interest), but I found myself liking them anyway.

Aesthetics
Based on the Doom 3 engine, Prey has the expected metals, plastics, and ooginess.




Final Score
3 of 5