Game Review: Prey (Xbox 360)
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Because I'm stuck in boring WV with nothing else to do, and this game saved me from total boredom.
Prey
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Venom Studios
Genre: FPS
ESRP: $9.99
In PREY, you take the role of Cherokee-by-genetics Tommy, or Domasi, as you and the ones you love get abducted into an alien ship. There you must battle your way to your girlfriend and try and get off the ship. During this time you must learn to use your special Cherokee powers--or die trying.
A Cherokee Classic
In todays world of thousands of developers spewing out FPS like fireworks on Chinese new year, it becomes a chore to find one with a good storyline nowadays. Prey's horror-action-sci-fi-love story gives fans what they really want in a FPS story--the same thing as they want in an RPG. Great character development, an engrossing sci-fi love story, and all around high-budget production makes this FPS a story-side winner. Whats more, its based around the ideology of the Native Americans and they're stories. This game will make you think Cherokees are even cooler then you already did. The story is well done, through both its voice actors and presentation. The environment, while it tells a subtle tale about the aliens and they're culture, it really isn't a major part of the storyline. The inclusion of legendary radio host Art Bell into the telling of the story from Earth's view really helps to tell about the effects that Tommy's experience is having down on gaia as well. To be blunt, this is the kind of imaginative creative ideas that we want to see in FPS games; like Bioshock or Half-Life 2.
Quake 4 and Doom 3-esqe
PREY is a very pretty game. Think Quake 4 with slightly enhanced graphics that runs at a constant 60fps. This game has nearly no glitches whatsoever graphically(or technically, for the most part.) and no clipping issues. Enemies models and textures are a mix. While the Hunters and Elite hunters look rather boring, just about all the other enemies look awesomely Quake 4-y. That is, they look like mutant demons from the deepest spawns of hell itself. Particularly worth noting are the part human-part scythe-part elephant mutants that hop around and slash at you with huge razor-sharp claw(s). If it wasn't so dark most of the time the enemies would be even more disgustingly pretty. Which brings us to the lighting. PREY runs on the Doom 3 engine. If any of you remember, Doom 3's lighting was the worst part of the game. While the severity of the lighting problems have been taken care of, PREY still suffers from overly dark corridors and black hallway ends. Unfortunately, your little pissant lighter does little to help the darkness problem. still, its a minor problem because unlike Doom 3, its totally bearable. Theres only one part in the entire game as dark as Doom 3's issues, and its only one enemy to fight. The backgrounds pop out at you, and the messiness of each room looks of sci-fi gloriousness. Everything in PREY is alive, both metaphorically and literally. Even your living guns look great, the art direction in this game is awesomely unique. For a sci-fi FPS, this one is sure different then the rest of the crop.
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THIS is a puzzle!
Splatter of alien guts. Now in 5.1.
Lets not beat around the bush here. PREY sounds awesome. Lets start with voices. The voice acting starts off a little weak. Jen and Tommy seem to be a little hesitant with they're lines while Enisi starts and stays strong through the whole thing. Withing a few minutes of the game though, the character pick up they're talent and don't lose it. Especially during the last few levels, where Tommy's rage peaks. The voice acting is almost natural with Tommy and Enisi. Jen, although becoming stronger as the story continues, never really gets to the level of realism the other characters do through the story. All of them do great voiceovers though. Sound effects. Sound effects make PREY's sickeningly twisted alien world come to life. The weapon fire is good, though a little uninventive, but the sounds the weapons MAKE are great. The aliens chatter and the sound of portals opening and closing are high-budget SFX. The music is made by the same man who made the music for Oblivion and Guild wars. So suffice to say its professionally made. Music comes in at off times but it comes in nonetheless
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So this is what an alien school looks like
Inventive and new ideas come together like PB&J
PREY is a prethera of inventive ideas. Everything from Deathwalk to living guns screams LOOK! IM A NEW IDEA! AND IM WELL IMPLEMENTED! PREY's gamelay revolves primarily on the nature of all FPS, that is, with awesome weapons and action. But its neat new innovations allow for some really intelligent and mind blowing puzzles as well. Also is the inventions of portals and the ability to change gravity itself. Thats right, this game was the first game with portals in it. Portal came wayyy after. Anyway, many of the puzzles revolve around the idea of manipulating gravity. The design of these puzzles are amazing, and will melt your brain through your ears. Gravity manipulations also gives way to some interesting fights, where your enemies may be standing at any degree here. The enemies are actually rather stupid. The AI won't win any prizes for they're intelligence, but the unique level design fixes this for some difficult, even hard fights sometimes. Many enemies in the game don't need too many smarts; they're big, powerful, and aggressive. Another awesome innovation is the spiritwalk-- a Cherokee ability where you leave you body and can walk through things such as forcefields and press switches, kill enemies, or pick up items. Oh, and you can't die in Spiritwalk, making it insanely useful in scouting ahead, as you could basically sit by the enemies and stare at them as they fruitlessly try to shoot your spirit form. Its also very useful in solving the many puzzles in PREY. Also, when you die in the game, you respawn EXACTLY where you died. Its like having a Vita-Chamber from Bioshock wherever you go. This actually doesn't make the game much easier somehow; its hard to explain why. But when you die, you enter a mode called Deathwalk, where you shoot at the Spirit Wraiths to determine how much health and spirit you respawn with. Even the weapons are inspired. Every weapon is a life unto itself; they're all alive. And I mean that literally. The guns you have are and shoot organic matter, a very inspiration and logical idea for an alien ship. Prey is all about the innovative ideas, and they make the story mode one hell of a ride. Not everything is perfect though. The level design tends to get repetitive in areas, and some glitches ocur that make it an annoyance to continue sometimes. Hunters will get on your nerves within hours of the game. The story will make you keep coming back to the game for more.
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Alien ship
Invisible Assassin - 25G
Multiplayer. To be fully honest with you, this game's strength isn't in in multiplayer. This is in no way writing of PREYs multiplayer as bad, just that it isn't the point of the game. Its multiplayer is rather average. Team Deathmatch and Deathmatch are fun, but do get a little boring after a while. The story mode took me a good 12-15 hours to beat and there is another difficulty mode. However, Multiplayer is by no means bad; its great fun while it lasts. Walking on walls shooting at your friends is always a nice change from the norm.
Alright then.
Major Selling Points:
-- Deathwalk and Spiritwalk- Dying is actually fun!
-- Mind blowing puzzles
-- Manipulation of Gravity
-- Unique and interesting storyline
Major Breaking Points:
-- Action is broken at odd times
-- Glitches do mess up the story sometimes
-- Story's on the short side
Story: 4.50/5
Venom Games' Native American tale of love and aliens is about as unique as it gets. A little more development could have been spent on the aliens side.
Graphics: 4.5/5
Solid framerate and technically good. Great art direction, but a little dark at times.
Sound: 4/5
Music is great but weirdly placed. Sound effects and voice acting work great.
Gameplay: 4.5/5
Great new innovations to the FPS genre give this game a great new feel, even if the main shooter mechanics are only alright.
Value: 5/5
At $10, this game is the best deal you'll find in this year or any other. PREY would still be worth $40.
Replay Value & Multiplayer: 4/5
The story is fun but short. Multiplayer will add a bit of time.
Overall:
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PREY comes at you with great new ideas and pulls them off with such skill, its a new idea itself. The only iffy part is the shooting, but everything else is great.
