The TPS Report - Games, Beats 'n' Blogs

How'd Prey Turn Out? Not So Hot if You Ask Me...
Posted by Diggler - 3/8/2006 17:25

The latest FPS to use the Doom III engine, Prey demonstrates both ambition and scope...yet not quite enough of either

If released prior to the pitch back corridors of Doom III rocking our world, or the gore-filled Strogg labs of Quake 4 giving us nightmares, one might look upon Prey far more favourably. As it stands though, it's a competent, but all too familiar FPS that we've just seen way too many times before.

Playing as a Native American by the name of Tommy, the game begins with the abduction of both you and your special lady Jen by an ominous and humungous alien spacecraft. This opening sequence – showcasing the two of you and the entire surrounding bar being pulled in via tractor beam - really is utterly captivating in fact, especially with its darkly humorous twist of "Don't Fear the Reaper" blurting out from a nearby jukebox mid-abduction. Right from the get go, Prey is quite literally pulling you in like nothing else.

Moonwalking

A nice example of how the portals work. Not only can you see through them in real-time, but even fire and fight through 'em too

A large part of its hook as a game though is its emphasis on gravity puzzles and teleportation technology; the scarce few new additions it can boast over its aforementioned peers. Indeed, as you poke around and prod at these addendums to the formula - witnessing the portal mechanics in motion and trying out the anti-grav walls for the first time - you just can't help but start to love this game a little.

You'll regularly find yourself walking along walls with a worrying degree of vertigo, jumping through portals that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and even engaging enemies in upside down fire-fight duels to the death that result in one of your lifeless corpses falling upwards onto the floor. Or is it the ceiling?

Despite the fact all this barmy and extravagant alien architecture is seemingly built with no real purpose other than to accommodate some big, silly fun, it remains totally inspired from both a visual and playable standpoint, even if it has been known to send Diggs reaching for his bucket in a motion sickened haze.

Prey For Salvation

The latter half of Prey is riddled with these lame interior spaceship segments that really start to grate

These opening puzzles and set pieces set the tone and expectation beautifully for the rest of the game, really hinting at an experience I would have loved to have seen more of. The problem is, Prey never really follows through though. A few hours in, and you've essentially seen the majority of everything it has to offer. If anything, levels slowly start regressing from here on out, dropping the barmy gravity stuff for more run-of-the-mill FPS encounters we've all seen a million times before.

True, there are some mild diversions in the form of Descent-style 3D vehicular sections, not to mention Tommy's pleasing, if sadly under-utilised spirit-walk powers. Really though, the sense of originality and flat-out genius hinted at in those earlier levels really sort of fizzles out as you progress, ultimately leaving you with a far more flat and repetitive experience in its wake.

On more of a technical level, this is about the best the Doom 3 engine has looked yet, with a far greater colour palette and a much larger sense of scope than seen previously. Music impresses too, with fabulously under-stated Alien-esque stylings that multiply that epic feel to truly stunning effect on the rare moments they kick in.

Although firmly rooted in the dark, dingy alien corridor-style of its peers, Prey's art design does impress on occasion

It's the voice acting that drags it all down though, in particular our protagonist's need to blurt out a constant barrage of swear words as if afflicted with tourette's. It really does seem wildly out of place here, and more than anything else, just goes against the more sombre, serious mood we could otherwise have enjoyed from exploring this crazed and darkened Death Star from hell.

All in all, Prey is fantastic as a single-stage demo, but as a fully complete game, it's a mild disappointment. While FPS die-hards will enjoy it as the latest big budget shooting gallery to hit store shelves, it ultimately fails to make good on everything it promises early on, and with little in the way of story and character to fall back on, there just ain't a whole lot left to keep the rest of us hooked in the long run…

That is, all seven meagre hours of it.