Prey
You’ve got to prey, just to make it today
AS YOU PUT ON A SPECIAL SUIT, travel to a test chamber, take part in experiments, and witness an alien outbreak, you might be forgiven for thinking you’re playing HalfLife. And once you’re using a wrench as a weapon, perhaps OpposingForce. You’re not, but neither are you playing 2006’s Prey, in which a Cherokee mechanic took down aliens using strange powers. Nor are you playing the canned Prey2, in which the same aliens would have abducted an air marshal, and set him up as a bounty hunter. Which is a shame, as that sounded good.
This has little to do with past uses of the name, other than taking down aliens with strange powers. You’re playing an Arkane game, which is not to say that it’s Dishonored In Space— though that also sounds fun—rather a series of interlocking systems, ability gates, and chunky-faced characters, all disguised as an open-world space station in which to run riot. BioShock comes to mind when you enter the art deco lobby of Talos 1, where your brother is making ability-enhancing Neuromods from ground-up aliens, as does System Shock: The Looking Glass screens—the original Prey’s portal system reimagined as 3D video displays—underline this influence.
You’ll feel like you’re in Thief, too, as you pilfer stuff to feed into Recycler machines to create materials. These in turn are fed into Fabricators that, if you have the plans and the materials, can create anything. Unlike Thief and Dishonored, there’s less focus on stealth. Combat is defined by two things: the limited weapon set and the annoying nature of some enemies.
Chief among the annoyances is the Mimic. It’s Half-Life’s headcrab, made from shape-changing smoke. Anything could be a Mimic, and the paranoia is heightened by how many blows from the wrench they take to kill. This isn’t helped by a stamina bar that limits how many swings you can take before needing a rest. Gordon Freeman never had this problem. Mimics are at their best when they’re running away from you, trying new shapes to shake you off, and plain irritating when they choose to attack.
A beefy shotgun, an energy blaster, and a GLOO gun that can immobilize foes (as well as negate environmental hazards, and provide a climbing surface) take the sting out of bad guys, who get ever more powerful after the Mimics are set loose, gaining skills such as teleportation and ranged attacks as they pursue you.
There’s an alternative-history backstory to be pulled out, too, by reading every book and magazine you find, and the ending’s as dark as you’d expect. But Prey’s space station is primarily a playground of mysteries and systems, something to be toyed with that’s at its best when you’re combining items and abilities, a place built with experimentation in mind.