Highly anticipated, reworked and reimagined, Prey hits stores at the end of this week, but not before the combined forces of Arkane Studios and Bethesda Softworks has a chance to lay an hour or so’s worth of gameplay on you first.
The sci-fi/horror game has you in the grips of an alien species known as the Typhon while trapped aboard the US space station and former Typhon prison, Talos I. Creating your own path to play the game by finding new solutions to various encounters, Prey pops you with a few interesting elements and a lot of violent, sudden alien attacks coordinating with a vigorous soundtrack.
Your apartment room in the not too distant future. You awake from your bed to a phone call from a man by the name of Alex Yu, eager to get you started working and thanking you for taking the job. Free to explore the confines of your studio, there’s a few articles and clippings to read for extra story before putting on your work outfit and heading up to the rooftop where your helicopter ride awaits. Flying over the gorgeous city and near-by bay, Arkane Studios shows off its impressive graphics and scenery.
Arriving at a testing facility atop a towering skyscraper, you’re required to complete several simple tasks in various rooms while doctor’s observe you, followed by a short questionnaire, all of which determine your style of play through your campaign. Doctor’s clambering about unknowing issues, you, not entirely sure what’s going on, witness a sudden alien attack, abruptly ending your visual examination. Left unconscious, you awake back in what seems to be your apartment, on the same day as before.
Starting with a wrench, you mercilessly smash quick-moving four-legged, spider-like Typhon’s now roaming the abandoned testing facility, which in a strange turn of events turns out to be where your apartment is located. Smashing through windows making your way to hopefully some answers, eventually you stumble upon a goo gun. Helping to freeze the agile aliens in place, you then pull out the trusty wrench and smash away.
Along with standard weapons such as pistols and shotguns and unique weapons like the goo gun, there’s also the Neuromods. Re-wiring your brain to give you enhanced abilities and new medical upgrades, Neuromods are found throughout the game in random scavenging and often as rewards for various quests. Working as the game’s skill tree, Neuromods gives you a good list of abilities to improve skills later in the game.
All through the demo, you’ll find yourself up against plenty of crawling Typhons and a short glimpse of a much more threatening enemy. Unlocking the secrets of this dreaded space station and the story that unfolds before you is sure to be filled with tense moments and thrilling encounters.
The hour-long experience leaves you empty-handed with a lot of questions unanswered but with the full release right around the corner, Prey is gearing up to reveal everything you’ve been anxious to learn about the 2006 reboot.
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