PREY - The Earth's Saviour Doesn't Want the Job!!

Yeah... Now that is how I spent my poya day!!! I committed ALOT of sin killing a lot of aliens and basically destroying a whole planet... or a habbitat if I put it correctly!!!

Didn't get what I said??? Let me explain...

Produced by 3D Realms and developed by Human Head Studios along with Venom Games, using the legendary Doom 3 engine (which is not developed by id games though!!) "PREY" is a come back of the original game by 3D Realms in early 90's.

(For those who don't really understand where I'm getting at... its a PC game!!)

The Story

You play the role of Tommy (a Cherokee living on a reservation), having a heart to heart with himself. You hear about the emotional grief he has with the love of his life, Jen. Aspirations of what is beyond the reservation plague Tommy to the core and he is within a hair's width of leaving all together, despite his grandfather's wishes. If only Jen would come with him he knows he would be set, yet she is very content with her life and wishes to stay. Here is where the player enters.

Shortly after here the entire bar they work in is ripped from the ground and teleported to the "Sphere" in orbit near Earth. The Sphere is a living mother-ship occupied by a race that seeks to use the human race as food. A fantastic technology of variable portals and tractor beams allows the Sphere to pick and choose what it wants and incorporate that into itself. Tommy, Jen, and his grandfather Enisi are imprisoned on platforms that curve along tracks in the heart of the Sphere.

Where he manages to break free from what seems like a procuction line of a processing plant with help of a rogue!!! and get a gun in to his hand and starts making his way to free his Grand Pa and Jen...

Mixed in to this whole epic is an underlying story of Tommy trying to find himself in his Cherokee ways. All his life he has been resentful of the superstitious "mumbo-jumbo" that his grandfather has been preaching. The ways of the spirits, his ancestors, and everything Cherokee is simply not something Tommy wants to hear. Though his plight forces him to slowly accept things of his heritage, each step is very painful and met with a lot of resistance.

Game Play


Initially Prey looks like any other sci-fi-themed first-person shooter, you get a basic hud where they display the aquired weapons, health bar, the spirit bar (activates after you encounter your spirit realm) and ammunition.
The guns starting from the crazy-looking biomechanicalAssault riffle ( You start with a Pipe wrench but I recall myself going even 150 paces encountering a few small enemies with that... ) all the way to a rocket launcher... most of the weapons are biomechanical with living parts in them that moves and wiggles about when idling.. and they automatically reload... and the Rifle that i mentioned has a sniper mode to it... most bizaare sniper version i've encountered that the living scope of the sniper comes and plugs in to your eye... giving a decent zooming ability and a heat signature too!!!

The weapons are just part of Prey's unusual design. What's really wild about the game is how it uses direction, gravity, and portals to surprise you, disorient you, and impress you. Basically, "up" and "down" is relative throughout the game; certain types of corridors allow you to run straight up onto a wall and then keep moving "forward." Portals tear through the fabric of the bizarre alien landscape you're fighting in, revealing completely different environments on the other side. You run right on through (and can even fire your weapons through) and just keep going, and you'll be suddenly surrounded by different terrain. It comes to real weired levels where you have to shoot and activate the gravity polarizors to "choose" which side you want the ground to be... and not to forget the "walkers" the gravity paths that lets you walk even on the ceiling!!!

Another cool twist to Prey is that you evidently can't die. Your character may leave his body, traveling in sort of a spirit world. It's reminiscent of the Soul Reaver action adventure series, though we're happy to see that the game's innovative twist finds its way into a first-person shooter. When defeated, it looks as if you'll have to literally fight your way back from death's door, shooting the enemies of your ancestors red demons to regain health and blue demons to regain the spirit health... you'll get only about 15seconds to do this till you're sucked back in to the metal world to fight your way....

The soul or the spirit realm is another added feature... Tommy can go in to the spirit realm anytime he wants to.. this comes in handy to go around in the game.. specially through the force fields... and talking about spirits... you cannot forget Talon. The spirit form of Tommy's pet hawk from his childhood who comes along to guide and aid in his quest. It helps us by attacking and distracting the enemies and perching on important consoles hinting us what to do and to decipher the alien language...

Graphics and Sound.

Its the Doom 3 engine... Heavily modified.. not many options to change and play around with... splendid use of color and great visual!!! No glitches that I encountered... I need not say anything else apart from that...

Conclusion

As expected, Prey was quite a treat to play through. provided enough enjoyment to keep you entertained until the next big thing comes along. My concern does lie with the replay value of Prey. I started to go back and play through again, but didn't feel near as much drive as I did the first time when the mysteries were still to be discovered. This leads me to believe the game is pulled along by story a lot more than it is by actual game play. Despite the replay value, simplistic interface, and occasionally cheesy dialogue, I would more than recommend this game to anyone wanting something new. The gravity defying levels, portals, and visuals make it worth your time.

1. Theme - 10
2. Learning Curve - 10
3. Replayability - 6
4. Fun - 9
5. Sound - 9
6. Graphics -10
7. Compatibility - 10
8. Price - 6 (well it really doesn't effects us here!!)
9. Availability - 10
10. Originality - 10
Total: 90

(with courtsey of Game Pyre)