Hands-On: Prey -- Page 3

Future Kill
The single-player game looked interesting, but we were even more encouraged by the game's bizarre deathmatch mode. One level looked more like an interactive acid trip than an action game. In some rooms, you could run on the ceiling; in others, gravity shifted you to the wall or back to the floor. The skewed gravity and perspectives opened up all-new deathmatch strategies, such as hiding on the ceiling and dropping behind an unwitting foe. And the weapons provided a refreshing change from the standard rocket-shotgun-SMG arsenal that weighs down so many other shooters.

The controls felt tight, and the weapons seemed to be carefully balanced for multiplayer competition. We also liked how the designers worked Spirit Walking into the multiplayer mode (hint: the spirit arrows inflict massive damage), but only through a rare powerup. Judging by our hands-on experience, Prey is definitely shaping up to be a top online shooter for both the PC and (especially) Xbox Live.

When It's Done
Speaking of which, the Xbox 360 and PC versions looked--literally--identical. There was no difference between them whatsoever, aside from a few control tweaks on the Xbox 360 version. That's a definitely testament to the developers at Venom, the U.K. group responsible for porting Human Head's code to the Xbox 360.

Regardless of the platform, Prey looks impressive. The FPS genre is in desperate need of a shakeup, and Prey--like F.E.A.R. before it--looks like it will broaden the horizons of jaded FPS players when it hits the PC and Xbox 360 later this summer.

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