Review: Prey (page 2 of 4)
Spirit walking sometimes opens up secret pathways
Bleeding Edge
If you've seen the cult film Brazil, you'll feel right at home in Prey's warped, surreal environments. The evil E.T.s, navigate their sprawling spacecraft thanks to handy space-distorting portals. These portals, which stitch together the game's mind-bending levels, are Prey's crowning achievement and are an impressive addition to the FPS genre. Similar in concept to Star Trek's wormholes, Prey's portals work like quantum windows, allowing the player to travel great distances instantaneously, spy on enemies from miles away, and even shrink down to tadpole size. Some portals even work like funhouse mirrors, casting back distorted reflections of Tommy from alternate perspectives. It's freaky stuff, man.
The Leech gun can draw different energy sources from these power conduits
But the freakiness doesn't end there. Prey introduces another novel gameplay mechanic: wall walking. Glowing walkways line the walls and ceilings of the Sphere, allowing Tommy to attack from almost any position imaginable. The concept may sound disorienting, but the feeling is actually quite natural -- it's a little bit like riding a roller coaster. Add in a few gravity-shifting puzzles and some trippy level designs, and Prey's got the potential to be the most twisted, bizarre, and spaced-out shooter of all time, as well as the perfect game to play when you're, well, in an alternate state of mind. But despite its oddball approach, Prey is rarely disorienting. That's a hallmark of polished game design.
Lightning is one of the most powerful variations to the Leech gun
Aside from a rusty, trusty pipe wrench, all of Prey's seven weapons are based on icky alien technology. Though the weapons look freakish at times (one looks like a de-shelled horseshoe crab, another like a Furby gone feral), most of them behave like conventional FPS weapons. The goo-spurting gun? It's just a double-barreled shotgun in disguise. Aforementioned horseshoe crab? A minigun crossed with a Flak Cannon. But Prey's standout firearm is easily the Leech gun, a customizable energy ray that feeds on power conduits scattered throughout the game. It's a fun twist -- four guns in one! -- and helps keep the weapon swapping to a minimum.
Despite the bizarre appearance of the arsenal, Prey's controls are as old school as they come, borrowing heavily from the Doom and Quake canon. Both versions respond admirably to the game's ferocious action, though the Xbox 360 version suffers slightly for its analog sticks. If you're a stickler for precision, the PC port is the version to get. Otherwise, both games are virtually identical in every way.
Prey's portals defy description, opening up unthinkable gameplay possibilities
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