‘Prey’ Reviews Reveal Flawed Masterpiece With Huge Sci-Fi Potential

Arkane Studio recently released a demo of its attempt at a sci-fi FPS game with “Prey” and the reviews coming in largely indicate that the developers did a lot of things right. Of course, as with every game, there will always be those who have something negative to say. Even so, the first hour of the title has certainly left its mark on reviewers, with some saying that “Prey” has the makings of becoming the ultimate sandbox game in the sci-fi FPS genre.

Before anything else, it’s worth noting that Arkane combined several genres in one package with “Prey.” It’s a sci-fi FPS with RPG elements thanks to the skill tree, Horror thanks to the frightening enemies and Survival due to the scarcity of resources. As GameSpot notes, this is a huge gamble on the studio’s part, but they seem to gel quite well during the demo.

There’s no telling if this is still going to be the case once the game formally launches later this year, but so far, the game’s performance has been promising. Naturally, leading the stellar appeal of the title are the game’s most common enemies called the “Mimics.”

As the name suggests, these creatures can take on the form of practically any object in the game that is based on the physics engine. These include chairs, mugs, trash bins, and even a potted plant. This aspect of the game adds a considerable level of tension since players will constantly need to be on the lookout for an enemy masquerading as clutter.

Combat also seems to impress reviewers, with several pointing to the hectic, often panicky events that led them to barely survive encounters. There’s also the multiple options that players get when it comes to how they approach enemies or how they overcome obstacles.

As for the world itself, the game is set in a space station called Talos 1 where the main character Morgan Yu will need to traverse the futuristic environment. By all accounts, the station is huge and offers numerous paths and secret places to explore.

Great as those features may be, there are some gripes when it comes to the game. As PC Gamer notes, enemy AI could be better, especially for the mimics and their skittish transformation. There’s also the matter of frame rate issues and object clipping. Hopefully, the developers will get a handle on these concerns when the final product comes out.