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'a totally new insane FPS'
 Developer: Venom Games
Publisher: Take2 Games
Official Site
Category: : Futuristic FPS
Platform: X-Box 360
Might look like: /
Date posted: 21 August 2006
Written By: Jacques
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The Story
Its about a man called Tommy who is a Cherokee Indian. He lives in a reservation with his grandfather, and also with the love of his live, Jen. They all live happily together in an Indian reservation in the U.S., except for Tommy because he wants to get out of the reservation and travel around the world en see places.
That`s the background story of our lead character but the main story is what really matters for the game. All of a sudden, an alien fleet arrives and starts to invade. Now, Tommy, his grandfather and the very lovely Jen are being captured and taken aboard of the alien spaceship.
From here on it starts to get interesting because Tommy has to escape, save his grandfather and Jen and take on the entire alien army and its horrors.
And believe me, that's a lot of work!
Bring it ON!
First it might look like all other first person shooters (FPS) except that "Prey" really grasps you and won't let go until you completed the entire game. It sucks you right into a very dark and creepy atmosphere. The level design is splendid with strange rooms and alien devices. It's all really freaky.
For example, there's an alien language that all aliens use (except Tommy) and since you're the only human there, everybody wants to get rid of you.
The main character, Tommy has one thing that the aliens didn't knew about, he's "Cherokee Indian" and his grandfather will teach him, during the game what to do with his unknown Cherokee powers.
As a Cherokee Indian, Tommy can 'spirit walk' through force fields and disable them. Aliens can't see Tommy until he bumps into them. As soon as that happens, they'll try to hunt you down but in spirit walk, Tommy has still his spirit bow which you can use to kill the alien hunters.
Another freaky thing is when Tommy dies (and that happens frequently in the game), he goes to a special Indian place where he can replenish his health and spirit energy. How? Well you have to shoot, with your spirit bow grey and red creatures that are flying around you. Every red creature that is shot will pump up your health and every grey will pump up your spirit. However it ain't easy and since you'll only stay there for a limited time, most of your energy bars won't be full. When you come back from your spiritual travel, you'll start at the exact same position where you died. Of course every enemy is still there as well, with our without damage that you did before you died.
Also, Tommy has a spirit guide, a hawk named 'Talon' which is cool because he attacks the enemy and translate the alien language for Tommy. Talon will also guide you by flying in front of you and show control panels that can be activiated etc.
You'll encounter a few times fellow humans but they just scream and go totally insane on the several alien machines. You can kill them but it's really a waste of your precious ammo (especially in Cherokee Mode - harder).
There are some interesting twists and turns during the game that also are very exciting and weird but it is also much needed for the story during game play. Otherwise it would be pretty boring.
  
"Prey" has some interesting features since the aliens use portal technology and can pop up anywhere. There are walkways on the ceiling and yes, you also can walk on them! It's very neat to go upside down and walk horizontal on the walls. You just have to experience it for yourself!
Oh, one more thing. There are a number of places in the game where you can listen to a talkshow on the radio which is broadcasted from Earth. Please listen to the stories of the people that are calling to the show because it's really fun. You'll be updated by the latest news on what's going with the invasion on Earth.
There are several scary moments in the game which I will not reveal to you because it would destroy your fun during the game.
The game itself runs very smooth on the Xbox 360, no long loading times, no boring moments and very beautiful scenes. Puzzles in the game are sometimes a bit difficult but challenging.
Alien Weaponry
A lot of different weapons are at your disposal and unlike every FPS, "Prey" is very different. Most of the weapons are organic and two different (primary and secondary) fire modes are available.
The one weapon that isn't alien touched is your wrench. A very powerful at close range weapon which will certainly do enough damage with just a few swings.
Grenades are living creatures with tree legs. Tear a leg out and it will explode if an enemy is near. Or you can use the full creature as a mine as well.
Other weapons include a rifle (secondary mode snipe), acid gun (secondary mode is a acid grenade), the rocket launcher (secondary mode shield), a machine gun (secondary mode grenades) and a cool laser weapon which has 4 different types of ammo. The secondary mode here is used to drain the ammo out.
Alien A.I.
The enemy (alien) artificial intelligence (or A.I. for short) is pretty impressive in "Prey". When you want to snipe somebody, you'll see that the alien will try to hide behind a crate or barrel.
If you throw a grenade, most of the time they'll try to jump away from it. And if you hide yourself, well expect that they will come and look for you.
The A.I. is pretty smart in this FPS and basically I didn't experience any problems with so called dumb aliens. Of course the more bigger enemies, like end bosses are not that smart since their weapons are so big that most of the time they'll hit you. But there's a way to defeat them.
Controls
Controlling Tommy, weapons etc are well placed. Left and right trigger is for primary and secondary fire and the left and right shoulder buttons for switching between your weapons.
Green button is used for jumping, yellow for spirit walking, red for crouching and blue for quickly throwing a grenade. The D-pad is used as a shortcut to your weapons (just like in Doom 3) and the left stick for movement while the right is used for aiming.
It works pretty good once you get the hang of it.
  
Insane Alien graphics
Very impressive graphics and all worked out just fine. You notice that this game hasn't been made in a rush. No sir, Human Head Studios and Venom Games for the Xbox 360 version worked approx. 10 years on this game! Ten years, can you imagine? Well I can't but it looks terrific, fantastic, beautiful.
The level design in the game is different than in any other FPS since you can walk on ceilings, walls etc.
Besides that, most of the levels have a very 'organic' touch. A lot of flesh textures with metal are used and sometimes you feel that the spaceship you're in is alive. It pukes from time to time through organic openings. What comes out? Probably several pieces from human bodies.
Some open spaces are enormous and you really get the feel that you're on a big, big alien ship.
During gameplay you'll find an 'alien hand' which you can use to unlock doors by scanning the hand in front of a control panel. Neat idea.
It's a true next-gen game with beautiful graphics.
Music please
The music in 'Prey' is nicely done with a few extras. It's just like you're in a movie and your playing the lead character. For almost every scene there's a different tune. Nice.
Also the end song is pretty neat, with some great lyrics.
There are some famous bands included like 'Judas Priest' but the best one is from 'Blue Oyster'. That cult song is on the first level during the initial invasion and it's been used for horror movies and T.V. series.
Overall good music.
Is it worth your money?
It is! Really, I enjoyed the whole game and afterwards I was still thinking on how they made this and that, ...
It's beautiful made with splendid music and weird alien creatures. Several insane locations will amaze you and turning you up side down will really freak you out.
"Prey" offers a good but simple story and that's how we like it. Don't make it too difficult to understand and it works.
How long does it take to finish the game ?
Depends on how long you'll play each day and how good you really are with this FPS.
I finished the game in two days with a total of 9 hours for the easy mode. The more difficult mode, Cherokee, took me also 9 hours.
While this game won't win it in the longevity section, thankfully it stays interesting because of its several and addictive multiplayer modes.
Multiplayer
Eight players can play together online, deathmatch or team based. All the weapons are available and of course you'll be able to use portals, shuttles, etc.
Several game levels can be picked and all are different in the way you play it. Some have ceiling walking while others are straight ground based.
Great fun and once you started to play the multiplayer modes in Prey, believe me, you'll be hooked on it.
Especially when you want to rank yourself up on the worldwide leaderboard.
Conclusion
"Prey" is a fine example on how a great FPS should be. Great graphics, neat level design, excellent weapons and weird creatures.
The game is full with weird twists and with the ceiling/wall walking you'll experience something you haven't experienced before.
If you decide to buy this game, definitely try out the multiplayer because it's so much fun playing against other real players.
If you haven't decided yet if Prey is a game that you'll like, try out the demo that is available at the Xbox Live Marketplace. It's a good demo with full of features and it'll be easier for you to make a decision after you play it. Ehrm, I mean, you'll probably buy it.
-Jacques (aka MetalBar)
Ratings
Manual:
85 % |
Graphics:
93% |
Music & Sfx:
90% |
GamePlay:
87% |
|
This game scores
on our 5-point Rating System
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