So just a few hours ago I downloaded the demo of Prey, the latest FPS Aspyr is bringing to the Mac.
The gameplay is fairly solid for the genre (of course the only real FPSs I have ever played are Halo and Call of Duty) it was fairly strightforward but there was one thing that caught me off guard: The bloody visuals of it all, it was kinda freaky ten minutes into the game to be dragged through a maze, suspened probably at the twenty-five feet up in the air, watching weird aliens run around on catwalks meters from you, then see people speared on metal tubes and transformed into a goo. After about five or ten minutes of gameplay I had to quit out, calm my nerves, then I booted up the game again.
Your thoughts on the game?
Prey
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leDoOd
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The graphics are actually a bit sub-par... I don't like the Quake 4 engine, it takes up a lot of resources but doesn't look very good at all.
I liked the whole portals and anti-gravity thing, but I got bored of it pretty quick. There's not a lot to do, the story is kinda lame, and it's waaay too linear. Too bad, I had high hopes for it.
I liked the whole portals and anti-gravity thing, but I got bored of it pretty quick. There's not a lot to do, the story is kinda lame, and it's waaay too linear. Too bad, I had high hopes for it.
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rudel_ic
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It's a good shooter and it does a good job considering the storytelling at the start.. I liked it.
But it's really kinda linear after a while.
The portals and the gravity stuff were fun.
I don't agree that it doesn't look very good, I really enjoyed the graphics. But I'm not a next-gen graphics freak after all simply because my gfx card can't handle the whole bunch of shaders and dynamic soft shadows you see in the best-looking games.
But it's really kinda linear after a while.
The portals and the gravity stuff were fun.
I don't agree that it doesn't look very good, I really enjoyed the graphics. But I'm not a next-gen graphics freak after all simply because my gfx card can't handle the whole bunch of shaders and dynamic soft shadows you see in the best-looking games.
Y'know, here is one thing I have noticed about game reveiws that has always bugged me. They always rate things like the gameplay, the sound, graghics, and value Vs. quality, but I have never seen a game reveiw say much about the story other then to say "that's why your shooting this" or "this is why your blowing up dudes who look like that."It's a good shooter and it does a good job considering the storytelling at the start.. I liked it.
It's dissapointing because that's one of the key factors in games is weather the story is good, and weather it's fairly origanal. Call me overly critical or I pay too much attention to useless detail, whatever you want to call it, but I prefer games that have storylines that I can get stuck into.
Now you might say "Okay, aliens drop out of the sky, capture humans and are mutilating them for some twisted project, where is the originality in that?" Well, look more towards the main character, and who he is. I for one have never found a game yet where the character that you play isn't white or black. Which is one of the things that caught my eye about this game. Normaly you don't see a modern day Native American kicking nine kinds of ass against aliens with laser guns with a frikkin' wrench. There are no Latino's or Asians in games, the only game I've found where you can at least look somewhat like your part of a diffirent ethnic group is Deus Ex.
Okay, that's the end of the rant, and I know you probably think I'm a complete idoit right now so I'll shut up.
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The_Spelunker
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I give Prey 8.2/10
Here's a simple review.
Since you wanted to hear about story, I'll start with that:
The story is presented in an involving way that makes you stay and watch. The story is not very deep, but it is presented in a most professional and great-looking manner. A few twists and surprises will keep you playing through to the end, but these are too few. Even though the story is presented in a good way, the gameplay is the main focus.
Playing Prey is exciting but repetitive. Prey proves to be a great visual experience with great designs for the areas and weapons throughout. The functionality falls short, however, as the gameplay soon becomes repetitive and the weapons, though looking very different and interesting, are all point-and-shoot for the most part. Despite some repetitive moments, unique touches of the story presented in ingenious ways manage to easily overcome this making Prey a worthwhile game.
EDIT: Information about gameplay elements
game-changing gimmicks:
portals transport you to different places, but they usually just bring you to a new area acting like a door.
changing gravity is very cool to experience, and you activate it by shooting glowing places on the wall, and the gravity switches so that the new "floor" is whatever surface the switch was on.
wallwalking lets you walk on special surfaces to defy gravity. This is also interesting, but it is only a straight path most of the time.
artistic design:
The entire game is a mix of organic and mechanical. The weapons move as if alive and so do the levels in the game. As for the levels, there are plenty of places that look like intestinal insides (eww)
Vehicles!:
There is only one vehicle in the game, but it is a ton of fun to fly. It's a small one-man spaceship with a gravity gun and guns that shoot small fireballs at a high rate of fire.
Cool stuff:
-the first time you see the huge enemy
-when you are captured by the aliens
-the larger areas in the game
-the last boss
Here's a simple review.
Since you wanted to hear about story, I'll start with that:
The story is presented in an involving way that makes you stay and watch. The story is not very deep, but it is presented in a most professional and great-looking manner. A few twists and surprises will keep you playing through to the end, but these are too few. Even though the story is presented in a good way, the gameplay is the main focus.
Playing Prey is exciting but repetitive. Prey proves to be a great visual experience with great designs for the areas and weapons throughout. The functionality falls short, however, as the gameplay soon becomes repetitive and the weapons, though looking very different and interesting, are all point-and-shoot for the most part. Despite some repetitive moments, unique touches of the story presented in ingenious ways manage to easily overcome this making Prey a worthwhile game.
EDIT: Information about gameplay elements
game-changing gimmicks:
portals transport you to different places, but they usually just bring you to a new area acting like a door.
changing gravity is very cool to experience, and you activate it by shooting glowing places on the wall, and the gravity switches so that the new "floor" is whatever surface the switch was on.
wallwalking lets you walk on special surfaces to defy gravity. This is also interesting, but it is only a straight path most of the time.
artistic design:
The entire game is a mix of organic and mechanical. The weapons move as if alive and so do the levels in the game. As for the levels, there are plenty of places that look like intestinal insides (eww)
Vehicles!:
There is only one vehicle in the game, but it is a ton of fun to fly. It's a small one-man spaceship with a gravity gun and guns that shoot small fireballs at a high rate of fire.
Cool stuff:
-the first time you see the huge enemy
-when you are captured by the aliens
-the larger areas in the game
-the last boss