Preview of Prey

Prey Box art

Prey

by Stephen Cameron

July 2, 2006
The Prey demo kicks off in the men's room of a bar located on an Indian reservation. You're placed in the shoes of Tommy, a Native American that desperately wants to leave the boring life at the reservation. His girlfriend, Jen, tends bar at the establishment and appears to be the only thing keeping him around.

Though Tommy is bored with his surroundings, from a game perspective this environment is anything but dull. You’ll find yourself wandering around this wonderfully detailed bar flushing toilets, playing with the soap dispensers, changing the music on the Jukebox (with titles from Heart, Judas Priest, Ted Nugent, etc…), changing the channel on the television, and playing the 4 arcade games in the bar. This highly interactive environment was not only fun, but it did an effective job at drawing you into Tommy’s world. It also made me question why Tommy would ever want to leave. He's got a TV, jukebox, free alcohol, and 4 arcade games... sounds like heaven to me.

Unfortunately, we soon find out that not everything is all fun and games - a pair of drunken rednecks are sitting at the bar making cracks at Tommy's girlfriend. While listening to these drunken losers make comments, you discover Tommy is a handyman and he left his big old wrench on the bar. It’s not hard to tell what it coming up at that point... the wrench is obviously going to be meeting the head of a couple bar patrons in the not too distant future. Sure enough, trouble boils over and you end up knocking them silly.

This is the point where the game takes a very odd turn. The next thing you know aliens are invading the planet. Tommy, Jen, and your grandfather are sucked up into an alien environment that looks like a cross between the locations from Doom 3 and Quake 4. The captured humans are strapped to a conveyer belt that we later find out is speeding them away to an untimely (and gruesome) death. Fortunately Tommy manages to get free before getting diced into pieces and decides to fight back in an attempt to save his grandfather and girlfriend.

The setting within the alien world is grizzly and initially pretty interesting. The developers add a few nifty tricks, such as messing with the gravity so the character will suddenly be walking on the ceiling or walls and adding in worm holes to travel to another area. However, after a bit in this location (it is a long demo) the metal corridors become awfully repetitive, and it brought back memories of playing Doom 3, where everything looked the same.

There is a small sampling of weapons to be found in the demo. Besides the wrench you also get to try out two alien guns. One is essentially an assault rifle with a scope, and the other is a multi function gun that shoots plasma type bullets and can freeze the enemy with a blast of cold air. Tommy also develops some "spiritual" powers that enable him to have an out of body experience. Switching to Tommy's spirit will allow you get through barriers that Tommy can't pass through.

You won’t be replaying sections of the game because you never really die. When Tommy’s health runs out he enters another world where he ends up playing target practice with spirits - which are essentially floating health packets. The more you hit, the more your health rises. When you’re finished it plops you right back where you left off. While some may complain this takes some challenge out of it, I liked not having to replay through portions of the game and thought it worked well.

Judging from the demo, Prey looks like a very solid FPS with excellent visuals, solid controls, a good story, likeable characters, and some unique weaponry. I only hope as the game progresses we see more environments like the bar setting, and less like the repetitive alien world. As it stands it is a fantastic demo and shows a lot of promise for the full version.

Comments

Site Statistics

Registered Members: 81,142
Forum Posts: 725,969
Xbox One Titles: 6,502
Xbox 360 Titles: 1,086
Xbox 360 Kinect Titles: 95
Xbox 360 Arcade Titles: 586
Original Xbox Titles: 987
Staff Reviews: 2,611
Member Reviews: 10,339
News Articles: 16,557
Screenshots: 39,558
Xbox 360 Achievements: 45,112
Xbox 360 Faceplates: 2,016
Cheat Codes: 1,706

Latest News

Bulwark: Evolution Out Now on Consoles

Bulwark: Evolution Out Now on ConsolesThis major free update, which has already been successfully launched on Steam, brings a new layer of depth, strategy, and innovative gameplay mechanics to the immersive world of Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles.


Thrustmaster Unveils T.Flight Hotas One

Thrustmaster Unveils T.Flight Hotas OneThrustmaster’s best-seller is back with a new look featuring the official license of Microsoft Flight Simulator. This complete, precise and easy-to-use hands- on throttle and stick (HOTAS) is the ideal companion for Microsoft Flight Sim 2024







See News Archives

Community Forum Activity

KeyWe Giveaway!
Post by Variation-XBA
0 Replies, 28201 Views

2021: XBA is still here
Post by shrew king
40 Replies, 274076 Views

Watch Dogs: Legion
Post by Nato King
0 Replies, 128436 Views

Xbox Series X or S
Post by Nato King
5 Replies, 146540 Views

Spellbreak Grand Magus Pack (3) and Starter Pack (7) Giveaway!
Post by Variation-XBA
0 Replies, 133211 Views

I pay $ 1000! I search the Element 54 Canadian launch Team signaturen Faceplate
Post by Smill
0 Replies, 157052 Views

Xbox one no signal
Post by debrartin
0 Replies, 146226 Views

do you remember?
Post by SnoochyBoochy
3 Replies, 219138 Views

i haz xbox
Post by SnoochyBoochy
0 Replies, 175709 Views

Claiming the first thread of 2020
Post by Kraft
7 Replies, 267968 Views

Important! I pay $ 1000! I search the Sweden launch and the Element 54 Faceplate
Post by Smill
3 Replies, 151620 Views

Squad Up
Post by samslophead
0 Replies, 260941 Views

TERA Skinned Xbox One X Giveaway!
Post by Variation-XBA
0 Replies, 181076 Views

Starfield Release expectations?
Post by DJ tx
4 Replies, 313837 Views

Issue with Xbox live on Xbox home
Post by rcmpayne
0 Replies, 169685 Views

© 2000-2024 XboxAddict.com - All rights reserved. All trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
Xbox is a registered trademark of Microsoft. XboxAddict.com is not affiliated with Microsoft.

Made in Canada
Site Design by Cameron Graphics