I’ve time traveled from 20 years in the past to bring this review of the cult classic FPS Prey and I gotta say, Prey whoops ass. I knew this game had a good reputation and a sadly canceled sequel and I still found myself surprised with how much I enjoyed it. I think it has an interesting lineage and legacy: too early to a “boomer shooter” though it evokes Doom and Duke Nukem in my opinion, and also ahead of its time with regards to physics. It is one of only a few games to use Doom 3’s id Tech 4 engine.
After getting abducted by aliens, you must battle through the extraterrestrial Sphere to rescue your grandfather and girlfriend. Along the way you encounter other prisoners, human debris and radio broadcasts from Earth, an alien resistance, and more and more fucked up monstrous enemy experiments. Released only two years after Half-Life 2, and one year before Portal and Super Mario Galaxy, Prey is ahead of its time when it comes to the physics as you traverse the Sphere. You must flip gravity switches, walk around floating satellites and travel through portals to progress. Tommy is a great protagonist who reacts in a real human way to the crazy events and monsters trying to stand in his way. He drops f-bombs galore, and brings a John McClane-in-Die Hard weariness to his new role as action hero. He is a great fit for the alien and awe-inspiring Sphere, and the creepy atmosphere follows him for the rest of the game.
Prey was developed by Human Head Studios, under contract for 3D Realms, and published by 2K. Human Head’s previous game was a Western FPS for the Xbox called Dead Man’s Hand. I used to rent that game all the time as a kid and after replaying it a couple years ago, I think its cinematic revenge story and arcade style shooting hold up well. Eventually, the rights to Prey would pass to Bethesda, and an unrelated Prey would be developed by Arkane in 2017. Human Head became Roundhouse Studios and has bounced around the Bethesda umbrella of studios for years now. It’s a shame their sequel to Prey never saw the light of day.
Game Design: 5/5 Vibes & World: 5/5 Fun to Play: 5/5
Bonus Points:
- Classic rock soundtrack on the jukebox includes Heart, Judas Priest and Blue Öyster Cult.
- Alien “living” weapons
- Ahead-of-its-time puzzles and physics like portals and anti-gravity
- Post 1990’s UFO mythology and vibes
Current ranking of all Xbox 360 games:
- #1 – Prey
- #2 – Overlord
- #3 – Singularity
- #4 – Dead Island
- #5 – Kameo: Elements of Power
- #6 – Gun
- #7 – Fuse
- #8 – The Club
- #9 – Too Human
