Line #1 Trivia/Prey2017


1	* AbsurdlyShortProductionTime: Not the game itself, but an enemy: [[https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/how-i-prey-i-s-designers-turned-technical-limitations-into-inspiration according to lead designer Ricardo Bare]], the Poltergeist was made in an extremely truncated period late in the game's development when the developers decided they wanted more enemy variety. The time crunch left them without the artists or AI programmers to make an entirely new, fully-realized creature from scratch, so they made it invisible and attack by throwing physics objects, saving them a dramatic amount of time and resources while successfully adding something new.
2	* ActorAllusion: This isn't the first time Creator/MaeWhitman played [[Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld a woman who had a stormy relationship with another woman]]. Or was [[Series/ArrestedDevelopment connected to a screwed up family]].
3	* CelebrityVoiceActor: Creator/WaltonGoggins and Creator/JamesHong have minor roles in the game, as Aaron Ingram and [[spoiler:William Yu]], respectively.
4	* CreatorDrivenSuccessor: To ''VideoGame/SystemShock'', but also to ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment''. Sharing a writer in Creator/ChrisAvellone, the games deal with similar questions of identity and one of Prey's more prominent story elements are the actions of previous incarnations - including Morgan being guided by several [[UnreliableNarrator former versions of themselves]], often at odds with each other.
5	* ExecutiveMeddling: Arkane founder Raphaël Colantonio [[https://kotaku.com/prey-2017-2006-bethesda-imsim-name-arkane-colantonio-1849481519 stated in 2022]] that ''no one'' at Arkane wanted to call the game ''Prey'', since it had no story connection to ''VideoGame/Prey2006'' and they felt it was "gross" to use the name of an IP they didn't create, but Bethesda forced them to.
6	* TheOtherDarrin: Presumably because Creator/BenedictWong was busy filming for ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' during its development, Alex Yu's cameos in the Mooncrash DLC are done with a soundalike.
7	* TheOtherMarty: Creator/WilliamSalyers recorded for Alex Yu before being replaced mid-development by Creator/BenedictWong.
8	* ScrewedByTheNetwork:
9	** For some reason, Bethesda did not distribute review codes for ''Prey'' to reviewers and press until 24 hours before the release date. This unfortunately meant that reviews were either delayed or rushed, which gave many people who were on the fence about the game a negative initial impression.
10	** Adding to the confusing marketing was the insistence on Bethesda's part of naming the game after an unrelated game from 2006. While both ''Preys'' are first person shooters in space, that's where the similarities end; ''2006'' is a linear action/horror FirstPersonShooter about a Native American losing and regaining his connection with his native culture and a mechanical emphasis on portals and gravity manipulation, while ''2017'' is a much a slower paced sci-fi PsychologicalHorror/thriller ImmersiveSim with nonlinear progression that focuses its narrative on what it means to be human and its mechanics on outsmarting enemies and obstacles. A common comment is that naming the game "''Neuroshock''", would have avoided the confusing comparison and better stated the game's actual presentation via association with ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' and ''VideoGame/BioShock'', well-known examples of the subgenre and the overall premise.[[note]]The game's director, who left the studio shortly after its completion, [[https://kotaku.com/prey-2017-2006-bethesda-imsim-name-arkane-colantonio-1849481519 directly stated that the title was forced on Arkane by Bethesda]]. By and large, it's agreed by most that the use of the same title as the previous "Prey" was a baffling decision that can really only be explained as an act of pure corporate spite from Bethesda's higher-ups towards Human Head Studios, who were working on the ''actual'' Prey 2 but were actively screwed over by Bethesda due to an attempted hostile acquisition, resulting in the game being canceled when they refused to allow the publisher to buy them out.[[/note]]
11	* ThrowItIn: The "Reployer" machines that are found around the station started out as an object that nobody in the development team could figure out a plausible use for. As a result, it was nearly cut from the game...until someone suggested turning it into a meta-joke.
12	-->“We almost cut this from the game three times,” Colantonio says. “I even had a few ‘fights’ with [Lead Visual Designer] Manu [Petit], telling him I never want to see that thing again – until we eventually turned it into a joke and said, ‘What if no one aboard the space station knows what that object is? Let’s give it an obscure name like Reployer and let’s have people talk about it in emails.’”
13	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
14	** Human Head Studios's ''Prey 2'' was originally developed as a direct sequel to the original game with a "Cowboys in Space" vibe, as the player character worked as an intergalactic bounty hunter of sorts. After a fairly impressive debut at E3 2011, the game sank into DevelopmentHell for several years due to disagreements between Human Head and Bethesda over the game's direction, along with a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKw_VUuZjCE hostile acquisition]] that Bethesda allegedly attempted on Human Head. The game was [[https://www.gamespot.com/articles/prey-2-cancelled-bethesda-confirms/1100-6423293/ officially cancelled in 2014]] before the name was given to Arkane for their new sci-fi game.
15	** Arkane's ''Prey'' had a number of features cut during development.
16	*** Early footage showed an oxygen meter while Morgan was in environments with no air, suggesting that the useless (aside from being thrown at the Typhon) O2 tanks present in the final game were intended to refill the suit's oxygen supply.
17	*** Injuries would have caused negative status effects to Morgan, with burns and fractures needing different items to treat properly.
18	*** An AI-powered homing disc rifle (complete with sidequest) was cut for unknown reasons.
19	*** Weapon durability was scrapped in the final game, possibly because the developers feared it would become a ScrappyMechanic as it had in ''VideoGame/SystemShock2''.
20	** A later update added an oxygen meter, weapon degradation and negative status effects from injuries as "Survival Mode" options that can be toggled on or off individually when starting a new game.

Context Trivia / Prey2017