Prey

So if anyone cares, I added heartwarming, awesome, nightmare fuel, ect pages to the page for this game. Not sure why it went so long with just a funny page, but what can you do?

Thanks, Cap.

Also, I would like to remind you that the XCOM shooter wasn't cancelled and the jumping black blobs (Silacoids) are very much in it, although they are nowhere near the concept of Mimics or Phantoms.

I think this game shows an element of "what could have been" with regard to truly alien aliens.

LOVING it so far - though I think I have gotten to an area I shouldn't have - Cargo hold (Had to fly fast past two weavers) rather than head for the arboretum.

I'm taking to this far more than Mankind Divided, which is weird as I love DX... this just feels more like a playground.

The Bureau has only the absolute basics in common with Irrational's initial vision of the game, and the Silacoid are pretty simplified compared to their concept stage.

Can I just take a minute to talk about how hilariously evil "Psychotronics" sounds? Like, seriously; if Umbrella Corp opened a tech department I would expect them to use a name like that. Just seeing that name on a board in the lobby I knew, before any official mention had been made of them, that that's where the source of the trouble would be. I was not the slightest bit surprised to learn that they'd been doing really shady things, or that they'd been experimenting on Typhon that -surprise- broke containment.

"Psychotronics" is legit paranormal babble, actually. I've heard the term in the early nineties.

I've been playing Prey for the last couple of weeks on my free time. Haven't made it to the end yet (probably because I tend to spend WAAAAAY too much time searching every single nook and cranny for recyclable materials and hidden caches), but my impression of the game has been great so far. It's likebody's been saying: Bioshock/System Shock IN SPACE!, but better. A few observations I've had so far:

• Almost all of the weapons serve more than one purpose, or have creative odd quirks. The obvious cases are the Styrofoam "Huntress" crossbow and GLOO gun, but even the silenced handgun and recycler grenade have other practical uses. For example, are some radioactive barrels blocking your path? Chuck a recycler grenade, and bye-bye radiation poisoning! Just don't use it solely for harvesting materials though: the output ratio never matches a single grenade's resource value. Oh, and be REALLY careful around human bodies: the grenade will not only recycle them, but destroy any loot they were carrying, save for plot-critical items (ex. the Transcribe recorders).
• Gotta love how Talos I feels like someplace that's actually livable and has practical amenities that people need... you know, like toilets, staff kitchens/breakrooms, trash cans, chairs, etc. Or how the maintenance shafts often take you to the older, Soviet-built parts of the station, with none of the glamour and lots of age showing.
• It's also obvious that the very design of the station was meant to convey a sense of majesty towards the general public and glorify space exploration, and not some dull machine. I'm guessing whomever the designer was thought it wise to make Talos I aesthetically pleasing, since the staff mention at several times that all the fancy furniture, mahogany wood, and gold trimmings do little for the science aspect that it actually serves.
• The game absolutely demands the use of effective weapon combinations and ambushes. Relying purely on the guns almost never works except against the mimics, and even then it might be wise to use a psionic power or two.
• Combat focus is pretty broken, especially once fully upgraded and used with a shotgun in hand. Makes it waaay too easy to strafe and dodge the Typhon's attacks.
• When in space, you're a sitting duck against the Technopaths and their "spawn anywhere" electro-orbs. Only practical strategy I've found so far is to just madly charge them, use everything you can to keep them stunned for as long as possible, and then blast them with the shotgun at point blank until either you or it dies.
• They're still using reel to reel recorders... despite things like servers, smart devices, and touchscreen desktops existing. It's obviously ultimately a stylistic choice, but seriously, what gives?

Space hipsters?

Probably just to keep the space age flair intact. After all, they still have those huge 1960s mainframes, too. Hell, there's even the whole injoke with the "reployer", that Xerox -like office machine that no one has a clue what it does.

I gotta say, this game gave me a bit of a Breath Of The Wild feel, in that like that game, it provides you with a whole bunch of open-ended methods for which you can explore the game world, encourages you to think outside the box and not just rely on fighting everything you see, and also gives an incredible amount of interactivity with the game world.

Maybe that's a reason why I really enjoyed my time with it.

I'm on my second playthrough, about to finish up, and have gone without using any sort of Typhon powers. It didn't really feel like a challenge, because i was able to just go full gunplay a lot faster.

Who needs Superthermal or Pyschoshock when you can just have a fully upgraded Shotgun or turn Phantoms into dust with the Golden Gun, paired with the Firearms II mod?

Plus all those Psi hypos make excellent recycle fodder.

No, my real problem with the game at this point is...why does no one like Igwe?

Its kinda funny, sure, but it comes off as bad writing since there's no reason, in-universe, for people to act like he's some kind of noisy pest.

It's in the emails. He lacks social skills, is an introvert, and his views on psychic phenomenon (while ultimately correct) were considered a joke at the time until the Typhon proved otherwise during tests. It's kinda sad too, because he's overall a rather friendly fellow who isn't into the gossiping like everybody else on the station.

I don't think Breath of the Wild is a good comparison. Prey is probably more akin to the Fort Frolic level from Bioshock in how it's a mostly open level, but everything is locked behind doors, enemies and puzzles. It requires you to solve each part little by little, collecting loot in all the hidden nooks and crannies in the process. And ultimately, it's still quite scripted: certain areas won't open up until others tasks or items have been dealt with first. So while that's similar to how the Divine Beast dungeons work, it certainly doesn't apply for the rest of the game.

This also applies to Talos I as a whole. While you can investigate other areas of the station, you won't be able to make much progress until the story actually wants you to visit. For example, you'll first learn about the survivors locked up in the Cargo Bay while traveling through the GUTS via radio chatter, and even briefly visit the area, but you won't be able to actually help them out until much later in the story. Same goes with the Power Plant and Life Support areas: you can visit them to collect loot, but can't do much until the story progresses.

edited 15th Sep '17 3:41:19 PM by SgtRicko

Yeah, I guess that makes a certain amount of sense, but it still smacks of bad writing because i feel like all that would get more or less overlooked since he's on a science station and people would care more about his technical knowledge and accomplishments than him being an introvert.

Although I guess since most people don't seem to know about his wife dying years ago, they can't take that into consideration.

I'll just chalk it up to a glitch in the framing device.

And in terms of 'open-ness', I found Prey to be quite linear, potential sequence breaking aside (like just shooting Impasta in the head when you first get close to him)

That's precisely the point, they don't consider him a scientist. In most eyes he's a quack who spreads tinfoil hat bollocks. His ND traits are just icing on top of the cake.

edited 16th Sep '17 4:35:52 AM by TAPETRVE

The brave little soldier. ''I'' acknowledge his pain. He's too good for this world.

It'd be like if you worked with a guy who believed in wizards and dragons and then, while a dragon was burning down your city, you were like "somebody get this guy away from me."

While he quietly works on solving the problem and doesn't rub it in anyone's face that he was right. He also comes up with the plan that lets you blow up the station and save everyone else.

Hmm...I suppose i have to get that 'kill every human' achievement sometime. Poor Igwe can be last. Goodnight, sweet prince.

Edited by ArthurEld on Sep 12th 2021 at 9:40:57 AM

Worst part is, you've either gotta kill him yourself, let the Typhon "eat" him, or let him suffocate in the vacuum of space in that container.

Oh yeah... I believe Igwe also has a audiolog recording on him during the cargo container scene. I'm not sure if it disappears afterwards but if you're gonna be going for the Platinum achievement, you'd better make sure to loot his body.

If you're ever going to go for every achievement, keep in mind there's one for killing everyone but Dahl (and evacuating with him). So if you're going for 100%, it's probably sensible to initially leave Igwe alive to incapacitate Dahl. Kill everyone else, then once Dahl is all mind-wiped, immediately kill Igwe and make a save. Once you've either beat the game with Dahl or killed him, you can reload for the other.

The terrible things we do for achievements.

edited 17th Sep '17 8:43:16 AM by Lavaeolus

I'll just think of it as sending Igwe to meet his wife, a cruel mercy, Of Mice and Men style.

Starting my third run now, I'm gonna go for only Typhon powers this time so I can get that Split Affinity achievement. I have a feeling this will be more difficult than human only

I'm probably not going to force myself to sit down with this anytime soon (Still have Metro 2033, Horizon Zero Dawn, Dying Light, Nier Automata, and Tomb Raider to chug through) but...

Jesus bloody christ do I want to.

edited 19th Sep '17 10:25:56 AM by Soble

Do eet.

Yes, i was right. Playing without human powers is much harder than playing without Typhon powers.

Damn you developers and your damn cheevos. Damn you to hell!

Picked it up at Walmart because I have no self-control.

Easy, Normal, Hard, or Nightmare?

• Survival won't be a problem for you. Probably.
• Use your wits, weapons, and abilities to survive.
• Your wits are the only thing that will keep you alive.
• Nothing can save you.

These might be the funniest difficulty warnings I've read in awhile. So is this Gameplay and Story Integration kind of difficulty where I might meet strong enemy types, or certain events might not occur? Is this the arbitrary difficulty where health potions don't go a long way and I have to conserve ammunition? Or is this that kind of difficulty where enemies kill you in 2-3 hits and you have to really plan out every step you make?

I played through Evil Within and Last of Us and managed to get though despite scarce amounts of ammo. Never was one to play Halo on Legendary though.

Can the story be enjoyed on Hard?

edited 21st Sep '17 5:15:58 PM by Soble

The game is the same in terms of story and events.

The difference is in things like how much damage your weapons do, how much damage the enemies can take, and how much damage they do to you.

I died to helicopter blades my first day on the job.

So uh, yeah, changing that difficulty.

I'm already aware that Transtar is probably up to some evil sh't and that my apartment is a lie, so I've spent the first 15 minutes throwing stuff at one of the employees and glaring at the security guard. It seems the NPC's all have some interesting comments and grunts if you wait long enough.

edited 21st Sep '17 8:11:26 PM by Soble