Prey

Most writing in games is pulpy at best. Motives and shoehorned agendas - to justify a setting.

Also, the sense of scale elements....

Bioshock was fun but I petered out on it a bit.

This one looks psychedelic and scary in a good way with some interesting environmental elements to it.

Game is out and the Steam reviews are looking pretty good. Praticular notes are that the PC version runs well.

Game is absolutely brilliant so far. As typical for Arkane it sacrifices spectacle for smarts, which means you won't get the emotional rollercoaster of a BioShock, but it also means that Prey doesn't have any of BioShock's infuriating moments of narrative and structural bullshit.

edited 5th May '17 7:10:47 AM by TAPETRVE

edited 5th May '17 7:55:56 AM by SgtRicko

Even the notoriously belligerent wanker Mack from Mack's Corner and Worth a Buy loves it; in fact, he says it's his favourite shooter since Half-Life 2.

I'm guessing it has to do with how the game has an unusual emphasis on solving environmental puzzles like Half-Life did?

Yes, but also simply the fact that it has very little hand-holding - despite not being so old-school as to completely remove objective markers - and it generally forces you to be very flexible and attentive with your playstyle.

Honestly this game was only just a blip on my radar until all the first impressions after release. I've heard a LOT of people saying this is the best -Shocklike in a long time.

I've still got finals to finish but I definitely want to check this out now.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh.

I like it well enough, and will continue playing until I get tired of it, but it's missing what the French call a certain...I don't know what.

As typical for Arkane's games, it's all a very down-to-earth and cerebral experience, pun not intended, so I'm not surprised it feels undercooked to many. There's plenty of weirdness and mystery, but none of BioShock's almost Disney-esque cast of main characters, and sadly also no equivalent to System Shock's classic creepshow villain SHODAN. And speaking of which, the game is really going out of its way to explain to you how much it is not BioShock, but also kinda is. Thankfully it's not the hate parade I initially expected, despite hurling quite a lot of thinly veiled (but well-worded) criticism at Irrational's series. That said, I'm certainly glad it does indeed primarily aim to follow in System Shock 2's footsteps.

edited 6th May '17 1:00:59 AM by TAPETRVE

Once again, I'm not surprised that it's basically a huge Take That! at games like Bioshock. This is Chris Avellone after all.

Actually, the game is primarily written by Ricardo Bare.

I'm a good bit into this game, and is it true there are only three guns in it besides the GLOO gun? I've got the silenced pistol and the shotgun, is there just the Q-beam left?

The weapons in the game are: Wrench, Pistol, Shotgun, GLOO Cannon, Disruptor Stun Gun, and Q-Beam. There is the Huntress Boltcaster that while a joke item can have some uses, and Recycler charge which is thrown like a grenade. That's like slightly less weapons than Sytem Shock 2.

I mention this because I still can't help but feel, in the combat encounters I'm running into, that my arsenal is still woefully inadequate. Am I just playing the game wrong?

edited 6th May '17 6:22:43 AM by Gault

Did you make sure to upgrade your weapons?

I only just got the shotgun. Upgrade options for the silenced pistol didn't seem worth it.

You're not exactly encouraged to chase after enemies. You might have noticed this but Mimics heavily rely on Confusion Fu, and Phantoms can like hit you once and teleport away. In classic "immersive sim" fashion, just improvise, exploit the power of turrets, and try to avoid when you can. Ammo is scarce and your inventory is limited. It's also important to keep an eye on things when running around.

edited 6th May '17 6:46:04 AM by UltraWanker

It's the Mojo Jojo monkeys from System Shock 2 all over again.

The silenced pistol is actually quite powerful, due to its accuracy. Especially when used in combination with the stealth skills. My current char is a no Typhon, high mobility build that almost plays like Titanfall 2, only without wall walk.

I'm rolling my usual Mr Fixit/Hacker build. Got to the Greenhouse, and before that I backtracked to the testing area after finding a code for the Volunteers' Quarters. There's a vent that goes from Volunteers' Quarters to some weird tech place, but after I encountered a crazy powerful (for the first hour or so of gameplay) Typhon that did weird shit to turrets and shot electric mines, I bailed out.

As for the story, I had my suspicion after getting tangled in the Coral in GUTS, and after checking the game's trope page - I Knew It!.

Also, GUTS suck.

edited 6th May '17 5:53:54 PM by NotSoBadassLongcoat

Do you think we might get a side campaign involving a certain Cherokee shaman?

edited 6th May '17 7:57:59 PM by Worlder

The only potential (and ridiculously vague) reference to the 2006 game I've seen so far was an advertising bill in the intro sequence with the word "Sphere" on it.

Not gonna happen, the director already said they called the game "Prey" because Bethesda didn't want to waste an IP.

Also, I wonder what the "Evacuation" was (I'm not spoiler-tagging the name, because you find the first book about it either in the testing area or Talos-1 Lobby). Was it the Typhon invasion of Earth?

What's the criticism?

There's plenty, but as I mentioned before, the most savage bollocking probably goes towards BioShock's grand "plot twist", and its hilariously shitty aftermath. The entire introductory chapter is basically a deconstruction thereof.

edited 7th May '17 12:38:16 PM by TAPETRVE