Prey Demo: Review
Ok, I just got done playing the demo for Prey and I have to say that I am pretty impressed. The game feels very cinematic; it kind of reminds me of Half Life 2. Even in the short span of the demo you already begin to care for the main characters in the game, or maybe I am just a sensitive guy?
The demo will start you out at the very beginning of the game and you will progress through several somewhat short levels. These levels are well designed and the graphics create quite a creepy feeling as you pass down ooooozzzing hallways, and puking corridors, yes puking corridors I am not joking!
Prey is standard FPS fare, but 3D realms has added several new features that make the game interesting and fun to play. First of which is the teleporting, a nifty special effect that actually looks and feels really cool. Some portals are there just to get you from A to B, but some are used to solve a puzzle which introduces a nice twist. Wall and Spirit walking also add a lot of fun to the game, but they aren
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I also downloaded and played through the Demo and I am VERY impressed. Upon watching trailers and reading about it, I was fairly “Meh – another FPS” about it.
However, after playing the Demo, I will most certainly be playing the full version when it comes out.
Yeah they did a good job, at least during the demo to keep things interesting, and the weapons were really cool!
Sigh…..the sad thing about this demo is that it is actually convincing people to try this game. Run far, FAR away from this title. Don’t look at the 2k logo, or the 3dr logo, they are just the producers…..dig deeper. Who MADE the game? Human Head Studios. Heard of them? No, you haven’t, cause they suck. Ever played Rune? How about dead man’s hand? If you have, I’m sorry. If you haven’t, check out a review or two and you will see what kind of developement firm this is. Prey is a great idea, it really is. However, in the last 2/3′s of the game (all the levels outside of the initial stages that are NOT included in the demo) are an excercise in boredom, repetition, and endless, push this button, open this door, walk down this hallway….
All this would be forgivable had Human Head the programming savvy to implement AI of a higher order than something that you might find in a retarded loaf of bread. Here’s a fun test. Download the demo and play until you encounter a ‘ferocious’ hunter. Ok. Now shoot him so you have his attention. Ok? Now stand there and whatch him. What does he do? Nothing. He stands there, stock still, and fires repeatedly at you, at set intervals. Ok, now wip out your very menacing and incredibly bright laser scoped sniper rifle. Point it at his head. Watch. What does he do? Nothing. He stands there, with a red laser point on his head. He doesn’t even &^%& strafe….
And my personal favorite…..wait until you encounter a hunter suspended on a gravity walk. After the first couple of hunters, you’ll notice something…..they can’t move. That’s right ladies and gentlemen, the ‘revolutionary’ gravity system that was implemented in prey is unusable by its AI. They can spawn there, but once on a grav walk, they will never, EVER move. Human head calls these ‘Highly adaptive enemy AI’….
I call them turretts….
As if this wasn’t enough, they totally jacked up MP as well. 2 game modes, guys, that’s all I gotta say. DM and Team DM. That’s it. CTF? No. Territories? No. Last man or tourney mode? No. Customizable weapon sets? No. Female, or INTERESTING or RELEVANT player skins? No. (you CAN’T play as a Hunter, or Jen, or anyone you might actually want to play (other than grandpa) Instead, you get a selection of 4 (count em 4!) player skins that have been re-pallated several times to create the illusion of variety. Wow, I can be a hillbilly named Chuck, or Bob, or Ted, or Jimmy? YEEHAW!!!! And forget decent MP support. There’s no lobby, no chat, no friends list, no…..nothing. Just a server list.
Take it from me, 3DR is trying REALLY hard to hype this game. Look at how much press it has? Why so much press? Cause it sucks, pure and simple, and they have no way to make money off this piss-poor game other than to hype it up so much that maybe, just MAYBE, enough people will get blinded by the first few, arguably decent levels. Trust me, borrow PREY from a friend or torrent it, cause you will regret wasting 50 bucks on this one…..
Ok…… I think you might need a vacation Anon!
Obviously they are in need of alot of money. I mean look what they did to duke nukem forver.. offerd them 500k to boussard etc and they still said it wont be done in time, “when its done” . Guess they are trying to make up for the other idiots, I mean devs that are trying to make a quick buck. Gotta love the intro tho ” BEST GAME EVER” : ” BEST THING EVER CREATED” etc. Such a over hyped piece of trash, but hey, it sure does look purdy!
I agree with the AI, it’s shotty. This would only make a good MP game at best. That seems to be the trend though with FPS – spend the money on graphics and cool weapons for the MP aspect and spend $10 on AI.
Do you get the feeling that Anon was going to hate the game no matter what? It was made by a company that made crappy games in the past.. this must be a crappy game also. Wow, there’s some brilliant thinking.
Does that also mean that every game made by a ‘good’ developer will be great. I guess there is no need for review sites and mags anymore.
Sure, track record does count for something.. but to say the last 2/3 of the game is going to suck because their past games have sucked in this way… is just absolutely stupid.
How about you review the demo with an open mind??? The reserve bar at start is likely the best, most realistic, bar ever put into a game. Sorry, you’re right it must suck because they made Rune.
And really, Rune wasn’t that bad!… on the other hand Dead Man’s was likely the worst attempt at a shooter that I have ever played).
As for AI… sure it could be better… but there is more to a game than AI. Maybe the AI used is true to life.. and the aliens are just stupid
AI is not everything. Graphics are not everything. Developer track record should not even be considered for an unbiased review! Complaining about the MP component for a Single Player game. I guess Obvilion really sucks because they didn’t include MP at all!
Is the demo good? Yes it is. Will is sell lots of copies of the game? Let’s hope so.
The did a good job with the game and the demo. They stretched the envelope for FPS games… something tough to do in this age of shooters.
Why so much hype? How about because the game is different, quite original (in fps terms) and well done?? And maybe even deserves some of the quotes?
How about also the fact that 3DR has a huge hill to climb over because of the PR nightmare that is, was, and will continue to be Duke Nukem Forever.
To know whether the game is good… why not try it for yourself. Either that, or take Anon’s “100% biased against it before even trying the game” review!
One thing about the AI you might want to know is that it does get harder as you progress, the AI is designed to become tougher as you get used to the weapons and puzzles.