What Dishonored is to Thief, PREY is to System Shock 2.

When Arkane Studios said they were making a new Prey game, I didn't quite know what to expect. Would it be a sequel reboot, soft reboot, prequel, what? Well, the asnwer is, they made a damn good title and one worthy of the Prey name.

The plot of the game combines two of my favorite genres: sci-fi and alternate history. Here, JFK was never assassinated, and the space program proliferated under his adminstration. The Cold War slowed down, eventually giving way entirely. You'll notice this through the Audio logs, items, and decor around the Talos I station (there are packs of blini, russian pancakes, scattered about: A very nice detail to add that makes the world that much more interesting).

You are Morgan Yu, a researcher on the aforeemntioned Talos I station. Without going into spoiler territory, your research has gone horribly wrong and now you must stop it. What then ensues is an aesthetically pleasing, extremely polished series of sidequests and adventures with FPS/RPG gameplay at its core. Gameplay that, in particular, strongly pays homage to System Shock in the BEST ways possible. The Skill trees, inventory/resource management, and tense shooting action are all here, removing the weapon maintenace and other weird gameplay quirks SS2 had. Each level has numerous ways to get around (a la Deus Ex, and SS2 to some extent). You can use you GLOO gun to sequence break and make paths to places that would currently be unreachable otherwise. You can use psychic powers to turn yourself into a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ CUP and just roll though small cracks. There are so many ways to advance through PREY's myriad of gorgeous, chellenging environments that it makes your head spin.

If this doesn't appeal to you (or you don't know what the hell System Shock is), then suffice it to say: PREY is a CRIMINALLY underrated game, EASILY one of the best of 2017. I don't know exactly why it flew under the radar, but its a damn shame thtat it did.

Obvious 10/10

What Dishonored is to Thief, PREY is to System Shock 2. When Arkane Studios said they were making a new Prey game, I didn't quite know what to expect. Would it be a sequel reboot, soft reboot, prequel, what? Well, the asnwer is, they made a damn good title and one worthy of the Prey name. The plot of the game combines two of my favorite genres: sci-fi and alternate history. Here, JFK was never assassinated, and the space program proliferated under his adminstration. The Cold War slowed down, eventually giving way entirely. You'll notice this through the Audio logs, items, and decor around the Talos I station (there are packs of blini, russian pancakes, scattered about: A very nice detail to add that makes the world that much more interesting). You are Morgan Yu, a researcher on the aforeemntioned Talos I station. Without going into spoiler territory, your research has gone horribly wrong and now you must stop it. What then ensues is an aesthetically pleasing, extremely polished series of sidequests and adventures with FPS/RPG gameplay at its core. Gameplay that, in particular, strongly pays homage to System Shock in the BEST ways possible. The Skill trees, inventory/resource management, and tense shooting action are all here, removing the weapon maintenace and other weird gameplay quirks SS2 had. Each level has numerous ways to get around (a la Deus Ex, and SS2 to some extent). You can use you GLOO gun to sequence break and make paths to places that would currently be unreachable otherwise. You can use psychic powers to turn yourself into a GODDAMN CUP and just roll though small cracks. There are so many ways to advance through PREY's myriad of gorgeous, chellenging environments that it makes your head spin. If this doesn't appeal to you (or you don't know what the hell System Shock is), then suffice it to say: PREY is a CRIMINALLY underrated game, EASILY one of the best of 2017. I don't know exactly why it flew under the radar, but its a damn shame thtat it did. Obvious 10/10