The good, the bad, and the ugly on Prey for the PC.

User Rating: 8.6 | Prey (2006) PC
The good:

1) Gameplay - Prey gives the gamer a very interesting gaming environment. In just about every room in the game you are able to walk on walls, the ceiling, or even walk on objects within a room that have their own gravity. The game delivers crazy combat scenarios where you're firing at the bad guys from under them, on top of them, or while standing on a wall to their right or left. All angles apply in this game. Prey also gives your portals that the enemy appears out of and you can, if you're fast enough, can enter and find some neat things. The gaming environment and the gameplay are a blast.

2) Art direction - The look and feel of Prey is very consistent through out the game. You get a very organic environment once you reach the Sphere and it's very well done. I like the look and feel of the environments and the character models. Everywhere you go in the Sphere you see walls made of pulsating flesh or some sort of living environment mixed with technology. The large rooms in the game feel large.

3) Graphics - The Doom 3 engine is a good one though not the best one out there. Prey uses it very well and although the game is never really scary it does give you that creepy vibe. The lighting is good and the shadows are well done. If you play the game right you won't get all that close to the enemy to see how detailed their faces are unless you make the effort on purpose. A solid visual experience in Prey but not among the elite of today’s FPS.

4) Story - The way they combine Native Americans with an alien invasion is crazy but it works very well. You get the role of all the characters in this game early on accept the main villain. The roles play out well and the story keeps you interested the entire way through. In the end you learn some interesting things about humanity and makes the entire plot come together.

5) Sound - The sound in this game is good. I especially like the intro scene with the music in the background while your world is falling apart around you. The sounds throughout the game were well done. The soundtrack was not the most inspiring but it was passable.

6) Boss battles - They were not the most difficult battles to be sure but they were enjoyable. I especially enjoyed the one with the half beast half (won't mention it. don't want to spoil it) that battle was hilarious.

7) Performance - The game ran flawlessly on my high-end system. It should run very well on medium machines at medium to high settings. I encountered no crashes and switching in and out of the game into windows was hastle free. You can also play the game in window form without any issues.

The bad:

1) Choice - In the end of the game you are asked to make a choice between taking over the Sphere and becoming immortal (or until you find your successor) or dying (thus engaging in the final battle). I think they should have given you the choice with two different endings. They should have given you a spot to save your game before then and allowed you to try them both out.

2) Main Character - I got annoyed at how the main character continued to deny his heritage even as the story progressed and he no longer could say that their faith was not true. He found out first hand that all the old teachings were true and yet he stares his dead grandfather in the face and says I don't believe in that crap? That got annoying real quick.

3) Multiplayer - No capture the flag. This is a sin in the FPS gaming world. Only giving the user death match or team death matches is a seriously value killer.

4) Challenge - The game isn't very difficult and offers you only one level of difficulty at first. To play the other you must beat the game on regular. I don't like this. Games are doing this more and more to artificially generate replay value. This game doesn't offer you anything different the second time through accept a more difficult challenge and that's just not worth the time.

The ugly: I found no noticeable bugs during my play.

Overall:

Prey is a seriously nice FPS which will give gamers anywhere from 7 to 12 hours of single player fun. Those who can enjoy the two styles of multiplayer maps will get a lot more out of this game time wise. After playing Prey I want to call it a must play but at $49.99 I can't do that. $39.99 would be a better deal. Prey doesn't break any new ground but it is a very good FPS.