Ultra-smooth gameplay, fantastic ideas and eye-candy deluxe = Prey
The Good:
+ The game confronts you with riddles that mainly stem from the unique mechanics of the spirit walk and the wall-walking capabilities in certain areas. These are always fun, never tedious, and never slowed me down.
+ I loved the story: Indian saves girlfriend and world on the side from horrid, but obviously campy aliens - with a few ironic nods to genre colleagues such as Doom. I know some people are not capable of understanding irony, but please don't take this story seriously, it's meant to be an ironic take on typical shooter settings.
+ The (frequently hilarious because totally overdone) voice-overs of Tommy made me realize once again how annoying Gordon Freeman's perpetual silence is.
+ I almost wept with joy when I got to board a glider for the first time in the game - took me all the way back to the glory of Descent 1+2. Again, these episodes are integrated seamlessly and are a blast to play.
+ The graphics are absolutely astounding. Prey uses the Doom3 engine to it's fullest extent. Amazing detail in all places (organic-metal fusion has never been done better imo), wide-open areas, jaw-dropping constructions and at times truly gross enemies that glisten wickedly in the glorious lighting effects... wow. Don't ever say that graphics are not important in a game.
+ At times I really felt that my brain was being twisted through the use of wall-walking and portals. I have a well-developed sense of direction, but Prey managed to confuse me several times. I can't second the opinion that the portals are "just another set of doors". That's like saying the gravity gun in HL2 is "just another gun". If you get nauseous easily, you can place this point under "The Ugly", because playing Prey will make you sick to oyur stomach.
The Bad:
+ Developers lose track of the story at times. Two or three times I felt left alone, and was waiting for something new to happen.
+ Weapons look, sound and feel weak. The alien design is great, but after playing FEAR, I expect my weapons to make my hand feel like it's been through a workout even without an I-Feel mouse.
+ Levels are very linear. This doesn't have to be a drawback, but sometimes I felt like exploring this convincing alien world, and found that I couldn't.
+ The difficulty setting is a mess. Never trust a game that claims to adjust the difficulty to your playing capability! Aside from the obvious problems entailed in programming so complex an AI... why not just leave it to the player?
+ Multiplayer seems like a tagged-on afterthought, which reduces the Value somewhat.
The Ugly:
Nothing here.
To sum up: Prey is a shining example of how good an polished a game can be when its every aspect is executed with care and an eye for detail. Kudos to HumanHead, and I hope they get to produce Rune 2.