Lucy is a Northern lass with an affinity for single player, action-adventure, open-world, RPG types of games with a loyalty to the PlayStation system. Her perfect Sunday is waking up at 11, making a brew and lounging about playing games all day. Catch her on the GAME YouTube channel here!
The second part of the Prey demo includes more powers, more weapons and more aliens - but don't let that put you off. The space-survival is still rife with jumpscares and dripping in atmosphere. Lucy takes a look...
It was a sunny, humid day when I was invited down for a second time to Bethesda in Central London to have a taster into their next offering of their upcoming space-survival game, Prey.
If you've ever been to the middle of London on a Summer's day, you'll understand why I mention this. What is a pleasant burst of sunshine elsewhere in the UK is a stifling, sweaty ball of claustrophobia on the Underground and the crammed streets. It's almost as though Bethesda was doing this on purpose to make me uncomfortable and uneasy to get my mind in the right place to be scared stiff. They were succeeding, if so.
Turning up to the air-conditioned office with my forehead glistening, I was taken into the UV-illuminated room once more. However, compared to my initial experience, the room now had secluded booths rather than an open plan desk with rows of monitors. Was this to hide our gameplay and prevent spoilers for those around us - or was it to add to the fenced-off feeling of isolation? I'd like to think it was the latter.
As I mentioned in my first write-up, immersion is a massive factor of Prey. If you're surrounded by jokey, happy-go-lucky attendants all laughing at jump scares and joking with one another, it detracts from the pure terror of the alien Typhon threat. But, alone in my section with a booming headset on - there was nowhere to hide.
"All I do each night is Prey"
It was strange coming back into Prey after time away. As I'm sure you've experienced - when you've been playing a completely different game the controls feel all different, and although standard in most ways, they still exhibit that distinguished Arkane flair. It's almost like not driving for a year then getting behind the wheel again. The familiarity soon comes back.
My objective? Navigate GUTs. No - not an actual intestine or a bunch of organs, somewhat surprisingly. GUTs stands for... well, to be honest, I can't remember. Gravity... something. But I DO remember that it was a zero-gravity connection of service tunnels and rooms via shooty whirlwind lifts. See, that was totally a better description. Also, green tube lifts that float you up and down in a second need to be a real life thing. I did get a little bit lost with all the connecting, winding corridors and tunnels - but that might just be me and my dire sense of direction. Make sure you keep a note of where you're going, or where you've been.
My Typhon-anxiety was about to hit with full force as the second demo was way more action-orientated than the first, which meant extra aliens and new things to kill said aliens with. Even with an additional silenced pistol and shotgun, I continually felt underpowered and the lack of ammo haunted my every move. You truly have to consider your decisions very carefully: do you risk fighting that Phantom and sacrificing valuable health, Medkits and ammo in exchange for goodies/side quests that may be in there? Or do you sneak past and cling onto your assets, missing out on possible loot and levelling up opportunities? The atmosphere contributes to getting your heart pumping: you don't want to look around that corner, or in that toilet cubicle. Bad things in games always happen in the toilet.
Remember last time when I said this game was a marvel of sound design? The same still applies here in bucketloads, and this time around I noticed more subtle audio achievements. For example, now and again there will be intermittent cracking noises that make you double take as to if it's emitting from your headphones or in the game. The bass - especially in super tense moments - almost feels like your eardrums are being compressed and sucked out. When you get spotted by the Typhon, there's an almost jumpscare-like burst of sound that makes the fact a big scary shadowy monster chasing you even worse (if that's possible).
I... have... the POWER!
In true Arkane style, Prey invites players to customise their playthrough and use a mix of standard weapons with bionic types of powers. I got the Kinetic Blast, a giant wave of energy that unleashes towards enemies and Combat Focus which slows down time so that you have a advantage over your foe, or allow yourself a chance at escape if the fight gets too heavy. Of course, Prey wouldn't have you blasting all over Talos 1, so your use over these is restricted as they drain your powers bar drastically. I'm sure there are options to tweak these as you level up so that you either have a bigger bar, or powers use less energy, but for now they are rare and special.
There's also a couple of cool machines that I discovered in this playthrough. We've got the Fabricator, who's job it is to make new things out of organic and synthetic materials. I made some Medkits because heck knows I need them. Then, the Recycler makes useful materials out of junk: think burnt wires, banana skins, etc. At least they're Eco-friendly in space.
The Periscope is another tool of the trade that aids Morgan in his/her battle against those pesky extra-terrestrials. Scanning organic matter with the dashing and oh-so-fashionable red helmet lets you learn their strengths and weaknesses and can also add alien powers to your upgrade tree. So, if you fancy turning into a coffee cup (as you do), the Mimic skill targets objects which you can then take the form of. "Well, duh, sign me up for that!" you might say, but be careful. The more alien-esque powers you obtain, the more that the security turrets around the spacestation will think of you as a threat - and thus, fill you full of lead. Take everything in this game with a pinch of salt.
You know what else is exciting? You can do things in this game that you wouldn't have even thought to do in another one. It's intuitive and creative and an absolute blast to play.
And now, you don't even just have to take my word for it. Prey Demo: Opening Hour is now available to download on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One so you can try the first part out for yourself. Good luck, Morgan, and watch out for those coffee cups.
Written by Lucy Hale
