Prey Review - Weapons

The alien weaponry you get to use is incredible, although somewhat limited (as in the number of different types available, not its capacity or power); the guns pulsate and shudder as if alive and the grenades certainly are alive. 

One of my favorite weapons is the alien equivalent rifle, the long-range scope of which interfaces directly with your eye upon your command.  The use of bio-mechanical technology is a relatively untapped pool of imagination in the gaming world, but I'm sure that this will spawn many new ideas in that direction.  Scuttling along throughout the game are these weird three-legged insect-like creatures; pick them up, rip them in half and hey presto, grenade. The alien vehicles you get to fly are also really cool; you walk onto their docking plinths and the controls and exoskeleton kind of grow out of the ground in front of you.

The aliens themselves are reasonably intelligent and will take cover when under fire, steal your health recharges and work together to try to beat you.  Additionally, the adaptive difficulty feature will gradually "learn" your style of play and how good you are to steadily get harder as you progress. When you first begin playing the game you don't get a choice of the difficulty setting, it's just normal mode, but thanks to the adaptive AI, it gets pretty difficult near the end.  The other option is Cherokee mode, although you can't choose that until you've completed normal mode. There is a good selection of boss type characters at various points, including a wicked mutation of your beloved girlfriend near the end.

The game menu system is intuitive and matches the theme of the game well.  There is nothing annoying at all about the interface; it isn't one of the games where you can only save in certain places or anything, and the resume game menu shortcut that lets you jump straight back to where you were in just one click is a welcome addition. The multiprey aspect of the game is good, but for me, it wasn't a patch on the single player mode. It can be intermittently laggy, but I guess that goes for any multiplayer game, and there simply aren't enough maps. 

In my eyes, the game's only downside is its longevity, or lack of it.  Depending on how good a gamer you are, there is a completion time of just seven to ten hours  It's an all too common trend these days to make games high impact but short, and the fact that you finish off wanting more is as disappointing as it is frustrating. What there is of the game is fantastic; I just want more!  It's also pretty easy too, but for once, the game ending is actually worth the effort. All in all, this is one of the most exciting game releases so far this year, with engaging game play, mind bending challenges and a fresh approach to a game storyline and scenario.  Innovation like this doesn't come along every day.