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Prey (2017)

Started by Blue Jam, May 01, 2017, 01:02:57 PM

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Blue Jam

This is out on Friday and it's a "reimagining" (not a sequel apparently) of the 2006 game of the same name. It's set in an alternate universe where Kennedy wasn't assassinated and went on to massively expand the US space program, which led to the discovery of an alien species, the Typhon[nb]No relation to the planet where Titanfall 2 is set, I assume[/nb]. A spacestation/in-orbit laboratory, Talos-1, was set up (with some pretty decor and furnishings to keep the scientists happy) to carry out genetic research on the Typhon, but naturally this all went wrong, the aliens turned out to be dangerous and the humans all died. Later a private corporation acquired the ship with the intention of carrying out research into the Typhon's genetics, and naturally this didn't go to plan either.

You play as Morgan Wu (the choice of a non-gender-specific name is a deliberate one as you get to choose your player's gender), a researcher working on genetic modification experiments aboard Talos-1 and trying not to die:

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2017/04/13/everything-you-need-to-know-about-prey

Trailer:

https://youtu.be/LNHZ9WAertc

Spoilery video of some gameplay here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c89IQrLOQ0

From what I've seen this looks beautiful and could feel nicely claustrophobic. The aliens seem suitably nightmarish- one sub-species of Typhon
Spoiler alert
can shape-shift and mimic everyday objects, so it's possible that any chair, desk or coffee cup you pass may sprout tentacles and kill you
[close]
. The weapons seem quite creative, especially as you have to repurpose lab equipment for combat
Spoiler alert
such as the GLOO cannon, which you can use to shoot expanding foam-type stuff at the Typhon, making them brittle so you can smash them to bits
[close]
and other purposes
Spoiler alert
you can also use the GLOO cannon as a kind of 3D printer, shooting blobs of foam to seal leaking pipes and put out fires, and to build steps and platforms when you need to climb to something which is out of reach
[close]
. You can also collect genetic "neuromods" to give you enhanced cognitive abilities
Spoiler alert
these are made from Typhon DNA, and it seems the plot has a bit of a "Dekkard is a replicant" thing where you can use too many neuromods and start wondering if you're more human or Typhon
[close]
.

It looks like you also get to run around shooting lots of things, so I'll probably be picking this up on Friday. Anyone else?

Zetetic

I did not know 'Morgan' was, if anything, a predominantly female first name, at least in the States. (I'm only aware of one individual called 'Morgan' and that's ~ Freeman.)

Whether it'll be worth playing or not looks like it'll turn on how interesting the environments are, and how the
Spoiler alert
GLOO gun
[close]
works with that. I don't hold out much hope for the plot, but perhaps it'll be pleasantly surprising in that regard.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

So it's basically Bioshock?

Bhazor

#3
It looks interesting and a new Shock game well always get my attention. I've also heard Chris Avellone though I seriously doubt he's the lead writer. More likely than not they just got him to write a series of post its or something.

Blue Jam

Morgan Fairchild and Morgan Spurlock spring to mind- one female, one male. Also Morgana Robinson, but if it's a unisex name anyway, why the need to feminise it with the extra 'a'?

To my Welsh ears "Morgan" always sounds more Taff than anything else. I am also amused by the way "Jones" has somehow become a cool Blaxsploitation name- Cleopatra Jones, Blackbelt Jones etc, though "Jones The Blackbelt" would be more accurate.

With a surname like "Wu" it sounds like this person is Welsh-Chinese. That would be quite something but I think the character has an American accent, alas.

Also:


Bhazor

I had a dog called Morgan. She died from an upside down stomach.

biggytitbo

Quote from: Bhazor on May 01, 2017, 04:48:14 PM
I had a dog called Morgan. She died from an upside down stomach.


I hope that's in the game. I heard it was more like Dishonored in space than Bioshock.

Blue Jam

Quote from: biggytitbo on May 01, 2017, 05:16:12 PMI heard it was more like Dishonored in space

...thanks to the involvement of Arkane Studios- more on that from Bethesda here:

https://bethesda.net/en/article/3up3aqm5MQIYUk2sUy02Gw/dishonored-2-prey-and-the-arkane-way

brat-sampson

There's a demo for this on PS4/XB1. I thought it was pretty good, but for some reason the FP antics left me a bit queasy... Might be down to a low FOV or the framerate or something.

The opening 15 minutes were impressively jarring though, with a stylish credits sequence leading shortly into Twist Central.

Blue Jam

#9
Quote from: brat-sampson on May 02, 2017, 09:55:56 AM
There's a demo for this on PS4/XB1

Ah, I'd somehow got it into my head that the demo was a beta test thing and didn't know it was available in the Xbox store, so cheers for that.

Just played a bit of it now- you know those times when you're so sleep-deprived you start "seeing spiders" out of the corner of your eye? Well, you might not want to play this game at those times- I swear the person who designed the Typhon
Spoiler alert
mimics
[close]
must be an insomniac, the utter bastard- it's good work. Seriously, I've really enjoyed it so far, it has a claustrophobic feel comparable to that of Doom and of course it's very pretty- I liked that credits sequence too, especially
Spoiler alert
the helicopter pilot drawing your attention to "the view over the bay"
[close]
. The storyline is also compelling, with the hints that
Spoiler alert
Morgan's brother Alex is a bit of a bastard
[close]
.

My only real issue with it so far is an issue I also have with Doom- the jarring music that plays whenever Something Bad Is Happening. It kept making me jump, and not in a good way- it kept on pulling me out of the experience just as the game was getting nicely immersive. Also, while I like the fact that the first weapon you get is
Spoiler alert
a heavy spanner you can only twat things with
[close]
and that the first few aliens are perfectly twattable with it even on Nightmare difficulty, I'd like to stop flailing around with that and guide Morgan to some more powerful and clever weapons soon- but I know the game has those very things on offer somewhere on the
Spoiler alert
"ship"
[close]
.

I've also just realised that the whole thing of
Spoiler alert
the ship actually being a simulation in a TV studio
[close]
ties in with the alternative history/JFK continuing the space programme thing, and that it may be a cheeky reference to
Spoiler alert
the faked moon landings conspiracy theory
[close]
, nice.

It looks like I'll be buying the full version, then.

Blue Jam

brat-sampson, were you playing the PS4 demo by any chance? Apparently it's quite buggy on the PS4, with sluggish controls and that jarring music I referred to being a bit out of time with the action, but these issues have apparently been patched up in the final release. I had no problems with the Xbox One demo, it all seemed very smooth to me, but even if the music is correctly synced I would probably prefer to play with the music volume right down.

brat-sampson

Yeah, it was the PS4 version. Probably didn't help I was a little hungover too but after half an hour or so I basically had to stop playing. Also I'd forgotten about the music but the way it would just come in and out almost seemingly at random at times was yeah a bit jarring.

Good to know these were issues they've fixed but they should probably have fixed them before releasing the demo rather than a couple of days after. Or just given us a pc demo instead with adjustable settings so I could've fixed half of my problems myself ;)

Blue Jam

#12
Aye- it's a bit daft to plug a game via a demo with in-game options to purchase the full game when the demo is buggy as hell. If I was a PS4 owner I'm not sure I'd trust Bethesda going "yeah, it's a bit shit but we've sorted it now, pls buy k thx bai". Also buying a brand new game on the release date and having to download a massive update straight away? I'd be thinking "fuck that...".

I'm loving the way the story is building up- first Morgan's brother Alex coming across as being really proud and excited for her/him, then he and the other researchers
Spoiler alert
talking about Morgan like they've forgotten she/he is in the room, confidential emails criticising Morgan, hints that the researchers's intentions are less than benign, and of course the big reveal that Morgan has been duped by them all
[close]
. It's properly nightmarish and it feels like a playable episode of Black Mirror.

Phil_A

Quote from: Blue Jam on May 01, 2017, 04:36:55 PM
Morgan Fairchild and Morgan Spurlock spring to mind- one female, one male. Also Morgana Robinson, but if it's a unisex name anyway, why the need to feminise it with the extra 'a'?

Morgana is the Italianised version of Morgan. But I don't whether Robinson is Italian or if she just likes the extra "a" as an affectation.

Blue Jam

She's Australian... and here are some fun things to piss about with in the demo, not including "try to block the toilet by throwing the toilet roll into it and pressing flush"[nb]Just me? It didn't work anyway.[/nb]:

http://www.gamesradar.com/8-things-you-probably-wont-see-and-do-in-the-prey-demo-but-really-should/

I did chuck the retro game controllers on the floor but I didn't get drunk, because I understand the alcoholic drinks you find about the place can enhance your performance in small doses so I just took them with me. I don't think the
Spoiler alert
"secret passage"
[close]
is a Spoiler really- the game hints that
Spoiler alert
there is more than one way through that room
[close]
.

I didn't notice the
Spoiler alert
little flash of bluescreen
[close]
during the helicopter ride either- another nice detail.

Blue Jam

If you do get this after playing the demo, be warned: you can't save your progress in the demo for the actual game, so if you're pretty certain you'll be buying the full version, you might not want to waste too much time pissing about collecting things.

Not had a huge amount of time to play this yet, some initial thoughts:

First of all: the Talos 1 spaceship is huge, with a huge number of places to explore and things to find. I've just been enjoying taking in its Art Deco stylings, especially the prints of stylised rockets, neuromods, etc. There's something beautiful about all the juxtaposition of the old and new- in particular I'm loving the view of space from the wood and brass-furnished lobby.

The music seems to have been sorted out to some extent- I've lowered the volume but it still seems much less jarring than in the demo, and it doesn't trigger every single time there's danger ahead. It's a vast improvement, and if anything the silence is actually more paranoia-inducing than the dramatic music.

The Typhon mimics are still creepy as hell and will make you paranoid for hours afterwards ("Hang on, didn't I have just one toilet roll left? Was that second one really there before? Waaaarrrghh..."
Spoiler alert
and yes, they can and do mimic bog rolls
[close]
). Playing the demo I thought the Typhon AI was like that of the demons in Doom, where they're pretty much programmed to follow you about, but the mimics at least are a bit sneakier than that.

The mimics become easier to deal with once you get to know their creepy ways a bit better, but the more sophisticated Typhon subspecies are absolute fuckers, and it quickly becomes clear that with their size, strength and speed, and with your limited ammo, this so-called FPS involves more stealth and strategy than most
Spoiler alert
and that seemingly pathetic wrench suddenly feels like one of your best weapons- for example, you can pump several bullets into a mimic as it refuses to die, or you can save your ammo by just whacking it with the wrench
[close]
. Don't go into it expecting to finish it as you would a typical linear FPS campaign- you will find yourself having to get tactical with some enemies and having to go back for equipment, passwords, weapon upgrades etc. Just wandering about seems to be the best approach, especially as you can unlock new bits of the ship everywhere and the Prey universe just keeps on getting bigger.

The neuromods aren't too exciting so far- they're mostly upgrades which make the medkits more effective, give you more slots for your inventory etc, but you can eventually gain alien abilities by making them out of Typhon DNA. The game leaves it for you to work out that
Spoiler alert
this isn't always a good idea, as those gun turrets which are programmed to detect Typhon material will think you're a Typhon and start shooting at you
[close]
.

Liking this so far, and I can see that this game will keep me occupied for quite some time.

Blue Jam

I've just noted that Benedict Wong does the voice of Alex Yu[nb]I've seen the family name as both "Wu" and "Yu" in various places- not sure what's gone on there[/nb]- I thought Morgan's older brother sounded familiar! Now I'm just waiting for Sean Bean to pop up as Yet Another Space Northerner.

Also Tom "Spongebob" Kenny is the irritatingly chirpy MediBot!

Bhazor

QuoteIncorporates 3rd-party DRM: Denuvo Anti-tamper
5 different PC within a day machine activation limit machine activation limit

Get fucked

biggytitbo

Quote from: Bhazor on May 08, 2017, 04:21:56 PM
Get fucked


It's not a very good argument for DRM that the superior version of the game is often the cracked one. In fact a lot of these games will only be playable in the future due to piracy, something that is already happening with some games from the mid to late 2000s, like games for windows live titles, now.

Blue Jam

This game crept into my nightmares last night, I dreamt I was being stalked by a typhon in my own home. Just before bed I also thought I saw a big shadow and jumped. I'm not usually scared of horror films but I can't play this game for more than two hours or in the dark as it's giving me the fear, and I'm only a few hours in and nowhere near the nastiest bits of it yet- it's brilliant.

I've also learned that playing a game as a lone human wandering round a vast spaceship on which everyone else appears to be dead is not the best thing to do when your significant other has been out of the country for werk for the past couple of weeks and you're all alone and sat on the sofa feeling sorry for yourself. At times this game is a bit too immersive.

No-one else convinced to give this a go yet?

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

As I said in the Resi 7 thread, I never buy games at full price. I'm not made of money. Your money might be made of typhon though...

Blue Jam

I got £50[nb]I thought I had £100 of Xbox credit until £50 of it grew tentacles and tried to kill me[/nb]of Xbox credit for Christmas and I've had the flat to myself for a few weeks and more spare time to fill, but yeah, I might have waited for the price to come down a bit otherwise. Still, you do get a fuckload of spaceship to explore for your £49.99- and quite a big chunk of spaceship for nothing if you download the demo.

Junglist

The speedrun to completion for this is already sub 13 minutes.

Blue Jam

To give you an idea of the level of attention to detail: If you choose to play as female Morgan, you wake up in your apartment to find the toilet seat is down, while male Morgan enters the bathroom to find the toilet seat is up. Try it and see!





Nice... Learned via the tumblr know as, er, Video Game Toilets. Cheers:

http://vgtoilets.tumblr.com/post/160343552091/prey-morgan-yu-awakens-one-beautiful-morning

Just reached the Arboretum where I'm now wondering how the fuck I can get out alive- still absolutely loving this.

Junglist

Just finished this, 23 hours to completion, didn't do around five side quests and missed a few I'm sure. No alien powers.

Review:

I absolutely fucking loved it for around four fifths of the game. There's a few hours towards the end that drag a little as the sense of discovery and exploration kinda ends and you're tasked with a lot of back/forward through areas, but the story is strong enough that I didn't hate those sections.

It is, all told, a complete mash up of around five to six games, Bioshock, System Shock, Dishonored, Deus Ex, Metroidvanias etc. Takes all the best bits, although the combat will be shite for some because until you upgrade some shit its deliberately sluggish, as is movement speed, to keep the game tense within the mimic gimmick. There's plenty scope to build your guy/gyal however you want with skill trees and all that typical jazz.

The recycling mechanic really fits the game, allowing you to pick up junk by the ton, whap it all in a machine which transforms it all into materials from which you can create ammo/health and a multitude of other cool shit. You don't have to do all this, if you're the kinda heartless, non-OCD bus riding wanker, but you'll be doing yourself, and me, a disservice.

The star of the entire show is the ship. Beautifully built, interconnected, full of areas you want to hack into/find a way into/do some super crazy awesome shit to get in/do it the obvious way and find a keycard like a fanny. The game, as a whole, is at its absolute best when you're exploring, very similar to the recent Deus Ex efforts. You've got ya hacking mini-games, emails to read, notes to pick up, multiple strands of plot to stitch together.

Essentially if you like games, like plot, like story, like exploring, like skill trees, like SUPER AWESOME RUN SPEED AND JUMPS (skill tree power) which makes the combat a lot more fun, aren't a nutter, aren't gonna shout SHIT THIS SHIT FOR CUNTS MATE within five hours and you like to smile, buy it. If not, don't chat to me fam.

Due to Breath of the Wild being potential GOAT, this sits very easily in my second favourite new game experience of the year.

[9]

Blue Jam

#25
Quote from: Junglist on May 15, 2017, 09:26:21 PM
The star of the entire show is the ship. Beautifully built, interconnected...

Have you tried the spacewalk thing where you take a good look at it from a distance? You can get quite far away and get a good ol' gawp in before the radiation poisoning kills you.

Quote from: Junglist on May 15, 2017, 09:26:21 PM
...full of areas you want to hack into/find a way into/do some super crazy awesome shit to get in/do it the obvious way and find a keycard like a fanny.

Have you tried that thing where you can
Spoiler alert
break a window and then fire the Nerf gun at a door button to unlock a door from the inside
[close]
? They're good for going "Psssst! Over here!" and luring Phantoms towards your turrets too. I love the way the seemingly useless weapons keep turning out to be the most useful, while the bigger and more powerful ones keep turning out to be less effective than a close-quarters smack with the wrench.

I'm playing on Nightmare difficulty- I'm a relative n00b but get the feeling that this game wouldn't be as much fun on the easier difficulties, it's not like a twitch shooter where you have to act quickly, it's more about being resourceful and taking time to try a few different strategies, and that suits me just fine. I'm also doing a Puny Human Abilities Only run but wondering why, now that
Spoiler alert
I've attracted the attention of the Nightmare anyway and the turrets seem a bit fragile
[close]
. If I want to revisit the game (and I'm sure I will) I'll probably do a Typhon abilities run on Easy.

I'm about about 16 hours in and still exploring the Crew Quarters-
Spoiler alert
you can play the drums in the bar,
but not the pinball machines, alas
[close]
- and have just evaded my first
Spoiler alert
Nightmare- I suspect that trying to kill one would be a waste of ammo when you can just run like fuck and hide in a cupboard for three minutes
[close]
. It doesn't feel like I've got that far but I'm trying to find all the side quests, reading every email, climbing through every maintenance panel, etc. The Talos 1 spaceship is just massive and keeps getting bigger and I'm wondering if it will ever end- I've seen that some people who choose to leave no stone unturned are taking 50+ hours to completion.

I'm at the point of pondering the ending. I think I figured out the twist that
Spoiler alert
Transtar staff have been smuggling Neuromods to Earth in exchange for cigars and brandy, and that humanity is fucked and couldn't be saved even if you did choose to go kamikaze and blow up the spaceship
[close]
early on, and I'm wondering about getting back to Earth to see what's going on down there, and if the moral decisions you make in the game affect anything later on
Spoiler alert
I've already murdered the convicted nonce and shot a few humans I could have just tasered so I'm probably fucked there
[close]
. I've also located Errol Alex Yu and I'm wondering if I should let him live or murder him in the face- I get the impression he could be quite useful, which is a shame because the latter option would be most satisfying. He could also try and murder me... it's less one great story, more a set of great interwoven stories which feel like they could go anywhere. I've avoided ending spoilers but I imagine there is more than one ending.

Junglist

For my run through, I did similar to you, human powers only. I basically played it as an FPS, so maxed out weapons, damage, movement speed, health etc. I was on Normal and by the end I felt OP, I was shotgunning most things to death in no time after using whichever grenade each enemy was weakest to, including
Spoiler alert
The Nightmares, which took 10 shotgun shells before death. I could tank at this point as due to the recycler, and using recycle grenades often, I had a good amount of materials and just made health kits, suit kits and shotgun shells
[close]

Nerf gun is best gun, especially with nests. I'll chat more about the ending once you've seen it through, I loved the way it went.

Blue Jam

The Girl (or Boy) Who Nerfed The Cystoid Nest... cheers, I shall try that and see how fucking scary it is. I'm a fan of the Recycler Grenades too, and also the Dismantle Neuromod for breaking down duplicate guns into spare parts- or just fabricating a load of wrenches to break down so I can keep repairing turrets. Upgrading the weapons is the way I've been going too, I haven't bothered with the Psi abilities too much, perhaps I should.

The
Spoiler alert
Psychoscope
[close]
is a useful thing and has stopped me blindly twatting everything with the wrench to see if it's safe to pick up- there's one room with two
Spoiler alert
turrets
[close]
where I ended up hitting them both with the wrench, only to find that they weren't Mimics and I'd just smashed up some useful equipment- D'oh. That was an admirably sneaky bit of design.

I did look at a few walkthrough guides at first, mainly to avoid missing side quests, but I ended up enjoying the exploration side too much so now I'm just taking my time. I can't wait to see how it all ends and I seriously wish I had more time to spend on it.

Junglist

Yeah I explored a hell of a lot, bar one area I didn't enter until right near the end and missed a bit of looking around. Its really, really nailed that Deus Ex check everything kinda vibe, truly helps that the locations are all enjoyable and feel real.

I had one mimic disguise itself as a post it note, that properly shit me right up lol. I did try an alien power
Spoiler alert
the mimic one
[close]
as I couldn't get into a blocked area, so I
Spoiler alert
turned into an apple and rolled through a gap
[close]
but I did a quick load of a previous save so it didn't count on my run.

biggytitbo

I'm playing this now, its a nice mix of Half Life 2 and Deus Ex. I spent hours exploring the outside of the space station thinking that was how to get to the crew quarters (it isnt) but that highlights its strongest suit - there's a real old fashioned sense of exploration and discovery thats lost in a lot of games with overzealous waymarkers. I don't think its as good as Alien Isolation, partially because it doesn't run as well on my computer but also because, as good as it is, the retro-future art direction feels incredibly well worn at this point, having featured in countless other games.