I have a huge backlog of free giveaway games, because I have less time for playing than I think I do and because I never know if I’ll be able to play a game or if it’ll be too visually challenging - my username is both literal and relevant.
I finally got around to trying Prey (2017) and, so far, I’m really enjoying it. The visual style is manageable, text is usually large and clear enough, and the “Story” difficulty setting means I can enjoy the game in a way that’s balanced between relaxed and challenging. I’m still always on edge, but I’m not as pushed for my poor aim and lack of situational awareness.
Accessibility aside, I love the BioShock (I’d say System Shock, but I wasn’t playing video games then) vibes. The gameplay, the concept and setting, the aesthetics… it’s all there and I’m here for it. I for one am excited to poke myself with dystopian technology McMuffins in a city consumed by its own hubris.
How are folks here liking the game? Am I late to this particular party? Do any Something Shock players have an opinion to share?
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Prey is definitely a game that gets incredible word of mouth, it’s hard not to love it if you’ve played it. As with a lot of Arkane’s other work it’s clear they respect and understand the immersive sim and Prey is absolutely a love letter not just to that genre, but specifically system shock.
It’s essentially a spiritual successor to those games, and I really wish they’d named it something accordingly, like Psycho Shock, it would’ve really given players the right idea, but either way the game that came out is an absolute masterpiece. I’m glad you’re enjoying it!
I finished my first playthrough and absolutely loved it!
I’m glad you liked it! It’s a game that I enjoyed all the way through to the end too. Maybe down the line you’ll wanna try NG+ too!
I already started! I maxed out movement speed at the end of the campaign to get to the shuttle, so I’m accidentally speed running it. Hehe.
One of the best games I’ve played in a long long time. I sadly didn’t vibe as much with the spin-off expansion (notably I don’t enjoy roguelikes) but the main game was fantastic.
The atmosphere, the progression, the ending, they pulled it off really well. Also coffee cups jumping at my face!
And I really like coffee… hehehe.
The sad thing is I’ve already had the ending spoiled, but even that was so long ago I’m not sure I remember much of it. I’m sure I’ll still enjoy it.
I love Prey. One of the best games of the 2010s, and really carries the torch for the Shock games.
If you finish Prey, try out the Mooncrash DLC. Criminally underrated. It’s kind of a different game, but in a good way. Expands the story and gives out clues to how this whole thing got started. Also had some pretty haunting personal stories to tell.
I think I heard about Mooncrash on a YouTube video about replayability. It was pretty positive. I don’t know if I have it, but I’ll check once I finish the game.
I really enjoyed it. Specifically, the GLOO gun and how you can use it for a variety of uses, and how the levels are specifically designed to allow you to break all the rules and bypass locked doors as long as you’re smart about it. ie, if you find a locked door, you can either find the key, or go around the door, or climb over the ceiling, or hack the door, or crawl in, or throw something at the unlock button. I never really played that genre of games before (immersive sim), but Prey got me hooked
I smiled like a fucking kid when they put that care package on top of those fan vents that you needed to use the GLOO gun to traverse
Yeah, flexibility and room for creativity are great.
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I think I also own Dishonored. I’ll check it, hopefully within the decade!
I really love Bioshock Infinite, but Prey did not click for me, I’m not sure why.
I still have it installed, I guess I’ll have another go.
It got really slow in the middle. Never finished it. BioShock always keeps the story going, but Prey just started to feel too big and empty.
Funny I had the opposite experience, Infinite never really grabbed me so I stopped for a while mid playthrough and then was confused when I came back to that save eventually lol.
Prey really got me
Infinite got only a little slow in the middle, but quickly picked up again and had such a spectacular finish that I had to immediately start a new playthrough.
I’m more driven by a good story, though.
I took a long break from gaming (~15 years). Then when I came back too it I found all these great games that had came and went. So I started parsing through many of the most critically acclaimed games. I hit Arkane, and Dishonored was so incredible (and I got Prey with them in a flash steam sale for a few bucks), I thought I’d give it a try.
I will say it’s probably one of the best games I’ve played in my most recent gaming phase. It is a super solid sci-fi horror where you can engage. I do not like run and hide games, so this one fulfilled my criteria. The story is also classic sci-fi greatness.
It’s also one of the few games I’ve got an itch to play again.
I didn’t want to reply to this before figuring out if I felt the same, and it turns out I do.
You can be stealthy and fearful, but you can also be determined and direct - and then you’re faced with something that scares you again. The progression is very cool.
If you haven’t tried it, Control is a fantastic narrative-driven game with unique gameplay mechanics and play options. Highly recommend that if you liked BioShock and Prey. I’m currently playing Outter Worlds and, wow, is it rewarding as you play it.
There’s a lot I liked about Control, but while the ray-traced graphics made it gorgeous, the art style made it pretty hard for me to play: lots of hard-to-parse dark areas.
The difficulty settings, while granular, don’t cover all of the gameplay mechanics, so I ended up playing about 2/3 of it with invencibility mode on taking away much of the challenge.
I’d still recommend it though and mostly enjoyed it for the reasons you mentioned.
