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''Prey'' is a
first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
developed by Arkane Austin and published by
Bethesda Softworks Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a division of Media Technology Limited, and in 1999 became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. In its ...
. It was released worldwide on 5 May 2017, for
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
,
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, and
Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
. The game takes place in an
alternate timeline Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
in which an accelerated
Space Race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...
resulted in humankind taking to orbital stations far earlier. The player controls Morgan Yu while exploring the space station ''Talos I'', in orbit around Earth–Moon L2, where they were part of a scientific team researching the Typhon, a hostile alien force composed of many forms with both physical and psychic powers, such as shapeshifting into a clone of any inanimate object. As the Typhon escape confinement, the player uses a variety of weapons and abilities, some of which are derived from the Typhon themselves, to avoid being killed while looking to escape the station. The player gains access to areas of the station by acquiring key items and abilities, eventually allowing the player to explore the station in an open world setting. The game combines elements of
role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
s,
stealth game A stealth game is a type of video game in which the player primarily uses ''stealth'' to avoid or overcome opponents. Games in the genre typically allow the player to remain undetected by hiding, sneaking, or using disguises. Some games allow th ...
s,
immersive sim An immersive sim (simulation) is a video game genre that emphasizes player choice. Its core, defining trait is the use of simulated systems that respond to a variety of player actions which, combined with a comparatively broad array of player ...
s and
Metroidvania Metroidvania is a sub-genre of platform video games focused on guided non-linearity and utility-gated exploration and progression. The term is a portmanteau of the names of the video game series ''Metroid'' and ''Castlevania'', with games in the ...
s in its design. Arkane's ''Prey'' is largely unrelated to the 2006 game ''
Prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...
'' developed by
Human Head Studios Human Head Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer located in Madison, Wisconsin. History Human Head Studios was founded in October 1997 by a group of six developers formerly from Raven Software: Ben Gokey, Chris Rhinehart, Paul ...
. While ''
Prey 2 ''Prey 2'' was a cancelled first-person shooter video game to be published by Bethesda Softworks and planned as a sequel to the 2006 video game ''Prey''. Though ''Prey 2'' was announced by 3D Realms in 2006, a few months after release of the fir ...
'', a sequel to the 2006 game, had been planned by Human Head, it fell into
development hell Development hell, development purgatory, and development limbo are media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between different crews, scripts, game engi ...
following transfer of the intellectual property from
3D Realms 3D Realms Entertainment ApS is a video game publisher based in Aalborg, Denmark. Scott Miller (entrepreneur), Scott Miller founded the company in his parents' home in Garland, Texas, in 1987 as Apogee Software Productions to release his game ' ...
to
Bethesda Softworks Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a division of Media Technology Limited, and in 1999 became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. In its ...
, and was eventually cancelled in 2014. Arkane's game does not use any of the planned sequel's assets, and only incorporates the previous game's name and the broad theme of the protagonist being hunted by aliens. Arkane built ''Prey'' as a
spiritual sequel A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue the product lin ...
to '' System Shock'', providing the player with several potential means of progressing within the game, while considering the ''Talos I'' station a thematic reinterpretation of their underground dungeon of their first game, ''
Arx Fatalis ''Arx Fatalis'' is an action role-playing video game developed by Arkane Studios and released for Microsoft Windows in 2002 and Xbox in 2003. The game is played from a first-person perspective and is set on a world whose sun has failed, forcing t ...
''. ''Prey'' was positively reviewed by critics at release and considered one of the best games of 2017 by several gaming magazines and websites. Two expansions were released: ''Mooncrash'', a procedurally-generated mode inspired by various
roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a subgenre of role-playing computer games traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player charac ...
games, and a multiplayer ''Typhon Hunter'' that incorporates the Typhon shapeshifting abilities in a hide-and-seek style game.


Gameplay

''Prey'' is a
first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...
with
role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...
and stealth elements set in an open world environment. The player takes the role of Morgan Yu, a human aboard a space station with numerous species of hostile aliens known collectively as the Typhon. The player is able to select certain attributes of Morgan, including gender, and decisions made by the player that affects elements of the game's story. To survive, the player must collect and use weapons and resources aboard the station to fend off and defeat the Typhon. According to creative director Raphaël Colantonio, the station is completely continuous rather than having separate levels or missions, at times requiring the player to return to areas they previously explored. The player is able to venture outside of the station in space and find shortcuts connecting parts of the station. Colantonio stated that the aliens have an array of different powers that the player character can gain over time; one such alien has the ability to shape shift into everyday items, such as a chair. The player can acquire aliens' abilities by using a device called a psychoscope. Recyclers can be used to break down almost any object into raw materials. The game has multiple endings, according to lead designer Ricardo Bare; the endings fall into three major narrative structures depending on how the player broadly interacted with the station and surviving humans, but Bare said there are "tons of little permutations" based on specific events.


''Mooncrash'' expansion

The ''Mooncrash'' expansion, released in June 2018, is a separate game mode built atop the setting and gameplay of the base ''Prey'' game. It is a
roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a subgenre of role-playing computer games traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player charac ...
mode in which, while the levels of the expansion remains the same, placement of enemies, weapons, and other items are randomized on each playthrough. Narratively, the player takes the role of Peter, a hacker aboard a satellite orbiting the Moon, forced by his employer the Kasma Corporation to figure out what happened at the Pytheas Moonbase. Peter does this by running through simulations, in which he takes the place of one of five known survivors of the attack. The player, as Peter, must figure out how each of the five survived through the five various escape routes. This is presented by leading one character through the station, fighting off the Typhon, collecting equipment, hacking terminals, and other actions. If the player can lead that character to safety, they then must lead the other characters, one at a time, through the same gameworld to find a different escape point, with all of the changes on the gameworld from the previous characters still in place. Players may reset the simulation, randomizing the world elements and effectively starting a new run. However, the player gains credits that they can use within the simulation to improve how any of the character start, such as with better weapons or additional health packs, and they can permanently unlock skills for each character within future simulation runs by collecting certain objects within the gameworld.


''Typhon Hunter'' expansion

The ''Typhon Hunter'' expansion contains two game modes. One is designed as a single-player
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
experience, challenging the player to various
escape room An escape room, also known as an escape game, puzzle room, exit game, or riddle room is a game in which a team of players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms in order to accomplish a specific goal in a limite ...
scenarios aboard the ''Talos I'' station. The second is an asymmetrical multiplayer mode for up to six players. One plays as Morgan while the others are Mimic Typhons, which can disguise themselves as nearly any object within the game's environment. The player as Morgan is challenged to find and kill all the other players within a limited amount of time, while the Mimic players can rearrange items in rooms, disguise themselves, and when the Morgan player is close, jump out and attack them before seeking another hiding place.


Plot


Setting

''Prey'' takes place in an
alternate timeline Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
where the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
encounters a species of
eusocial Eusociality (from Greek εὖ ''eu'' "good" and social), the highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generat ...
aliens, called the Typhon, aboard one of their satellites, the ''Vorona 1''. The Soviet Union works together with the United States to fight off and capture the aliens, unbeknownst to the general population. Together, they build the space station ''Kletka'' (Russian for "cell") to be used as a prison for the Typhon situated in orbit around the Moon. After a failed assassination attempt on United States President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
, the United States wrests full control of the ''Kletka'' satellite from the Soviet Union. Research of the Typhon continues under the name "Project Axiom". After the "Pobeg Incident" in 1980 where some scientists aboard the station lost their lives to the Typhon, the American government shutters Project Axiom, leaving the captive Typhon alive. By 2025, the newly founded TranStar Corporation acquires ''Kletka'' and by 2030, has refitted it as ''Talos I'', a fully operational research laboratory to study the Typhon and develop advances in neuroscience; this leads to the creation of Neuromods that harness the Typhon's physiology to restructure the human brain to grant the user new abilities, including superhuman ones. TranStar grows financially successful from sales of Neuromods on Earth. At the time of the game's setting, about 2035, TranStar has further expanded the station to make for suitable living quarters for its staff that spend up to two years on the station between regular shuttles to Earth. Because of the numerous agencies that operated and expanded ''Talos I'' over the decades, the station includes a large mix of architectural designs, ranging from
retrofuturism Retrofuturism (adjective ''retrofuturistic'' or ''retrofuture'') is a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a "science" bent on anticipatin ...
that was popular in 1960s America, to brutalist styles that were common in the Soviet Bloc in the mid-20th century, to opulent
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
put in place by the wealthy TranStar executives.


Synopsis

In March 2032, Morgan Yu is recruited by their brother Alex to join TranStar's research team on ''Talos I''. Prior to leaving for the station and while taking a series of tests including the
Trolley problem The trolley problem is a series of thought experiments in ethics and psychology, involving stylized ethical dilemmas of whether to sacrifice one person to save a larger number. The series usually begins with a scenario in which a runaway tram or ...
and the
Rorschach test The Rorschach test is a projective psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists use this test to examine a pe ...
, one of the supervising doctors is attacked by a Typhon and Morgan is knocked out. Morgan wakes up in their apartment, but finds out that it is a simulated environment. It is 2035 and Morgan has been living on ''Talos I'' for three years. Morgan is contacted by January, an Operator
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
that claims to have been built by Morgan. January warns Morgan that the Typhon have broken containment and taken over the station, killing the majority of the crew. It reveals to Morgan that they had been testing neuromods for the past three years, with Morgan continually adding and removing them. While these neuromods allow for instantaneous learning of complex skills and abilities, a side effect of removing a neuromod is that the user loses all memories gained after installation of that neuromod, explaining Morgan's memory loss. January claims that Morgan built it to help destroy ''Talos I'', taking the Typhon and all of its research with it. Alex contacts Morgan and suggests instead building a special Nullwave device that will destroy the Typhon but leave the station intact, citing how their research is too valuable to lose. Morgan travels through the station and encounters other survivors, with a choice of whether to help them or not. Alex tasks Morgan with scanning the Typhon "Coral" growing around the station, and discovers that the Typhon are building some sort of neural network. Their attempts to study the neural network are interrupted when the TranStar Board of Directors learns of the containment breach and sends a cleanup crew to eliminate both the Typhon and any surviving station crew. After the cleanup crew is dealt with, Alex further analyzes the data and concludes that the Typhon are sending a signal into deep space to summon something. A gargantuan Typhon called Apex appears and begins to devour ''Talos I''. Morgan is given the choice of activating the station's self-destruct sequence or building the Nullwave device to defeat the Typhon. If Morgan chooses to activate the Nullwave device, all of the Typhon on ''Talos I'' are destroyed and the station is left intact to allow further neuromod research. If Morgan chooses to activate the self-destruct, the entire station explodes, destroying all of the Typhon with it. Morgan either finds a way to escape the station or is stranded and dies in the explosion, based on earlier choices in the game. In a post-credits scene, Morgan wakes up in a lab and learns that it is not the real Morgan, but instead a captured Typhon implanted with Morgan's memories in an effort to teach it human emotions and empathy. The Typhon have invaded Earth; Alex and his Operator assistants judge "Morgan" based on the choices it made throughout the game. If "Morgan" failed to show human empathy, Alex destroys it and starts the experiment over. If "Morgan" did show human empathy, Alex lets it go, whereupon it can choose to accept his offer to bring peace between the Typhon and humanity, or kill him.


''Mooncrash''

In 2036, Peter is stationed in a remote satellite orbiting the Moon and is forced under contract by the Kasma Corporation, a rival to TranStar, to undergo numerous simulations reliving a Typhon outbreak on Transtar's Pytheas Moon Base. As he completes his assigned tasks, his handler Basilisk warns him that Kasma will betray him once his mission is complete and helps him make preparations to escape. When Peter fulfills his contract, Kasma congratulates him but claims that due to tight budgets, they cannot retrieve him from the satellite and shut off its life support. With help from Basilisk, Peter overrides the satellite's controls and crashes it near the real Pytheas facility, where he commandeers a shuttle and returns to Earth. In a post-credits scene, it is revealed that a Mimic has stowed away on Peter's shuttle.


Development


Intellectual property transition

The success of the original ''Prey'' led to the announcement of a sequel ''Prey 2'' in August 2006, with continued development by
3D Realms 3D Realms Entertainment ApS is a video game publisher based in Aalborg, Denmark. Scott Miller (entrepreneur), Scott Miller founded the company in his parents' home in Garland, Texas, in 1987 as Apogee Software Productions to release his game ' ...
. However, the project faced a number of issues, including the transfer of the
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
(IP) rights to
Bethesda Softworks Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a division of Media Technology Limited, and in 1999 became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. In its ...
(under
ZeniMax Media ZeniMax Media Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Rockville, Maryland, and founded in 1999. The company owns publisher Bethesda Softworks with its development unit Bethesda Game Studios (developer of ''The Elder Scrolls,'' ...
) sometime by 2011. In March 2011, Bethesda announced that ''Prey 2'' would instead be developed by
Human Head Studios Human Head Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer located in Madison, Wisconsin. History Human Head Studios was founded in October 1997 by a group of six developers formerly from Raven Software: Ben Gokey, Chris Rhinehart, Paul ...
using a modified
id Tech 4 id Tech 4, popularly known as the ''Doom 3'' engine, is a game engine developed by id Software and first used in the video game ''Doom 3''. The engine was designed by John Carmack, who also created previous game engines, such as those for ''D ...
engine. On 31 May 2013, ''
Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...
'' reported rumors that development had moved to
Arkane Studios Arkane Studios SASU is a French video game developer based in Lyon. It was founded in 1999, and released its first game, ''Arx Fatalis'', in 2002. Besides the Lyon studio, Arkane Lyon, Arkane Studios operates Arkane Studios LLC ( trading as Ark ...
and that the development had been rebooted, scrapping all of Human Head Studios' work on ''Prey 2'' with a targeted release of 2016. After about a year of further rumors, Bethesda cancelled ''Prey 2''. Arkane had started working on a ''Prey'' game that would be considered a reboot rather than a sequel, using none of the ''Prey'' concepts and none of Human Head's previous development. On 12 June 2016, Bethesda announced the ''Prey'' reboot at its E3 press conference. The game's development was led by Arkane Studios CEO and director Raphaël Colantonio and his team in
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
. The new ''Prey'' is not a true sequel but instead "a re-imagining of the IP", according to Colantonio. The teaser trailer shown during E3 2016 showed the game's protagonist in something like "a space horror version of ''
Groundhog Day Groundhog Day ( pdc, Grund'sau dåk, , , ; Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from ...
''", according to
CNet ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...
's Seamus Byrne. Bethesda's vice president of marketing Pete Hines explained that the new game has no elements from the cancelled ''Prey 2'' outside of the player facing against aliens. Colantonio said in later interviews that calling their game ''Prey'' was a "non negotiable compromise" with Bethesda, a decision that no one on the Arkane team was pleased with. Colantonio said it felt bad to lie that they were continuing the ''Prey'' series, and was an insult to Human Head, the developers of the original ''Prey''. He expressed that it was a "sales mistake" that would turn away fans of the original ''Prey'' and fail to attract other players.


Gameplay design

''Prey'' came out of Arkane Studios' own ideas; as explained by Colantonio, after they finished ''Dishonored'', roughly around 2014, they split their team to work on two projects, one being ''
Dishonored 2 ''Dishonored 2'' is a 2016 Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the sequel to 2012's ''Dishonored''. After ...
'' and the other a new
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
based on similar gameplay ideas which would be "in first-person, with depth and simulation and narration". According to lead designer Ricardo Bare, Colantonio had suggested they look back towards what they had done with ''
Arx Fatalis ''Arx Fatalis'' is an action role-playing video game developed by Arkane Studios and released for Microsoft Windows in 2002 and Xbox in 2003. The game is played from a first-person perspective and is set on a world whose sun has failed, forcing t ...
'', a fantasy title produced by Arkane in 2002 which featured "this big, inter-connected dungeon that the player could roam so long as they could unlock everything". They took this "mega-dungeon" concept, but set it as a space station filled with hostile aliens, and would require the player to consider the "full ecology" of the game's world to overcome obstacles. They did not want the player to solve singular-solution puzzles, such as simply finding a key for a locked door, but instead "think of this as a living, dynamic world, where there are tons of solutions possible", according to Bare. As Arkane started developing this concept, they recognized the similarities to the original ''Prey''. Realizing that coming up with a name for a new property can be difficult, and that through Bethesda that they would have the ability to use that name, they opted to go with calling the game ''Prey''. Hines explained that Arkane evaluated the ''Prey'' property to its core and built up a new game around it, calling it more a psychological game rather than a horror one. According to design documents from early in the project's history published by ''
Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...
'', the game was developed at Arkane under the name "Project Danielle". Three different concepts had been presented, all based on the nature of '' System Shock'' and involving the player-character named Danielle Sho (considered by ''Kotaku'' as a reference to
SHODAN SHODAN (Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network) is a fictional artificial intelligence and the main antagonist of the cyberpunk-horror themed video games ''System Shock'' and ''System Shock 2''. Character design SHODAN is an artificial in ...
from ''System Shock'') to find that there was a false reality in their apparent world and dealing with an
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
that has a significant influence on events; these settings included a futuristic lab set on Earth set just prior to the ''System Shock'' time frame, a secret lab on a remote island, and a retro-futuristic setting. ''Kotaku'' observed that this final setting was closest to what the released ''Prey'' looked like. ''Prey'' incorporates numerous gameplay concepts from ''Dishonored'', which was itself inspired by the
Looking Glass Studios Looking Glass Studios, Inc. (formerly Blue Sky Productions and LookingGlass Technologies, Inc.) was an American video game developer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company was founded by Paul Neurath with Ned Lerner as Blue Sky Product ...
' games '' Thief: The Dark Project'' and '' System Shock'', where players are encouraged to find creative solutions to overcoming obstacles. Borrowed elements from ''Dishonored'' include giving the player enough agency to determine how they want to proceed at the game, having in-game consequences for certain actions taken by the player, developing a game world based on a pre-established lore that can be learned by examining notes and computer terminals throughout the station, and a simple user-interface. However, Colantonio said that ''Prey'' would be less focused on stealth as ''Dishonored'' was, and would provide a more
role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
-style improvement system through in-game chipsets that allows the player to customize their abilities for more tactical fast-paced action sequences in contrast to ''Dishonored''s bone charm system. While ''Prey'' has been likened to a Metroidvania, its lead designer Ricardo Bare has said that he actually was not familiar with the sub-genre and that ''Prey''s world design follows in the footsteps of games such as Arkane's own ''
Arx Fatalis ''Arx Fatalis'' is an action role-playing video game developed by Arkane Studios and released for Microsoft Windows in 2002 and Xbox in 2003. The game is played from a first-person perspective and is set on a world whose sun has failed, forcing t ...
'' and Looking Glass Studios' '' System Shock'', which featured interconnected worlds where to make progress, obstacles had been overcome through abilities the player could acquire. Bare considered the ''Talos I'' setting to be "like an open world" that is fully explorable as the player gained abilities and equipment. However, according to Colantonio, calling it an open world "might have the wrong associations." The developers also took inspiration from '' FTL: Faster Than Light'', considering the complexities of the various gameplay systems and how fast that a situation can go wrong if the player did not sufficiently plan ahead. Bare said they wanted to include that "chaos of systems", and keeping in mind that ''Talos I'' is a functioning space station, populated the station with a number of hazards like gas pipes and oil spills that can both been a boon to the players in defeating the Typhon, but also can cause unforeseen consequences if the player is not careful. Arkane had considered including
procedural generation In computing, procedural generation is a method of creating data algorithmically as opposed to manually, typically through a combination of human-generated assets and algorithms coupled with computer-generated randomness and processing power. In ...
within the main campaign, so that different areas may have different hazards when the player encountered them, but they recognized that this would become a point of frustration for a single-player game that may caused players to leave the game uncompleted. They dropped this approach, and instead worked the procedural generation aspects into the game's
downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enablin ...
''Mooncrash'', which takes place outside the main game's campaign.
Emergent gameplay Emergent gameplay refers to complex situations in video games, board games, or table top role-playing games that emerge from the interaction of relatively simple game mechanics. Designers have attempted to encourage emergent play by providing to ...
was a goal of Arkane: while they had given the players abilities to take on ''Prey'' in a full action mode or full stealth mode, they wanted players to find a way to complete the game in their own manner. They recognized players may take one specific set of skills and weapons, and avoided including any enemies or obstacles that would be impossible to surpass because they did not specialize in the right skills, providing a means to bypass such areas. Arkane restricted how many horror elements they would include, since they could not predict where the player's attention would be throughout the game, providing another reason why they opted not to consider ''Prey'' a horror game. Some elements supporting emergent gameplay arose during testing of the game's various systems. One of the Typhon aliens, the Mimic, was inspired by the creature of the same name from ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
'', and was programmed to take the form of any object smaller than itself in the room, avoiding the use of scripted events and allowing the alien's
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
in the game's software decide what to replicate. Separately, one of the tools developed by Arkane was the psychoscope, which allows players to scan an alien and learn and then use its powers; when the programmers learned of this, they quickly found that having players be able to copy the Mimic's power created a depth of new gameplay options, such as taking the form of a small object to sneak into small places, or taking the form of a non-flammable object to roll through fire-laden areas. Enabling emergent gameplay in ''Prey'' allowed for
speedrun Speedrunning is the act of playing a video game, or section of a video game, with the goal of completing it as fast as possible. Speedrunning often involves following planned routes, which may incorporate sequence breaking and can exploit glit ...
ners to take advantage of the game's tools, particularly the Gloo Cannon that is able to create platforms on surfaces to access areas Arkane did not intend to be accessed without other tools.


Story and art

The narrative concept for ''Prey'' came to Colantonio during one of his airline flights while on travel; on return, he started to engage with the Austin studio to flesh out the ideas for the narrative, design, and gameplay, looking to build as detailed a world as they had for the city of Dunwall used as the setting for ''Dishonored''. Colantonio said that it took about a year from this initial concept to come up with setting the game in an alternate timeline that helped support this detailing. They considered how the future would have been different if Kennedy survived the assassination attempt, allowing them to flesh out the narrative and design of the space station. This itself directly attributed to the styles used in the various parts of the station, with the team considering what architecture would have influenced those most responsible for operating ''Talos I'' at the time. This ranged from considering what Kennedy would have seen frequently were he alive in the 1960s and 1970s, to envision how those funding contemporary commercial space efforts like
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or
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would style a space station. As ''Talos I'' is a relatively small space, Arkane was able to detail the station in depth, such as naming each
non-playable character A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster ...
, including those already dead by the story's present, and fleshing out background stories for them, as to make the game's world more cohesive. The narrative directed them to the types of weapons that would be available to the player. Arkane recognized that as a research station, their security forces would only likely have common weapons, such as pistols and shotguns, and would not have the equivalent of super-powerful gear like ''Doom''s BFG. What advanced weapons are available were designed to look like prototypes and have flaws associated with them being only in their testing phase. Arkane's Harvey Smith is credited with establishing the Typhon and the reason for their existence in the story. The player as Morgan follows in the threat's wake, finding survivors that have no idea what just happened but need their help. Arkane wanted a more unique design to the aliens, and opted to use designs inspired by
paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...
elements rather than stereotypical insect- or lizard-like species.
Austin Grossman Austin Seth Grossman (born June 26, 1969) is an American author and video game designer. He has contributed to '' The New York Times'' and has written for a number of video games, most notably '' Deus Ex'' and '' Dishonored''. Life Grossman w ...
, also of Arkane, helped with establishing the early plot details with Morgan's awakening at the start of the game. Bare had reached out to
Chris Avellone Chris Avellone is an American video game designer and comic book writer. He worked for Interplay and Obsidian Entertainment before working as a freelancer. He is best known for his work on role-playing video games such as '' Planescape: Tormen ...
circa 2013 to gain his help with the story, though at the time, Avellone was committed to other projects but wanted to work with the studio. Once Avellone was able to, he contacted Arkane to offer his help on the narrative. Besides other parts of the narrative, Avellone was responsible for designing the non-player characters and the various missions that would involve these characters. Avellone felt these characters and their missions created dilemmas for the player to determine how to proceed, helping the player to define their version of Morgan as well as expanding on the game's universe. Avellone worked with Arkane on the story from June to about November 2016. Among other works, ''Prey'' was influenced by the films ''
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
'', ''
Starship Troopers ''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of F ...
'', and ''
The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...
''. As part of the game's promotion, Bethesda partnered with the
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to show these three films during April 2017. Avellone also cited ''
Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...
'' as part of his inspiration, describing it as an action-suspense film which has moments of comedy, even in the midst of heavy action sequences, and something he reused in writing for ''Prey''. The original score was composed and produced by Mick Gordon, who had previously composed the soundtrack for ''
Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...
''. Additional music was composed by Ben Crossbones, Matt Piersall, and Colantonio, with each one providing a single track. The soundtrack was released for live-streaming music services a week before the game's release.


Technical development

Prior to ''Prey'', Arkane had just released ''
Dishonored 2 ''Dishonored 2'' is a 2016 Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the sequel to 2012's ''Dishonored''. After ...
'' which used the studio's internally developed Void
game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...
. At release, many players reported performance issues with the Windows version of the game, which Arkane fixed through patches, but led to some lingering doubts as to Arkane's ability to develop for the Windows platform. Colantonio said that Arkane wanted to remove that stigma for ''Prey'', with the goal to produce a "really flawless" version for Windows on release. The game was developed using CryEngine 4, an established third-party game engine, eliminating many issues related to performance. Colantonio said that they "doubled our thoroughness" in the areas of
quality assurance Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to ensure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...
testing to eliminate other possible issues.


Expansions

During the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2018, Bethesda announced a free update released on June 9, 2018 that added two new game modes to ''Prey'', including a
New Game Plus A New Game Plus, also New Game+ (NG+), is an unlockable video game mode available in some video games that allows the player to start a new game after they finish it at least once, where certain features in NG+ not normally available in a first ...
mode, and a Survival mode that adds modifiers, such as weapon durability, that make it more difficult. Bethesda announced the game's first downloadable content, ''Mooncrash'', which is a
procedurally generated In computing, procedural generation is a method of creating data algorithmically as opposed to manually, typically through a combination of human-generated assets and algorithms coupled with computer-generated randomness and processing power. In ...
adventure that was available that day. They announced plans to release a multiplayer ''Typhon Hunt'' mode, where some players play as Typhon Mimics that can disguise themselves. The ''Typhon Hunt'' mode was inspired by the "Prop Hunt" mode that came about from ''
Garry's Mod ''Garry's Mod'' is a 2006 sandbox game developed by Facepunch Studios and published by Valve. The base game mode of ''Garry's Mod'' has no set objectives and provides the player with a world in which to freely manipulate objects. Other game ...
''; as Arkane started to show initial details of the main game, including the Mimic enemies, players responded that they were reminded of "Prop Hunt". Bare had not been aware of what that was, but after researching it, felt it was ideal for a multiplayer extension of ''Prey''. Both ''Mooncrash'' and ''Typhon Hunt'' were modes prototyped within an internal
game jam A game jam is an event where participants try to make a video game from scratch. Depending on the format, participants might work independently, or in teams. The event duration usually ranges from 24 to 72 hours. Participants are generally program ...
following the release of ''Prey'', looking to see how they could easily extend the game. The ''Mooncrash'' expansion was further updated in September 2018 with a free patch that provided in-game customization skins that celebrated the team's favorite roguelike games, which included ''
Spelunky ''Spelunky'' is a 2008 source-available 2D platform game created by independent developer Derek Yu and released as freeware for Microsoft Windows. It was remade for the Xbox 360 in 2012, with ports of the new version following for various platfo ...
'', ''
Rogue Legacy ''Rogue Legacy'' is a 2013 platform game with roguelike elements developed and published by Cellar Door Games. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Linux, OS X, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, a ...
'', ''
Risk of Rain ''Risk of Rain'' is a 2013 platform game developed by Hopoo Games and published by Chucklefish. The game, initially made by a two-student team from the University of Washington using the GameMaker engine, was funded through Kickstarter before ...
'', ''
Don't Starve ''Don't Starve'' is a survival video game developed by the Canadian indie video game developer Klei Entertainment. The game was initially released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux on April 23, 2013. A PlayStation 4 port, renamed ''Do ...
'', ''
Darkest Dungeon ''Darkest Dungeon'' is a roguelite role-playing video game developed and published by Red Hook Studios. The game was first released for Microsoft Windows and OS X in January 2016, which followed a year-long early access development period. Later ...
'', and ''
Dead Cells ''Dead Cells'' is a 2018 roguelike-Metroidvania game developed and published by Motion Twin. The game was released for Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on August 7, 2018. A mobile port for iOS was released ...
''. The ''Typhon Hunter'' mode was released on December 11, 2018, along with a
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
-based
escape the room Escape the room, also known as room escape or escape game, is a subgenre of point-and-click adventure game which requires a player to escape from imprisonment by exploiting their surroundings. The room usually consists of a locked door, objects ...
set of puzzles set before the events of ''Prey''.


Release and marketing

''Prey'' was released on 5 May 2017. Arkane and Bethesda provided a
game demo A game demo is a trial version of a video game that is limited to a certain time limit or a point in progress, which leads to the player buying the game if they liked it. A game demo comes in forms such as shareware, demo disc, downloadable sof ...
for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles about a week before the game's launch, covering about the first hour of gameplay. The studio did not opt to provide a demo for Windows systems, citing that they had to choose between either the consoles or personal computer for demo release. Colantonio said that with the game's release through
Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
, interested players can try the game for up to two hours under Steam's return policy, effectively treating this the equivalent of a demo. Regardless of this, the Steam version eventually received one.


Technical issues

On release, ''
PCGamesN ''PCGamesN'' is a British online video game magazine focusing on PC gaming and hardware. It has a full-time team of over a dozen writers and is the oldest owned-and-operated site within publishing group Network N. History Parent company Netw ...
'' reported that the Windows version of ''Prey'' lacked those technical issues that has troubled ''Dishonored 2'', and called the game "the best performing triple-A game" they had seen in several months. ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
''s Digital Foundry found the computer version of ''Prey'' to run exceedingly well across even low-end computers, in contrast to problems it saw for ''Dishonored 2'' at release. However, some reviewers and players found that after several hours of playing on the computer version, their saved games would become corrupted, and the game would crash when transitioning between areas once this started to occur. Restoring from older saves would eventually cause those to be corrupted as well, making the game impossible to complete. Bethesda reported it planned to release a patch to fix this issue in the week following the game's release.


Trademark dispute

Just prior to release, No Matter Studios, the developers of an upcoming video game ''Prey for the Gods'', announced that, due to
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
objections from ZeniMax Media, they had to change the name of their game to '' Praey for the Gods''. ZeniMax reported that they had to defend the ''Prey'' trademark to avoid losing it in taking objection to No Matter's trademark filing.


Reception


Critical reception

''Prey'' received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
. Critics praised the fully realized atmosphere of ''Talos I'', with some labeling it a "luxurious sci-fi playground". On the other hand, combat proved divisive. ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
''s Tamoor Hussain found fight sequences "rewarding", while ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
''s Dan Stapleton considered combat ''Prey''s "biggest weakness" partly due to periods of AI unresponsiveness. Concerning the story, ''GameSpot'' found protagonist Morgan Yu's journey somewhat "thin", and TrustedReviews called the storyline "lacking". ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
'' ranked the game 12th on their list of the "Top 50 Games of 2017", ''
GamesRadar+ ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...
'' ranked it 11th on their list of the 25 Best Games of 2017, and ''
Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
'' ranked it seventh on their list of the 50 best games of 2017, while
EGMNow ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...
ranked it ninth on their list of the 25 Best Games of 2017. It was nominated for "Best Setting" in ''
PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...
''s 2017 Game of the Year Awards, for "Best Xbox One Game" in ''
Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. History ' ...
''s Game of the Year Awards 2017, and for "Best Shooter" in ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
''s Best of 2017 Awards. The game was praised by several critics and journalists for having an Asian protagonist.


Sales

''Prey'' debuted at No. 2 on the weekly sales charts in the United Kingdom, trailing the Nintendo Switch port of ''
Mario Kart 8 is a 2014 kart racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. It features the '' Mario Kart'' series' game mechanics, in which players drive go-karts using ''Mario'' franchise characters in various race formats. Items placed ...
''. These figures were considered disappointing due to a lack of competition from AAA new releases and the fact that the opening week sales were 60% down from Arkane's previous title, ''
Dishonored 2 ''Dishonored 2'' is a 2016 Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the sequel to 2012's ''Dishonored''. After ...
''. Additionally, Bethesda's decision to hold review copies until the release date was mentioned by outlets as a factor for the weak launch. ''Prey'' captured the top spot in its second week of release, besting ''Mario Kart 8 Deluxe'', a rise partially attributed to the positive reception the game received from critics, though sales were down 32% from its debut week. In doing so, ''Prey'' became the first Bethesda game since 2016's ''
Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...
'' to reach number one on the United Kingdom weekly sales charts. In Japan, ''Prey'' debuted at No. 5 on the weekly sales charts when it released in late May with 7,105 copies sold for the PlayStation 4. The Xbox One version did not make the charts.


Accolades


References


External links

*
Prey
at
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