I thought my opinion would be waaaay more controversial but no, it seems like this game is generally well received. Now in short: I, Love, This, Game.

Apparantly people call these kind of games "immersive simulations", which is a term I have never encountered before but sure, seems logical enough.

I have no idea about anything that went on in the story. Everything was just weird in a freaky and exiciting way, like how you have no idea what is going on in Dark Souls until you watch Vaatividya's explanations. But after reading a sumary the story seems actually pretty interresting.

But now the part of the game that makes it one of my personal favourites (and also the reason why I can't shut up about the game). I love the gameplay. I love it when games just have an internal logic that you can use to your advantage. I love it when games leave room for freedom and expression. And finally I love it when there are multiple ways of going about solving a puzzle/clearing a room full of enemies. Prey is the first game of this kind that I have played, where there are just so many possibilities and tools to interact with the environment.

So the gist of Prey is that you are some kind of guy or gal, you wake up, see a guy get eaten by his coffee mug, you wake up again, you smash a window make your way through the first part of the game and eventually end up in the lobby, where you notice, that you are on a space ship and you are trapped with these eldritch horror looking human eating aliens consisting of somekind of weird black shifting matter. From there on out you are mostly free to roam the facility. I still destinctly remember how my first instinct was to return and to use my gloo gun to build makeshift stairs. I reached an area that was dark and really scary and I definetly shit myself when there suddenly appeared a phantom right infront of me. The game didn't tell me to go to that place, but it gave me the tools and I figured it out by myself. And this sums up my experience with Prey quite nicely. Where ever I went I found puzzles in the form of locked rooms or safes. This was the game's way of challenging me to use my brain. And it felt so satisfying everytime when I got into a room through any other way that isn't the front door.

10/10 for the most liberating experience I have ever felt in gaming and also for scaring me to death multiple times in the first hours.

wow this is fucking amazing but also I think the game kinda peaks in the first act. it definitely blows its load early and while it never gets bad I think it never gets quite as good as those first few hours where you're barely surviving. tho I have to say playing on hard definitely enhanced the experience because it makes every fight do or die and it becomes a game of never letting the enemy attack you because every single enemy hits like a truck now, so you have to use all of your tools. but still it becomes really easy halfway through and the game only gets easier strangely. idk might have to try it on nightmare with survival options.

now for the other positives: the atmosphere is sublime. Arkane really knows how to build tension and it shows plenty. Talos I feels hostile, like something might jump out at any second; you're never fully safe aboard the station. every place also feels lived in, like people actually used it to live there, but death and decay sprayed. it was always a bit sad when I stumbled upon a dead body, especially ones killed by mimics. those never stop being gross to see (in a good way). it really immerses you into the world.

the level design is also fantastic. not only because like I said, Talos I feels like a real place people would use, but also because it's extremely fun to navigate and memorable. I never once in my playthrough got lost while running around the station, it's all extremely intuitive (except in the zero gravity parts, those always mess with my brain), to the point that I recommend turning off objective markers as soon as you can because they ruin the experience otherwise. the levels allow for tons of creative solutions that reward the player for thinking outside the box, which is the mark of any great immersive sim. I always felt smart whenever I circumvented a locked door by climbing over the wall or sliding through a small opening using the mimic power.

speaking of powers, I found a lot more use out of them this time around. mostly for combat, but still. psychoshock especially became invaluable when fighting stronger enemies because it weakens them a ton, to the point that by the end I was barely using the traditional weapons like the pistol or the shotgun (which are also great tools and feel very good to use). if there's anything I'd knock against the game is the lack of enemy and weapon variety. there's like 6 weapons max and 3 or 4 enemy types with different variantf (like wow an electric and a fire variant of a common enemy, how original). they're always fun to fight and provide good challenge, which is why I want to see more! the weapons too, while limited are all very useful in their own right (except the stun gun which I used like twice).
and of course, I'd be remised to mention the greatest tool in the game: the GLOO cannon. this single weapon opens up so many possibilities in the level design by allowing you to create your own shortcuts that it's insane. genuinely the game would be 10 times worse without it. it's also a great and extremely useful combat tool.

I don't have a lot to say about the story. if you've played System Shock, System Shock 2 or Bioshock, then you know more or less what to expect. of course, the game is extremely well written, with the characters being very likable and really feeling alive and you want them to make it out safely. plus there quite a good number of twists in the story to keep you on your toes. the voice actors also do a fantastic job, tho I have to say the lip sync is very hazardous. there's also tons of additional themed about what it means to be human (a classic) and how corporations are evil but also the relationship between the game and the player which really caught me off guard the first time I played it.

there's also a few glitches here and there which I didn't really mind, it's more funny that anything, like that one time I accidentally clipped out of bounds.

overall, game's fantastic. probably the closest we'll ever get to System Shock 3 while never being derivative and always standing out on its own merits.

Prey is such a trip! It starts out like your typical sci-fi survival game, but then it throws in shape-shifting aliens, mind-bending environments, and questions about what even makes you human. The open-ended gameplay means you have tons of freedom to solve problems your way, and Talos I is an unsettling and fascinating place to explore. It can be scary as heck, and the story gets a bit convoluted towards the end, but if you like immersive sims and a healthy dose of weird, Prey is an unforgettable experience.

Difficult to get into initially, the incredible world design and plot allow you to really get lost in the game. The immersion of this game is its strongest quality. I think that this game is underrated in its genre. One of the real strengths of this game come through the fact that there are many ways to solve one problem e.g. by stealth, hacking, setting a trap, using psi attacks or just using bullets.

The weakest points of the game are character design, as I never felt attached to any of them. I also am still not sure whether I liked or didn't like the plot twist at the very end. The combat at times can be unenjoyable and repetitive but only to a minor extent. I think the game struggles with a pacing issue for the last 20% of the story.

These gripes however are relatively minor and the game is still very enjoyable. I find the game to be most enjoyable played on a harder difficulty as part of the enjoyment comes from playing around the enemies and easier difficulties make them far too easy to deal with.

No wonder people call it the pinnacle of immersive sims.
The beginning of the game felt just magical! The exploration, learning all the mechanics and what means are available to you, yearning to uncover what happened...
I liked the story. The way of how it was uncovered to you also seemed neat.
Most of the time, the game felt fresh but I would welcome more weapon choices and maybe enemy types.
The ending was a mindfuck >.< Left me wanting to explore different choices available.