For a while there I was really iffy on Prey. Sure it was an imsim that did everything right, but I just wasn't having much fun with it. I've warmed up to it now, after messing with some settings and turning the difficulty down, but I've still got some issues with it.
So, starting with the good, this really does feel a lot like system shock. Specifically the best parts of system shock 2, where you're hacking your way through a reclaimed station, reliving the lives that were lost before you got there. It's got the horror thing too. A different, more modern type of horror, but the lineage is there. Also, you can definitely feel Chris Avellone's hand in the writing, specifically when there's questions around identity and personality that I won't get into because honestly I thought they were the best part of the game. The other aspects of the plot, the bits dealing with morality in particular, work a bit less well, but still ask interesting enough questions. Beyond all that though, it really works just like System Shock.
Except, not quite. I think there's two ways it differs that kinda hamper the experience. First and more minor probably, it's objective marker-driven. I don't know why an imsim would be, but I tried playing with them turned off and it didn't seem particularly designed around it. Not enough signposting in places. Second and more major for me, especially before I turned the difficulty down: I really didn't click with the enemy design. The mimics are fine, but everything bigger either felt wildly spongy (compared to the amount of ammo you can obtain) or way too fast and long-ranged to take advantage of in that imsim kinda way. Even when I turned the difficulty down, they just became easier to deal with, not any more fun. And that sucks! Because a lot of this game has pretty mandatory combat!
Honestly I thought this was about as good as System Shock 1, which is really strange, because that game is a scattershot collection of ideas that would become the imsim genre, where Prey knows exactly what it wants to be, what kind of imsim and what kind of horror. Honestly I think part of it is just too much capitulating to modern game design values, both with the horror-enemy design and the objective structure. Only in the last hour did I really get to know the station as a place, and that's just because the objective markers glitched out on me occasionally, luckily never during a part that would've been impossible without them. It's a good game, but I don't think it's a great one
So, starting with the good, this really does feel a lot like system shock. Specifically the best parts of system shock 2, where you're hacking your way through a reclaimed station, reliving the lives that were lost before you got there. It's got the horror thing too. A different, more modern type of horror, but the lineage is there. Also, you can definitely feel Chris Avellone's hand in the writing, specifically when there's questions around identity and personality that I won't get into because honestly I thought they were the best part of the game. The other aspects of the plot, the bits dealing with morality in particular, work a bit less well, but still ask interesting enough questions. Beyond all that though, it really works just like System Shock.
Except, not quite. I think there's two ways it differs that kinda hamper the experience. First and more minor probably, it's objective marker-driven. I don't know why an imsim would be, but I tried playing with them turned off and it didn't seem particularly designed around it. Not enough signposting in places. Second and more major for me, especially before I turned the difficulty down: I really didn't click with the enemy design. The mimics are fine, but everything bigger either felt wildly spongy (compared to the amount of ammo you can obtain) or way too fast and long-ranged to take advantage of in that imsim kinda way. Even when I turned the difficulty down, they just became easier to deal with, not any more fun. And that sucks! Because a lot of this game has pretty mandatory combat!
Honestly I thought this was about as good as System Shock 1, which is really strange, because that game is a scattershot collection of ideas that would become the imsim genre, where Prey knows exactly what it wants to be, what kind of imsim and what kind of horror. Honestly I think part of it is just too much capitulating to modern game design values, both with the horror-enemy design and the objective structure. Only in the last hour did I really get to know the station as a place, and that's just because the objective markers glitched out on me occasionally, luckily never during a part that would've been impossible without them. It's a good game, but I don't think it's a great one